Minneapolis, MN
Uber and Lyft are quitting Minneapolis over a driver pay increase
and plan to end operations in after the city council voted to increase driver pay. The council passed an ordinance on the issue last week. On Thursday, it voted to overrule a mayoral veto of the measure.
The new rules stipulate that ridesharing companies need to pay drivers at least $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute (or $5 a ride, whichever is higher) whenever they’re ferrying a passenger. Tips are on top of the minimum pay. According to the , the council passed the ordinance to bring driver pay closer to the local minimum wage of $15.57 an hour.
However, Uber and Lyft say they’ll end services in the city before the pay rise takes effect on May 1. Lyft says the increase is “deeply flawed,” citing a Minnesota indicating that drivers could meet the minimum wage and still cover health insurance, paid leave and retirement savings at lower rates of $1.21 per mile and 49 cents per minute. “We support a minimum earning standard for drivers, but it should be done in an honest way that keeps the service affordable for riders,” spokesperson CJ Macklin told
An Uber spokesperson told the publication that the company was disappointed by the council’s choice to “ignore the data and kick Uber out of the Twin Cities,” putting around 10,000 drivers out of work. They noted Uber’s confidence that by working with drivers, drivers and legislators, “we can achieve comprehensive statewide legislation that guarantees drivers a fair minimum wage, protects their independence and keeps rideshare affordable.”
However, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz last year to boost wages for Uber and Lyft drivers, citing concern over the state becoming one of the most expensive places in the country for ridesharing. Other jurisdictions have mandated minimum driver pay for ridesharing services, including New York City, where the rate starts at about $18 per hour.
If Uber and Lyft follow through on their threat to quit Minneapolis, that could make it harder for people (particularly folks with disabilities and those who can’t afford a car of their own) to get around. The rise of ridesharing has upended the taxi industry over the last decade or so. As such, a Minneapolis official there are now just 39 licensed cab drivers in the city, a significant drop from 1,948 licensed drivers in January 2014.
Meanwhile, some upstart ridesharing companies and take over from Lyft and Uber. and , for instance, have shown interest in starting operations in Minneapolis. Both companies ask drivers to pay a monthly subscription fee to use their platforms and find riders. In return, drivers keep the entire fare.
Minneapolis, MN
North Minneapolis shooting injures 2 near Logan Avenue
A shooting in north Minneapolis injured two men on Friday night.
Minneapolis police said officers responded around 9:30 p.m. Friday after multiple reports of gunfire near Lowry Avenue North and North Logan Avenue.Police said they found two men with gunshot wounds outside a home.
Officers said both men were outside when the gunfire started and a nearby hospital treated both men for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are still investigating. Officers said no arrests have been made.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
Minneapolis, MN
Man, 19, hospitalized after shooting in north Minneapolis; no arrests
A 19-year-old man is injured after a shooting in north Minneapolis on Friday, according to police.
Officers responded to the incident on the 2600 block of North Humboldt Avenue at 5:03 p.m. Officials said they found the man inside a home with apparent gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening.
The officers provided medical aid before the man was taken to the hospital, police said.
According to investigators, the man was outside the home when shots were fired and ran inside after he was injured.
Police said Friday night that no arrests had been made and that they were working to learn what led to the shooting.
Minneapolis, MN
Affordable senior housing revived at 600 Main St. SE
The Blueprint
A team led by Lupe Development Partners and Wall Cos. wants to bring more than 100 units of affordable senior housing to a triangular parking area near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, the latest version of a yearslong effort to redevelop the site.
On Thursday, the Minneapolis Planning Commission Committee of the Whole reviewed plans for the five-story, 104-unit building at 600 Main St. SE. The project would require a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning and other approvals.
Jess Olstad, a city spokesperson, said in an email that the committee took no formal action.
“The next step for the project team will be to conduct public engagement around their potential comprehensive plan amendment, and to prepare their land use applications for submittal,” Olstad said.
Steve Minn, vice president and chief financial manager of Lupe Development, said Friday that the project received “very positive feedback” from the committee.
“We’re just going to proceed with the rest of our application, which will be in the next week or so,” said Minn, who added that the proposed location is a “perfect site for housing” and that “senior housing is a need.”
A comprehensive plan amendment would require Metropolitan Council review. If the approval process goes well and financing comes together next year, the project could break ground in 2028, Minn said.
A 58-space “principal parking facility” currently occupies the 37,401-square-foot development site, which is framed by Sixth Avenue Southeast, Main Street Southeast, and a railroad property, according to a city staff report.
The project would primarily offer one-bedroom units, though the mix would also include some two-bedroom dwellings and efficiencies. Thirty-nine stalls of underground parking are also planned.
Located near the Stone Arch Bridge trailhead in the Mississippi River Critical Area Overlay District, the project would be “compatible with the surrounding neighborhood architecture,” according to a narrative submitted on behalf of the developer.
The plan includes site improvements such as structured parking and pedestrian spaces, and a new public trail, which would connect to existing Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board trails in Father Hennepin Bluffs Park.
According to the developer’s narrative, the project “represents a reinvestment in a privately owned, undeveloped parcel that is not used for park purposes and is not planned for acquisition.”
The project would align the property’s “land use, built form, and Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Overlay District designations with the surrounding urban context and applicable regulatory framework,” the narrative states.
Wall Cos. and Lupe Development Partners, doing business as Bluff Street Development, have long wanted to redevelop 600 Main St. SE. In 2023, the developers pitched a plan for 80 affordable housing units on the site.
The developers’ history with the site goes back as far as 2009, when they proposed separate plans for a 98-unit and a 79-unit apartment project, as previously reported. In 2010, Bluff Street sued the city after the City Council rejected the plans. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011.
When development efforts first started, the Mississippi River Critical Corridor Area rules and regulations had not been defined, and “there was a lot of angst in the community” about what those regulations would be, Minn said.
Those regulations are now “well defined,” clearing the way for development, he said.
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