Open Streets Minneapolis started as an idea in 2009. It coordinated with the formation of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition (MBC).
Volunteers went door to door to collect signatures for block permit application approval. These volunteers were with the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. They collected these signatures in the winter.
Open Streets initiatives from around the world inspired us. The vision was for Open Streets Minneapolis to be different from other street events that also need traffic control and an event permit. Events such as street fairs, block parties, races.
MBC called out a need to develop an initiative that supports broader City efforts.
City efforts such as to:
The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition hosted the first Open Streets Minneapolis event. It happened on a two-mile stretch of Lyndale Avenue South.
We held Open Streets Events on Lyndale Avenue South and Lowry Avenue North.
There were four Open Streets Minneapolis events. We hosted one in each quadrant of the City:
Over the next two years, the initiative continued to grow. There were six Open Streets Minneapolis events in 2014.
There were eight Open Streets Minneapolis events in 2015. An estimated 65,000 people attended in 2015.
We discussed how to make Open Streets Minneapolis more sustainable and transparent.
City Council discussions led to the following actions:
The City Council resolved that the City will support Open Streets as City-hosted events in Minneapolis.
This was to help further the following policies:
It was further resolved that the Minneapolis City Council will
The 2016 season of Open Streets Minneapolis had eight events throughout the City.
Open Streets Minneapolis requires a yearly organizer that
The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition has been serving in this role.
Compared to the past, the City helped planned the 2017 season of Open Streets a lot more.
The 2017 season of Open Streets Minneapolis had eight events throughout the City.
The City of Minneapolis released a formal call for a partner.
We sought someone to
We choose the Bicycle Coalition to organize the 2017 season. The Coalition worked with us to provide an application for routes and hosts.
This did the following:
We tasked the Organizer with managing all parts of 2017 Open Streets Minneapolis.
This included:
We used many factors, including
The Organizer worked with us to put out an Application for interested parties to
We did this to get more locals to partake in in Open Streets Minneapolis initiative. We also wanted to make this initiative more sustainable and increase outreach.
A selection committee (of both internal and external partners) reviewed the applications.
Each member scored routes based on many factors, such as, if the route:
After gathering to review scores, the section committee decided on the top routes. They then contacted applications to further discuss interest and qualifications.
The 2020 season of Open Streets Minneapolis had seven events throughout the City.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to the City and Open Streets Minneapolis.
This included not knowing if and when we could gather for large public events. In response to this uncertainty, we made a few changes to our typical event season:
Our first priority is the health of our community.
In a time of social distancing & economic uncertainty:
Open Streets Minneapolis events were powerful spaces for community healing. We made the best decisions to increase the chances these events can happen without compromising community health.
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