Mimes. The city of Caracas, Venezuela just hired 120 mimes to discourage bad driving habits. We here in Duluth could adopt their model, except we could use the mimes to discourage loiterers and panhandlers. Just station a few of 'em by the Lake Superior Bottle Shop, Loiselle's, and the Last Place, and... Voila! No more issues!

I'd like some further (probably statistical) description of these problems.  I've rarely seen a downtown that wasn't always "getting worse than it once was" perceptually that wasn't also "about where it always was" statistically.

Fire the Clean & Safe Team and save $100,000/year.

I think the clean and safe team is a great investment.  Probably, in total, the cost of a single police officer (including benefits) with a much greater community impact.

The Simpsons Monorail Lyrics   

Lyle Lanley: Well, sir, there's nothing on earth 
Like a genuine, 
Bona fide, 
Electrified, 
Six-car 
Monorail! 
What'd I say? 
Ned Flanders: Monorail! 
Lyle Lanley: What's it called? 
Patty+Selma: Monorail! 
Lyle Lanley: That's right! Monorail! 
[crowd chants `Monorail' softly and rhythmically] 
Miss Hoover: I hear those things are awfully loud... 
Lyle Lanley: It glides as softly as a cloud. 
Apu: Is there a chance the track could bend? 
Lyle Lanley: Not on your life, my Hindu friend. 
Barney: What about us brain-dead slobs? 
Lyle Lanley: You'll be given cushy jobs. 
Abe: Were you sent here by the devil? 
Lyle Lanley: No, good sir, I'm on the level. 
Wiggum: The ring came off my pudding can. 
Lyle Lanley: Take my pen knife, my good man. 
I swear it's Springfield's only choice... 
Throw up your hands and raise your voice! 
All: Monorail! 
Lyle Lanley: What's it called? 
All: Monorail! 
Lyle Lanley: Once again... 
All: Monorail! 
Marge: But Main Street's still all cracked and broken... 
Bart: Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken! 
All: Monorail! 
Monorail! 
Monorail! 
[big finish] 
Monorail! 
Homer: Mono..d'oh!

Monorail + mimes = problem solved.

I am against the idea of people telling other people what not to put in their bodies.

I'd be interested in those statistics, as well.  Except for this Last Place on Earth brouhaha I see nothing but essentially positive growth on Superior St in Old DT. A and L looks about done constructing and seems to have a tenant or 3 for each of its buildings.  coney Island totally renovated and looking good.  Zeppa, nuff said there. Sheraton, Blackwater, the Police Station renovations moving forward, the Carlson bookstore building ... 

Also just up from Superior St. we have the Carter Hotel which had seen better days now purchased by Fond du Lac Band for a casino expansion pending a workout of the legal issues with the city.  

I'm not saying growth and expansion is always good but I don't see the "growing problem."

Monomimes

Oh my holy crap Paul, you misused "there." I'm beside myself with moderator disappointment.

OK... how about disallow welfare to anyone who moved here in the past 5 years?  Greyhound would be running buses to Chicago and Detroit around the clock after that, we could lay off a few police officers and downtown sure would suck less.

Fond du Luth Casino manages that parking ramp, but it is owned by the City of Duluth. Any revenue that comes out of it (if any) goes to the City of Duluth.  The widely held misconception that it is the "casino's ramp" somehow bothers me.

Random drug tests for cops. Random drug tests for executives of companies that receive tax benefits or subsidies. Random drug tests for all elected officials. Random drug tests for everybody!!!

Subway? Less chance of that than a monorail, the water table here is pretty high and there is a lot of solid rock AKA the Duluth Gabbro complex to blast through.

OK - so owing to the fabulous success my ideas always have here - I am inspired to try again.

We do not need for the mayor and the city to get involved in any more real estate.  If we want to be a city with a vibrant art infested downtown, then what we need are relevant social services for artists and musicians.

They need to have affordable health care, affordable housing, good food, child care, legal services for intellectual property, mental health care for those low times, easy hassle free studio, rehearsal and recording spaces, etc, etc.

We don't need any more venues.  

If we have the art scene because the artists want to come here because it is beautiful here and they can get meaningful, reasonable services that they need,then business people will fall all over themselves providing the real estate.

The same is true for tech kitchens and all kinds of skunk works.  If DEDA would stop messing around with dimwit projects that burn up funds and only benefit the building trades and do some stuff to make the lives of real people better, then nobody would be loitering because they would have better and more fun stuff to do.

My .02

Duluth can always use more venues.

So Carla wants to create a welfare city for musicians and artists.  Free practice spaces and studio time with no new venues.

Scary thought.

Simple solution Adam, ask for payment, and if you are getting paid and don't like what they said they'd pay, ask for more. If you still aren't happy, don't play. The musicians have only themselves to blame if they aren't happy with their pay or lack there of.

zipmimes.