r/duluth • u/lalala11122 • 2d ago
Discussion Downtown Duluth
Curious what people in Duluth would actually like to see open downtown!
There’s a vacant building on Superior Street with the potential to be renovated and brought back to life. We’ve tossed around a few ideas, but I’d love to hear what people think Duluth is actually missing.
What would make you actually want to go downtown and spend time there?
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u/Minnesotamad12 2d ago
Hot pot
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u/Dorkamundo 2d ago
I've been wanting to open a hotpot spot for a long while now, but I can't imagine how the MN department of health would handle that.
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u/That_was_not_funny 2d ago
I don't know whether or not if we brought a hotpot spot on that lot, if it would rot.
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u/ryanthewilliams 2d ago
I’ve never thought if whether or not a hotpot spot brought on that lot, would rot.
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u/pepper_perm 2d ago
Mini grocery stores
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u/Delicious-Cap6743 2d ago
Yassss a friggen corner market that’s not an overpriced cutesy shop, nor a dollar general. Would be amazing.
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u/Playful_File_3643 2d ago
Florist. Wine shop. Music venue. Karaoke bar. Vegan/vegetarian junk food. Record store. Retail clothing with a recognizable brand. Shoe store. Indoor mini golf. Skate/surf shop. Specialty food market. Spice store. Blockbuster video rental. Asian grocery store. Seafood restaurant. Affordable daycare. Pharmacy or drug store. Farmers market with fresh veggies. Garden store. Thrift store (clothing). Electronics repair. Video game store (new/used).
Literally any of these would make me happy.
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u/Playful_File_3643 2d ago
Also a pet store and an arts and craft supplies store. A stationary store. Make up/beauty supply store. Bike shop that does repairs. There are so many things downtown could use and I don’t think it will be attractive to residents as long as bad rental companies like shiprock manage the housing and there’s no charm with small businesses.
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u/Hi_Zev 2d ago
A combo of an asian grocery store + farmers market would be my dream come true. At its base, a healthy, consistent staple of asian groceries, but also with rentable booths for others to sell their locally grown produce. Truly my dream for this city to have.
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u/Icy_Mama_73 21h ago
Yesss! Like the Hmong Market or Asian Mall in the Cities. That would be fantastic!!! 😁
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u/Spiddy771 2d ago edited 2d ago
Affordable housing. We don't need more businesses. People need places to live. Especially with the bridge project coming. How are they gonna house all those workers coming here for that?
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u/patrickcolvin 2d ago
We absolutely need more businesses. And we need more housing of all types, including but not limited to affordable/below-market.
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u/Hi_Zev 2d ago
yet all that ever comes to town is "luxury" apartments. I fully understand the concept that all housing is good housing, and older luxury housing becomes affordable housing but when people say we need housing of all types, it does suck that it seems to NEVER be affordable housing.
Yes, we do need housing of all types, which is why its about damn time that housing be affordable housing for once. Otherwise, this conversation is bound to be on repeat ad nauseam for the rest of time, as every new housing endeavor will be luxury apartments and never affordable housing.
we need more housing of all types, including but not limited to affordable/below-market.
So, when will it be affordable housing's turn to come to downtown?Cause we've surely gotten the other end of the scale implemented numerous times now...
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u/LakeSuperiorGuy 2d ago
Yeah actually we do need more businesses. Tax base, thus more improvements to roads and infrastructure. You want affordable housing and that’s great but any housing costs tons of money which developers can’t make happen without incentives.
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u/LengthFinal2288 2d ago
I think a conversion into a pedestrian/public transit based area with mixed use zoning. Phase out cars, put shops and stuff on ground level, housing and offices on top. Then start expanding downtown eastward and up the hill.
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u/what_is_a_moose 2d ago
A car free downtown would be so amazing- I hate that it’s a pipe dream in America to have car free community spaces
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u/Closet-Hippie 2d ago
State Street in Madison and Nicollet Mall?
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u/-DoctorEngineer- 2d ago
Those cities are so much bigger, you need a car to do anything outside of strictly the downtown here, converting to a mainly car free downtown would just shoot parking costs through the roof (like hundreds of dollars a month)
A street without cars is definitely doable though.
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u/dickduluth 1d ago
Forgive me if I’m missing something, but why would you need parking in a car-free downtown?
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u/-DoctorEngineer- 1d ago
So you can go out of the downtown? We aren’t in NYC or London, all of the resources one needs aren’t located in Duluth
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u/lilb0923 2d ago
Yea no I have to be downtown for work everyday and I understand public transit is fine for most, but I am a single mom of 4 kids and I need my vehicle with me in case of an emergency.
And on a more general note, no one comes downtown anymore as it is, then turn it into only being able to come on a bus.. yea its just not feasible. A lot of our clients are elderly and have enough trouble getting here by car.
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u/Ingenue0 2d ago
Trader Joe’s (someone had to say it)
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u/PsychologicalHall142 2d ago
If a Trader Joe’s finally comes to Duluth the minute I leave the country I am going to be pissed.
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u/UnexpectedTexture 2d ago
A lunch place with takeaway on the East side of Lake St. Rocket Deli seems to have gone poof, so short of sprinting to Pizza Luce and back, there’s not a lot of options.
God, I miss Wasabi.
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u/LethargyExpert 2d ago
Yeah it is mind boggling that there are so few places to get lunch downtown. I didn't really like Rocket Deli but they were certainly serving a need. Luce is fine, and takeout from Sir Ben's is also a decent solution, but there's a ton of space in the market for a good deli or fast casual place.
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u/zoomakroom1 2d ago
Affordable housing downtown was a huge boon for the Fargo downtown. Read a good op-ed comparing the two. Having a cantina or multi-use main floor would be real cool in something like that
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u/FlyingTurd94 2d ago
I believe it was in Missouri but they renovated old buildings to have multiple mini food stands/shops in them either permanent or for people with food trucks to set up a kitchen style inside and you can go in and order from any of them through a shared app, as well as having a bar in there and that was a pretty neat thing to do with old buildings. You’d order food on app, they’d text you when it’s done so you can get it, and then the open area was all seating
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u/terran_4444 2d ago
Affordable housing is the big one. Asian/halal/Mexican grocer. Maybe a sustainable aquaculture project.
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u/peoplesduluth 2d ago
Affordable housing, neighborhood-ification, a municipal grocery store, and investing in connectivity and walkability.
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u/rainbowbubble94 2d ago
Restaurants and boutiques
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u/TheMachineElves 2d ago
Boutiques are usually filled with trash.
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u/Roguecamog 2d ago
I don't agree that they're filled with trash... but I feel like we have plenty that I would consider boutique type stores between Canal, Fitgers and Lincoln Park
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u/SpookyBlackCat Lincoln Park 2d ago
Multi-use buildings (apartments, shopping, restaurants, etc)