ABSTRACT
The public sector played an active role in the economic revitalization of Minneapolis. It also created a large and effective industrial development agency. This agency vowed to protect the local economy, which not only was plagued by the loss of milling but also by the transition of warehousing away from central cities. The political environment of Minneapolis has varied over time. Social ostracism of Minneapolis’s Jews in the 1940s was an accepted norm. Despite Minneapolis’s image as a clean, safe city populated with industrious, highly educated workers, concerns about social conditions are rising. Mayor Betsy Hodges advanced priorities of organized labor and grassroots reformers, including initiative for a $15 an hour minimum wage. Mayor Betsy Hodges advanced priorities of organized labor and grassroots reformers, including initiative for a $15 an hour minimum wage. Clean government crusaders were strongly backed by the local business elite, who feared that a picture of corruption would tarnish the city’s image.
