urbanMSP

The CAC & PAC meetings that were scheduled for this month have been pushed back to "late summer". Can anyone with an insider's view provide a sense for how seriously they are considering a "better bus" alternative? Since the onset of this study in 2017, it's been pretty clea...

Unless United Health or Wells Fargo or Target are moving a division here, I don't see how they'll get the building leased up in under 5 years.

My hot take on this area (going on 10 years now), is that this location east of the Lafayette Bridge is where the OMF should've been built in the first place. Taking that idea further, both the OMF and CHS Field could have been built about 1,000 feet further northeast, as that would've opened up the...

There's a coffee shop now open in The Shale (apt building behind DQ / south of the old strip mall): Falls Coffee https://fallscoffee.com/ Very cool to have a year-round option so close to the park, even though IMO it would've been a better fit in the Portico condo building on Minnehaha (across from ...

IMO the "80,000 units in the next 5 years" is probably somewhat building & construction trades propaganda, not a scientific number. It is true that there's been a bit of stagnation in the metro area's population since 2020, as more households than ever before are able to decouple their...

I know of some Amtrak routes that make use of a wye to reverse into stations that are on dead-end tracks, but that usually happens in pretty close proximity to the station. And in both cases I'm aware of, this is more or less in the middle of the route and is done to serve a major metro's union stat...

I pulled the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage campus conversation into this smaller thread, as I figure it will be an ongoing conversation for a couple years at least. Biz Journals had an article today (locked): www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2023/05/03/wells-fargo-south-minneapolis-campus-redevelopme...

As someone not particularly enthused to add another 25-year old DSA member to the City Council, I hope someone at least gives Aurin a run for her money. If she wins and conducts herself like Andrew Johnson e.g. being a swing vote between the progressive* wing and the more moderate wing, she'll be a ...

With the US Bank branch nearby, wasn't there something wacky where they had to open the new branch before closing the old one (to make way for Rafter), something to do with federal banking rules? If Wells Fargo is announcing the closure of this branch and we haven't heard anything about a developmen...

So the new Great River route could eventually be Duluth to Chicago, by way of stops at Target Field Station and SPUD? And that would effectively replace one trip of the NLX (in each direction)? Or is it more likely that one trip would skip Target Field Station and head directly to SPUD? While not id...

It's nuts that no one in Ward 2 wants to run for Council against Wonsley. Especially crazy considering that Wonsley doesn't even seek the DFL endorsement. Anyone that had run for the DFL endorsement would have only needed to beat "no endorsement" and they'd have the party apparatus behind ...

https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetings/Committees/Transportation-Accessibility-Advisory-Committee/2023/TAAC-Meeting-5-03-23/2023-05-03-Blue-Line-Lake-update-TAAC.aspx Renovation of Blue Line Lake St/Midtown Station going in front of TAAC on 5/3/23. Improve customer experience: cleanliness, comfo...

Following the news of P.F. Chang's closing, it appears there are more moves happening on that side of the mall:

If not for generous state/regional support over the years, particularly LGA payments from the state and Fiscal Disparities tax base sharing within the 7-county metro, I think it is likely some mergers would have already happened out of economic necessity. Without those programs (both of which are go...

A recent presentation to Met Council on updating the regional long-range population forecasts: https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetings/Committees/Committee-of-the-Whole/2023/04-05-23/4-5-23-Regional-Forecast-PPT.aspx Earlier this year, Met Council released revised forecasts for 2030 and 2040, but ...

Would the current 0.5% sales tax levied by Hennepin & Ramsey counties (for LRT & highway/guideway BRT) remain under county control, or would Met Council get control of those purse strings too? If we get an elected Met Council (and honestly, even if we don't), I think I'd favor Met Council ta...

Moving to the heart of the 494 strip just as a 4-year reconstruction project breaks ground is certainly a choice. Reports said 494 & Xerxes, so I assume that means Wells Fargo Plaza. Prediction, assuming the location is 7900 Xerxes: AT&T will take over the naming rights on Wells Fargo Plaza,...

The new medical office building managed to be both kinda ugly and completely underwhelming as a gateway to the project. A small wart on what is otherwise a masterfully planned and designed development. The building basically turns its back to the river and has ugly internally-lit box signs mucking i...

I’d choose the east of 94 alignment and 21st Ave transitway options. There’s so much more development potential between 94 and the river than along that particular stretch of Lyndale, not to mention serving a higher number of jobs that exist today. That and the neighborhoods along Lyndale not wantin...

I'll attempt to rank the possible alternatives to the tunnel, in terms of cost-benefit ratio. Hindsight being 20/20, I'd maybe have gone with: 1. Put everything at grade and call the bluff of Minneapolis (Hodges administration, c. 2014-15) to deny municipal consent. In this scenario, Met Council / G...