Opinion Once vibrant, Minneapolis-St. Paul is in decline. What happened? - Thursday, 7:00 ABC stations [View all]

Rick Kupchella is the producer of “A Precarious State,” which premieres at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, on the following ABC stations: Twin Cities (KSTP-TV); Duluth (WDIO-TV); Rochester; (KAAL-TV) Fargo; (WDAY-TV), and Sioux Falls (KSFY-TV).

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While it is easy to associate Minneapolis and St. Paul’s challenges with the post-pandemic and work-from-home realities facing much of the nation today, this documentary reveals the truth. Much of the rest of the nation is doing relatively well. Many places are booming. There is substantial evidence that what we face in the Twin Cities has more to do with how we responded to the death of George Floyd, and what followed.

Key insights from the documentary include:

Serious crime is way up since before the death of George Floyd. In Minneapolis, homicides increased 43%, auto theft surged 67% and vandalism rose 73%, per data from the Minneapolis Crime Dashboard comparing Jan. 1-Sept. 15, 2019, vs. Jan. 1-Sept. 15, 2025. While facing some of the highest rates of crime and violence in Minneapolis’s history, CBS News reports, the Minneapolis police force is down 40% in the last four years.

In the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, many businesses are not flourishing. Some have closed. Some have left.

Investment is down — due to elevated risk assessments by institutional investors. Minneapolis-St. Paul has long punched above its weight attracting institutional investment, but that has changed since 2020. Institutional investors tell Minneapolis commercial real estate leaders it’s “career suicide” to recommend this area to investment committees. They see Minneapolis-St. Paul like they see Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Calif.

Job growth here is not a reality. Jobs are in decline — not just relative to our own history but relative to most of the rest of the nation today.

https://archive.ph/WQObJ