"East Town"

[BBMplsMN]

It's not bad. I like the logo they came up with. Simple and clear. And, even better, it's not Nordic Village or SoFa.

[matthew5080]

Well it's not the worst... Although I'm not sure it's more "iconic" or place making than downtown east is.

[xandrex]

Yes, of all the not-so-great choices, at least they settled on the least embarrassing one.

[nBode]

I think I'll just call it "Easton"

Calling it "town" just seems weird. It's not really a town in any way.

[xandrex]

I think I'll just call it "Easton"

Calling it "town" just seems weird. It's not really a town in any way.

Hopefully the MFSA doesn't send you a cease and desist for advertising a sporting goods company that doesn't sponsor US Bank Stadium.

[Visualizer]

This is a bit off-topic, but does anybody know anybody who sits on the Downtown East council? I'm curious about what they are doing for their wayfinding.

[twincitizen]

Remarkably, the collective hive mind managed to pick the least offensive of the embarrassing names that were under consideration.

East Town! It's sexy!

POLL: http://millcitytimes.com/opinion/rebran ... ntown.html

I don't know if this was ever made super clear before, but this "East Town" moniker is apparently supposed to encompass Downtown East, Elliot Park, and the Mill District (which is an unofficial neighborhood within DTE). This effort seems doomed to fail for a couple reasons.
1. Is Elliot Park really going to just disappear? The neighborhood org disbanded? I can't see why their board members would want that.
2. The Mill District folks have been wanting to become an official neighborhood org for years. Just last summer they were pushing an effort to split the Mill District from the DMNA (Downtown West and Downtown East currently share a neighborhood organization: The DMNA). The effort was tabled, or possibly even voted down by their board.

We've discussed this before (likely in the downtown general topic last summer), but the more politically palatable move would seem to be this:
1. Split up the DMNA, allowing Mill District (the northern half of DTE) to become its own neighborhood org.
2. Completely dissolve DTE, fully ceasing to be a thing. The northern DTE blocks would become The Mill District neighborhood. What's left over would be attached to Downtown West (or Elliot Park, depending on location). Downtown (West) would pick up the whole Wells Fargo project, new park, stadium, etc.

[mattaudio]

Agreed with option #2. "The Commons" was a perfect opportunity to create a demarcation point between CBD (Downtown West) to the west, Mill District to the north, and Elliot Park to the south. We could still use Downtown East as a loose umbrella term for the entire area (as we had done for a dozen years with the naming of the light rail station) but DTE or East Town shouldn't be competing with those other established places for an identity of its own.

[David Greene]

Isn't "East Town" meant to be a district/community designation, not a neighborhood? Like Calhoun-Isles or Longfellow (which is also the name of a neighborhood within it).

[twincitizen]

Waitasec...

I think maybe "East Town" is simply meant to be a rebranding of the East Downtown Council (the body that came up with the name). The East Downtown Council is not an actual neighborhood organization, but a somewhat loosely organized business district covering Elliot Park and Downtown East.

DMNA is an official neighborhood organization representing both Downtown East and Downtown West.
Elliot Park has its own separate neighborhood organization.
East Downtown Council (now East Town) is a independent business district, covering Downtown East and Elliot Park. It will not be a neighborhood organization recognized by the city, much like how the Uptown & LynLake business associations are completely independent of the neighborhoods in the area.

My main problem with this "East Town" thing is that it doesn't solve any problems.

[Chef]

Once the park has a name that name will probably become the name of the neighborhood. At least that is my prediction.

[Nathan]

I actually don't hate "the east town commons" but I'm not a huge fan of east town on its own.

[HiawathaGuy]

I actually don't hate "the east town commons" but I'm not a huge fan of east town on its own.

You make a great point. I've never been a fan of The Commons, and the whole East Town name sort of falls flat for me. But put them together, and I think it works quite well.

[matthew5080]

I actually don't hate "the east town commons" but I'm not a huge fan of east town on its own.

I never thought of it that way, you make a great point. "The East Town Commons" sounds pretty spiffy, in my opinion. However, East Town sounds pretty bland on its own.

[seanrichardryan]

This is pretty good actually. It certainly doesn't roll of the tounge. http://m.startribune.com/say-what-minne ... ection=%2F

[winterfan]

There is a mall in Madison called East Towne (yes, with an e). That's what this new name reminds me of- a shopping center. Much like Southtown and the Northtown Mall here in the TC. It's a terrible name.

[Record Machine]

Trying not to be too negative... this just sounds like a name no one will use because of its clunkiness.

[twincitizen]

I know people are going to pick this comment apart, but as a general statement, nothing in downtown Minneapolis should be called "East". East is reserved for St. Paul & the East Metro. Calling any part of downtown Minneapolis "East" is dumb and ill-advised.

[acs]

I know people are going to pick this comment apart, but as a general statement, nothing in downtown Minneapolis should be called "East". East is reserved for St. Paul & the East Metro. Calling any part of downtown Minneapolis "East" is dumb and ill-advised.

I actually don't mind this at all, especially considering this area is just to the west of the west bank neighborhood. Where this gets tricky isn't St. Paul, but Nordeast Minneapolis. Also known as west St. Paul for those who don't know geography.

[QuietBlue]

I know people are going to pick this comment apart, but as a general statement, nothing in downtown Minneapolis should be called "East". East is reserved for St. Paul & the East Metro. Calling any part of downtown Minneapolis "East" is dumb and ill-advised.

I agree, considering that downtown is in roughly the center of the city. At least Northeast is on the east side of the river.