Mpls Downtown Improvement District

Minneapolis is well-known for its parks and greenery, but downtown, glass, steel, brick and concrete dominate.

Thus, to make its downtown a more beautiful, healthy place to live and work, the city's Downtown Council, its Downtown Improvement District and other partners are leading a push to transform it into more of a green oasis.

"The whole city should have green qualities ... even if it's not part of one of our phenomenal parks," said Mayor R.T. Rybak, who describes Minneapolis as a city within a park.

The groups are hiring a consultant to determine the feasibility and approach of creating green spaces downtown, which could range from adding more trees on Nicollet Mall to a new park to connect downtown to the river.

One possible outcome of the initiative is a new nonprofit entity that could work with the public and private sectors to help oversee downtown greening projects.

In October, Meet Minneapolis, the city's convention and tourism agency, presented "City by Nature" as the new tagline for Minneapolis. But with downtown as it is now, there's too much pavement and not enough trees, said Beth Shogren, manager of operations for the Downtown Improvement District (DID).

In 2009, trees covered about 3 to 10 percent of downtown, while covering about 32 percent of the entire city, according to a University of Minnesota study.

"To have a city that incorporates [green space] into its very fabric is going to make downtown Minneapolis a better place to be," Shogren said.

Some ideas include adding trees, improving lighting and benches on Nicollet Mall and development of Gateway Park, now called the Gateway, a project that would turn blocks of parking lots between the Minneapolis Public Library and the riverfront into green space.

However, in order for public entities such as the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to pursue some of those initiatives, it may take help, said park board president John Erwin.

"I think it's going to have to be a public-private partnership with Gateway Park, in particular," Erwin said.

Even to plant more trees downtown, which is a more expensive enterprise than in other parts of the city, may require private funding, Erwin said.

"Downtown should be green, just the same as the rest of the city," he added.

More details about what kind of green initiatives should be pursued will come in December when the Minneapolis Downtown Council releases its Downtown 2025 plan, which will focus on its goals for the area, including those dealing with transit, development and greening, Shogren said.

Other cities around the country are trying to incorporate more greenery, as well.

"I think times have changed, and there's a huge interest in making sure that the urban core is a healthy, vibrant, alive, green, economically sound place to live, work and play all at the same time," said Susan Schmidt, the Minnesota state director for the Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization.

The Trust for Public Land has been pushing for a central park in downtown Minneapolis for years. The nonprofit organization responded to a request for proposals for the feasibility study, Schmidt said.

"Look at any great metropolitan area in the country," Schmidt said, listing Chicago, Seattle, Houston and Cleveland. "They all have great parks downtown."

Rybak says that the city has some catching up to do. But, he said, "When we're done, nobody will be able to compare with us."

The Park Board has agreed to pay for part of the study, and the city must still sign off on it, she said. The study is expected to begin in December. Its findings should be presented in March, Shogren said.

Source: Star Tribune