urbanMSP

I really like how this project treats the sidewalk.

The Portland streetcar is eblematic of what's wrong with American streetcar technology. Unlike French and German trams (which are closer to LRT than street cars) streetcars have low capacity and share ROW. Minneapolis won't have one way pairs like Portland and has longer blocks so any Minneapolis t...

Another "get to the back of the line, Minneapolis!" article:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/conra ... ed-transit

For truly obnoxious analysis, turn to CNBC. In a nutshell, I would summarize the problems of Detroit as: 1. Truly poisonous race relations. See The Origins of the Urban Crisis . 2. Unsustainably dispersed settlement pattern. At 139 square miles, Detroit encapsulates the Strong Towns critique writ sm...

A great article by Matthew Yglesias:

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/ ... on_toolbar

First City Council test passed today. Community Development Committee voted 4 to 1 in favor of the Ryan Co. concept. Goodman, Samuels, Lilligren and Quincy were in favor. Cam Gordon voted against it.

Strib report on the vote: http://www.startribune.com/business/214821381.html

This is where I grew up and I agree, it's a wonderful area. I think the Parkway is one of the best urban green spaces in the US. The airplanes are noisy though.

If that's how we did funding, the cities would be screwed [...] Actually, Minneapolis is basically neutral on the fiscal disparities revenue sharing [...] I'm pulling this exchange out of context, but I thought it would be an interesting point to mention that Minneapolis is actually a net contribut...

Yeah, and that's just the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, it doesn't show the (extensive) tram network or the bus network. Yes, I think density is the crucial distinction - but in sort of an odd way. The areas around Munich stations are quite dense, even in the furthest suburbs. Between suburban stations, howeve...

These maps are cool and exciting. A recent statistic hit home how much room for improvement remains, however. In 2012, Metro Transit ridership was 81 million . http://metrotransit.org/metro-transit-2012-ridership-tops-81-million In 2012, MVV ridership (the Munich, Germany transit authority) ridershi...

From the Daily:

http://www.mndaily.com/politics/minneso ... s-traction

Cool.

"The bike lobby is an all powerful enterprise!"

(that is an actual quote)

Arguably the post-financial-crisis United States is undergoing a generational shift, part of which is a different way of thinking about cities. Some people really don't like that idea at all because it upsets the status quo. One way to define that status quo is as economic growth structured around [...

From the Minnpost: http://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2013/06/bringing-streetcars-minneapolis-some-perplexing-twists-and-turns Ms. Harris describes this as "a done deal", by which I think she means that the city has decided on the financing mechanism that it will submit with its application...

The state is spending $22 million to build two parking ramps two blocks and one block away from the Capitol/Rice Street and Robert Street stations respectively. http://finance-commerce.com/2013/06/leveraging-development-off-the-sears-project/ Apparently, the redevelopment of the Sears site (which wi...

The MSFA is already planning a 560-space ramp on that block. The thought exercise could continue: there are a number of other blocks that are adjacent to the Stadium that are not adjacent to the LRT station. For instance, there is a surface parking lot on 11th Ave between 5th and 6th streets. That ...

Yes, it isn't immediately apparent what the city is chasing after. Unless the development is manifestly superior to what the market would provide on its own, the subsidy seems unjustified. Sure, it would be great if Wells Fargo moved all their employees nationwide to downtown Minneapolis. But one wo...

From the Strib analysis of Ryan's proposal http://www.startribune.com/local/west/210022471.html?page=all&prepage=2&c=y#continue : 1. Ryan "is asking the public to pay for skyways not required by the legislation passed last year — likely about $6.4 million" - to connect the proposed...

Happy belated birthday, UrbanMSP!

Although a sporadic poster, I am an avid reader. It's an excellent forum. Many thanks to those of you that keep it going.