Monday night on his WCCO Radio Show, Sports to the Max, Mike Max described what downtown Minneapolis has become as a “hell hole”. The discussion on his show Monday lead to a lively discussion about the state of Minneapolis with the host of the WCCO Morning News Vineeta Sawkar.
Talking about the increase in crime downtown Monday night, Max talked about how the only national headlines we see make Minneapolis look worse.
“The only publicity we’ve had is a national game, the Winter Classic at six below, the other one is a soccer game against Honduras and nobody understands why it’s here, and you say that’s the only publicity we’ve had for this city in several months other than a shooting,” says Max. “And you’re right. This city sucks the life out of you if you work downtown. You don’t see many people downtown. And you do see and hear of events that are awful downtown. This is a hell hole. It doesn’t feel like a safe space.”
Sawkar, who heard Max’s program Monday and wanted to discuss it more on her show, said while she disagrees with what he said, she does believe Minneapolis has seen better days. She just chooses to focus more on the positive aspects of the city.
“I think people would agree that obviously downtown isn't what it used to be,” Sawkar told Max. “But by saying it's a hell hole, how are you helping the people who are trying to make it back? I was surprised to hear how negative he was about downtown Minneapolis.”
Max went on to point out coming in for sports games or other crowded events should feel safe for anyone coming downtown, but there are too many areas and times where it still feels “unsafe”.
Sawkar and Max both agreed there are issues with downtown Minneapolis, but disagreed on the use of the term “hell hole”. Sawkar also says being productive and finding solutions should be our focus instead of focusing on the negative. “Maybe I’m too much of a rose-colored glasses Pollyanna. We all want Minneapolis to do well. Ripping it won’t help.”
This is not an issue unique to Minneapolis of course. Almost all major metropolitan areas have seen increases in crime, decreases in downtown work and traffic following the pandemic and issues of social justice following the killing of George Floyd.
It generated an intense listener response on WCCO’s text line and also on social media with listeners on both sides of the debate over the strong language used to describe Minneapolis. Many listeners felt similar to Mike Max and how downtown has become unsafe, while others agreed with Sawkar on it being too strong of a statement on the city. Several also fell somewhere in the middle.
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Minneapolis has clear issues with crime, downtown business and more. These are issues that city leaders have been vocal about needing to solve. From the reaction on WCCO Radio Tuesday morning, listeners are clearly passionate about needing to support Minnesota’s largest city and economic engine.
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