urbanMSP

We took the Green Line yesterday from Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul to see a Saints game. Once again, we experienced folks drinking, smoking, screaming, and swearing going both directions Some of them stated they were 12- 16 years old. No one of authority was in sight. This compiled with the fact...

I think the 2-car trains are a good idea. I ride the Blue Line about twice a week, and nearly always have an experience with somebody smoking, drinking or having a mental health crisis on the train. Generally, I don't feel unsafe, but do feel uncomfortable and irritated- particularly with the smokin...

I hate this project except for the section in Minneapolis. The Met Council should be promoting T.O.D. rather than constructing more surface parking spaces in Robinsdale. Do you think anyone on the bus tour actually got out of the vehicle and stood in the middle of that 6-lane highway? What an awful ...

I heard the Uptown Theater project is much smaller than 2,500, something more like 1,200. They still have't applied for the liquor license.

Your point is accurate, but is besides the fact that Hennepin Avenue will be calmed dramatically with fewer traffic lanes, shorter pedestrian crossings, off street bike lanes and a dedicated bus lanes. Again, I too support 24 hour bus lanes, but the physical design of Hennepin will become so much im...

I used to work in Loring Park and had a client who worked in a building on Royalston near the former Lee's Liquor Lounge. It was surprisingly close, particularly to the Laurel Village area, where 12th Street ends and Royalston begins. I walked over many times to drop stuff off and it sure didn't tak...

Ok. Let's get some perspective here... The design of Hennepin Avenue proposed by MAK's Public Works department is an incredibly progressive design reducing traffic lanes, including a protected bikeway and dedicated bus lanes. I too prefer 24 hour bus lanes, but let's give MAK some credit for impleme...

Who do you mean by rural people? I'm assuming Public Works Director Kelliher and someone else? MAK has lived in Minneapolis, including a stint representing the City in the MN Legislature, for decades. I grew up in a tiny town in SW MN, but have lived in the City for 30 years and hope to be considere...

It seems that the City requiring diagonal streetcar right of way through the middle of the site has done little for the Nicllet frontage too. It could also be a reason the main tower has an odd shape in places... All for an ill-conceived project that has little or no chance of moving forward.

I dunno. I've traveled to Denver, Portland and Boston n recent years, and this building is better than what I've seen in those cities. Minneapolis has a far better skyline IMO. We're just not going to get premier architecture like in NYC, Chicago and Toronto as a second or third-tier metro. IMO it m...

The Metropolitan Council released their 2021 population estimates for cities and townships in the region: https://metrocouncil.org/Data-and-Maps/Research-and-Data/Annual-Population-Estimates.aspx#content It appears Minneapolis continued healthy growth with more than 4,000 new residents to a populati...

I also don't get why it is going to take so many years to complete the 1/2 mile tunnel. Are they digging with spoons? Seriously, London is finally opening their Corss Rail/ Elizabeth Line this year after several years of delay. However, that extensive tunneling went through one of the densest and ol...

I discovered a new mens store in the North Loop called Jaxon Gray last weekend. They have very fun, contemporary clothing geared more to younger guys, I think. It is owned by the son of Len Drusken who formerly owned mens boutiques around the metro for 20 years. Apparently, Jaxon Gray will be moving...

Some of us advocated for a four to three lane conversion back them, but Hennepin County dismissed it outright. Their traffic engineers care most about moving cars, while pedestrian safety and improved transit is an afterthought. The result of the 2008 reconstruction of the Lake and Lyndale intersect...

Agreed. If not reversed by the City Council, a court will overturn this decision. Corridor 6 planning guidance allows for up to six stories by right, and 10 stories if other City goals are met through the project. Such goals include TOD. The make up of the Planning Commission must have changed drama...

I hope you are right, but the stations past north Minneapolis don't seem that great besides North Memorial and Robinsdale. The land uses, station design and roads are all oriented to people driving to stations, which is exactly what Denver did with abysmal results. The North Memorial Station options...

The Met Council planners need to learn from other regions like Dallas and Denver who have built extensive Light Rail systems with low ridership that serve mostly low-density, un-walkable suburban areas. It already appears the Blue Line will repeat mistakes made in those cities chasing suburban rider...

I have a Fantasy Map dream of linking the Empire Builder from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis along a vacated I94 corridor. I'm not sure how to connect from Union Depot into the freeway trench, but imagine a connection near the Wabash bridge over I94 near the old Amtrak Depot. The route wo...

Last year I went through 2020 Census results for cities along the Green Line Extension and found they were really the only cities in Hennepin County to grow significantly in the last decade. Perhaps, SLP, Hopkins and Eden Prairie have started to run out of developable land along that corridor where ...

So, the total amount of the Green Line Extension is now $2.7 billion. How much of that is the tunnel?