Open Streets creates places for people & communities

Open Streets Minneapolis is part of a global movement to make streets places that put people first.

Since founding the Open Streets Minneapolis events in 2011, Our Streets Minneapolis partnered with the City of Minneapolis to temporarily close major thoroughfares to car traffic, opening them to people biking, walking, rolling, and connecting with neighbors and local businesses until 2023.

Our Streets Minneapolis will not be hosting Open Streets Minneapolis events in 2024.

Open Streets Minneapolis events help us experience streets as public spaces where communities thrive. Congested city streets become vibrant, pedestrian-friendly boulevards where people can dream, play, and explore. Open Streets Minneapolis events aim to fundamentally change in how people think about their city streets.

At each Open Streets Minneapolis event, local businesses, artists, and community groups transformed their streets, showcasing the diversity, creativity, and culture of Minneapolis.

Our History

In 2011, Our Streets Minneapolis (then the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition) hosted the first Open Streets Minneapolis on two miles of Lyndale Avenue South. An estimated 5,000 people attended the event, reimagining Lyndale Avenue as a space for biking, walking, community building, and play.

Thirteen years and more than fifty events later, Open Streets Minneapolis has become a beloved cornerstone of the Minneapolis community. More than 575,000 people have attended Open Streets Minneapolis, with as many as 50,000 people attending the largest single events.

Each year, more than 300 unique participants fill the streets: neighborhood organizations, small businesses, local entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, campaigns, and nonprofits. 

Open Streets Minneapolis events are powered by volunteers. More than 100 folks come out each year to make Open Streets Minneapolis events possible.

Before 2020, Open Streets Minneapolis had continued to host more and more events, with a program high of 8 events per year. Now, the organization has refocused to engage more deeply with each neighborhood, route, and event, hosting between 3 and 5 intentional community events each summer.

Our Streets Minneapolis aims to laser focus on community dreams and needs at Open Streets Minneapolis by partnering closely with neighborhood organizations, local business leaders, and neighbors from every corner of the city. We always strive to do better for the communities we serve: listening, learning, and taking action to make Open Streets Minneapolis events places where everyone feels supported, celebrated, and welcomed.