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Regarding downtown Minneapolis and its future: Lots of people are painting a rosy picture of not only the present situation but the future ("New ideas, new spirit needed downtown," editorial, Dec. 16, and "Downtown will thrive in new ways," Opinion Exchange, Dec. 14). They're saying the downturn is temporary, that COVID or the lack of workers returning to the office are largely to blame.

But according to the Downtown Council, there are 56,077 people residing downtown, in an area that Google says encompasses about 3 square miles. By comparison, there are 59,141 people living in Mankato/North Mankato, Minn., in an area of 26.18 square miles. Mankato/North Mankato supports hundreds of businesses of every type. Yes, Mankato is a college town and regional hub that attracts shoppers from the surrounding area, but so too is Minneapolis and its parks, museums, stadiums, theaters, colleges and such.

So why can't 56,000 people living in a small footprint of 3 square miles — 56,000 people who need to eat, shop and be entertained, along with thousands of workers and visitors — support even a tiny fraction of the businesses that Mankato does? Could there be something else at play the downtown boosters can't see (or admit) through their rose-colored glasses?

If they aren't willing to take a hard look at the facts, then they are doomed to watch the continued decline of what was until fairly recently a city to be proud of.

John Morgan, Burnsville

A big cheer for the "Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup" looking for a diversity of experiences to rejuvenate downtown. The problem is not intractable; the template is right before us. Having just returned from Scandinavia, we have a renewed fervor for what works so well in other cities and is the missing piece of our puzzle.

In Oslo and Copenhagen, pedestrian walkways are the beating heart of the city, bustling with couples, babies in strollers, teens in groups — all coming to shop, eat, enjoy performers and mingle. For people to return to downtown, they don't need big box stores, they need a congregate energy that only a pedestrian mall provides: small stores, sidewalk cafes, street musicians, farmers markets, sitting benches and a soft landscape.

We have two magnificent bookends for our walking mall: the gorgeous new Four Seasons in the north and Orchestra Hall and Peavey Plaza in the south. In between: infinite possibilities. We could be the Scandinavian prototype for this country. New York has its wildly popular High Line. Maybe we could name ours for our famous Norwegian, Fritz: "The Mondale Mile." Or "Moose Alley" for fun. The Star Tribune could run a naming contest, then next spring open our new pedestrian mall to great fanfare!

The only thing preventing our own renaissance is the stubborn refusal to remove buses from the mall — such a simple solution to a seemingly intractable problem. Let's rip off the blinders, get on the bandwagon and bring Minneapolis back to life!

Jerry and Pam Kearney, Edina

Leslie Cooney, Maple Grove

"Necesitamos inmigrantes." "We need immigrants."

It could be a house cleaner entering a home, or young men hauling shingles up a ladder, or workers at a cafe. I sometimes stop and utter the words above. A lot of other languages would work, too, as well as English, of course, depending on the worker. But I like to practice my Spanish.

One of the reasons for this somewhat silly habit is that my labors before law involved kitchen, construction, machine shop and warehouse labor. In other words, actual work.

According to Minnesota State Demographer Susan Brower, who was recently cited in these pages, there are 214,000 job openings in Minnesota and 93,000 looking for work. One of the causes of this labor shortage is a lack of fecundity. As a nonlawyer would say, "Too few babies." Also, aging and net out-migration are cutting into the state labor force. Brower says Nordic countries, where some of my ancestors came from, have the same problem, but encouraging births hasn't worked.

The problem, of course, is that politicians have failed to address reality. During George W. Bush's second term he proposed immigration reform that would have legalized the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants and created a temporary worker program that some employers liked. The bill was a synthesis put together by a group of senators from both parties. Republicans torpedoed the bill in the Senate and a majority opposed it in the House, too.

More professorial types than I have written monographs on how we wink at violating legal and social norms when it suits our purpose. This is what we are doing with illegal immigrants and people who overstay their visas. Our economy would collapse without them. We just won't admit it.

James M. Dunn, Edina

Does University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel have so much time on her hands, or is so bored with her job, that she needs to take on a board seat with Securian Financial? ("U's Gabel to take paid Securian board position," Dec. 17.) Is she so strapped for cash that she needs the dough to supplement her $1 million income? Does her claimed commitment of "about" four full days of meetings a year for Securian mean that she will attend board meetings without having spent hours beforehand reviewing the materials? By my calculation those "about" four days really amount to at least 10, what with review time and other inter-board interruptions and obligations. At that rate she ought to reimburse Minnesota voters a portion of her salary. Better yet, the regents could reduce her salary by the $130,000 she will earn from Securian for, what, four days' work?

At a time when the Minnesota Legislature is working on prohibiting state legislators from also working for lobbyists while serving, why would the Board of Regents allow Gabel to work for such a billion-dollar contractor of the U as Securian? Shame on the regents and President Gabel.

The writer is chairman, Harvest Bank (Kimball) and Citizens State Bank of Waverly.

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Gabel plans to take a position on the board at Securian. Her pay of $130,000 for four meetings and some phone calls is in line with the practice of many large companies that pay large salaries for little work to people who don't need the money. If Gabel does take the position, she should do so either pro bono or, better, donate her salary to a scholarship fund at the U.