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Downtown Duluth has long been the city’s living room. It has hosted parades and protests, weddings and wakes, power lunches and late-night coffee refills. It has been a gathering spot for workers, students and visitors drawn to the lakefront.
But in recent years, vacant storefronts and safety concerns have painted a less hopeful picture.
This fall, city leaders and residents will be asked to imagine something different.
The Imagine Downtown initiative, led by the nationally known MIG Consulting Group, is preparing to release its vision for the next decade of Duluth’s core. Organizers say it could become the most significant blueprint for the city center in a generation — a document that merges local voices with national best practices and offers a path toward a safer, livelier, more resilient downtown.
“We are invested in this effort because we believe in the future of downtown Duluth and know that a thriving downtown is critical to Duluth’s future,” said Shaun Floerke, president and CEO of Duluth-based Boreal Waters Community Foundation, an anchor for regional philanthropy that brings together people and resources to spark bold, community-led action with enduring impact. “Imagine Downtown is about rolling up our sleeves and creating a downtown neighborhood this community can be proud of for decades to come. Only in working together will we make this happen. No one is going to do it for us.”
The choice of MIG is no accident. The California-based firm has guided downtown reinventions from Denver to Portland, San Antonio to Spokane. Its fingerprints are visible in riverfront promenades, pedestrian-friendly arts districts and housing-infused cores that once faded under the weight of suburban flight and online shopping.
MIG is known for its immersive approach. Planners fan out across cities, talking to residents and business owners, surveying users of public spaces, and listening as much as they draw. Then they bring in lessons learned from elsewhere — how Boise created a dining and entertainment corridor, Colorado Springs turned an underused downtown into a hub of tech and culture, and San Luis Obispo linked its student population with downtown housing and nightlife.
In Duluth, the firm has spent months convening focus groups and hosting open houses, asking residents to picture how they might use Gichi-ode’ Akiing Park year-round, what kind of housing would bring more families downtown, and how Canal Park, the Historic Arts and Theatre District, and the medical district could be better tied together.
“This initiative has included focus groups, open houses, surveys and interviews in hopes of gaining a very broad perspective on our downtown,” said Kristi Stokes, president of Downtown Duluth. “We love our downtown and want to see it growing and thriving. To hit our goals, we know we want to see more people living downtown and more people utilizing our open spaces. Together, we can make the core of our community stronger, more inviting and welcoming to all.”
For years, Duluth has invested heavily in its waterfront and Canal Park, which draws millions of visitors. But the city center itself has struggled. MIG’s track record suggests it can help bridge that gap.
The firm’s work in Pueblo, Colo., centered on a riverwalk that became both an economic driver and a civic anchor. In Eugene, Ore., MIG helped transform streets into walkable corridors with small businesses and outdoor cafes. Each project started with the same question now facing Duluth: how do you make downtown not just a place to work, but a place to live and gather?
“At Zeitgeist we love our downtown neighborhood, but good planning never hurts,” said Tony Cuneo, president of Zeitgeist, a nonprofit arts and community development organization located in downtown Duluth. “If we can help make the neighborhood we love even more vibrant in the future, great. MIG is doing an excellent job of pulling together a community plan, and we're ready to see it shared with the community, get feedback, and be a part of implementation.”
The stakes are clear: downtown Duluth risks stagnation without new investment and a safer environment.
“Downtown won’t rebound in the absence of significant monetary stimulus,” said Ron Brochu, editor & publisher of BusinessNorth.com. “Commercial property taxes and the various sales taxes chase investment away, but the taxes will remain until we reduce local and state government bloat that’s needed to support the nonproductive elements of our community.”
Business leaders say solving safety is the necessary first step.
“Our strategic framework at the Chamber is built on three pillars: economic development, improving business conditions, and community progress. Imagine Downtown speaks directly to all three,” said Matt Baumgartner, president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.
“For us to accomplish these things in Northeast Minnesota, it is critical that downtown Duluth be seen as the bellwether and hub of that vision. To get there, we must turn the corner on safety. I recognize this is a complex problem that involves the City of Duluth, Downtown Duluth as the BID organization, St. Louis County, social service providers, law enforcement, and the judicial system. But we cannot become comfortable with the status quo.”
Baumgartner added that safety, while paramount, is only the beginning.
“Our vision is bold: to position our region as a national hub for innovation and technology, where natural resources meet advanced manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, and beyond," he said. "Achieving that vision will take more than good ideas and proformas. It will take skilled hands, workforce development, dedicated professionals, and strong labor partners to bring it to life.
“If we can bring safety to a palatable position, the next step is clear: promote our bold vision, attract capital, and execute relentlessly. That is how downtown Duluth will not just imagine, but realize, its future.”
Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert frames the effort as a local plan and a regional strategy.
“Downtown is not just the heart of Duluth, but the entire region of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin,” Reinert said. “A place residents and visitors gather for arts, culture, dining, and access to Canal Park and the Lakewalk. Where people work, and increasingly where we invite them to live and make our newest neighborhood.
“The Imagine Downtown process is about strengthening that core by creating more housing, safer public spaces, and better connections between adjacent districts. It pulls together a variety of community input into one coordinated plan, and we believe it will set the course for a downtown that is vibrant, welcoming, and full of opportunity for everyone.”
Skeptics might wonder whether Imagine Downtown will differ from past studies that produced lofty goals but limited follow-through. Organizers insist this one will.
The plan builds directly on Imagine Duluth 2035, the city’s comprehensive plan, the 2023 Housing Study and the Mayor’s Downtown Task Force Report. Backers include a deep roster of local institutions: Boreal Waters Community Foundation, Knight Foundation, Essentia Health, Minnesota Power, Downtown Duluth, LISC, City of Duluth, DEDA, St. Louis County, Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation and Northland Foundation.
That coalition of funders and civic partners is intended to create the plan and ensure its implementation. MIG’s model elsewhere has paired planning documents with action steps — zoning reforms, design guidelines, investment priorities — that can be tracked over time.
In the coming weeks, Duluthians will see what that looks like. Organizers say the plan will include recommendations on housing, public safety, branding, wayfinding, and redevelopment opportunities. If it follows MIG’s pattern in other cities, it will be a mix of “quick wins” — projects that can be launched almost immediately — and long-term strategies to reshape the downtown by 2030.
The rollout will also begin another, more difficult process: finding the money and political will to make it real.
For now, anticipation builds.
As Floerke said, the outcome will depend on whether Duluth can move from vision to action: “Only in working together will we make this happen. No one is going to do it for us.”
