Architecture, Development, and Infrastructure of the Twin Cities
https://urbanmsp.com/
I think that that IS the point, that it doesn't take much to activate a few blocks of surface parking...That instagram account looks like a giant parking lot with some painted containers on it. Is there something I'm missing?
About the Park/Portland street closures, here's my idea:
Why not run a pilot project and temporarily shut the street down for a few months effective immediately to see what happens? My guess would be that everything would be just fine. Local governments really need to get better at experimentation when it comes to alternative street uses. This is how Times Square became pedestrianized, with a temporary shut down. We should really be trying this all over the city, be it lane closures, on street patios, pocket parks, or entire street closures. It's hard for politicians to commit to a permanent and radical change in our street scape, but running it as a test project is simple, and I'd wager that more often than not, people will love it, and this will lead to more permanency in whatever is tested.
Now THIS is the type of activism I've been hoping for!!About the Park/Portland street closures, here's my idea:
Why not run a pilot project and temporarily shut the street down for a few months effective immediately to see what happens? My guess would be that everything would be just fine. Local governments really need to get better at experimentation when it comes to alternative street uses. This is how Times Square became pedestrianized, with a temporary shut down. We should really be trying this all over the city, be it lane closures, on street patios, pocket parks, or entire street closures. It's hard for politicians to commit to a permanent and radical change in our street scape, but running it as a test project is simple, and I'd wager that more often than not, people will love it, and this will lead to more permanency in whatever is tested.
PhilmerPhil, I think your gonna go places in life. I like the idea too of trying it out, maybe I'll be persuaded into thinking the closures will be ok after all. Who wants to steal some big orange construction cones from the north loop and close a few roads tonight? How long do you think it would take the city to realize they're not supposed to be closed? A couple weeks perhaps?
Strib report on the vote: http://www.startribune.com/business/214821381.htmlFirst City Council test passed today. Community Development Committee voted 4 to 1 in favor of the Ryan Co. concept. Goodman, Samuels, Lilligren and Quincy were in favor. Cam Gordon voted against it.
[Wells Fargo] hopes to buy the top 12 floors of each of the two 20-story office towers
many of [Well's 12k Mpls employees] work in leased office space downtown. He said the company would move those employees into the towers.
[no] final commitment from Wells Fargo until November, when the council is expected to vote on whether to authorize the $65 million bond
$45 million of the money raised by the bond sale would be used to pay for part of a parking ramp .
Between $15 million and $16 million of the bond revenue would be used to buy the two blocks of park land
Edit: I guess Rich beat me by 2 mins. Opps!$4 million or $5 million would be used to develop the park.
If it's the western 1/3 of the block, which is what we've always been told, I think that will still allow a good interaction between the park and the armory. If it's 1/2 of the block, that starts to become problematic.Developing the western half block of the proposed park would really degrade how a future adaptive reuse of the Armory would interact with the park.
It would be nice if it were a non-rectangular parcel that was angled to emphasize the Armory from the NE corner of the block, for example. That would not only break up the 90 degree monotony imposed by the street grid, but it would create potential for more interesting spaces within. But based on the RCA, it looks like they've already specified a rectangular parcel on the westerly third of the block. Oh well, I guess making real estate transactions easier is what street grids are for.If it's the western 1/3 of the block, which is what we've always been told, I think that will still allow a good interaction between the park and the armory. If it's 1/2 of the block, that starts to become problematic.Developing the western half block of the proposed park would really degrade how a future adaptive reuse of the Armory would interact with the park.
The PP article linked above has the same take.Btw the Strib story made it sound like Cam Gordon was opposed only to specifying the purchase price now instead of in 2016 or whatever, which is a rationale I can get behind. Is this not true? I haven't had time to look at any of the other media froth on this topic.
I guess I just think of it as a typical real estate option -- the price is determined now, based on current market values. How much is Ryan paying for this real estate option? That answer would be impossible to disentangle from the rest of the financing on the project. But you could set up this real estate transaction any number of ways.Btw the Strib story made it sound like Cam Gordon was opposed only to specifying the purchase price now instead of in 2016 or whatever, which is a rationale I can get behind. Is this not true? I haven't had time to look at any of the other media froth on this topic.
Anyway, I went back to the site plan yesterday, and look whose buildings are clearly outlined in the Vikings plans, before Ryan released their plan to the public. Maybe this is pointing out the obvious, but I didn't think anything of it the day of the Stadium announcement. 
I'd noticed this as well, and thought it would be very cool. But after thinking about it, I'm not sure that those paths actually take people anywhere that they'd want to go.They also show a bunch of buildings North of the stadium with what looks like a cool pedestrian bike corridor where the rail line used to be... how much speculation can we take from this? That would be exciting...