Can Uptown rise again?

It is easy to see. Lowry Hill is littered with empty storefronts – the ghosts of businesses past. The Mall is vacant. Apple fled. North Face fled. Aveda fled. Target, our hometown hero, fled.  Many small businesses fled. Even on a Friday afternoon, the sidewalks are largely empty.

Uptown is dying of self-inflicted wounds.

Six years ago, the City proposed narrowing Hennepin Avenue from four lanes to two and taking out all street parking. Businesses fought, saying this would kill their customer base. The City Council and Mayor ignored them, choosing instead to side with ideologically-driven planners and paid activists. And now everything the businesses said would happen has. Stores have left, jobs are declining, and property values are dropping. It was the City’s choice to make this happen.

Four years ago, George Floyd was killed. Violence and destruction in Uptown ensued. Some businesses left. Three years ago, Winston Boogie Smith was killed. More violence and destruction ensued. More businesses left.

It is possible for communities to recover from these incidents but subsequently crime, especially crime against businesses, skyrocketed. The City’s responses have been ideologically-driven, anemic, and mostly unsuccessful. There are not enough police officers to patrol and deter crime, not enough to investigate when crimes occur. Non-sworn responses appear ineffective. Theft is now routine. Break-ins are now routine. Broken windows are now routine. And more businesses left.

Uptown has been here before.

This generation forgets that 1960’s and 1970’s, Uptown was the ghetto. Through hard work by people who lived there, a government that actually listened to residents, strong public safety programs, investments both by individual residents and business leaders, and strong community groups, Uptown became the beating heart of Minneapolis and a destination for the region.

In six short years, that has been lost.

Uptown can rise again.

What turned Uptown from a ghetto to a thriving neighborhood? People.

What can do it again? People. Residents and property owners and business owners coming together to build strategies to make their community better. And a city willing to implement those ideas.

For residents, neighborhood organizations were created to elevate the voices of residents and do the heavy lifting of knitting people together. But in 2020, the City chose to reduce funding for neighborhood organizations and penalize those that had too many homeowners on their boards. Then the pandemic hit, breaking more social bonds. Now, activists dominate what had been a voice of residents.

For businesses, the City’s organizing tool is the Special Service District. Businesses in neighborhood commercial areas are taxed to pay the City to plow snow and empty garbage cans. Public Works organizes businesses. Most cities use a business improvement district model, where businesses decide themselves how to make their community better, then tax themselves and provide those services, not the City. Business improvement districts are a proven tool to empower the voice of businesses.

But will it?

For Uptown to recover, residents and business owners need to find solutions. But it is meaningless if the City doesn’t listen. So far, the City has refused to rein in paid activists, who overwhelm in-person meetings with bullhorns, and use bots to overwhelm online input. The City has also refused to rein in elite planners who think they know better than the collective wisdom of the people who live here. And Uptown reflects that.

The good bones are still there. Uptown still has amazing lakes and parks. It has gorgeous architecture. It is walkable and bikeable. But will it be vibrant again?

David Feehan was born and raised in Minneapolis and has spent his life helping raise the voices of community members around the country.