urbanMSP

Problem with industrial zoning districts that permit housing within them is that industrial is a low paying land use. Once other uses think they can be successful in that zoning district, there will be upward pressure on land value and rents and they'll be pushed out. It may be a fine zoning distric...

Steve, I think he's referencing the recently tunneled sections for rail. The Alaskan Viaduct project has not gone well and is an atypical project anyway, with the large diameter tunnel that went through some really sketchy soils (and got stuck). The extension to UW was delivered under budget: http:/...

Ha, I'm not doing anything on the tunnels except trying to get TOD done adjacent a future tunnel station. Though we are trying to figure out how to better integrate transit infrastructure with stations, push for incidental uses, and think about how we have more direct connections between stations an...

NOVA special on Cross Rail tunnel construction in London. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/super-tunnel.html

Re: Hennepin access to the Greenway. The city and community should push very hard to get the Boneyard/Old Chicago parcel, when redeveloped, to finish the promenade. That would create access from the east side of Hennepin. From the west side, you already have the Mall, which connects you down at Humb...

A property owner on the block confirmed Lander bought those properties and mentioned Lander said he was still figuring out what to do with the properties.

Think this was circa early 2006 after the controversies of MoZaic, Edgewater, and when Blue was first proposed as a multi-block redevelopment. Think it is also from when Lander was proposing the building on the north side of Lake Calhoun and thus the image with the buildings next to the lake, which ...

Part of the bike rack issue is that neither the architect nor applicant has either taken the time to think about the bike rack specifics or understand principles for what makes a good bike rack. The fact that Forms & Surfaces offers a bike rack and that they are a company that architects go to w...

I heard that Heartbreaker in Uptown was closed with nearly everything gone inside. No mention of this on their website or social media. Apparently looked like a normal store just a few days ago. Any insights?

Blue Line is only 24/7 between the terminals. It otherwise has 3 hours of no service at night. I would be shocked if the Green Line ran service 24/7 the entire length of the extension. Unsure what the current plans are, though. Either way, the point is more than in the late night and middle of the n...

109 parking stalls for 40–60 employees for a Met Council building literally in walking distance to the Shady Oak LRT station. IMO, a scandal of many layers. I'm face palming. The documents reference that the parking will store work vehicles. Based on the design and documents, I would suspect that t...

Could a skyway that is only to be used for walking be used for treadmills?

Well if you're asking, the 3C open station cut-cover option was not well developed. It was the concept that was presented and I don't recall anyone (including myself) pushing for it or the Midtown Greenway trail crossing at-grade across Nicollet. I think the county/their consultants had identified w...

Let's not sell bus improvements short. The A line was a small investment in the grand scheme of things and there is no reason why bus improvements have to come in the form of the full suite of improvements. Cities, counties, and transit agencies could invest strategically to improve key problem spot...

David, it's been a while since I've taken the 6, but I used to hit huge slowdowns on Hennepin in Downtown near MCTC, the lead up to Franklin, and then parts of Hennepin near 26th and 28th. It was especially bad in rain and snow, as well as nice summer days in the PM peak. As an aside, I remember a t...

The Uptown SSD is self managed. They were still paying off a couple of years ago the 1990s sidewalk, lantern pedestrian lights, and tree lighting receptacles that they installed. My recollection is that the capital payoff was in 2017 but that is very rusty. I think the thought a number of years ago ...

Re: Balconies over public ROW, another thing to note is that things falling off of them (whether intentionally, by wind, or ice) can fall on pedestrians below. If they aren't solid on the bottom, they could drip water when people water plants. Things like awnings, signs, and skyways offer far fewer ...

I'm disappointed that there will be walk up units on Lyndale on this block. I'd like to see flexible space that could be used in the interim for housing or housing amenities but it should be constructed for commercial use. The private parking garages are also unique in the market for this sort of th...

I really like this project. I lived on this blockface as well as kittycorner off of the rear property line. It will fill in nicely and I like the added office. We need more projects like this along neighborhood commercial corridors and corridors like 31st.

Twincitizen sounds like the folks who live on Bryant Av S between 46th and 50th Street who feel that they have way too many buses on their block and want the 146 and 46 relocated to Lyndale on that stretch.