urbanMSP

Yes, it's been happening for a while now. It seems to me like it has slowed a little bit, but it hasn't stopped. It's one of those things that makes more sense for certain companies and types of companies than others, and I think that will affect how much of it we see going forward. The main benefit...

It doesn't help that people in this state have an aversion to parking ramps for some reason, even free ones sometimes. I don't get it.

I have seen situations where a specific ramp was full if it was right next to an event venue, but I've always been able to find something.

Wait, you're saying retailers would prefer not to locate a store in a high traffic area for loss prevention reasons? Man, I just have no head for business at all. I'm saying loss prevention is a factor they consider, and not all high-traffic areas are the same in terms of how well a store could do ...

That explains my Uff Da. How high do you think Nicollet is in crime? It's such a Minnesota view on danger and crime. A company based in the bay area of California isn't going to care that there are maybe 10-20 homeless people on or near Nicollet. You realize the Bay Area is a big place that has vas...

uff da Uff da...what, exactly? Retailers take loss prevention into account when deciding where to locate stores. Theft happens in every store, no matter where it is, but some are more prone to it than others, whether it is due to high traffic, a location that makes it easy, or whatever. Apple doesn...

They have downtown stores in other cities. I'm sure they have it figured out. Of course. Being in a downtown is not the issue. But not all locations are the same. For some, the benefits will outweigh the challenges. I don't see Nicollet Mall as being one of those places in the same way that, say, M...

I would be 0% mad if the Apple store bailed on Uptown for a Nicollet Mall location. Nicollet is the right place for an Apple store if we’re only going to have one in the city (both would be fine too) While it would make sense in some ways, there's no way they would put one there due to the loss pre...

Asked and answered, LOL.

It might just be that the landlords are asking for too much money for the space. This has been an issue in other cities as well -- NYC has double-digit retail vacancies in Manhattan, for example, and it's certainly not an issue of customers having money or population there either. Tenants can only a...

I doubt that store got a lot of people from outside the immediate area shopping there, which probably hurt it, because it's not the kind of store that local residents would go to often. And Uptown is just not an area that people from outside of it will go to for shopping. There's definitely a strong...

Sounds about right for Rochester, then.

LOL, I don't know how widespread the acronym is, but I find it useful. It's a good way to distinguish that area from the other suburbs that could also technically be considered south suburbs (i.e. Richfield, Bloomington, etc) but that are more connected to the core. The Minnesota River valley is sti...

Planning for school district enrollment growth is a tricky thing, because often it is not just a question of if there will be growth, but where it will be. Looking at a map of the district, it seems like it was planned out when there far more students on the southern end than in the northern area, w...

Some other factors to consider: -- Burnsville has also long had a much higher percentage of multifamily housing (whether owned or leased) than the other SOTR suburbs. So I think there was a feeling of "we've done our part; time for everyone else to step up" at play there too. Which is unde...

I feel like Bde Maka Ska sees a reasonable amount of tourism in the summer. You'll notice groups of people speaking German or Italian enjoying the trails or renting paddleboards. Though it's true that people staying downtown for sports or concerts probably aren't making the trek all that often (esp...

If there's a nice day, then the hotspots are places like the Chain of Lakes or Minnehaha Falls, not downtown. How many non-locals go to those places, though, unless a local takes them? Minnehaha Falls is at least on the Blue Line, but neither is near the hotels and other areas where tourists will s...

The more I've traveled to other US cities (hell even just small midwestern cities), I've come to realize that our lack of tourism is another contributing factor as to why downtown Mpls' retail/storefront scene sucks so bad. Obviously the biggest contributing factors are the skyways and bad building...

I think that just means we don't have a lot of traditional touristy stuff like historical sites, entertainment districts, really famous museums, amusement parks, etc. After all, our top tourist site is a mall.

MinnPost has an interesting article on Fargo/Moorhead and its recent growth: https://www.minnpost.com/economy/2019/0 ... eads-boom/

I didn't know Microsoft had a 1000+ employee campus there.

I think they understand the economics of the situation. But I don't think they care. Nor is it surprising that they don't. Logic and reason only gets you so far in these situations.