#downtown minneapolis
Loop Lots Favor Shoppers Over Workers
April 3, 1946: The Minneapolis City Council license committee met to discuss complaints from downtown workers that they were being discriminated against by parking lot operators in favor of the shopping crowd. Operators said the short-time occupant meant more revenue and insisted it would ease the city’s traffic congestion. The idea was that by refusing to open the lots until 9:30 or 10 a.m., downtown workers would be discouraged from driving to work. City engineer Hugo Erickson, said he was not yet sure of the effect, but was interested in seeing if it would impact downtown streets.
Photo P47032 of a patron not being allowed to park in a half empty lot because of quotas to maximize profit, from the Minneapolis Newspaper Photograph Collection in the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.
Bicycle Parking Rules
Pictured above are illegally and legally parked bicycles on Nicollet Mall in the 1970s.
In 1978 a new Minneapolis ordinance passed allowing non-motorized bicycles to park on signposts. The ordinance still prohibited bicycle parking on trees, parking meter posts, street-light posts, traffic lights, fences—basically anything other than authorized bike racks and signposts—but it opened the doors to more parking options for cyclists and reduced the number of bikes being impounded. The ordinance more or less still stands:
490.150. - Attachment of objects prohibited; exception for bicycles.
No person shall secure, attach or connect in any manner any motorized vehicle, boat, … or non-motorized bicycle to any tree, parking meter post, street light post, traffic signal post or post sign; except as follows:
Bicycles that are not part of a bicycle sharing operation shall be permitted to be parked upon a sidewalk and to be temporarily attached to sign posts and bicycle racks. When parked or attached as permitted, bicycles shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of pedestrian or other traffic. (91-Or-065, § 8, 4-12-91; Ord. No. 2018-015 , § 1, 4-27-18)
Photos of bikes parked downtown in the 1970s from the City of Minneapolis Collection in the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.
May is National Bike Month and Minneapolis Bike Month. Find more local bike history in our Tumblr Archive.
Take the Skyway
The first skyways appeared over downtown Minneapolis 60 years ago this year. Opened in the fall of 1962, the very first skyway connected the Northstar Center with the Northwestern National Bank Building. Skyways have continued to appear over our heads downtown ever since, and Minneapolis now boasts 9.5 miles of skyway! The newest addition to the skyway system connects our own Minneapolis Central Library to the downtown network.
Explore these and more photos of skyways in the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.
