Data from Minneapolis Downtown Council shows city residents visited downtown more in 2022 than 2019
A study from the Minneapolis Downtown Council shows that residents of Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs visited downtown more frequently in 2022 than they did before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The council said it used “voluntary participation” from residents every other month between May 2021 and November 2022. That data showed that city residents visiting downtown monthly rose to 70% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 64% in 2019. The study shows that 44% of people living in the suburbs visited downtown in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 40% in 2019.
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The study shows more than 8.6 million people visited downtown for sports, concerts, entertainment, and other major events in 2022. That total is a nearly 69% increase since 2021. In 2019, 9.4 million people visited downtown for similar events.
The return of employees to in-person jobs is also having a significant impact. The council said about 64% of workers “returned to the office in some capacity each week” in February 2023. That’s just over a 56% increase from January 2022 and a 300% increase since January 2021.
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More than $1 billion of Minneapolis’ $1.9 billion worth of new construction permits were in the city’s downtown wards. The study also states that the residential population increased to 56,748, and more than 800 new units are being built.
A full calendar of events downtown can be found here.
The entire study can be viewed below: