urbanMSP

Rode the "bike lane" (is that the right term?) along 66th Street from Southdale to Highway 77. Is it better than what is used to be? Yes. Could it be better? Definitely. Its basically a wide sidewalk with one half designated for bikes and the other half designated for pedestrians. Like al...

Some day I’m going to search for this conversation about France & Xerxes & Edina & Richfield, and I’ll never look in the Pentagon Park thread. [emoji13] Truth. You make a compelling point about the differences between west-of-France and east-of-York. Still, I think the simple answer is ...

Regarding the idea we have plenty of land -- my other general comment is that for 99.9% of our metro area, tall buildings are not really about getting the most density on the least amount of land. Even in or near downtown Minneapolis, it's not necessarily about the max du / acre, etc. It's to provi...

Regarding the idea we have plenty of land -- my other general comment is that for 99.9% of our metro area, tall buildings are not really about getting the most density on the least amount of land. Even in or near downtown Minneapolis, it's not necessarily about the max du / acre, etc. It's to provid...

The Estelle was a good project in the wrong place. Location, location, location. If I’m looking to build a concrete factory, and the church next to your house is up for sale, should I build it there because the land is cheap? Why didn’t the developer propose it across the street on France? Why were...

Edina really dropped the ball here. I don't even think they got the land swap for the new access road and parking they wanted for Fred Richards. Agreed, it was really disappointing that apartment project fell through. Also, from a branding perspective, it's interesting that they are going all-out k...

The tower site now has a brand: "Pentagon Village". They also have a domain: http://pentagonvillageedina.com/ (no site up yet) Fence signage up now: https://twitter.com/sdho/status/1077950288022126592 Website is up now: https://www.pentagonvillageedina.com/ Doesn't offer much more detail ...

That would suck a lot. I would still prefer a building at 70th & Xerxes, and it seems to jibe with Richfield desire for a shorter building along Xerxes (since library is to be 2 stories, but residential will be 6+). It's not just thinking Richfield. Xerxes is also an important, more walkable str...

Some renderings here: https://solomonre.com/pentagon-village-edina-mn/ From the July 2018 video Edina posted, sounds like the initial construction will only includes the single-story retail buildings and the hotels, although the site will be "shovel-ready" for future office use: https://ww...

Personally really dislike the Pentagon Village brand. I liked the branding direction of the temporary signage they had for several years: "Pentagon Reborn" with the simple line work logo. But in most cases, the branding doesn't last long and doesn't have a huge role in the final developmen...

The tower site now has a brand: "Pentagon Village". They also have a domain: http://pentagonvillageedina.com/ (no site up yet)

Fence signage up now: https://twitter.com/sdho/status/1077950288022126592

Given that it is the terminus (for now), it seems relatively harmless to do several stops close together in downtown Burnsville. I was under the impression one of the big issues was what a bleak-as-hell walk it is from Heart of the City proper across the Sibley Hwy to BVTS. I think it will see a lot...

France & 494 is Bloomington, not Edina, but I know that Edina’s transportation planner has discussed that area with Bloomington & MNDOT about potential improvements for cars. Although I wish Bloomington would step up on this, I don't really expect them to. I asked repeatedly about filling t...

The Lifetime Fitness at Southdale Center looks like it actually will have significant separation from the Hennepin Service Center wing of the mall. I assumed it was going to share a wall like JCPenney did. But that space separating the building is also wider than a standard utility corridor. Really...

Hah. Last time they were here they "improved" the bridge by shutting off access to the east sidewalk. (I believe because there wasn't space for that proper ramps on that tiny porkchop at the southeast corner.) Hope this will be better, like properly widening the sidewalks. And removing the...

49 minute bike ride from Uptown. https://goo.gl/maps/WrUzyLZGgcH2

At that point you might as well go to the the other great Olive Garden. Bonus points if you actually bike down France Avenue through Southdale.

This is sweet news. I hadn't even heard about electric buses on the C line? That would be awesome if feasible.

https://www.startribune.com/met-council-transportation-chair-to-become-richfield-city-manager/501215761/ Met Council transportation chair to become Richfield city manager Katie Rodriguez, the chair of the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Committee, will become the next city manager of Richfield...

They're sure moving a lot of dirt. I've been at the coworking space 3 days this week and I've just been seeing dozens and dozens of side load dump trucks hauling dirt away.

Unclear if they're removing contaminated soil or they just want less dirt on the site.

The material costs are similar but the labor costs for installation are usually wayyyy more. It takes like 3x as long as metal panel/Hardie/EFIS/etc. Takes more skill too. And the 30ft brick line is annoying - gotta throw in some steel angles. Which accounts for why we see brick the first two stori...