Elaine Labalme
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
A mill city on the banks of a rushing river morphs into one of the most prosperous cities in the U.S. at the dawn of the 20th century. Globalization brings about a shift in the 1960s and 70s and the city reinvents itself as a hub of technology, commerce and culture. Sound familiar? This is Minneapolis, whose lumber and flour mills once hugged the mighty Mississippi. The erstwhile flyover city has become a destination in its own right and any city, including our own, can learn from what they've done.
It all starts downtown, where the urban renewal of the 60s literally paved the way for the Nicollet Mall, a grand boulevard of wide sidewalks and the outdoor cafes that spill onto them. The streets are clean and people stride purposely throughout the district day and night.
Highrises both old and new lord over the city center and the adaptive reuse of older buildings is most striking in hotels like the
W at the Foshay, a sexpot of a hostelry where deals are cut in butter-leather chairs in a dimly lit lobby.
Restaurants are also part of the mix and hipsters are quick to visit
Hell's Kitchen, where Dante's Inferno is a happy place and the caramel roll a butter fest as big as George Foreman's fist. James Beard Award-nominated chef Isaac Becker gets into the act at
112 Eatery, where his signature burger is slathered with a hunk of brie. A man, a plan and some action and Liberty Avenue could similarly be the pulse of Pittsburgh.
Bikers are also all over the downtown district, and I don't mean Hell's Angels. Thanks to
Nice Ride Minnesota, a bike share program where anyone can access a low-fee ride, commuting is becoming a clean, green affair and residents are getting healthier, which is why Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has jumped onto the bandwagon.
Launched in June with 65 stations and 350 bikes, there are now over 700 shiny green cruisers rolling through town and Mayor R.T. Rybak is on one of them several times a day (hello, Luke!). "The bike share program is opening up downtown to many commuters," says Bill Dossett, executive director of Nice Ride. "This speaks to a pace of life and experience that people want. While it's an important small piece of a bigger package of alternative transportation models, it's primarily an economic development tool for the neighborhoods." Similar programs have been hugely successful in Paris and Barcelona and Denver and Washington, D.C. are also on board.
Equally visible throughout Minneapolis is an ethnically and socially diverse population. The city welcomed Hmong refugees from Laos in the 1980s once they were granted refugee status by the U.S., attracting them with an appealing mix of jobs, housing and good schools. Somali refugees in the 1990s were attracted to the relative safety of Minneapolis compared to their homeland and today, both groups count over 60,000 residents in their new home.
A vibrant Latino community can be found along Lake Street in south Minneapolis and this rich stew "is an asset, not a negative," says Ahmed Muhumud of the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department of the
City of Minneapolis. "It's an investment that enriches all of us." The city's LGBT community is the fourth largest in the U.S. at 12.5% of residents. Minnesota passed a non-discrimination law in 1993 and was the first state to include gender identity in its law. As a result, Minneapolis became a hub of activism and equality and "the entire city is gay-friendly," says Monica Meyer, executive director of OutFront Minnesota.
An embarrassment of riches can be found at the
Walker Art Center, one of the premier modern art museums in the country. The legacy of lumber baron T.B. Walker, the museum is now spread over two ample wings, the newest a striking aluminum mesh cube by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.
"We're off the beaten path," says Karen Gysin of the Walker's Midwestern location, "so we needed cultural institutions to attract high-level people to our many Fortune 500 companies." The focus at the Walker is on contemporary art married to a multi-disciplinary approach (performing arts, film/video) yet it's the permanent collection that elicits wows. Face it, how can you not like a museum that fills a cavernous room with colorful hammocks and loops a Jimi Hendrix soundtrack as backdrop?
The Walker is part of a larger "Minneapolis arts explosion" that has world-class architects redefining many of the city's cultural institutions. Frank Gehry's bold flourishes now grace the
Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota while Argentine architect Cesar Pelli has designed a Central Library that is awash in etched glass and anything but bookish.
At the esteemed
Guthrie Theater, French architect Jean Nouvel has dropped a blue glass cube on the shores of the Mississippi River and the regional theater company stages 25 productions a year while inspiring one of the largest fringe festivals in the region. Art on a smaller scale can be found at the
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, where "Spoonbridge and Cherry" is the whimsy of Claes Oldenburg and his wife and collaborator, Coosje van Bruggen. An oversized spoon cradling a bright red cherry, the sculpture has become an icon of the Minneapolis skyline in much the same way "Cloud's Gate" ("the bean") has captured the fancy of Chicagoans. There's something to be said for searing a city's identity on the collective consciousness...submissions, anyone?
Minneapolitans' finest hour, however, may come in the dead of winter since the city has a plan for snow emergencies. That's right, a plan. "Our plan is more about solving a parking problem, not a plowing problem," says Mike Kennedy, director of Transportation Maintenance and Repair for the City of Minneapolis.
Enacted forty years ago and updated in the mid-80s, the plan calls for the orderly movement of parked cars for any snow event in excess of four inches. No parking is allowed on either side of the street on primary routes on the first day of a snow emergency; the second day prohibits parking on the even side of non-emergency routes and the ban shifts to the odd side of the street on day three. The program is enforced with aggressive tagging and towing and, as a result, 90% compliance is achieved. "The public demands that we tow violators," says Kennedy, who's quick to point out that it's not about towing cars but about plowing streets. "You've got to have a plan in an urban core ? a plan to move cars." Alas, the parking chair has met its match.
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New Girl In Town
Elaine Labalme loves to borrow ideas, jewelry and recipes, in that order, and wants to know how you feel about Philadelphia. Email her here.
Photographs courtesy
Bill Kelley
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