urbanMSP

Good thing Hennepin County rebuilt those bridges 3 years ago.

"I want risk to be zero or I'm never coming back" is a red herring.
People are just expecting the personal risk and gross factors to be reasonably similar to the alternatives to transit.

Among other corridors, I've thought Mpls or St. Paul - (Farmington via UP? Lakeville via Dan Patch?) - Northfield - Faribault - Owatonna - (Kasson? Dodge Center?) - Rochester would be a great route on existing tracks, but with some potential trackwork needed in Owatonna.


ZipRail and Hyperloop ...

I wonder if this will slow the march of townships seeking to incorporate as municipalities. There are many rural municipalities both on the metro fringe and in rural MN (I live on acreage in a municipality with a population not much more than 300).

What's the rush to remove these stations?
I'm not a Northstar defender at this point, but I could imagine Amtrak stopping at 1 or 2 of these if they extend Borealis northwest (Anoka?)

I have the same problem as mndible.

Seems like the issue is tolerance of extreme antisocial behavior. No, closing the sidewalk is not the right answer, but what is?
It's not sufficient to wave hands and point at giant systemic issues such as homelessness and addiction (as much as those are also problems worth solving).

When Northstar was once just a dream, 25 years ago: https://www.pbs.org/video/commuter-rail-13905/

Nick wrote: April 24th, 2025, 12:41 pm Do people call it "the" Northstar?

Blue Line was called THE Hiawatha Line for its first decade of its existence...

3. A Line extension west on 46th. It could still "layover" and swap operators/buses at 46th Street Station. Branded as a single route but effectively operated as two separate routes to preserve service reliability, etc.
I always thought an A Line extension west to Orange Line/46th could work, but ...

Among other corridors, I've thought Mpls or St. Paul - (Farmington via UP? Lakeville via Dan Patch?) - Northfield - Faribault - Owatonna - (Kasson? Dodge Center?) - Rochester would be a great route on existing tracks, but with some potential trackwork needed in Owatonna.

He still does know how to dream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajfroggie/

I’d describe our LRT system as being more in line with the interurban railways that TCRT once operated.


To this end, I long-ago suggested a future Green Line extension (likely lower service pattern) to Shakopee and Chaska. It could continue west on the 212/5 corridor to the River Bluffs LRT ...

But why do we even need commuter rail, with a handful at best of trains running from park and rides to downtown weekdays in peak direction? Much of that commuter demand has dried up since covid and everyone working from home, and express buses are fine for the demand that remains.
If anything, this ...

I agree with @twincitizen about looking at legacy commuter rail to rail-suburbs vs Northstar-style commuter rail to park-and-rides and unrealistic TOD aspirations. We probably can't have Metra or Caltrain or East Coast urbanism around commuter rail stations, but I do think we could do a better job ...

It took a half century, but it's interesting to see how many old pre-WWII industrial buildings became hotspots despite decades of underuse or disuse. Is there any way to adapt these old buildings for the small-scale industrial, studio spaces, breweries, and other destinations similar to those areas ...

So, possibly lots of public expense improving and refurbishing this 25 year old arena. And likely some public expense / site prep / tax breaks on a nominally privately funded Target Center replacement for the Wolves. Is it not an option to just move the Wolves to a shared arena if we're ...

I can think of a few underutilized bi-levels sitting in Minneapolis or Big Lake...

Ahhh, my "C is for Cedar" call to extend the C Line down Cedar Ave to Mall of America never took off.

@twincitizen brought up the prospects of this shutting down due to continued underperformance and legislative bargaining this year. Has anyone seen any good info on the following?
* What is the state or Met Council on the hook for regarding Federal grants or other funding sources? Those often have ...