Nicollet Mall

Downtown - North Loop - Mill District - Elliot Park - Loring Park
Aville_37
Union Depot
Posts: 366
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 4:51 am

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby Aville_37 » May 14th, 2014, 6:53 pm

Be interesting to see how feasible it is to keep the fire pits. I am still upset the fireplaces in the downtown library never have been turned on.

John
Capella Tower
Posts: 2102
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 2:06 pm

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby John » May 14th, 2014, 7:57 pm

The spiral seating benches at the Central Library will make a great retail space for drug dealers, not to mention a nice hangout for gangsters and panhandlers. ;)

grant1simons2
IDS Center
Posts: 4371
Joined: February 8th, 2014, 11:33 pm
Location: Marcy-Holmes

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby grant1simons2 » May 14th, 2014, 8:05 pm

Don't know if serious..

David Greene
IDS Center
Posts: 4617
Joined: December 4th, 2012, 11:41 am

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby David Greene » May 14th, 2014, 8:06 pm

:roll:

Anondson
IDS Center
Posts: 4645
Joined: July 21st, 2013, 8:57 pm
Location: Where West Minneapolis Once Was

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby Anondson » May 14th, 2014, 8:35 pm

Also known as "renters" by some in the Wedge.

I kid...

MplsSteve
Nicollet Mall
Posts: 146
Joined: May 2nd, 2013, 9:11 am

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby MplsSteve » May 14th, 2014, 8:40 pm

The new design seems a little too cluttered, too "architectural". People just want trees and greenery, comfortable places to sit - it's really not rocket science. Changing the name is really more of a marketing ploy on the part of the architect. So often architecture is more salesmanship than anything else. The only part I really hate is that island thing at 7th street. It's chops up the space into a bunch of completely unusable little strips.

minnyapple
Nicollet Mall
Posts: 130
Joined: February 24th, 2013, 11:32 pm

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby minnyapple » May 14th, 2014, 8:41 pm

Maybe what there going for with the Nicollet Mile is Minneapolis's version of Chicago's magnificent Mile. Or maybe not.

Anyways Kare has a brief story of the revamp. http://www.kare11.com/story/life/2014/0 ... n/9096175/
Last edited by minnyapple on May 14th, 2014, 9:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

minnyapple
Nicollet Mall
Posts: 130
Joined: February 24th, 2013, 11:32 pm

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby minnyapple » May 14th, 2014, 8:44 pm

The new design seems a little too cluttered.
lol Thats what the designer said about the current Nicollet Mall in the Kare story i just posted.

John
Capella Tower
Posts: 2102
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 2:06 pm

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby John » May 14th, 2014, 9:16 pm

Don't know if serious..
Not completely, but I think the large amount of public seating and places to congregate in this renovation project need to be well thought out in terms of public safety. The whimsical fire pits and fancy benches look pretty in the renderings, but who is going to really use them with any frequency? The Central Library already has problems with people loitering, drug dealing etc. I think part of the solution is having a better police presence, but more importantly making sure these spaces are purposeful with structured programming and events that actually make Nicollet Mall more inclusive to attract to a wider variety of people.

sushisimo
Landmark Center
Posts: 226
Joined: June 2nd, 2012, 3:47 pm

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby sushisimo » May 14th, 2014, 9:40 pm

I don't understand how this city deals with trees. Especially in this case where we are finally seeing some maturation of trees on Nicollet Mall in its current state. Are they just gonna plow everything under and start from scratch? Meaning, saplings? Or, will we see what happened in Gold Medal Park and get semi-mature trees from the start? The renderings don't fool me.

User avatar
woofner
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1242
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 10:04 am

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby woofner » May 14th, 2014, 9:48 pm

This image seems to show the flared intersections that have been mentioned as a substitute for a north-south separated bike facility on the mall:

Image

It looks like they're being designed so that buses will not be able to pass other buses. This means that all they serve to do is give cyclists the perception of a faster trip. In reality very few cyclists ride faster than a moving bus on Nicollet, so it'll just make cyclists uncomfortable and slow down transit trips. It would be nice if they could add 5 feet or so and allow buses to pass other buses at these flared intersections to remove a significant source of bus delay.
"Who rescued whom!"

User avatar
FISHMANPET
IDS Center
Posts: 4241
Joined: June 6th, 2012, 2:19 pm
Location: Corcoran

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby FISHMANPET » May 14th, 2014, 9:56 pm

Ugh just build a tunnel under Nicolet like the Seattle Transit tunnel and run buses on it. Then someday we can run streetcar or light rail or subway or trolley bus or water taxi or whatever in a completely grade separated transit way.

mullen
Foshay Tower
Posts: 961
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 7:02 am

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby mullen » May 15th, 2014, 6:42 am

oh god forbid we'd take our glorious buses away. how would people ever adjust? i guess our "leaders" have never traveled our bothered to see how true pedestrian streets thrive in europe. pedestrian street, people meander, take early evening walks or late night walks after dining out. i'm not a fan of the yellow color scheme in this concept renderings. it would get dated quickly similar to the teal color scheme from the 80's. it does appear they're trying to jam every idea into the spaces.

taking a bus down nicollet mall is a little bit of mental torture.

IllogicalJake
Target Field
Posts: 513
Joined: January 30th, 2014, 9:03 am

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby IllogicalJake » May 15th, 2014, 7:52 am

oh god forbid we'd take our glorious buses away. how would people ever adjust? i guess our "leaders" have never traveled our bothered to see how true pedestrian streets thrive in europe.
You can lead the Americans to the European water but you can't make them drink.
i talk too much. web dev, downtown. admin @ tower.ly

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
Posts: 7752
Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby mattaudio » May 15th, 2014, 7:52 am

Are we going to regret the design of this the day it opens? It does not seem compatible with good transit, bikes, etc nor does it create a European pedestrian street as Mullen describes. This seems to be a failure to do anything well.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby twincitizen » May 15th, 2014, 8:37 am


mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
Posts: 7752
Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby mattaudio » May 15th, 2014, 8:40 am

At least we didn't do what Detroit did to Michigan Avenue
http://corktownhistory.blogspot.com/201 ... venue.html
Bonus, however, is that they could easily convert it to a multiway boulevard.
Last edited by mattaudio on May 15th, 2014, 9:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

seanrichardryan
IDS Center
Posts: 4092
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 9:33 pm
Location: Merriam Park, St. Paul

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby seanrichardryan » May 15th, 2014, 8:44 am

Corktown is in Detroit. That is Detroit.
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby Didier » May 15th, 2014, 1:02 pm

I think it's important to quote this line from the F&C story, just because people here tend to toss out the "just dig a tunnel!" option with great regularity.
James Corner, the firm’s founding partner, said the project is challenging from a technical standpoint because there’s a lot of utilities below grade.

User avatar
FISHMANPET
IDS Center
Posts: 4241
Joined: June 6th, 2012, 2:19 pm
Location: Corcoran

Re: Nicollet Mall Reconstruction Project

Postby FISHMANPET » May 15th, 2014, 1:17 pm

Sorry, the age of easy infrastructure is over. I think the Hiawatha line, with a pre-existing ROW was the last "easy" project we've had, and even that had challenges. Infrastructure is hard. Let's not stand down from challenges.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 45 guests