Nicollet Mall

[seanrichardryan]

Of course they did:

Firm selected for Nicollet redesign
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/224404881.html

[mullen]

seems like a good, prudent choice.
here's the firm's site with their projects.
http://www.fieldoperations.net/

[John]

They were my hunch as he was the best presenter. Now, first things first. The rendering of the bus shelter needs to show overhead heaters, and get rid of the yellow idea NOW!

[min-chi-cbus]

Also - enough with the hostility/name calling and be respectful of people's ideas that differ from yours or go somewhere else to be passively aggressive.

There was nothing respectful about their approach.

[Tyler]

Of course they did:

Firm selected for Nicollet redesign
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/224404881.html

Typical -- as I truly hated what they proposed conceptually. Crystal stairs, reflective skyways, tons of ugly crap thrown all over the sidewalks. How lame.

[John]

Of course they did:

Firm selected for Nicollet redesign
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/224404881.html

Typical -- as I truly hated what they proposed conceptually. Crystal stairs, reflective skyways, tons of ugly crap thrown all over the sidewalks. How lame.

I think they will ultimately do a decent project. However, I'm sure they were RT Rybak's "pet" firm. Hopefully, they won't make it too generic or disrespectful of its past like Oslund's Peavey Plaza design. They really need to preserve some of the great sculpture and fountains that already exist on the mall. IMO , it doesn't need a lot of new gimmicky elements. Just a good repaving with durable and attractive materials that will stand the test of time.

[Nick]

New rule: Anyone who misspells Nicollet in this thread has to move to Wisconsin.

Also:

However, I am not 100% sure how the lines will interact with one-another downtown.

Could you just lead all of your posts with an "Actually I'm just posting because I like to type and didn't think about this at all" disclaimer like this one so we don't spend two pages talking about nothing?

[/stuckatO'Hare]

[Tyler]

Yeah, I think (hope) they will tone it down. They'll probably have to. Daoust Lestage was the only firm to present something which could actually get built.

[talindsay]

I guess but they take up a large amount of space, but go about 20-30 mph max. A bus takes up the road only when it is there, not at all times because of the rails, and can go faster in areas that permit it to.

The speed limit is entirely dependent on the rolling stock chosen. There's no reason they couldn't choose to use LRVs instead of smaller vehicles, and even many streetcar-style tram vehicles have top speeds well over 30. How much space they take up is also a function of the vehicle chosen, and while they *do* tend to be bigger than buses, that's also kind of the point - more standing room, more comfort, more passengers. A streetcar vehicle also only takes up the road when it's there - other vehicles can drive over tracks, and Amsterdam certainly illustrates that tracks in pedestrian spaces don't cause issues for throngs of pedestrians. So I guess I refute every one of those points.

Oh, and regarding their choice of Corner to do the Mall: I'm not sure it's the right choice but I'm sure it will work out fine. I just hope they ditch that stupid Crystal Stair idea.

[Tyler]

New rule: Anyone who misspells Nicollet in this thread has to move to Wisconsin.

This is exactly who Corner's proposal is aimed at. Wisconsinites who want to take pictures of the "Skyway Mirrors on Nicollette [sic]." I guess it's ok -- I'll just continue to avoid the street like I do now.

Ok, I'm done.

[min-chi-cbus]

OK, great news! I agree now that there won't be 4 times as much traffic downtown, because the Hiawatha terminus TODAY is already on the other side of downtown from the MOA terminus, meaning it crosses 5th twice. HOWEVER, if a train leaves every 10 minutes from both ends, there could be up to 2 trains every 10 minutes on 5th, and when the Green line is complete there could be 4 trains every 10 minutes. That could be a problem if and when those 4 trains don't all arrive at the same time, causing traffic congestion every 10/4 = 2.5 minutes. No?

[Tyler]

Yes, the green line doubles (or close to) the amount of trains downtown at any given time and will increase congestion. Yay!

[min-chi-cbus]

Edit: "Actually I'm just posting because I like to type and didn't think about this at all"

My original point was that trains blocking traffic on 5th 4 times every 10 minutes might cause problems, and a tunnel of sorts might be worthwhile.

P.S. I'm really surprised by how rude everyone has been regarding helping me understand the situation, even though I was partially correct that trains leaving all four ends of their terminii will be on 5th Street four times for every 10 minute span.....my original point. And Nick, can you please shut up about post count? Nobody cares! Post count does not equal "better", and I never claimed it did. Instead of mocking each and every poster on this forum who does not share your values in forum ettiquitte, why don't you just put a disclaimer at the top of every thread and state: "do not waste my time with posts that aren't laced with facts and data", because obviously it bothers you when I (or others) don't. You have already pissed off RetiredBanker and he'll probably never post on here again. Keep up the bad job, Nick!

[alleycat]

New rule: Anyone who misspells Nicollet in this thread has to move to Wisconsin.

This is exactly who Corner's proposal is aimed at. Wisconsinites who want to take pictures of the "Skyway Mirrors on Nicollette [sic]." I guess it's ok -- I'll just continue to avoid the street like I do now.

Ok, I'm done.

As a Wisconite turned Minnesotan I find this highly ironic. A man's name is Nicolet. Some dunce west of the Mississippi decides to add an l and start pronouncing the t. These happen to be the same people who pronounce New Prague and Mille Lacs with utter disregard for pronunciation norms.

P.S. Nick lay off Min-Chi and post something useful to the discussion and tad less snarky.

As for the mall, pretty much any of these teams could've improved Nicollet's current state. Hopefully in 20 years it won't look dated like the current 90s pastiche.The Corner team will do what they can within their budget.

[Tyler]

As a Wisconite turned Minnesotan I find this highly ironic. A man's name is Nicolet. Some dunce west of the Mississippi decides to add an l and start pronouncing the t. These happen to be the same people who pronounce New Prague and Mille Lacs with utter disregard for pronunciation norms.

Heh. I didn't think that through. I just meant, it's a design aimed at tourists. Midwestern tourists. No offense meant to Wisconsin or the great Nicolet.

[mullen]

those were just conceptial renderings. i'm sure they'll be lots of community meetings to voice opinions about color choices and other features. not sure about reflective material on bottoms of skyways either but i like the stairs idea as a place to sit, gather. not that we have to copy everything new york city but they work wonderfully there.

if this project is anywhere near as successful as their high line in nyc then we'll have something.

[woofner]

Can anyone explain what the selection process was here? I thought there was going to be some attempt to solicit public input. Was that naive of me? I even stuck a pen in my leg and looked at their bullshit website to try to find out, but just found a bunch of quotes from rich people and made-up statistics.

[Didier]

God. The comments on the Star Tribune story are almost exclusively either:

• What, they couldn't find a local firm to do this?

• If any state money goes to this project I will be mad!

It's almost like it's organized. Sometimes I think it might be.

Anyway, the guy who won was on MPR earlier today and pretty much stressed that the concepts were likely not at all what the final project would look like.

[Tyler]

Anyway, the guy who won was on MPR earlier today and pretty much stressed that the concepts were likely not at all what the final project would look like.

LOL. Good news to me. But then what was the point of these presentations and how on earth were they selected as the "winner"? I guess it came down to portfolio/name/connections/etc. which makes this competitive process seem pretty stupid.

[Southside]

As a Wisconite turned Minnesotan I find this highly ironic. A man's name is Nicolet. Some dunce west of the Mississippi decides to add an l and start pronouncing the t. These happen to be the same people who pronounce New Prague and Mille Lacs with utter disregard for pronunciation norms.

Heh. I didn't think that through. I just meant, it's a design aimed at tourists. Midwestern tourists. No offense meant to Wisconsin or the great Nicolet.

I think we may have found the dunce. Jean Nicolet and Joseph Nicollet were different people that explored different regions more than 150 years apart.