MINNEAPOLIS — The Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis wants you to stop by.
"There's still a lot of great restaurants here. A lot of coffee shops and small businesses," said Michaella Holden, Chief Experience Officer at Lucent Blue Events & Design.
The neighborhood has faced some ups and downs over the past couple of years, but it's still standing.
"This isn't an empty space. This isn't an empty community. We are rooted here, and we want to build it. Come and help us do that," said Esther Callahan, Co-Artistic Director of Arts + Rec Uptown.
Arts and Rec Uptown and two other Uptown businesses (Graves Hospitality and Northpond Partners, LLC) had a shared determination. They wanted to breathe new life into the neighborhood so more people would stop by.
So, they partnered up and created the Love from Uptown campaign.
"If we band together as a community to create engagement and uplift through this campaign, we can be a part of the reboot and revitalization of Uptown right now," said Callahan.
Engage and uplift as Uptown continues to grow and change.
This holiday season, the campaign is hoping to draw more visitors in with beautifully decorated windows. Right now, 24 storefront windows are adorned with holiday cheer.
So stop by to see the Uptown Winter Wonderland and also stop by to support local shops.
"They deserve our support, and we want to see them stay and thrive. This is just one small way of doing that," said Holden.
It's a small act that would mean the world to a lot of people.
"The folks who live and work in this neighborhood really love it. And they believe in it; they want to see it come back," said Holden. "They want to see that vibrancy come back."
The holiday windows will be up for the rest of December, but some businesses will stay decorated through the winter.
If you stop by, you can enter a digital art contest by sharing a photo or video on Instagram of either your favorite windows or any winter scene in Uptown.
Winners will get gift cards from Uptown businesses and the submission period ends on Dec. 11.
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