Update (7:11pm 8/8) with correction from Flag Family News Director Ken Duffy: The original article referred to statistics shared by Schneider by saying “5 million people visit downtown annually. 600,000 of those folks live outside Fargo.”
Schneider said the downtown area “receives 5 million visits from 600,000 different people.”
Fargo, N.D. – The leader of Fargo’s Downtown Community Partnership is addressing perceptions of the neighborhood in the wake of last weekend’s violence that shook the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Two shootings took place in the early hours of August 3rd. One of which took place along the 50 block of Broadway leaving one dead and two injured.
Later that same morning, a 55-year old man was assaulted along Broadway in a separate case of violence.
During an interview on The Flag on Friday, Executive Director Rocky Schneider challenged the current narrative that the downtown area should be avoided.
“Calling downtown unsafe is unfair in a way,” said Schneider, who believes the Sunday violence had nothing to do specifically with the neighborhood itself.
“I don’t think downtown incentivized it any more than another place would. It was an unfortunate accident.”
Listen: DCP’s Rocky Schneider on The Flag
While saying “not a lot of crime” happens downtown, Schneider admitted that a “moment of pause” should be taken to think about what it means for the community.
“What did we do to lead to this, what we can to prevent the next one, and sometimes there aren’t clear answers,” said Schneider.
For the daytime business owners, Schneider says they feel like these incidents, which happened during overnight hours, shouldn’t define them.
“Obviously there are certainly things that need to be done and addressed but businesses shouldn’t hold that burden,” said Schneider.
Schneider says 9,000 people are seen every night at the bars, and overall, the downtown area has 40,000 thousand visitors each weekend.
More broadly, the downtown area receives more than 5-million visits from 600,000 different people.
And foot traffic is up between one and two percent over last year.
Saying it’s a “creepiness versus criminal factor”, Schneider agrees that the city “absolutely” needs to do more to address the homeless population.
DCP is actively fundraising with local business owners to relocate the Downtown Engagement Center.
“I don’t think it’s just a city issue,” said Schneider. “I think the state tried to step up and some funding didn’t get passed.”
“There are people who want to help and we’re trying to figure out what is the right solution. It’s not a simple, one-solution-fits-all [scenario].”
Schneider says he did support a failed effort to remove and relocate public benches downtown, believing they should not be directly in front of businesses.
In the end, Schneider believes people want to be downtown. He says the opening of the renovated Island Park Pool has also attracted more families to the neighborhood.
“Downtown Fargo is the front door for our whole region,” said Schneider. “So it’s so important that downtown remain a vibrant area. That’s how we attract our workforce and outside investors.”
