urbanMSP

Haha I had the same thought. Though I was a little dissapointed that she took so long to get to the part about Lakeville being an actual town. Most of her arguments were really generic. But I also thought about Woodbury and how much of a not place that is, and how interesting it would be to defend that.

The part about getting downtown in 20 minutes irked me though. Not because she's wrong about that. Though, I guess, where in Minneapolis is a 20 minute or more drive to Downtown? And the fact that she can drive here in 20 minutes is because we ripped open the fabric of the city to let 35 in, sooooo....

I remember once that the AmericInn in Ham Lake had a commercial at the local movie theater that claimed it was 15 minutes from Minneapolis.

Sure. If you're driving 75 on Hwy 65. And hit every green light. And you consider Fridley Minneapolis.

So maybe she considers the Mall of America 'Minneapolis'?

Lakeville is 20 minutes to downtown at 2 am with no traffic, maybe.

Of all the suburbs she picked to defend, she picked Lakeville.

Lakeville native here.

Curious as to why you question the selection (other than the obvious reason, that the author lives there). I may be splitting hairs here, but Lakeville was a town unto itself before being swallowed by the suburbs. There was no need to construct a faux downtown since one already existed. It has elements that are more Hopkins than Woodbury (though there certainly is a large amount like Woodbury, too). I think there would be other suburbs that are far more difficult to defend...I don't know...like... maybe Woodbury.

*steps off soapbox*

#gopanthers

A tiny part of Lakeville is a town. The vast majority is the exact same cookie-cutter sprawl that Woodbury is. So I think when people make fun of Lakeville they make fun of the 95% of Lakeville that is bland suburbia.

Also google maps puts Lakeville to downtown at 35 minutes. Meaning you'd have to drive almost twice the speed limit to get there in 20.

Downtown Lakeville to the Valvoline at Lyndale and 58th is 21 minutes without traffic according to Google maps.

How dare those liberals living in Murderapolis, boondoggle land, spout clichés. Where's the parking, amiright?

How about we agree that it's stupid when anyone does it?

Downtown Lakeville to the Valvoline at Lyndale and 58th is 21 minutes without traffic according to Google maps.

Well Lyndale & 58th isn't even downtown Windom, much less downtown Minneapolis. To be fair she did say "downtown Minneapolis or Saint Paul" and downtown St. Paul is only 30 minutes away.

How about we agree that it's stupid when anyone does it?

That was the point.

Of all the suburbs she picked to defend, she picked Lakeville.

As another Lakeville native (#gopanthers) who still occasionally spends time there, she had some valid statements, though she was off on some things too. Like the driving distance to downtown -- yeah, not gonna happen even with no traffic. I live right off 77 in Eagan and I can maybe get downtown in 20 minutes if the roads are empty, but no way that's doable from Lakeville.

She had some good points about diversity and poverty. Even though they may be more diverse as a whole (and even that is changing), Minneapolis and St. Paul have neighborhoods that are whiter than most suburbs nowadays.

She said her suburb is diverse by listing diverse suburbs that aren't hers.

She kinda waffles between defense of suburbs in general and defence of her particular choice of suburb. And now knowing that 20 minutes is totally off base I'm kind of disappointed that this got published, because even though it's an editorial I'm not sure why the Strib is publishing outright lies.

True. Her arguments are stronger when she refers to suburbs in general.

Downtown Lakeville to the Valvoline at Lyndale and 58th is 21 minutes without traffic according to Google maps.

Well Lyndale & 58th isn't even downtown Windom, much less downtown Minneapolis. To be fair she did say "downtown Minneapolis or Saint Paul" and downtown St. Paul is only 30 minutes away.

From 35 at the northern edge of Lakeville to the exit into downtown minneapolis is only 19 minutes (without traffic) according to google.

I don't know if we've got individual threads for any of these projects, but the Strib has an update on a number of projects that were alluded to back in this thread. File under: Golden Valley, Land that Time Forgot.

Burnsville has switched to using the court system for housing code enforcement.

http://www.startribune.com/some-residen ... 328379481/

This sounds like insanity on so many levels.

My father lives in Burnsville and got a warrant issued for his arrest after he missed his court date due to being hospitalized after a car crash. He got it quashed but eventually plead guilty and paid a fine for the original citiation, so now he's got a criminal record for having too much stuff in his townhouse (there wasn't a clear path to one of the windows, which was a fire code violation).

Just like the low-level crime issue (jaywalking, spitting, lurking) this seems obviously going to punish those who are struggling in life the most.

One could point this as placing a preemptive structural barrier that will surely be a social justice concern. This is going to go poorly.

Downtown Lakeville to the Valvoline at Lyndale and 58th is 21 minutes without traffic according to Google maps.

I can confirm this firsthand

Does anyone know how well Eden Prairie maintains their trails in the winter? Do they keep snow out of it?

I'm wondering because I'm considering taking an internship in that city. I'll be reverse commuting from Downtown Minneapolis to Southwest Station, after which I'll bike a little under a mile along Technology and Mitchell. It should be pretty easy if the trails along those roads are maintained.

Technology and Mitchell SHOULD be cleared off. It just might be a couple of days before they get to it. Luckily those 2 roads have good foot and bike traffic and are close to the city. In my experience, it's 50/50.

Hasn't Imation been kind of a turd ever since it spun off from 3M?
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/m ... ut-at.html