urbanMSP

One factor is that parallel transit routes to the Green Line have also seen pretty significant improvements over the last few years, which is probably pulling back riders that otherwise would have made a longer trek to the less convenient but more frequent and reliable Green Line. I'm specifically ...

601 W is retaking control of the building. This time it'll work, for sure.

Converting an existing data center into something else? In 2026? Wild.

I wonder if anyone's attempted to tease out whether there's been an actual measurable benefit to the carpool exemption. Are people actually carpooling when they wouldn't otherwise be to take advantage of the lanes?

I was wondering if they were comparing it to the initial projections for the original Downtown-Uptown-West Lake line originally pitched back in 2015(?!) instead of the Rt. 6 replacement that was actually built, but 2800 riders would be low even for that.

Extremely good to have a "Transit ridership ...

I guess I don't know what the ridership patterns are like, but it seems unnecessarily confusing to have the 14 serve the Ramp B Transit Center southbound but not even get within a block of it northbound.


That is how the current route 14 works as well, so there's no change there. We typically ...

I guess I don't know what the ridership patterns are like, but it seems unnecessarily confusing to have the 14 serve the Ramp B Transit Center southbound but not even get within a block of it northbound.

I'm curious what the city is planning to do with their portion, since EPNI was successful in inflicting the water distribution facility on a different historically polluted neighborhood.

Bizarre. Was it being championed by someone in Public Works that left in 2022 and then they killed it?

To be honest, any time I see a sign for new business, I assume it's a coffee shop until proven otherwise.

The Downtowner is closing after 38 years. The owner is hoping to sell to a new restauranteur, or redevelop the building into apartments if that doesn't pan out.

Also the site dimensions matter, not just the overall acreage. Even if you spend the money to demo the towers, a modern arena isn't going to fit into the 340' between 6th and 7th Streets any better than it fits into the 340' between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Having extra space past the ends of the court ...

Some more details in this Strib article . Answers the question I had, which is that the HVAC equipment will indeed be moved to the basement to allow the mechanical penthouse to become amenity spaces. Room rates are intended to be somewhere between the Hewing Hotel and the Four Seasons, for whatever ...

Extremely cool, if they can pull it off. Having stuff to activate all the open spaces around the building would be huge for that end of Nicollet. I'm a little curious about all the stuff (ballroom, rooftop pool, presumably catering/support spaces for those) they're planning to jam into the ...

There's a plan to make some sort of cultural district out of the decrepit old Fruen Mill back by Utepils Brewing. Looks pretty cool if they can pull it off, though I'm dying to know what the mysterious secret issue is.

If simply justifying the decision was enough to get approval, that would be one thing, but with 1st Ave shaping up to become the next proxy fight about the validity of Jacob Frey's mayorship now that 38th and Chicago is finally resolved after years of delay, I see where they're coming from.

Yeah. Preticketing for the popular but limited-capacity tours is reasonable, and I guess a nominal fee might be okay to keep people from just reserving tickets to everything and no-showing, but $20 for the normal tours (even ignoring the gala or whatever the Luminary Society is) is pretty steep ...

Given that labor costs and shortages are a pretty big obstacle for almost every US transit system, the Latin American "build BRT stations and simply run a bus every 15 seconds" model is about as pie-in-the-sky as a deep-bore subway all the way out to Brooklyn Park.

So they're pouring ADA pads to allow northbound buses to just stay on Hiawatha instead of turning left onto 46th, 38th, and Lake (and whatever round the block maneuver was required to get back onto Hiawatha after Lake), but it's still going to take three minutes longer for the northbound run from ...

Agreed, but I suspect they don't want to actually rezone the site away from Production and Processing until there's an actual proposal for it. Hard to imagine who it would be here in 2026, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if someone came in to use at least some of the existing site for ...