Minneapolis, known as the “City of Lakes,” will no longer host the Aquatennial, which has been its signature summer event since 1940. It’s also pulling the plug on the popular…
Minneapolis Sometime between 2017 and 2020, I was walking north up Hennepin Avenue at about 5:00 PM. I had just navigated the cluster of citizens who spread out across the…
A recent Star Tribune article described the struggles of the downtown Minneapolis Dayton’s Project, a $375 million dollar redevelopment effort to transform the iconic department store into a bustling office…
“Downtown is back,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced on March 25. The trigger for this euphoria was the news that a new food hall was coming to the space on…
The use of the word “latest” in this Minnesota Star Tribune headline gives the game away: Mayor Frey’s latest plan has ‘action steps’ to revitalize downtown Minneapolis “action steps” The…
The importance of common sense to a properly functioning society.
In the four weeks through December 4, Minneapolis recorded 11 homicides, with the adjacent suburb of Edina recording two more. In the midst of all this violence, the individual stories…
Back in November, Jonathan Weinhagen, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, wrote an op-ed for the Star Tribune titled “Business has nothing to fear from DFL dominance.” His…
Rider beware. As American Experiment recently revealed, federal data shows the Twin Cities light rail line system ranks as the most dangerous in the country. It’s not even close. The…
In September, 2016, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported: Starbucks is expanding its presence in the Twin Cities with several new shops in the works, including one in downtown Minneapolis.…
There has been a steady increase in lawlessness felt in the Twin Cities since 2020, when the defund the police movement promoted weeks of rioting and the burning of the…
Minneapolis is turning into another two-tiered city — mind-blowing luxury at one end, third-world-style poverty at the other. A recent drive through Minneapolis revealed a city moving in two directions…
From time to time, local Minnesota media will mention how deserted downtown Minneapolis has become. The local CBS affiliate, WCCO, ran a story today under the headline, ‘It’s Just a…
The Poll: Minnesotans worry about personal safety.
It’s no secret downtown Minneapolis was in decline due to violent crime and disorder before Covid-19 turned the business district into a ghost town. Riots and looting following George Floyd’s…
When rents rise we often hear people call for rent control - price ceilings. Now that they are falling will we hear people call for rent controls to enact price…
Increased crime, vandalism, and disorder - even just the perception of it - imposes economic costs. If people feel unsafe, they will go elsewhere and they will take their money…
We often hear the old quote that "a riot is the language of the unheard". Sometimes, maybe. Sometimes it is just the language of thieves and vandals.
Businesses are being squeezed out by minimum wage hikes and rising crime.
The Star Tribune recently ran a short piece (July 19) about how Haskell’s Wine Bar on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis closed last month for several reasons, one being how, “Panhandlers…
Grumpy’s, a dive-bar staple in downtown Minneapolis, is closing for good today. The bar has been a mainstay on Washington Ave since it opened in 1999. But a lot has…
Last Wednesday, the Star Tribune published an editorial about the proposed downtown Dayton’s development project that is worth commenting on. It was titled Back to the future with Dayton’s on…
The Met Council’s controversial $2 billion Southwest Light Rail Transit line still hangs on by a thread. So do proposed LRT lines in Nashville, San Antonio and Tampa, among other…
Surly Brewing Company sends out periodic emails about product launches, etc. Today’s email included an entertaining rant about traffic congestion in the Twin Cities. First Surly’s email, then a few…