Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is attempting a novel technique to get distant employees to return downtown: insulting them.
“I don’t know if you saw this study the other day,” Frey told an audience of 1,000 at Minneapolis Downtown Council’s annual assembly on Wednesday. “What this study clearly showed … is that when people who have the ability to come downtown to an office don’t — when they stay home sitting on their couch, with their nasty cat blanket, diddling on their laptop — if they do that for a few months, you become a loser!”
The remark was a “complete joke” and the examine was made-up, the Minneapolis Mayor’s workplace advised Fortune, however there are critical info to again up Frey’s fear in regards to the affect of distant work on Minneapolis’ downtown financial system.
Minneapolis ranked 64th among 66 cities in downtown restoration from the pandemic, College of Toronto’s Faculty of Cities reported in October. Guests to the downtown space have been 56% of what they have been pre-COVID, in accordance with cellphone use information collected by the examine.
Together with the collapse of enormous retailers within the space, the Minneapolis Basis-commissioned “Downtown Next” report from December attributed town’s sluggish restoration to distant work, which “brought tectonic shifts to the daily office population.”
However moreover pushing to transform downtown empty workplace buildings into retail and residential areas and constructing pedestrian skyways, Minneapolis should tackle the dearth of pull components drawing younger folks into town middle, the report warned.
“Unless working, youth downtown have been relegated to ‘hanging out’ in the public realm, reinforcing fear about their presence,” it learn.
This can be a significantly massive concern for Minneapolis, which, together with St. Paul, is the most desirable location for Gen Z. Over 23,000 Zoomers moved to the Twin Cities from one other state in 2022, in accordance with Enterprise Journal evaluation of Census Bureau information.
It’s one factor to need to lure Gen Z downtown, however what occurs after they don’t need to depart their homes?
Gen Z prefers laptop computer diddling and nasty cat blankets to going out
Regardless of younger folks being drawn to Minneapolis’ group of young professionals and low unemployment rate, they’re nonetheless complaining about it being too costly. Most young renters reported spending over 30% of their revenue on housing. It’s a pattern that’s replicated across the country, main Gen Z to be extra cautious about how they spend their cash. Meaning much less going out and extra staying in.
Virtually three in 4 Zoomers adjusted spending habits resulting from excessive costs, BofA’s 2023 Better Money Habits Survey reported, which included not consuming out or shopping for new garments. Almost the entire survey’s contributors desirous to curtail spending habits deliberate to take action for your entire yr.
Gen Z’s cash anxiousness has created a tradition of staying in and getting to bed early. As an alternative of going out to drink, they’ll imbibe or devour hashish within the consolation of their properties — however their interest in booze lags behind older generations. Along with citing private funds for his or her homebody practices, Gen Z can also be cautious of the health and wellness concerns round ingesting alcohol, and pandemic-induced social anxiousness has stoked their introverted tendencies.
For younger individuals who do need to exit, there’s fewer choices out there, as ”third places” such as bars, cafes, and parks have dwindled, creating fewer alternatives for connection and fanning the flames of Gen Z’s loneliness epidemic that retains them feeling remoted and staying in.
There’s some hope for cities counting on younger folks to revive sleepy downtowns. Some millennials and Gen Zers have given up on saving for retirement; as a substitute, they need to journey, go to concert events, or get pleasure from spending sprees. If Minneapolis’ mayor can’t persuade folks to return to the office, perhaps he can persuade younger folks to spend extra — beginning with a brand new cat blanket.
