urbanMSP

One slight problem I have with Tuthill's seemingly high-minded claim that she won't rezone for any individual business - I seem to remember that she introduced an amendment to the City's liquor store ordinance requiring new licenses to be 300' from the lot lines of schools and churches, instead of t...

Thanks for linking to the construction cam - everyone who like me thought that the existing structure was just a cheap 60s office building should check out the photos of the exposed concrete frame. Maybe I'm mistaken, but this thing looks solid. There's some thick mushroom-cap columns holding it up....

Is this a subsidy, the answer is yes, as the project would not have happened without financing for the parking infrastructure. But is it a give-away to the project, I would argue no, as it is a loan with market-rate interest. Most definitions of subsidy specify that the funds are granted or unrecov...

All brick exteriors unfortunately have ugly expansion joints now, especially over wood framing Does this mean that they will eventually expand and be less visible? Because yes, this is what makes it so hard to look at new buildings like Soltva that use brick paneling. How long till the expansion jo...

Thanks for that link - I'm happy to see that the initial step has in fact been taken. The study itself is not so pleasing - it seems to have been pasted together from a number of different individual plans and studies with little attempt to make it consistent. They do appear to have done a demand fo...

Double demo day in the North Loop - the County office building on the Interchange site is coming down, as is the warehouse on the Third North site.

Double demo day in the North Loop - the structure on the Third North site is coming down, as is the Interchange's County office building.

Internal demolition is underway, and the ring of jersey barriers and pair of excavators parked outside makes me think that they'll start pulling it down any day now.

http://www.sr-re.com/development/our-de ... rojects/11

I've complained about this before, but it always amazes me, considering how much we spend on transit planning in this region, that there hasn't been a detailed study of the possibilities for Freeway BRT along I-35W. The guidance in the 2030 Transportation Policy Plan is amazingly vague - it just men...

I knew I'd been reminiscing about this mall not too long ago, triggered as usual by Nokohaha:

http://nokohaha.com/2012/05/07/southtown-then-and-now/

This mall has gone through a bit of a resurgence since its nadir in the 90s - not sure if that is thanks to Best Buy or what.

It was a Montgomery Wards when I was a kid. Also, the big box section didn't used to be attached to the strip mall section, I believe. Not sure exactly where the gap was, but maybe where those power lines are. BTW, I agree that a multi-way boulevard would be appropriate for this part of American Blv...

I actually caught a bus from across the street on American Blvd last Friday. The bus stops there are placed in the little triangle formed at intersections by the right turn slip lanes - so you stand on a little barren concrete island literally five feet from hundreds of speeding cars. While there is...

FYI the Federal money for Mozaic does need to be paid back - it was gap financing, not a grant.

MN Reflections has several bedrock geology maps of the Twin Cities, for example: http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/mgs/id/1160/rec/5 Most of the central cities has the limestone layer - known as Platteville or Platteville/Glenwood, it's about 25-35 feet thick - over the sand...

a streetcar line and the federal money behind it would get this street re-opened. The Federal money may provide impetus for the city to use the power of condemnation it's always had, but it's not going to pay for much of the project. Most federal streetcar grants have been for $30m, and the highest...

Albuquerque, King County WA, Reno, San Jose, Oakland, and Ausin use Rapid or variations for this type of service in addition to LA. Kansas City uses Max for a service that I believe is similar in operations although more aspirational in concept. New York of course uses Select. So I'd say we should g...

I actually think it's a pretty good place for a bridge, if I have the right idea of where it'll go. It saves a good two miles for people connecting between the Bruce Vento trail and the Sam Morgan trail, both popular trails (although I admit I didn't know the latter was called that). Right now there...

Did they buy Union Plaza too? I can't think of another office building over there. Yes - Union Plaza is part of the parcel that fronts on Washington - it stretches all the way to the 3rd St Viaduct. The 328 4th St parcel contains the land beneath and between the viaducts. http://gis.co.hennepin.mn....

it could sort of be said that Victor Gruen's vision will finally be realized

This site plan does resemble something that would have been built in the suburbs of Vienna in the 50's and 60's, only in Vienna the parking lot wouldn't have been so large or obtrusive (or possibly even existed).

Good god. I know I shouldn't have expected much out of Edina, but this is disappointing even for them. They could fit an entire apartment building within their setbacks! A 55-space parking lot between the building and the street? What century are they developing this in? Edina added a 10-point polic...