urbanMSP

Very similar to the old county courthouse in my hometown of Sioux Falls as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Minne ... Courthouse

If the school were made of quartzite like that courthouse is, there would be no issues at all.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/busin ... se-vessels

I didn't realize this was being built in Duluth. I look forward to these cruises being trip options!

Duluth seeks public comment on 15-story, 194-unit apartment tower by Essentia Hospital campus. (unlocked)

Good news for Duluth's tourism outlook -- Viking to offer Great Lakes cruises: https://www.travelandleisure.com/cruise ... ap24FsnMos

I wonder what a trip from Toronto to Duluth would set you back. A Viking River Cruise from St. Paul to New Orleans is $1,000 per person.

I remember hearing about people who wait sail or take a tiny yacht from Duluth all the way to new York and always thought that might be a cool thing to do for a bucket list.

Looks like it starts at just $14k per person, assuming double occupancy.

Looks like it starts at just $14k per person, assuming double occupancy.

But the airfare is free.

I noticed on the Travel and Leisure they didn't have a link for Duluth, but did for the other cities. I feel like out-state and the cities have lots to offer people together. Do tour groups ever do the Twin Cities and then take people up to Duluth? Seems like having companies down here do conferences or even employee appreciation events up there would also be good. You're HQ'd here and have a conference or training up there.

I am so pumped for those cruises. I hope we start getting more freshwater cruises in the US as a whole

I don't have any photos to post, but the new hospital tower looks absolutely huge on the skyline.

New apartments in Lincoln Park, Superior and 21st Ave W:


The area is also getting a Hungry Hippie Tacos. Combined with Bent Paddle, Ursa Minor, Lee's Pizza, etc, I could be pretty happy in this area for several days: https://www.startribune.com/grand-marai ... %20Brewing.

One of the last remaining lakeshore lots, 12 acres, being considered for development.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... front.html

Lotsa challenges remain, pollution cleanup, poor soils, degrading sea wall, old concrete foundations.

It's always puzzled me that there is still undeveloped land on the harbor. We just stayed at the Park Point Marina Inn last week and it was terrific to be right on the water of the harbor with thousand foot freighters and big "salties" cruising by. The aged industrial vibe of a lot of the harbor actually is appealing, and places like the Park Point and a hotel next door to it, along with Pier B all have taken advantage of this really unique feature of the Lake and city.
The big surprise however is the massive, new Essentia Hospital, which will have some of the most spectacular hospital room views of any hospital on the planet. It is a bit odd that what seems to be the tallest and biggest building in Duluth is a hospital, but it is one of the most attractive hospitals in the state. Too bad you'd have to be sick to stay there.

Hah, maybe they'll follow Mayo with plans to put a luxury hotel on top of a clinical tower (that's the most recent yet on-hold plan for adding another 10 stories to the Gonda tower)... always thought it would be weird to stay in a hotel like that for any non-medical reason.

Agreed on the appeal of the industrial vibe for cities like this. It's sad how many cities want to destroy their industrial heritage and make sanitized shiny-and-new tourist districts. Duluth has such a fascinating industrial vibe and east coast-style hillside. They've lost some classic structures to fire over the past year as well. Similarly, it was sad when Two Harbors demolished much of the former DM&IR railroad complex adjacent to downtown including an old roundhouse in order to make the lots available for negative-charm modern industrial land uses. There's lots of adaptive reuse possibilities with those old railroad complexes even in small towns, as Brainerd has shown.

Two Harbors really missed it on taking advantage of their wonderful harbor for some great tourism features. The big open space that used to be all railroad yards, coal yard and holding area for the monster steam engines that brought ore down from the mines could be a magical space for some beautiful developments. It's a crazy thought, but whenever I look at the two abandoned ore docks on the south west end of the harbor, I picture housing or hotels space built on top of the docks and incorporating some of the dock structure for common area spaces and activities. It's mind boggling to see hundreds of tons of steel just sitting there, slowly rusting away. At over 90 feet above the lake surface, the views would be spectacular.

It's a crazy thought, but whenever I look at the two abandoned ore docks on the south west end of the harbor, I picture housing or hotels space built on top of the docks and incorporating some of the dock structure for common area spaces and activities.

Definitely not the craziest thought about where a Two Harbors hotel ought to go.

It's a crazy thought, but whenever I look at the two abandoned ore docks on the south west end of the harbor, I picture housing or hotels space built on top of the docks and incorporating some of the dock structure for common area spaces and activities.

Definitely not the craziest thought about where a Two Harbors hotel ought to go.

How on Earth did that person not only become mayor but also get reelected?

Not as grand (and expensive) as an underwater hotel, but an underwater restaurant like this one in Norway would be great to have somewhere along the shore of Lake Superior: https://under.no/

First time I've actually seen a dollar figure for the Blatnik Bridge replacement: $1.8 Billion.

https://www.startribune.com/blatnik-bri ... 600191460/