urbanMSP

I disagree that the Duluth-Superior metro area is "too small" to justify passenger rail through the Northern Lights Express project. The reality is the Duluth-Superior metro has nearly 300,000 people — it’s the second-largest metro area in Minnesota and a significant regional hub. That’s more than ...

Does anyone here know where this project stands at this point? My understanding is that the MN State Passenger Rail Plan needed to be updated before submitting an application for Fedral funds. It seems unlikely that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will approve matching funds, right? Congressman ...

I’m shocked by the decision to reroute the #23 (soon to be #38) to run on Lyndale Avenue between 38th and 36th Streets. The City of Minneapolis recently reconstructed Bryant Avenue specifically to support two-way bus traffic on that stretch, ensuring continued service to Walker. Because of the need ...

The U.S. Census Beureau released their 2024 estimates for towns and cities this week: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html

They estimate Minneapolis has a population of: 428,579, which is down slightly from their 2020 estimate of: 429,983. As ...

Uggh! I love rail transit, but our region is just too sprawling, car-oriented and unwalkable to make regional rail worthwhile. the new Gold Line, which obviously isn't rail, cost $500+ million and has awful land uses along most of the route. The Green Line Extension is dominated by sprawl, park ...

Hmmm... This is not all Metro Transit's fault. MNDOT has been plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into I94 and Hwy 10 lane expansions, the cities along the route have done little to make the stations less car oriented and the MN Republican Party has made opposing rail a significant part of their ...

The $700+ million price tag seems so out of touch considering the current political reality and budget challenges. Are Roy Wilkins and the River Center even needed as venues in the metro right now, and the existing Xcel Energy Center seems in pretty nice shape. How could all this cost so much money ...

Let's hope this thing gets decent ridership since it cost more than $500 million... However, I predict 800 riders average per day. I hope the result will be an end to constructing these highway BRT lines to unwalkable, car-oriented places that demonstrate over and over that their land uses are ...

Wow! Thank you for doing all that work. It is strange that Metro Transit doesn't present this data for the public. outside of the LRT and ABRT ridership. It's really helpful to know ridership of local buses.

I've sure noticed the huge decline in ridership on the Route #23 bus over the years, for ...

BikesonFilm: Where did you get information that any potential freeway lids for the I-94 rebuild would come from the same funding source as ABRT? I thought those funds came from a transit sales tax dedicated to Metro transit. Also, the last I heard, MNDOT's metro region was getting $3 billion a year ...

Since the "boulevard" options are off the table, I hope advocates can push for more freeway lids. I went to Augsburg College back in the day and absolutely hated that roaring, stinking freeway outside my dorm window. I'd love to see a lid between Riverside Ave and Cedar Ave. A lid reconnecting ...

Yeah. I get that the Wells Fargo Tower is one of the premier office buildings, but it just sold for a fraction of the price and it is 40% empty. Is it not feasible that some portion of that empty space gets converted to residential creating a mixed-use building? I imagine a Caesar Pelli designed ...

I've always wondred if the Wells Fargo Tower might be a candidate for residential conversion, at least in part of the building. The Art Deco setbacks create interesting angles and somewhat smaller floor plates on the upper floors and sides of the building. I remember visiting a law office about 25 ...

Well, there's a lot more people than the 58,000 downtown residents to support retail in the core. There's also some number of downtown employees, tourists/visitors, and the rest of Minneapolis that are theoritically part of the market area. Unfortunately, other retail options like Rosedale and ...

Meh. Good riddens. I love rail transit, but this was not a good project. After traveling to Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark this summer, I really see that this region is too sprawling, car-oriented and low-density to warrant true rapid transit services. There are only a few areas within ...

It is past time for Metro Transit and Ramsey County to reevaluate their transit planning and spending for this line and other projects. The post- COVID reality of work from home just doesn't necessitate spending $2 billion+ on a slow, limited-capacity streetcar. Geez... Metro Transit has cut the ...

The Metropolitan Council released their 2023 population estimates for cities, townships and counties in late May. It shows Minneapolis is up 3,677 residents to 433,633 from the 2020 population of 429,956. Last decade the city grew by close to 5,000 per year on average, so there's very slow growth by ...

The U.S. Census Bureau released their 2023 City population estimates today.

It shows another increase for Minneapolis, but is still well below the official 2020 population.

2020: 430,710
2021: 427,806
2022: 422,003
2023: 425,115
* These numbers are different than what I posted last year, so I ...

Not an engineer. Just a blind guy who travels independently around Minneapolis. My understanding is that the new ramps are meeting the ADA guidance while having the benefit of orienting visually impaired people to the crosswalk. The previous versions were almost certainly a cost saving measure and ...

Anyone here on the forum been able to walk around this project to give a review of how it fits into the site? I convinced my buddy to drive around it last night after having dinner at a nearby restaurant. I was a bit surprised about how easy it was to drive all around it from Dock Street up to 3rd ...