With the unnecessary disruption from George Floyd and Covid things got bad.  I had a friend in town for business who I met for an early dinner today and noticed tons of people out walking around with many bars and restaurants abnormally busy(I live downtown and see how busy these places are typically).  I know there is a lot of work to be done but had the first bit of optimism in a long time being a downtown resident.  It would be great to see the energy to come back to downtown.  Hell, maybe the finest touring providers will come back to booking the beautiful downtown hotels instead of the 2 and 3 star dumps in Bloomington.

Nope.  Gotta get a handle on the crime 1st.

I got sucker-punched on Nicollet Mall after a show at The Dakota in December and the goons grabbed my gal's purse and ran off. Nobody helped us. Most people literally looked away or walked the other way. Cops asked me if I needed medical help and I said no, so they kept walking. Have not been down since.

My experience is opposite yours. Elite touring providers are staying downtown and the conditions have not hurt their biz.  

I won't go downtown even for matinees. I recently hosted outcall at JW MOA out-of-pocket for a coveted gal.

Both The Dakota and The Armory are among my fav music venues in the country and they have a bunch of great shows I'd like to see this year. But nope.

Until Frye and most council members turn over I have no hope.

I visit your state and city every year. Due to the news and crime reports for the last several years I have stayed aweigh from the city ?  Most locals I know will not come close to Minneapolis by 50 miles. Is there any place considered safe for a quick in and out to meet a quality provider. It would have to a area with hotels close to a major highway  

The Uptown has the Moxy which is a mile from 35W and there are quite a few lovely ladies located in safe neighborhoods close to there.
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/mspod-moxy-minneapolis-downtown/overview/?scid=f2ae0541-1279-4f24-b197-a979c79310b0

N Mpls and downtown are the hot spots. Just use common sense like any other big city.  
Crime is up as others have said.  
I don’t go into mpls often because I can get the experiences I want in the burbs.