Mpls Downtown Improvement District

The International Downtown Association recognized the Mpls Downtown Improvement District (Mpls DID) with the Downtown Achievement Award of Excellence for its work and initiatives related to Greening Lab. IDA tasked a jury of peer professionals to review, deliberate and evaluate all entries in the 2020 Downtown Achievement Awards. The Award of Excellence acknowledges an excellent response to an industry challenge demonstrating application of prosperous and inclusive place management and exceeds the jury criteria.  

Greening Lab was among 29 qualified entries in the category of Public Space Management and Operations which IDA identifies as one of the seven professional urban place management practice areas. This category features unique organizational approaches and projects in the areas of clean, safe and hospitality, placemaking and activation and facilities management.

“We are honored to receive the 2020 IDA award for Public Space Management and Operations for the work being done through Greening Lab,” said Steve Cramer, President & CEO of the Mpls Downtown Improvement District. “Green streets are an important resource for healthy, beautiful, and inviting downtown communities. We are committed to finding strategies that help trees reach maturity as well as engaging the public to participate. Greening Lab is an initiative that achieves both.”

Greening Lab is an initiative to grow street trees in downtown Minneapolis. Minneapolis has a nation-leading park system and leafy neighborhoods, but downtown has been a gap in the city’s tree canopy for generations. Greening Lab combines supplemental care (e.g. watering every street tree weekly during its establishment period), community engagement (e.g. interactive tree tags, scavenger hunt), and annual research (e.g. documenting the condition of every street tree every year). These tactics were part of a broader strategy to demonstrate that better outcomes for downtown’s tree canopy an the community it benefits are possible and, in doing so, build momentum for more investment to follow.

“The Mpls Downtown Improvement District has shown expert application of professional urban place management principles with their project Greening Lab,” said David Downey, IDA President and CEO. “Greening Lab should serve as a model example to all member communities within IDA.” 

Washington, DC-based IDA is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. The Mpls DID is the urban place management organization representing the interests of property owners in Minneapolis.