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Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District Greening

Enhancing a Green Downtown

Beautiful, well maintained greening elements soften the edges of our downtown making it feel more human in scale, promoting way-finding, and connecting the many highlights and neighborhoods of our city. DID looks for opportunities to advocate for greening at the policy level, provide sustainable greening in the public right of way and encourage greening on private properties. It aligns with the Intersections: The Downtown 2025 Plan goal to enhance the greening and public realm of downtown through various projects by the year 2025.

 


Greening Initiatives

Each spring, the DID fills planters and gardens with over 15,000 colorful plants throughout the district. The DID replaces the flowers with lush spruce tips, birch logs, and vibrant dogwood branches and adorns the light poles with live garland and festive wreaths in the winter months. 

Along with the Green Initiatives, the DID also focuses on creating public art, engaging signage, and public events that contribute to the vibrancy and greenery of the district's public realm.

 

Tree Monitoring and Care

Downtown Mpls has been the donut hole in the city's tree canopy for generations. Not enough trees have been planted, and too many of the trees that have been planted haven't survived or matured. This has serious implications for public health, the urban heat island effect, our natural environment, and the beauty of our public realm. Fortunately, there is a rising tide of support and investment to change that. Starting in 2017, the DID has been working on a series of street tree pilot projects with community partners to remedy this issue.

Today the DID is responsible for planting, measuring, tracking and recording detailed information about the 6,400 street trees downtown.

The DID team also works to maintain and care for these trees by watering them weekly during the growing season and monitoring the soil quality of each tree site.

 

Storm Water

Minneapolis' infrastructure benefits from the DID's urban plantings which capture storm water, reducing erosion and filtering out pollutants which would otherwise drain into the Mississippi River. 

You can get involved in improving the stormwater maintenance of downtown! Through the DID Adopt a Rain Garden Program downtown residents, employees and visitors have the opportunity to help maintain the important rain gardens that create healthy stormwater maintenance. 

 

 

 

Organics, Recycling & Low Waste Practices


Get Involved

Adopt a Rain Garden

Help to improve downtown greenery and stormwater maintenance by participating in the Adopt a Rain Garden program. 

Volunteer

There are lots of opportunities to improve the downtown environment and many ways to contribute. Check out the volunteer calendar to get more information about how you can get involved.