In overhauling the appearance and ambience of a popular mall, the Minneapolis Downtown Council and the Minneapolis City Council have promoted strategies beyond heavy-handed policing, including philanthropy, social services, and community engagement.
A Mall for “Everyone”
Earlier this year, the City of Minneapolis broke ground on a $50 million overhaul of Nicollet Mall, the 12-block centerpiece of its downtown. Like many main street projects, the Nicollet Mall Project is rooted in high-minded principles of public space: that attractive, multifunctional, green, diverse, and life-filled downtowns beget economic activity and social well-being. The City hired the designers of Manhattan’s High Line to lead the redesign. The website for the project touts that it is “making a mall for everyone.”
There is some irony here. While Nicollet Mall is aesthetically outdated (one writer recently described it as “rather dull”), has poor frontage, and loses pedestrians to second-story skyways overhead, it already attracts tens of thousands of residents, workers, shoppers, tourists, and barflies every day. If you have attended a national conference in Minneapolis, you have probably been there too.
Some say the Mall’s problem is one of too many people, or at least too many of a certain type.
FULL STORY: Conflict and Placemaking: Tactical Urbanism on Nicollet Mall
Nevada Cities Pass Punitive Anti-Homeless Laws
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Harley Davidson Includes Community Park in Headquarters Revamp
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
The Five Most-Changed American Cities
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San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
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Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
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Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions