Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

The previous icon and banner got lost somehow, and I'm not sure what they were since I'm just starting mod duties now. Anyone have opinions on what we should put as the community icon and banner? I unimaginatively put the new Seal of Minnesota as the icon for now.

Post any ideas you've got below. Preferably stuff that's permissively licensed or public domain, or generally wouldn't be a hassle.

One such recent example of Hindutva propagation through art is “Parivaar: A celebration of Community as Family,” performed on February 18, 2024 at the Ordway Concert Hall — funded by Schubert Club Mix in St. Paul, Minnesota. The production brought the spotlight on to a troubling intersection of art and reactionary politics, a stark embodiment of willful artistic ignorance and ideological blindness in the South Asian diaspora.

The current icon and banner for this community are broken, is there an image it's supposed to be showing?

With a primary election less than two weeks away, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders held a get-out-the-vote rally in Minneapolis for Rep. Ilhan Omar on Saturday. Just like in 2022, Omar is facing a challenge from former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels.

Omar took the stage to chants of “Ilhan!” at Edison High School, her alma mater, to a big crowd of supporters and introduced the two-time presidential candidate who won Minnesota’s Democratic caucus in 2016. Sanders told the crowd they need to send Omar back to Congress.

“She is not only somebody who has and will take on enormously powerful special interests, but she is one of the toughest people that I know,” he said.

Still booming after three decades, the DIY Minneapolis record shop has organized a months-long series of anniversary concerts.

A unique development process is underway at St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis, where the federal government is transferring 5 acres of land to local control.

Owámniyomni Okhódayapi, a nonprofit formerly known as Friends of the Falls, has selected a design team guided by Dakota knowledge keepers to conduct a consensus-based ecological restoration. The land was both the birthplace of Minneapolis and sacred to the Indigenous people who lived there before.

"We're working towards 100% land restoration, bringing flowing water back, bringing back species of life where they once were," said Shelley Buck, president of Owámniyomni Okhódayapi and a former Prairie Island tribal leader. "People are really excited about this and willing to change how they do business normally to make sure that this site truly does give back to all of us."

The cat tour started small.

John Edwards thought it would be hilarious — and somewhat ridiculous — to lead a walk through his Minneapolis neighborhood admiring the many felines that live there.

“It’s the kind of densely populated neighborhood where if you’re walking around, you’re going to see a lot of cats,” said Edwards, who lives in Lowry Hill East — often called “the Wedge” because of its wedgelike shape — where there are roughly 9,300 residents.

About a dozen people showed up for the impromptu cat tour, led by Edwards, seven years ago. Over a two-mile walk, the group stopped to see some 20 cats peeking through their windows.

Edwards — who runs a hyperlocal media publication called Wedge Live — never anticipated his cat tour concept would catch on. But people loved it and wanted more, so Edwards began organizing an annual cat tour.

It grew every year.

Jaleel Stallings was swept up in the chaos of protests over George Floyd’s murder. The outcome changed his life.

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Another downtown Minneapolis tower is on the market, this time the Wells Fargo Center as the commercial real estate sector remains under pressure in the post-pandemic economy.

More evidence hybrid work policies are affecting real estate: Capella University significantly downsized its footprint at the Sixth Street tower that bears its name, giving up 167,000 square feet of leased space. Capella when its new lease takes effect will occupy only 111,714 square feet in the building, according to the first quarter office market report from Chicago-based JLL, a commercial real estate services firm.

"Capella University moved to hybrid work model expectations in 2023 following the COVID-19 pandemic," said Lucy Wilson-Garza, spokeswoman for Capella owner Strategic Education Inc. "We routinely assess our physical, brick-and-mortar office space to accommodate the dynamic needs of our employee base. Early this year, Capella University reevaluated our lease at the Capella Tower and used this opportunity to consolidate space."

Dallas-based CBRE Group Inc., which handles leasing for Capella Tower, declined comment. Officials for San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties, which owns the tower, could not be reached for comment.

The overall office vacancy rate for downtown Minneapolis at the end of the first quarter was 31.3%, up a percentage point from the same quarter a year ago, according to Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm. In the first quarter of 2019, the rate was 19.6%.

More than 8.9 million square feet of office space in downtown Minneapolis is now available for lease, the firm said.

The Miami-based Starwood Capital Group acquired Wells Fargo Center for $315 million in 2019. Starwood representatives could not be reached for comment. CBRE is handling the listing.

The news regarding Wells Fargo and Capella are par for the course, real estate experts said.

Two dominant themes of today's office market are that tenants are seeking less space and buildings are being sold at steep discounts compared to previous sales.

"Values have dropped significantly and it's time for a reset," said Mike Salmen, managing principal for the Minneapolis office of Houston-based Transwestern.

The Cushman & Wakefield report took note of a smaller deal earlier this year in the Warehouse District: "the Kickernick Building in the Minneapolis CBD was sold at auction for $3.8 million, or approximately 20% of its 2017 sale price of $19.15 million."

Adam Duininck, CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, said the downtown recovery remains mixed.

"I think there's a little bit of good news and a little bit of challenging news," said Adam Duininck, CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.

Duininck pointed to U.S. Bancorp signing a 10-year renewal for its downtown headquarters last fall as a good sign. Downtown Council statistics show hotel occupancy, transit ridership and returning office workers are all increasing.

"We know there's more activity that's happening month by month," Duininck said.

Leaders said more than 200 drivers had signed up with Drivers Cooperative, based in New York, and Hich, which operates in Africa and Canada. Uber and Lyft say they are leaving the market by May 1.