City and consultants preview 5-year 'Imagine Downtown' action plan

City staff and consultants from MIG presented a near-final five-year action plan for downtown Duluth at the Duluth City Council meeting, outlining strategies to increase residential population, improve safety and pedestrian connections, and catalyze targeted development.

Consultants Jay Rankins and Sue Garner described the three-phase process that produced the draft: discovery and existing-conditions analysis, testing and refining recommendations with the public and a 16-person steering committee, and the present finalization and implementation planning phase. Staff said the plan focuses on actions that can be initiated or meaningfully advanced within five years, not a 20-year horizon.

The consultants identified several “big moves” intended to coordinate multiple actions. On safety, the plan proposes a formal partnership among city agencies, police and fire, large employers, property owners and social-service providers to coordinate clean-and-safe efforts and better…