Crime is top of mind in Minneapolis streets, but the upcoming city election? Not so much.

Less than five months out from an election that will determine control of Minneapolis City Hall, many voters around the city are quick to point to a shared concern: feeling safe in the neighborhoods they love.

Some worry about longstanding problems with property crime and drug activity, while others feel optimistic, pointing to higher foot traffic on streets and in businesses. But few are spending much time thinking about the high-stakes city election on the horizon — or even know which current or future Minneapolis leaders could address their concerns.

“I haven’t heard much about the candidates or any of those [races],” 22-year-old Alec DeVries said when asked if he knew about the upcoming municipal election.

The mayor’s office and all 13 City Council seats will be up for grabs in the November election, which will decide who controls City Hall. All of those seats are now filled by Democrats or democratic socialists; progressives currently control the council and often are at odds with the more moderate Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey.

Voters will determine whether to keep power in Frey’s hands or give it to one of the other candidates, which include pastor DeWayne Davis, health care chaplain Howard Dotson, Minneapolis Sen. Omar Fateh and entrepreneur Jazz Hampton. They’ll also decide whether progressives retain control of the council or whether moderates return to power. The official candidate filing period is from July 29 through Aug. 12.

Policing and neighborhood safety has been a hot topic for the mayor and City Council, as council members have vied to get violence prevention workers to hotspots in their wards.

The Minnesota Star Tribune went out to take the temperature of the electorate as the election nears.

Jon Jones, 37, now lives near Bde Maka Ska after graduating from the University of Minnesota. Before that, he lived in south Minneapolis and northeast Minneapolis, and he said he felt safe in all of those neighborhoods.

He didn’t follow politics until Donald Trump was first elected president in 2016, but he still doesn’t pay much attention to local politics.

“I’m happy with the city that I live in, so I’d be fine with [Jacob Frey] being mayor again,” he said.

Uptown is in Ward 10, and represented by Council Member Aisha Chughtai, who’s part of a progressive council majority often at odds with the mayor.

She’s being challenged by Lydia Millard in what’s expected to be one of the most competitive races in the city. Business owners are frustrated with crime and seemingly endless street construction.

Chughtai and Council Member Katie Cashman, who represents nearby Ward 7 and often votes with the more progressive wing of the council, were both unable to secure the coveted Minneapolis DFL endorsement.

Nico Giraud, 45, the effervescent owner of a sleek Uptown wine bar called the Tasting Room, is concerned about all the businesses that have exited the area, including Chef Ann Kim’s restaurant next door.

Giraud, who lives in nearby Lowry Hill, tries to stay out of politics, but does vote — and he’s been hearing from politicians now that the election is nearing.

What matters to Giraud is that Uptown comes back, and he thinks that’s beginning to happen. The wine bar is getting busier and crime is receding. But his big issue is he wants City Hall to let him build a bigger kitchen without requiring him to have two bathrooms so he can grow his revenue.

Giraud is agnostic about Frey and isn’t certain which council member represents him, but he thinks it’s Cashman, because she texted him recently and met with him, Chughtai and other Uptown business owners, along with U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat representing Minnesota’s Fifth District, to discuss their concerns.

“Two years ago this conversation should’ve happened,” Giraud said.

On a recent Friday morning, DeVries and his boyfriend were waiting in a half-block-long line of people waiting for pastries at the popular Isles Bun & Coffee in Uptown.

DeVries is from the small town of Delano northwest of Minneapolis, and his family warned him not to move to the Twin Cities. He moved into the Lyndale neighborhood in November and is content, enjoying all the options on “Eat Street.”

He sees homeless people but said, “I’m never fearful of it.”

Joseph, 23, and Juniper Dirigo, 32, had seen the images of Minneapolis burning after George Floyd’s police murder, but still decided to move to downtown Minneapolis from Arlington, Wash.

Juniper has already noticed that Frey and the City Council “butt heads a lot.” Joseph loves his new hometown and doesn’t pay much attention to local politics, but he is inclined to give the current mayor credit for everything he likes about Minneapolis.

“I kind of want to keep the mayor we have,” Joseph said. “I like all the programs he’s doing and how easy he’s made living in the city.”

Daniel, 30, and Madelyn Costa, 27, live in south Minneapolis, near Edina’s tony 50th and France Avenue shopping area.

In the past year, a half dozen cars were broken into on their street, but neighbors chalked it up to high schoolers. The Costas live by a well-lit fire station, and the only crime they experienced is someone threw cheese on Daniel’s car. A year later, it happened again.

They have no idea who the mayor is but Daniel is a regular voter, while Madelyn generally only votes in presidential elections. Both said they didn’t know much about the candidates yet.

“I don’t know that I’ve kept up enough to know, like, a whole lot on stuff,” Daniel said.

Sue Brown, a 75-year-old retired nurse, said she reads a lot about crime on social media and had her Kia broken into, and then stolen and totaled. For several years, Minneapolis saw a spree of brazen Kias thefts after a security flaw in their ignition was shared widely on social media.

“Now I have a Honda,” Brown said.

She likes her current Ward 8 council member, Andrea Jenkins, who isn’t running for re-election. Progressive candidate Soren Stevenson was endorsed by the Minneapolis DFL over Josh Bassais.

Brown isn’t sure who’s running for City Council in her ward, but she wants them to keep traffic flowing through George Floyd Square. A majority of the council has voted against that, preferring to close it to almost all traffic and better preserve the place where Floyd died.

Still, she’s relentlessly upbeat about Minneapolis.

“I love our neighborhood. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” she said. “You can’t hold a grudge at the world.”