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Tag: Downtown Minneapolis

  • Northstar line’s farewell ride departs downtown Minneapolis after Vikings’ season-closing win

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    Sixteen years of commuting came to a close on Sunday afternoon. 

    The Northstar Commuter Rail made its final ride after the Vikings-Packers game to get fans home safely to the northern Twin Cities suburbs.

    “Last time I was on it, people were so sad. So many people were sad this was not going to continue,” Patty Fernandez, a regular Northstar rider, said.

    It was Meghan Gause’s first time taking the Northstar line to a Vikings game from Coon Rapids, and she’s disappointed it won’t be an option going forward. 

    “I think it’s kind of crazy because it’s really convenient for people to take this and not drive through the traffic along with all the other people,” Gause said. 

    As a Vikings season ticket holder, Fernandez captured the grand finale departure with her granddaughter.

    “This is the only way I get to the games. If it’s not with my son, it’s the train,” Fernandez said.

    The Northstar first launched in 2009 as a 40-mile-long rail line between Target Field in downtown Minneapolis to Big Lake with stops throughout the northern suburbs. 

    In 2018, annual ridership peaked at more than 780,000 passengers. There was a dramatic drop during the pandemic, with an all-time low of just over 50,000 riders in 2021. That number didn’t improve enough in 2024 (approx. 127,000 riders) and 2025 (approx. 113,400 riders) to keep operating efficiently.

    “The subsidy, or what it costs us to support each one of the rides, was more recently over $100 per rider,” said Brian Funk, the chief operating officer for Metro Transit. 

    Funk says plans for the future of this infrastructure are still being determined, but they will work with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and BNSF Railway over the next year to figure out what parts can be repurposed.

    “We’re going to hold onto this, at least for the short term,” Funk said. “It’s a great location right next to the ballpark.”

    In the meantime, public transit riders are left to rely on bus routes to downtown. 

    “I have to. I will not drive over here, it’s ridiculous and the parking is ridiculous,” Fernandez said.

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    Marielle Mohs

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  • As Target sales slide, Minnesota activists renew push for shoppers to boycott the retailer

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    A day after Target’s third-quarter earnings report revealed a drop in sales, a group of community activists renewed their push Thursday for shoppers to boycott the company and take their money elsewhere this holiday season.

    Since late January, they’ve urged customers to stay away from the Minneapolis-based retailer after it announced it was changing its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, sparking backlash. Some of Target’s initiatives were implemented in wake of the murder of George Floyd that rocked Minnesota and the country. 

    “We say that Target’s actions are not acceptable and they will not receive our dollars as a response,” said civil rights attorney and organizer Nikema Levy Armstrong at a news conference outside of corporate headquarters Thursday afternoon. 

    Target on Wednesday announced its third-quarter earnings, showing store sales slid by 2.7% in the last three-month period and is its third straight quarterly decline. The company is also expecting fewer sales through the year’s end, too, during the critical holiday season. 

    In an email to WCCO News, Target said it will complete its commitment to invest $2 billion in Black-owned businesses and has invested $100 million in Black-led community organizations. 

    “Target has a long-standing commitment to creating growth and opportunity for all. We work every day to unlock potential and create lasting impact by empowering entrepreneurs, supporting small businesses, uplifting our team members and strengthening the 2,000+ communities we operate in,” a spokesperson said. 

    Rick Gomez, the chief commercial officer, in the earnings call Wednesday said customers are “stretching budgets” and “spending where it matters most.” Company stock dropped nearly 40% year to date. 

    Officials did not mention the boycott on that call, but its advocates believe the sales slump shows that their efforts are paying off and resonating across the country. 

    They vow to stay away from shopping there until Target reverses course on its DEI policy changes. 

    “Many of us love Target. Many of us have friends and family who work at Target. But when Target refuses to see us, it is time for us to move away from that company,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota. 

    Target said it’s planning an additional $1 billion investment in new stores and remodels and recently slashed prices of essential items like groceries.

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    Caroline Cummings

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  • Target’s downtown Minneapolis HQ employees return to in-person work 3 days a week

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    Hundreds of Target employees are gathered at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis this week for the company’s annual three-day meeting ahead of the holiday season — with Tuesday marking the first day employees at its Nicollet Mall headquarters are required to work in-person three days a week.

    Rick Gomez, Target’s chief commercial officer, announced the change in July in a company memo, noting workers in its commercial unit could choose which days they prefer to work downtown.

    “Team members tell us they see the benefit from the in-person connection and collaboration that’s a part of being in the office,” a company spokesperson said in a statement from July. “At this point, individual leaders are empowered to make decisions for their teams based on company guidance as well as what’s best for the role they play in our business.”

    City leaders praised the move, hoping to boost downtown businesses that have been struggling since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those situated on Nicollet Mall — which Minneapolis Downtown Council CEO Adam Duninick calls “Minnesota’s Main Street.”

    In April 2022, Target officials began experimenting with a hybrid policy for its commercial unit employees in downtown, Brooklyn Park and Eagan, which it dubbed “flex for your day.”

    “While we won’t ask team members to be in the office with a set schedule or percentage of time, we know our physical offices will play an important role in how we work moving forward,” a company spokesperson said in 2022.

    Before the pandemic, Target Corp. was downtown’s largest employer, with about 8,500 workers flooding the skyway system  Monday through Friday, fueling the local economy.

    City leaders instituted a Downtown Action Plan last October with the aim of drawing in more foot traffic from visitors via a slew of family-friendly events. A major focus of the plan is to make it easier for pedestrians to get around with the hopes of boosting small businesses. 

    “It’s no longer a place where people come into work at 8 a.m. and leave at 5 p.m. It’s a place for celebration, entertainment,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in October 2024.

    This story will be updated.

    Stephen Swanson

    Stephen Swanson is a web producer at CBS News Minnesota. Stephen was a floor director for a decade before moving to the WCCO-TV newsroom in 2011, where he focuses on general assignment reporting.

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    Stephen Swanson

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  • Man injured in shooting near Loring Park in Minneapolis; no arrests

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    Minneapolis police investigate reported shooting near Loring Park



    Minneapolis police investigate reported shooting near Loring Park

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    A man is in the hospital after he was shot while in a vehicle in Minneapolis on Monday afternoon, according to police. 

    The shooting happened on the 300 block of Clifton Avenue near Downtown Minneapolis’ Loring Park around 4:04 p.m. Responding officers found a man with life-threatening gunshot wounds, officials said. He was taken to the hospital. 

    Investigators say the man was inside a vehicle when a second vehicle pulled up next to his. Individuals in both vehicles “interacted” before shots were fired and the man was struck, police said, though it hasn’t been disclosed how many people were involved.

    The vehicle that pulled up to the man’s vehicle left the scene before police arrived. 

    6p-vo-mpls-shooting-wcco8okp.jpg

    Minneapolis police investigate a shooting on the 300 block of Clifton Avenue on Sept. 8, 2025.

    WCCO


    Investigators are working to learn the circumstances surrounding the incident.

    Police said no arrests have been made.  

    Note: The video in the player above is from before Minneapolis police shared information about the shooting.

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    Nick Lentz

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  • Minneapolis bridge getting $34 million in federal funding for improvements, repairs

    Minneapolis bridge getting $34 million in federal funding for improvements, repairs

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    3 shot in Dinkytown, and more headlines


    3 shot in Dinkytown, and more headlines

    04:18

    MINNEAPOLIS — A project to improve the Nicollet Avenue Bridge is getting $34.2 million in federal funding.

    The funding is part of a $635 million grant for 22 small and medium-sized bridge projects around the U.S., according to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. 

    The bridge, which stands over Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis’ Tangletown neighborhood, was built in 1923 and underwent repairs in 1973, according to the city. 

    nicollet-drone-photo-1.jpg

    City of Minneapolis


    Federal officials say over 10,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day.

    The city is planning to replace the bridge’s sidewalks, drainage and lighting systems and create protected bike lanes. 

    The money for the grant is part of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which was signed into law in 2021. 

    During construction, the bridge will be closed to all cars, bikes and pedestrians. Timing on construction is undecided, according to the city.

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    Nick Lentz

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