OT - City of Minneapolis

[Coolbreeze44]

Cool, I read a couple pages of responses but not all of them. Here is my take.. I live in Eden Prairie, which is definitely out of the action and have been working from home since last April, but I am in Uptown about twice a week, mostly in the evenings, where one of my good friends lives (near the Walgreens that was looted off 27th/Hennepin). The violence is definitely way up, specifically car jackings, shootings, and people stealing catalytic converters. As far as the city, for a long while after the Floyd death, there was graffiti all over buildings. Many remained closed. Lots of ACAB, #BLM, and other stuff. That very Walgreens remained closed for about 6-7ish months I'd guestimate? They actually just opened back up a month or two ago and have already been fully looted again. I don't know why a business would want to move into the area. Can't speak to Downtown but a lot of that emptiness I think has to do with COVID. In general, I don't feel overly unsafe around her place in Uptown, though I know that Walgreens suffers a fair amount of thefts being they're 24 hours in the middle of Uptown.

A lot of graffiti still remains so that is where I would agree with your friend (if his visit was recent, and if he's talking uptown), and the crime is on a big time spike. No longer would I feel safe with my friend (female) walking alone late at night. I didn't have quite as much concern prior to the last year. She wants to move out of the city because she doesn't feel safe overall. So I wouldn't say it's a sh!thole, but I would say if I was a resident or a business, I don't see why anyone would be dying to move to Minneapolis right now.

Thanks Hockey, that sounds like a good take. I loved the Twin Cities while I lived there in Eagan for many years. Hate to hear this stuff. And I am genuinely concerned for the country.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

As someone who traditionally works right by Target corporate, I will add my take.

- Someone stated "Target moved out". Only partially true. They moved out of the City Center building and those folks were redistributed to their larger corporate office downtown or the Brooklyn Park location. They still have massive presence downtown. That said, they haven't been downtown since like last March, and won't likely be downtown again until fall.

- Pandemic vs politics. Many have stated the "issues" are driven only by pandemic. I believe they are fully intermingled. COVID radically changed the "work from home" component, which is obviously why less folks are downtown. But I can state that as part of a team with large presence downtown, there is certainly a component of "safety" in decisions not to return downtown. Leadership for many companies have determined that folks are generally successful from home, so they have in many cases taken the "potential for safety issues" into account, and mandated further WFH.

For those that think crime isn't a component of these decisions, go stand in front of the Target store downtown for an hour. It is a very different experience than it was a couple years ago. This is not a "narrative", it is just my observation. I have worked in the heart of downtown for past 20+ years. It is NOT currently the same place it was pre-COVID or George Floyd.

- Future of downtown: This is a tough one. I can say that it will be very different, as many businesses/offices will not be returning post pandemic. This idea of "needing to meet live" has changed, and many will continue to operate in the "Zoom" world permanently post-pandemic. Also, many of the staple small restaurants and such closed up shop permanently a long time ago. I don't see these things coming back, as they just won't have the same population to serve. It's a strange dynamic, as there seems to be boom in housing downtown area, but businesses and restaurants are declining. Not sure what to think.

[AbeVigodaLive]

As someone who traditionally works right by Target corporate, I will add my take.

- Someone stated "Target moved out". Only partially true. They moved out of the City Center building and those folks were redistributed to their larger corporate office downtown or the Brooklyn Park location. They still have massive presence downtown. That said, they haven't been downtown since like last March, and won't likely be downtown again until fall.

- Pandemic vs politics. Many have stated the "issues" are driven only by pandemic. I believe they are fully intermingled. COVID radically changed the "work from home" component, which is obviously why less folks are downtown. But I can state that as part of a team with large presence downtown, there is certainly a component of "safety" in decisions not to return downtown. Leadership for many companies have determined that folks are generally successful from home, so they have in many cases taken the "potential for safety issues" into account, and mandated further WFH.

For those that think crime isn't a component of these decisions, go stand in front of the Target store downtown for an hour. It is a very different experience than it was a couple years ago. This is not a "narrative", it is just my observation. I have worked in the heart of downtown for past 20+ years. It is NOT currently the same place it was pre-COVID or George Floyd.

- Future of downtown: This is a tough one. I can say that it will be very different, as many businesses/offices will not be returning post pandemic. This idea of "needing to meet live" has changed, and many will continue to operate in the "Zoom" world permanently post-pandemic. Also, many of the staple small restaurants and such closed up shop permanently a long time ago. I don't see these things coming back, as they just won't have the same population to serve. It's a strange dynamic, as there seems to be boom in housing downtown area, but businesses and restaurants are declining. Not sure what to think.

1. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-minneapolis-9266c6f8a7d18c5ec4beafb23439ecea
I have many friends who work for Target, including at the City Center building. I was surprised when multiple people said confidently that they won't be returning to any office... at any point.

2. I don't think anybody is foolish enough to think that downtown Mpls is a beautiful mecca of peaceful harmony. It never really was. It had its pluses... and its obvious warts. Several thousand fewer white collar professionals in the area, however, are going to skew the percentage of people left behind. And that's probably behind what you're seeing in front of the Target store. Not only are there fewer lawyers and buyers and IT specialists to go there... the ones still working downtown are probably less likely to go there and stand out from the crowd out front.

3. The importance of epicenters of work + commerce has a dicey future indeed. As noted, there is a housing boom in downtown... the North Loop... and soon slightly further west of 94. Maybe we'll see more of a sprawling downtown area. I dunno.

But my one prediction is that remote working will become the norm -- until it's not. Obviously, a lot of companies are finding productivity hasn't waned much in the past 12+ months. But is it sustainable? After our everyday lives return to normalcy? After we become more complacent working from home? After years of less and less collaboration with peers? I work in an industry where I joke about companies needing us... and then deciding they can do it themselves when a new regime takes over. And then reversing course again when another regime takes over. Rinse. Repeat. It's like clockwork.

I think the work-from-home cycle will run its course. Not entirely. I think the cat is out of the bag on that one. But in-person work will return in some way for many. What will it look like? I dunno. Nor do I know what "downtown" will look like for those who ultimately return to work there.

[FNG]

Abe asks an interesting question as to whether remote working will become the norm. Until recently, I would have said no...companies have to see how productivity has waned and go back to the old ways. But then my company announced that they are moving from 3 floors to 1 at the end of our lease, even though head count is up. That's a rather strong bet on remote working being here to stay, and only providing office space for those who truly cannot work remotely. But then again, we could be wrong.

[FNG]

I'm going to put this in the OT section even though it's sports related, to avoid taking the GDT in the wrong direction.

Can anyone explain the rationale for not allowing fans into the Wolves game today? I understand why they moved it to a day game, but why no fans? They're allowing 10.000 fans into the ball park right next door, so the Twins don't see fans being on the street in daylight as a dangerous situation. I would have thought management of the two teams would have had a coordinated approach in conjunction with law enforcement. It's probably for the best for me personally, because without KAT or Giannis, I wasn't too excited about driving downtown to watch what's likely going to be a bad game. Seems odd though.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

Abe asks an interesting question as to whether remote working will become the norm. Until recently, I would have said no...companies have to see how productivity has waned and go back to the old ways. But then my company announced that they are moving from 3 floors to 1 at the end of our lease, even though head count is up. That's a rather strong bet on remote working being here to stay, and only providing office space for those who truly cannot work remotely. But then again, we could be wrong.

I think companies understand now they can survive with "1 floor", as is case with your company, where that space is flexible. I know some examples where schools/businesses will utilize "pods", or common work space where people can come in "as needed". For some, that will be a set schedule and for others, likely a "sign up" basis.

Will be interesting to watch.

[bleedspeed]

I have been working from or able to work from home since year 2 out of college so this didn't change anything for me. I found early on I worked way harder remotely, but that does change over time. It really is important to have a place that you are not distracted. When you have a group of remote employees you have to have team events that get people together. They make a huge difference in the ability to bond and network. Kickoffs and semi-annual meetings are more important and those things are not cheap. Ours would usually be in someplace decent. It would be Chicago, San Antonio, Vegas, San Diego, Orlando, and Nashville mostly. Nobody ever wanted to come to Minnesota, but I can see it working better now that there are hotels at the MOA. I think the WeWork model will come back strong.

I think downtowns will adjust. I think entertainment centers might be the thing, but wonder how they will be fair without as many business professionals downtown. Those happy hours and 10k company dinners have to really help the bottom line and businesses fill the hotels during the week. I wonder how sustainable it all is without that huge corporate presence.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Abe asks an interesting question as to whether remote working will become the norm. Until recently, I would have said no...companies have to see how productivity has waned and go back to the old ways. But then my company announced that they are moving from 3 floors to 1 at the end of our lease, even though head count is up. That's a rather strong bet on remote working being here to stay, and only providing office space for those who truly cannot work remotely. But then again, we could be wrong.

I think companies understand now they can survive with "1 floor", as is case with your company, where that space is flexible. I know some examples where schools/businesses will utilize "pods", or common work space where people can come in "as needed". For some, that will be a set schedule and for others, likely a "sign up" basis.

Will be interesting to watch.

I can also tell you a lot of CFOs salivate at the savings in facility and travel costs. At our company our CFO is talking about halving the travel budget from pre-pandemic times to post-pandemic times. Same goes with a reduced office footprint required.

A lot of companies are reporting record earnings and aren't going to want to add-back a bunch of costs once this is all over with. Basically the pandemic compressed changes that were already enabled by technology from a 10-year time horizon to a few months. It ain't going back to what it was.....

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I haven't been to Minneapolis in a couple of years, but I lived in Uptown for a year and visited the city quite a bit when I was younger.

There are different parts of Minneapolis, but in terms of downtown specifically, I'm not surprised to hear it's a ghost town because it always struck me as almost entirely commercial, or rather, office buildings specifically, mostly built in the 70s-80s, if I remember right. There were parts that had actual shopping areas and some loft development, but the main part of downtown was always dominated by huge office buildings. It was just never a welcoming place at night anyway after all the workers went home. Now, with people shifting to remote work, I'm sure it's really suffered. There are a lot of fingers to point in a lot of directions, but one of them should be at the way downtown was developed in such an imbalanced way in the first place.

[Porckchop]

Do sanctuary cities have more crime?
I'm curious to see the numbers. People that come from all around the world take with them their way of life. It's not like they leave their way of living behind when they come here. Treatment of women and violence in poor countries is far worse than what we see here. People coming from a place where they had nothing only to come here where they still have nothing but everything costs a whole lot more is gonna cause problems.
Come here with nothing and you'll find yourself more poor than where you came from.