Suburbs - General Topics

[VAStationDude]

Highway 100 adjacent light rail?

[MNdible]

Well, the illustration in the article should be disqualified for showing rail transit on the Dan Patch in clear violation of state law.

[mattaudio]

So much developable land could be added if the Vernon/Eden interchange was redesigned. The current interchange wastes a lot of space and screams early 70s.

I like the idea of capping the railroad between Vernon and Eden, whether it's a freight or some mythical transit line which cannot be discussed.

Edit: I also like the idea of capping 100 between the two bridges. I guess the proposed pedestrian link is a start.

[HiawathaGuy]

Well, the illustration in the article should be disqualified for showing rail transit on the Dan Patch in clear violation of state law.

[Anondson]

Some suburbs are finding challenges with saving historic structures. http://www.startribune.com/local/south/274979881.html

Eden Prairie, Savage, and Hopkins are compared.

[grant1simons2]

I love the historical homes, the few left, found in Eden Prairie. My mother is on the Preservation board and they've had no problem keeping these places open. What Eden Prairie has done is convert a few of them into rent-able spaces or in one case, one of the coolest Dunn Bros in the burbs. One of the barns is used for parties and they've strung awesome lighting all around. There are really just 4 big historical spots in Eden Prairie, and then the bluffs are a major historical spot. Can't forget about the abandoned city of Hennepin south of flying cloud rd.

[MinnMonkey]

Can't forget about the abandoned city of Hennepin south of flying cloud rd.

Do tell more. Are there remnants of the city?

[grant1simons2]

Just some foundations that can be found in some areas and very old rusted tools. I've found tractor parts as well. I can try to find a map of it because it really is quite an interesting story and village.

[seanrichardryan]

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ances ... usa/mn.htm

Hennepin was located on the north bank of the Minnesota River southeast of Flying Cloud Airport, Eden Prairie in Hennepin Co. As far as I can tell, it was an optimistic site established around 1840(?), hoping that water traffic on the Minnesota River would be significant. As far as I know, the town was abandoned because the river is very inconstant in navigability; since Chaska further upriver was better-situated for river traffic; and the railroad ended up going further north, through central Eden Prairie leaving Hennepin a dead end. The site is a steep hillside slope, with at least 4-5 evident building ‘flats’ where the ground was cut/built up to provide a level place for a foundation. There are a couple of evident building pads, but no ruins nor any extant construction – the site really can only be inferred from ground contours.

According to Minnesota Historical Society info Hennepin was “a short-lived village platted in 1852 on a portion of John H. McKenzie’s claim in sections 34 and 35, Eden Prairie, on the Minnesota River, was during several years a shipping point for grain. It was modeled after townsites in the East and was registered in Ramsey County in June 1853 and in Hennepin County, May 17, 1854. It had a store, a gristmill, a sawmill, a blacksmith ship, several homes, and a warehouse by the ferry. It failed to develop because of enterprises elsewhere in the township, and no traces remain.”
Contributed by Steve Lieb (Oct 22, 2004)

[lordmoke]

Basically no trace of it visible back in 1937:
http://geo.lib.umn.edu/Hennepin_County/ ... 4-2189.jpg

[grant1simons2]

I can hardly recognize this part of Eden Prairie.. It looks like Staring lake at the top but it's really hard to tell



The funny thing is that there are still foundations on the map they're just hard to see. I'll find some stuff today after school

Update: Went to the area of where it would be all housing and warehouses and factories if his plan went through. Let me just tell you, it would probably be one of the coolest cities to visit in terms of locations. You travel down the bluff and end up right on the banks of the river. It was stunning to watch the sunset there. I couldn't find the foundations, I apparently turned the wrong way according to my friends. Will go back tomorrow to look further.

[web]

The dump is almost full and still remnants of the flying cloud drive in!!!

Houses have overtaken the east end in the last 20 yrs

[grant1simons2]

The landfill just keeps on getting covered and moved. Still has destroyed a lot of this area. I really don't get why they had to put it so close to the bluffs. And yes housing has taken over much of Eden Prairie, it's slowing though. We'll probably see some more development projects for the next 10 years and then it will be fully developed. There's a really cool one going in this fall into spring that will be LEED housing and focus on being almost 100% sustainable.

[Rich]

More good jobs to the suburbs...

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/09/18 ... tage-grove

[mattaudio]

1.45 jobs per acre, hypothetically rising to 6.25 jobs per acre. Even mediocre mixed-use usually leads to more than 50 jobs per acre. Seems like the type of thing that makes sense in a suburb (hopefully walkable, with transit) and good for Cottage Grove, but wouldn't necessarily make sense in an urban area.

[FISHMANPET]

Yeah, it's literally a farm.

[Rich]

This should also lead to good suburban jobs...

http://www.startribune.com/business/275648581.html

[grant1simons2]

There's a noticeable pick up in the amount of bike commuters I've seen around EP, many of them starting to put panniers on their rear wheels. I counted 12 today on my way across town. Which is a lot better than the normal 3 or so. Also saw plenty of them yesterday

[Anondson]

Originally proposed to be a mental health care facility for children, neighbors freaked out thinking it meant all sorts of "undesirables" would be wandering their streets. The company proposing it withdrew its proposal when the council raised objections at the behest of the neighbors, causing a media firestorm that shamed the city council and most residents of Golden Valley. The council begged the company to reconsider but they found a more receptive city.

The property is back and now the land owner want it rezoned residential so he can build townhomes. Now the neighbors are again raising a stink because it's too dense for their taste to have 30 detached townhomes on 3.3 acres.

http://post.mnsun.com/2014/09/controver ... sidential/

[Snelbian]

30 townhomes that are each four times the size and more than twice the price of my home. That article is all kinds of special.