On Tuesday night, as we walked away from the Uptown Futures Forum 2.0 at the Granada Theater, my companion shared his disappointment with the Doran apartment building going up at the corner of Hennepin and 31st. To him, it was a missed opportunity. He had hoped the developers would choose one of the earlier designs that created a courtyard on the block, and he suspected financial pressure had rushed the decision. It’s a major project, yet it came up only once in the presentation. Apparently, no one involved saw it as a success or a sign that the neighborhood is on the right track.
The meeting highlighted few positives. Moona Moono, across from the construction site, got a mention, and it was full of people as we walked to the event. Other new additions to the neighborhood include Harold’s Fried Chicken, Arizona Taco and Tiki Tom’s Thai.
Despite these hopeful signs, the panelists offered the same ideas for revitalization that the Urban Land Institute (ULI) presented at last year’s Futures Forum 1.0. When I reread Craig Wilson’s summary of that event in the Hill & Lake Press, I found it just as relevant now as it was then. The ULI has some interesting ideas for “animating” the area, but the business community’s two main requests haven’t changed: safety and parking. Several women on the panel said they didn’t feel safe walking in the area or using its parking garages. Panelists also pointed out that no business will lease a large space without enough customer parking. Extending the trolley from Lake Harriet into Uptown is a fun idea, but at $10 million, it would take significant investment from the Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County or the City of Minneapolis.
To move its agenda forward, the ULI is advocating for a Neighborhood Improvement District (NID). An NID would add a tax on area businesses, and possibly on large apartment buildings, to promote Uptown, beautify its streets and pay for additional security. The idea has merit. We attended hoping to hear about progress, next steps and goals. Instead, the meeting covered the same ground as last year with few updates. We predict a few more cannabis shops will open before anyone adopts an official plan and moves the NID forward.
Government Inaction
We were pleased to see Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai at the event. However, her message seemed at odds with most of the other participants. Ward 7 Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer, along with several others, praised the Minneapolis Police Department for helping reduce open drug use in the area. Until Chughtai spoke, the audience seemed to share the view that MPD has an important role in reducing crime and creating an environment that encourages foot traffic. Chughtai offered a different outlook:
“In 2027... the city of Minneapolis plans to spend a total of $12 million on addressing homelessness. ... We plan to spend more money on police overtime than we do on all of homelessness response.”
As chair of the Budget Committee, Chughtai likely has the numbers right. But her approach suggested more interest in continuing her battle with Mayor Frey than in finding ways to reinvigorate Uptown. What statements like this one lack is context. She could have pressed her fellow panelists, State Sen. Scott Dibble and Rep. Jamie Long, for more state funding for county programs. It would also be worth hearing how much responsibility for our current challenges lies with Hennepin County. Much of the funding for housing and recovery programs is meant to come from the county, which has a larger budget than the city. Yet rather than calling on county board members, Chughtai focused on placing as much blame as possible on the mayor.
The lack of progress in Uptown reflects a larger dysfunction at City Hall. A slim council majority appears intent on undermining the strong mayor system that voters approved in 2021. That year, opposition to the new system was strongest in Wards 1 and 10, and those same wards elected Elliott Payne and Aisha Chughtai. Both continue to resist the change, and they are using their power over the budget to do it.
Before Tuesday’s event, Payne and Council Minority Leader Robin Wonsley announced that they “are advancing a proposal that would restructure and consolidate city government by eliminating the Office of the Community Safety (OCS) and Performance Management and Innovation department and consolidate the work of the Racial Equity Inclusion and Belonging department into the Neighborhood Community Relations Department. All proposed changes impact departments that were created in the 2022 government structure implementation ordinance and have struggled to demonstrate efficacy.”
Their stated goal may be to cut unnecessary costs. But if that were the main motive, they could have brought their ideas to Mayor Frey before mid-October and worked toward an agreement. Instead, residents will watch this power struggle play out through the end of the year, when the council must approve a final budget. The same pattern has unfolded each of the past two years. This year, though, there’s an added twist: if the mayor vetoes the budget again, the council may not have the votes to override. That could lead to the unprecedented situation of the city ending the year without an approved budget.
Given the lack of cooperation and progress, it’s hard to see how a council of 7 or 9 members would perform any worse than our current 13. Reducing the council’s size is worth exploring as a new initiative for the Charter Commission. Another way to save money would be a part-time council with seven district members and two at-large members. Opponents of this kind of change usually argue that residents would lose representation, but more doesn’t always mean better. Seattle, which has roughly 354,000 more residents than Minneapolis, operates with a nine-member council: seven elected by district and two at-large.
Looking beyond City Hall, if Democrats win back the U.S. House, and possibly the Senate, in a few weeks, we expect Washington to become consumed by hearings, legislative battles and vetoes. The president has already shown his willingness to target Minnesota, and those attacks may increase next year as he issues executive orders to work around a hostile Congress. Minnesota and Minneapolis could face even greater disruption to federal funding. In that environment, a city government that operates efficiently and cooperatively will matter more than ever. Unfortunately, nothing coming out of City Hall suggests we are ready.
