The Commons

Nice open area. Not much there. Maybe some portable bathrooms if there is a an activity.

Beautiful set of parks with a lush foliage and tree area with rolling hills. This feature really breaks up the landscape. Plenty of places to sit and lounge. Very close to the football stadium so I'm sure this place jumps during this time.

This is a great space in the middle of downtown, I'm thrilled that they didn't just build another building! It is a good place to eat lunch as they have food trucks daily, seating, and a couple of places to get coffee or drinks after. It has lots of green space for people to hang out as well. There are often events and it's centrally located.

It's a decent park for how small it is. A pretty place to watch a sunset over the buildings or just hang out. Playground equipment seemed pretty clean and functional. Convenient to multiple restaurants. However, a restaurant nearby had a musician playing and the sound carried into the park very easily because of the proximity (good if you like the music, not so much if you're trying to have a conversation or the music isn't great). A few of the people in the park were begging or experiencing drug-related or behavioral conditions; nothing too alarming, but it was more noticeable than at other nearby green spaces like Gold Medal Park or some of the spots along the river.

This park was a great addition to the east side of downtown. My coworkers and I hang out there during lunch on those really nice days when the food trucks are lined up on 4th Street. The only thing I would suggest is to lay out more seating -- especially tables and chairs -- for those that want to eat their lunch.

The commons is a great place for the kids to run and play down town they have free games that you can check out and play they also have a place parents can sit and reed free books and there is a small but modest play ground located just one block north of the U.S. bank stadium. I think it would be a great place to have a picnic in the summer or if your a true Minnesotan before the super bowl.

09/18/2018 I was fortunate enough to visit the Mill City Market Experience featuring booths from local restaurants/bars/catering companies such as Day Block Brewing Co., Black Cat Natural Foods, and the phenomenal maple syrup creation house Horner's Corner.

Nice little park. There's some climbing apparatuses, some times yoga, and sometimes a surprise Bret Michaels concert! Bring your own booze, mostly.

In Minnesota Vikings do not raid shorelines by the ocean; instead they raid NFL games off the green shoreline of a 4.2 acre park that bridges their home ship US Bank Stadium to the rest of downtown Minneapolis. Where the Minnesota Vikings do their 100 percent all to raid their way to hard-won well-deserved victories through sheer determination and fovus, locals and visitors do their best to raid their way from pressure with quality of life victories visiting parks like this one. I was one of those visitors when I saw it at least three times. Placed on two city blocks of greenery bridging US Bank Stadium to the Edition Building with the rest of downtown, it is truly the Promenade of US Bank Stadium. In place of a massive parking lot fronting the NFL Stadium is a picturesque green lawn overlooking overlooking it. When I walked in the southern section of downtown, the walks led me through The Commons. My walks here included exploring the skyway to near its southernmost point that dropped me off nearby, passing through it to and from a walk inside and around US Bank Stadium, walking the city streets towards US Bank Stadium, and passing through on Portland Street from the Mississippi River to the downtown core. From my firsthand experiences here, my favorite activity was taking in the green carpet of grass interspersed with young trees leading to the US Bank Stadium. From the northernmost reaches of the park at the Edition Building I enjoyed it over a cup of Starbuck's. From the opposite direction on the US Bank Stadium steps, I enjoyed the picturesque view of this linear carpet of grass leading towards the Downtown skyline. If I had not been saving my appetite for dinner, I would have enjoyed eating the food that the sundry of food trucks parked on Forth Street serve. Every time that I arrived here was by foot. However at the southwest corner of the park is US Bank Metro Station. From here you can ride the Metro for a reasonable price to a few downtown Minneapolis stations, City of St. Paul, Mall of America, and other stops. If I was tired it is nice to know that it is off The Metro Blue and Green Lines. You can bank on it that the park overlooking US Bank Stadium is a nice outdoor place to visit when seeing the southern section of downtown Minneapolis. The Commons does a fantastic job giving locals and visitors an outdoor space to celebrate the Minnesota Vikings and the city's parkland. I recommend seeing it.

The Commons is a lovely new park right downtown across from the newly remodeled US Bank stadium, newly built Edition apartments and Wells Fargo Bank towers. The downtown east area is just being revamped left, right, and center. On a beautiful day during the week it is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat from one of the rotating food trucks and sit out on the open patios. The open landscape is very inviting as you can see the downtown city skyline at every angle. After work and on the weekend you see teams playing games, people walking their dogs or others just lounging. As I have observed it serves many purposes and it is definitely a place people will continue to enjoy as a new green space downtown.

So this is the city's answer to having our very own version of New York's Central Park (That's how it was originally billed it and if you've ever been, you had a laugh then as you are now). That being said, what formally was a parking lot and the publishing HQ of the Star Tribune, two square blocks (again, not Central Park) have been transformed into a much needed green space in the heart of the city. An oasis of sorts that will slowly blossom as the trees grow and mature. I enjoyed it at night as the space was used as part of the activities for Northern Spark. The place was bustling with all sorts of activity but what I enjoyed was how inviting it was for people. Very much a needed addition to the city.