urbanMSP

-1 to Mr Lindsay. The signaling issues are really the only complaint I have with the line so far. But it's a critically important thing to get right, so I feel the complaints are well deserved. That said, my train this morning stopped at Chatsworth (frustrating) but from there only had a ~5 second p...

This building is unimpressive from three sides, but the 10th Street frontage almost makes up for it. Iits got some nice seating areas, greenery, and the reused historic facade steps back from the sidewalk very generously. And it's only a block from the 10th ST station. This little corner of St Paul ...

I think you might have the terminology wrong. Or are you thinking of the priority that emergency vehicles get? I believe you are thinking of preemption. I know St Paul will not have that. I would like to see preemption on some of the less major intersections. The people you need to complain to is t...

Walking down to Central at 5:30, I just missed a train. Ended up waiting for 25 minutes for the next one to show up...then there were two bunched close behind it. On the way out of St Paul, we stopped for red lights at 10th, MLK, Rice, Western, Mackubin (!) Victoria, and Lexington. Not impressed, I'...

My train from DT St Paul this afternoon was gratifyingly crowded.

I rode from Lexington to DT St Paul and back. At top speed, the trains go much faster than I expected. Seems like 45 mph or so. Enough to easily outpace car traffic. Of course, it had to wait at every single major intersection....Victoria, a Dale, Western, and Rice....so the cars caught back up. Onc...

Walked by this today. It is looking very nice:

https://flic.kr/p/nVfLda

The Whitaker Buick building is going DOWN as we speak. About 1/3 demolished last night.

I also think we're likely to see more happening around Dale and maybe Western. Dale has a very nice library there (my wife takes Julian there for story time every week) and there are some nice restaurants close by (BBQ Row). Unidale seems like a great redevelopment opportunity. Western also has som...

I've seen several instances where a train pulls up to a stoplight just as it is turning red, and has to wait through the whole light cycle. This is the scenario where the signal is supposed to hold a few seconds to let the train through, as I understand it. Maybe they're waiting until there's passen...

The supply of desireable single family homes in the inner cities is quite small IMO. After spending the spring looking at houses, I'd guesstimate that the it breaks down like this: 10% - beautiful, well-maintained classics. These rarely come up for sale and are limited to a few neighborhoods. 20% - ...

If the line functions as intended, it will be instantly popular, to the point that people like Soucheray will be forced into grudging acceptance. They might even ride it to a Twins game, (but only as a form of protest against paying so gosh dang much for parking downtown). Anyways, it sounds like th...

As a transit project, I agree that TFS offers limited (at best) benefits. As a city-making project, though, I have to admit I like it a lot -- especially that they were able to rescue a few development parcels from a piece of land that was a complete afterthought.

A Guy Who Knows Things told me the slow speeds are the city of St Paul's fault. The equipment referenced in the article was supposed to have been installed months ago. They've been dragging their feet on retiming all the lights, too. I have no doubt that the signal clusterf*** on the watm slows the ...

Saw a 2-car train pull out of central station today, only to immediately wait for the light at 6th and Cedar. The 2 car train seemed to take up more than 2/3rds of the block between 5th and 6th. I wonder if a three car train would not fit on that block. (Cedar between 5th and 6th)

No problem! I was just excited to have a scoop, for once.

I'm actually moving to Midway next month. I'm going to miss easy access to the Villager.

Here's the article

Site Plan from this weeks Villager http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d179/josuevalenzuela/4fa3e0ab7d96d20372ab18ad38f7df05.jpg First floor of the old bank building will be the Walgreens. second floor will be office space...the article does not specify if it will be tenant space, or Walgreens offices...

“There are more amenities in this building than all of our buildings in Chicago, which are all over 500 units,” said Josh Taylor, a vice president of marketing for Magellan. “We feel that Minneapolis is prepared for another level of luxury.” I feel like the amenities on offer have nothing to do wit...

I think the ridership on the bus is going to be very low. Even with a longer walk to the station, I would think that greater frequency, faster ride, seating/shelter at the station, and far easier boarding would favor the train for all but the most disabled -- who are probably better served by dial-...