Minneapolis Skyway System

[Silophant]

The Orpheum's skyway does connect to the Hawthorne ramp, so those are the correct directions.

[amiller92]

It look like the building that houses Ling & Louie's is getting a skyway connection. Or at least there is something covered up on the wall of the skyway between it and the Young Quinlan building that looks suspiciously like a future hole in the wall.

[dingo]

I always thought they should punch a hole in the end of that skyway and lead it straight to Ling & Louie rooftop as well

[amiller92]

I always thought they should punch a hole in the end of that skyway and lead it straight to Ling & Louie rooftop as well

Well, it's right there, so why not? But on the other hand, that skyway doesn't get very much traffic and closes during off peak times (exactly when it would be most useful for a restaurant).

[Silophant]

Maybe it'll get new hours?

[mattaudio]

Maybe Ling & Louie wanted to serve on the municipal skyway committee...

[HiawathaGuy]

I always thought they should punch a hole in the end of that skyway and lead it straight to Ling & Louie rooftop as well

This has been in the news quite a bit over the past year. Here's a story about the lawsuit that led to the agreement: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/p ... -mall.html

[Sacrelicio]

Anyone else annoyed by the 3 skyways in the WF buildings? We have to stop building those damn things.

[HiawathaGuy]

Anyone else annoyed by the 3 skyways in the WF buildings? We have to stop building those damn things.

Sorry, I disagree. Skyway connectivity tends to be a plus for office buildings downtown. But this argument has been hashed out countless times on this site. I'm sure there's something in Anything Goes if you want to continue it there. WF would never have agreed to build these towers without skyway connectivity. So, like them or hate them, it was a piece of the puzzle to get 5,000+ employees in this part of downtown.

[mattaudio]

Though we know the true driver of this skyway extension was the stadium which planned to build a skyway from the MSFA ramp block to the Zgyipalace by way of the Zygiblock north of 4th St.

[HiawathaGuy]

The shame!

[Wedgeguy]

Anyone else annoyed by the 3 skyways in the WF buildings? We have to stop building those damn things.

Sorry, I disagree. Skyway connectivity tends to be a plus for office buildings downtown. But this argument has been hashed out countless times on this site. I'm sure there's something in Anything Goes if you want to continue it there. WF would never have agreed to build these towers without skyway connectivity. So, like them or hate them, it was a piece of the puzzle to get 5,000+ employees in this part of downtown.

Agree with Hiawatha guy here, This dead horse had been beaten on in too many other threads. Needs to go to Anything Goes.

[Sacrelicio]

Anyone else annoyed by the 3 skyways in the WF buildings? We have to stop building those damn things.

Sorry, I disagree. Skyway connectivity tends to be a plus for office buildings downtown. But this argument has been hashed out countless times on this site. I'm sure there's something in Anything Goes if you want to continue it there. WF would never have agreed to build these towers without skyway connectivity. So, like them or hate them, it was a piece of the puzzle to get 5,000+ employees in this part of downtown.

Agree with Hiawatha guy here, This dead horse had been beaten on in too many other threads. Needs to go to Anything Goes.

Fair enough, I'm new here!

[Sacrelicio]

OK, so we're not getting rid of the Skyway. Fine. But, how about doing things like this:



Instead of things like this:




At such a major intersection, you'd think there would be an easy public way to get into the Skyway. If I didn't know the area and had just gotten off the bus, I'd have no idea how to get up there. I could follow the glass down to the little Bottle House building, or try to walk in through the Washington Square tower, but someone might not figure that out or think they couldn't if it were after hours. I worked in that tower and I never took the Skyway anywhere since I didn't really know how to get into the main part of system or how to get anywhere. I've had my hair cut at the Winston's over at Macy's in the Skyway and I oftentimes couldn't remember exactly how to get there from the street. I don't think the Calgary style access points would be that hard to add at major junctions.

Add some stairways/elevators that connect to the street, remove/retool some of the private connections, improve the visual design, and add some wayfinding, and I'd be OK with the system.

[sushisimo]

For a newcomer, it is nearly impossible to access/find the entry to this leg of the skyway system. I've seen people point and do a disoriented twirl to spy an entrance. I've helped and said "You just have to cut through this parking lot, enter those double doors, hang a left at the little dry cleaners, go up the tight, awkward staircase, open the door and go right. That's it!"

[Sacrelicio]

For a newcomer, it is nearly impossible to access/find the entry to this leg of the skyway system. I've seen people point and do a disoriented twirl to spy an entrance. I've helped and said "You just have to cut through this parking lot, enter those double doors, hang a left at the little dry cleaners, go up the tight, awkward staircase, open the door and go right. That's it!"

You can go in the Washington Square building (the 20ish story white tower on the north side of Washington) during the day. Not sure what the exact hours are. But overall, it's an ugly and poorly placed and designed part of the skyway.

[martykoessel]

This skyway will never be pretty, but my understanding is that the redesign of the plaza beneath the Washington Square building will include an external staircase linking the plaza to the skyway. That said, with a couple of notable exceptions, the skyways have always seemed made for those in the know. Do you think some regular users take a perverse pride in getting around where outsiders get lost, like the dwellers of an Old City who can make their way through the twists and turns of a casbah?

[intercomnut]

This skyway will never be pretty, but my understanding is that the redesign of the plaza beneath the Washington Square building will include an external staircase linking the plaza to the skyway. That said, with a couple of notable exceptions, the skyways have always seemed made for those in the know. Do you think some regular users take a perverse pride in getting around where outsiders get lost, like the dwellers of an Old City who can make their way through the twists and turns of a casbah?

I do, both in Downtown and in the Gopher Way.

[MN Fats]

Does anyone know if there are plans to add skyway-level retail in the Haff Ramp/Public Safety center area to cater to the new 5000+ Wells Fargo employees? I walk through that stretch of the skyway daily and it's a hike from the new connection to anything meaningful. I know I got tired of the restaurants in my building after about a week.

[Wedgeguy]

Walking thru the Crossings skyway level the other day and I noticed that the must have been feeling the pinch of the remodeled neighbor to the south. Looks like they are finally working to remodel at least the Thread bare skyway level. I know that they lost at least one restaurant tenant and probably was going to lose more if they did not invest to update a 20+ year old design. Any one seen an schematics for the update?