The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connect various buildings in 80 full city blocks over of

Downtown Minneapolis The Central Minneapolis community is located in the central part of the city, consisting of 6 smaller official neighborhoods, and includes Downtown Minneapolis and the central business district. It also includes the many old Gristmill, flour ...

, enabling people to walk in climate-controlled comfort year-round. The skyways are owned by individual buildings in Minneapolis, and as such they do not have uniform opening and closing times. The 11 miles of skyway are comparable to the

Houston tunnel system The Houston tunnel system is a network of subterranean, climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that links 95 full city blocks below Houston's downtown streets. It is approximately long. There are similar systems in Chicago, Dallas, Oklahoma Ci ...

, the systems in

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

cities such as Toronto's

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

, Montreal's

Underground City An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of th ...

,Ralph Blumenthal
It’s Lonesome in This Old Town, Until You Go Underground
, ''The New York Times'', August 21, 2007,

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

's 11-mile +15 system and the 8-mile

Edmonton Pedway The Edmonton Pedway system is a network connecting office buildings, shopping centres, and parkades in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It consists of approximately of year-round climate-controlled tunnels, and walkways between the second fl ...

system. The Minneapolis skyways connect the second or third floors of various office towers, hotels, banks, corporate and government offices, restaurants, and retail stores to the

Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is the shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin A ...

shopping district, the Mayo Clinic Square, and the sports facilities at

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hos ...

and

U.S. Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium is an enclosed stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Built on the former site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the indoor stadium opened in 2016 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Footbal ...

. Several condominium and apartment complexes are skyway-connected as well, allowing residents to live, work, and shop downtown without having to leave the skyway system.

History and development

The city's first skyways were planned by real estate developer Leslie Park in the early 1960s and built by Crown Iron Works Company of Minneapolis. Sensing pressure from indoor shopping malls such as

Southdale Center Southdale Center is a shopping mall located in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. It opened in 1956 and is both the first and the oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States. Southdale Center has of le ...

, Park wanted to create a similar environment in Downtown Minneapolis that would offer a climate-controlled space and a way for pedestrians to move from building to building. He built two skyways connecting the newly constructed Northstar Center building to the Northwestern Bank Building and the Roanoke Building. The skyway to the Northwestern Bank Building was built in 1962 and the skyway to the Roanoke Building followed the next year. The second skyway still remains in use today and is the system's oldest segment. The system grew to seven total segments by 1972, though many of the skyways remained disconnected from one another. The construction of the

IDS Center The IDS Center is an office skyscraper located at 80 South 8th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Completed in 1972, it is the tallest building in Minneapolis, and the tallest building in the state at a height of . It originally stood , thou ...

in 1972 helped to unify the system. The building featured skyways in all four directions as well as a spacious atrium area called the Crystal Court, allowing it to act as a central hub for the entire system. In 1976, the Downtown Council produced the first formal maps and signage for the system. In 2016, the

became connected to the Minneapolis skyway via a mixed-use development of office buildings and apartment complexes in

Downtown East, Minneapolis Downtown East is an official neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Within Downtown East is the Mill District, which contains former industrial buildings left over from the days when Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of th ...

Notable buildings connected

Fifth Street Towers The Fifth Street Towers is a complex of two buildings in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fifth Street Towers I was completed in 1987 and is tall and has 26 floors. Fifth Street Towers II was completed in 1988 and is tall and has 36 ...

Butler Square Butler Square (originally the Butler Brothers Company building) is a former warehouse and office building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The building is located within the Minneapolis warehouse district and was listed on the National ...

Foshay Tower The Foshay Tower, now the W Minneapolis – The Foshay hotel, is a skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Modeled after the Washington Monument, the building was completed in 1929, months before the stock market crash in October of that year. It ...

* Mayo Clinic Square *

Minneapolis Convention Center The Minneapolis Convention Center is a large convention center located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota that opened in 1990. It is located one block away from Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue runni ...

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

Capella Tower Capella Tower (also 225 South Sixth) is an office skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The building opened in 1992 as First Bank Place, replacing One Financial Plaza as the headquarters for First Bank System. In 1997, First Bank S ...

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: *Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California *Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo Cen ...

* 33 South Sixth/ Minneapolis City Center *

Two22 Two22 is a 41-floor tower located on 9th Street and 3rd Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the fifth tallest building in Minneapolis. The building was originally named after Piper Jaffray, which subsequently rebranded to Piper Sa ...

(formerly Campbell Mithun Tower) *

Ameriprise Financial Center Ameriprise Financial Center is a in Minneapolis, Minnesota located at 707 2nd Avenue South. It was completed in 2000 and has 31 floors. It is the tallest building completed in the US in 2000. This building is the largest single-tenant skyscrap ...

Hennepin County Government Center Hennepin County Government Center is the courthouse and primary county government administration building for Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in downtown Minneapolis, the county seat of Hennepin County. Before its c ...

US Bank Plaza U.S. Bank Plaza may refer to: * U.S. Bank Plaza (Boise), a high-rise building located in Boise, Idaho, formerly the tallest building in the state * U.S. Bank Plaza (Minneapolis), a tall, 23-floor skyscraper * U.S. Bank Plaza (Sacramento), a sk ...

* RBC Plaza * US Bancorp Center * AT&T Tower *

100 Washington Square 100 Washington Square is a 332-ft (101 m) high-rise office building located in downtown Minneapolis. Construction started in 1979 and was completed in 1981.Emporis100 Washington Square.''Emporis.'' Retrieved July 15, 2016. It covers 481,600 square ...

* 510 Marquette Building

Guides

Various guides to navigation exist including paper and online maps as well as apps.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Downtown Minneapolis – Hotels and Skyways map of system
Minneapolis CVB 2016
Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Guide
interactive map. Skyway My Way, 2012. Buildings and structures in Minneapolis Pedestrian bridges in Minnesota Pedways in the United States Skyways Transportation in Minneapolis