Search found 31 matches

by cowboyjones
May 15th, 2015, 10:42 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line LRT
Replies: 1294
Views: 87885

Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Snelling Ave too. I once was stuck waiting there for two minutes waiting for the traffic light to change before getting to the station. Also with pedestrian and traffic incidents there, it might be better to have an underground station accessible from all corners of the intersection. How much would ...
by cowboyjones
April 17th, 2015, 11:04 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: MSP to Rochester High Speed Rail
Replies: 516
Views: 173140

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

SNCF does do well as a national company. However, I would argue Japan Rail does well as a private corporation, perhaps even better (though it does do as well as it does partly because it was started publicly and privatized, allowing a lot of accounting write-off of usable assets). Even here, TCRT wa...
by cowboyjones
April 10th, 2015, 7:49 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Hampton Inn & Suites - (19 8th Street North)
Replies: 274
Views: 106685

Re: Hampton Inn & Suites - (19 8th Street North)

As long as the Best Western Plus Normandy Inn & Suites continues to grace downtown, any nearby hotel - no matter how shoddy - seems like an architectural masterpiece to me. I couldn't recall that building, so I had to look it up; I had never seen it, but now I'll never forget it. I actually lol...
by cowboyjones
April 10th, 2015, 12:18 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line LRT
Replies: 1294
Views: 87885

Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Whether or not those extra welfare restrictions on steak and lobster, will save the taxpayer money or not I do not know (I suspect, as you believe, that it won't). However, to think that has anything to do with some sort of conjecture that they are subhuman seems to me to be against every experience...
by cowboyjones
April 10th, 2015, 10:56 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line LRT
Replies: 1294
Views: 87885

Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

There are no best practices that we're missing out on here. This is just the way it is. There are those that want public services to be punitive no matter what the cost, because, well, that's more complicated than I can put in a single sentence. Just like food stamps for filet mignon or lobster, or...
by cowboyjones
March 21st, 2015, 11:23 am
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Black Lives Matter, The Police, etc.
Replies: 671
Views: 71559

Re: The Police

For those interested, a petition on repealing low level offenses in Minneapolis. https://www.change.org/p/minneapolis-city-council-and-mayor-betsy-hodges-repeal-low-level-ordinances-in-minneapolis?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=268306&alert_id=rSPClNlMzT_uFQ8JGHh8...
by cowboyjones
March 18th, 2015, 11:45 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: MSP to Rochester High Speed Rail
Replies: 516
Views: 173140

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Except isn't this bill attached to the DMC "fix" which is needed to pass this session? I highly doubt Dayton will veto the bill over this. Perfect political hostage. Doesn't Dayton have line-item veto, or am I mistaken? If he does, are there restrictions on it to keep him from removing th...
by cowboyjones
March 18th, 2015, 11:40 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Transit Crime
Replies: 280
Views: 1023657

Re: Transit Crime

I think it would be worth it to point out to anyone who might criticize it that they could have gotten downtown anytime either actually paying for fares, or driving (Because just because they likely had been drinking, doesn't mean they won't drive, of course). It certainly has more to do with St. Pa...
by cowboyjones
March 13th, 2015, 9:43 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Minneapolis - St. Paul Business News
Replies: 255
Views: 29245

Re: Minneapolis - St. Paul Business News (TARGET talk here)

http://www.startribune.com/business/296003431.html And the race to hire ex-Target employees is on. It's interesting to see the reaction the Target layoffs are getting compared to all the ones that have taken place with other local employers. These companies are smart to take advantage of the opport...
by cowboyjones
March 1st, 2015, 11:46 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701247

Re: Public Transit News and Happenings

It wouldn't surprise me if the ridership at some of those low ridership transfer points are going to be above the 2030 projections is just a few years. Snelling, of course, will get the A-line this summer. Downtown East Ridership should jump a bit after the Wells Fargo project is finished. Prospect ...
by cowboyjones
November 20th, 2013, 2:58 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: U.S. Highway 14
Replies: 38
Views: 5337

Re: U.S. Highway 14

Honestly, coming from the rural north, I'm glad that my town and the towns near mine didn't have these bypasses. Bypasses always create car-oriented development, whereas in towns without bypasses you have development that is both car and pedestrian friendly. You can just walk to anyplace in a town, ...
by cowboyjones
November 20th, 2013, 2:53 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Orange Line / 35W@94: Downtown to Crosstown Project
Replies: 1121
Views: 242152

Re: Orange Line (35W BRT)

Yeah, there's 60 or so feet of space on either side of the freeway, and they would get rid of the current freeway bus bumpouts. I don't think it would take up that much space. Also, let's be glad that at least none of the stops require winding through the neighborhood to get to.
by cowboyjones
November 11th, 2013, 3:50 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034389

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

Or, stated differently, their laws are but one factor contributing to injuries, collisions, etc. between bikes and cars. Their streets tend to be narrower, their infrastructure is far more developed, there are orders of magnitude more bikes on the streets and, not least of all, the culture itself i...
by cowboyjones
November 11th, 2013, 12:37 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034389

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/11/cycling-v-cars tl;dr In the Netherlands, if a bicyclist collides with a vehicle, the driver is liable, no matter the circumstances unless the driver has no control over the vehicle. As a result, its fatality rate per million miles traveled i...
by cowboyjones
September 10th, 2013, 11:40 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Road Geek Topics
Replies: 295
Views: 143644

Re: Road Geek Topics

St. Kate's in Saint Paul has a driveway that is brick. In my opinion it seems kind of bumpy, but it is very good at reducing speed.
by cowboyjones
September 5th, 2013, 11:57 am
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Apartments vs. Condos | Renting vs. Owning
Replies: 174
Views: 38155

Re: Renting vs. Owning

See my first thought wasn't to make it so that condo owners can holdout so much, but codify ways to make it so that condo owners can buy each other out. Also I wasn't really trying to suggest that you must grow your own food, but rather that ownership is to at least have housing security.
by cowboyjones
September 5th, 2013, 11:34 am
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Apartments vs. Condos | Renting vs. Owning
Replies: 174
Views: 38155

Re: Renting vs. Owning

As someone originally from a very rural area, I have to say that everybody, both urbanists and general society, is missing the point of home (and land) ownership. The point is to be self-reliant, meaning using your land productively to provide the essentials, like food, heat, and housing, especially...
by cowboyjones
August 27th, 2013, 7:25 pm
Forum: Saint Paul
Topic: Ford Plant Redevelopment [archive - locked]
Replies: 124
Views: 49211

Re: Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant Redevelopment

Don't even do that.. Just test this out: form-based code showing how buildings should look for various styles. Narrowed streets beyond 2-3 arterials than run through. Remove parking minimums entirely. Remove FARs. Split-rate property tax based heavily on land and not improvements. Plat out whatever...
by cowboyjones
August 25th, 2013, 2:29 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT
Replies: 5265
Views: 1246763

Re: Southwest Corridor (Green Line Extension)

I think the central corridor Green Line will be quite successful, perhaps even more so than the Blue Line. If the extension is so worth building, then even if we go back to redo it and lose our federal money, then, damn the torpedoes, do it anyway and pay for it locally. If the Green Line is as succ...
by cowboyjones
August 24th, 2013, 10:19 am
Forum: Saint Paul
Topic: Lost Project
Replies: 16
Views: 3808

Re: Lost Project

^Bingo. In fact, I would go as far to say that in terms of walkability and street-level architecture, the trees/flowers/planters/historic architecture found all over downtown St Paul far outshines the rather barren streets of downtown Minneapolis (outside of Nicollet). I do agree that a good chunk ...