urbanMSP

It surprised me that MSP is third in the Midwest. I would have thought we were behind St. Louis as well. However, I also would have expected San Diego to be larger than MSP, so maybe I'm just a bad judge of size.

Awesome. Glad to see the "Sally's" sign on the rendering wasn't just a placeholder. Now if we can get the tattoo parlor to take the third retail slot instead of Toppers, I'll be really happy.

That's too bad. I had already had doubts about the long-term viability of the U of M Market that moved into the old Village Pizza space, but.. I don't really have doubts anymore. Given that I've never seen more than one person in there at any given time, I can't see how they'll survive adjacent to a...

And, as of today, at least, the construction trailer is on site, along with at least four excavators. I'm guessing the building will come down this week.

Every freshman, if I've been doing my job as a Welcome Week Leader correctly.

I just saw that. Those same images also show a Gold Country sign at the on other side of the building. Maybe the plan is to bring all three ground floor businesses back to the new building? (Though I'd be happier if Topper's disappeared and Ben and Jerry's came back. As much as I like pizza, Stadium...

Wow. I'd been making bets with myself on the next building on Washington to be redeveloped, and I definitely expected the chipotle/punch/navy recruiter buildings to be next to go, or maybe the liquor store. I wonder if Sally's is considering moving back into the new building? It looks like a good pa...

Mayor Rybak is scarily enthusiastic about streetcars.

Yep. My hope is that, eventually, we can get to the point where every private business in Minnesota has been taxed into oblivion, and the only remaining employer is the government. Only then can we all be assured of having President's Day off, as God intended.

I do know for a fact, the best proposal is on hold until the budget is resolved. Call your democratic friends and tell them to stop making this a bad place to do business. Seriously. While I'd be as thrilled as anyone to see Wells Fargo build a couple more office towers in downtown, my state actual...

I went to Duffy's a couple weeks ago, actually. I was walking down that street and I figured I'd better try it at least once before it disappeared. However, I walked in and found that the only pizza type they appeared to have ready was cheese, so I turned around and went to Mesa instead.

Yep. As much as the "community" is still going to hate it, it really seems like Opus took a lot of their concerns into account.

Went to Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Lawrence today, and the priest mentioned that Kraus-Anderson is leasing a portion of the church's parking lot for their construction trailers, starting next week. So, my guess is that demolition will be soon.

I like the "door closing" chime. A lot less piercing than the old one.

James Lileks wrote a piece with a couple of suggestions for the "iconic art installation". I don't like the Doughboy idea, but I'd be willing to do whatever it takes to make the three-story Nerf Wall a reality.

http://www.startribune.com/local/190539181.html?refer=y

I don't think Outcast is showing Midway Station on his map, but rather a new station that would be built in the railyard behind TCF Bank Stadium. Seems like a reasonable idea to me, as UMN students would be big users of a regional rail system.

As was discussed on the old thread, I think the issue for most of us who are on the fence is not the House of Hanson building but rather the precedent. This development would be the first of its kind in the actual heart of Dinkytown, and while it is to scale with surrounding developments such as Sy...

What would fill the fourth block in that scenario? The park we've heard about?

Mini. It appears to be the same model, if not the exact same crane, as was used for Stadium Village Flats last year.

Editorial from the Strib. Doesn't actually take a firm stance on the issue, but points out the fallacy of acting like this specific project will destroy the "small-village feel" of an area that already contains a suburban style McDonald's and a 20-story apartment tower.