Search found 20 matches

by nlt
May 5th, 2015, 7:18 pm
Forum: Greater Minnesota
Topic: Mayo Expansion Proposal - Rochester
Replies: 143
Views: 92192

Re: Mayo Expansion Proposal - Rochester

I suspect this has everything to do with competing with Gundersen, which is based in La Crosse and serves a large rural area in Wisconsin and Iowa. In the town I used to live in in NE Iowa, Mayo became provider of clinical services at the county hospital right after Gundersen built a satellite clini...
by nlt
May 2nd, 2015, 9:39 pm
Forum: Cities Around the World
Topic: Denver
Replies: 108
Views: 86804

Re: Denver

Well, since they have the SD 160s with high floors, they have to line up the doors to the accessible platform, so you always know exactly where the door will be. Kind of a tacky font choice (not to mention that it's spray painted!), but we're talking about an agency that doubled down on the SD 160 w...
by nlt
May 2nd, 2015, 9:32 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Prospect Park - General Topics
Replies: 201
Views: 128428

Re: Prospect Park - General Topics

Yusuf said she believes that the agency’s goal is gentrification and that it aims to take advantage of the area’s proximity to the light-rail Green Line, where business has been surging. She worries that could make the units unaffordable; the agency said rents won’t change. She seems to have a pret...
by nlt
April 30th, 2015, 5:48 am
Forum: Cities Around the World
Topic: Denver
Replies: 108
Views: 86804

Re: Denver

As my 3 Twitter followers know, I'm in Denver this week. Stoplights: I can't figure these out. I've seen intersections with 3 of the 4 crossings getting a walk signal at once. But basically easy to walk through. Denver used to have diagonal crosswalks with a signal phase for pedestrian crossing in ...
by nlt
November 26th, 2014, 9:56 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: U.S. Highway 52
Replies: 150
Views: 30017

Re: U.S. Highway 52

New interchange stings Cannon Falls businesses http://www.postbulletin.com/business/new-interchange-stings-cannon-falls-businesses/article_b7e6fb21-9ffa-5f5e-98a0-1a915ef328b4.html?TNNoMobile I've been wondering why the owners of the motel on the west side of the former north intersection thought i...
by nlt
October 30th, 2014, 7:20 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Denver RTD Transit System
Replies: 37
Views: 5422

Re: Denver RTD Transit System

The West Line is in such a wasted route. There literally is no reason to get off on any of the stops between the Auraria West Campus stop and Oak Station, unless you want to walk to Casa Bonita. :D They should have tried to run it down Alameda and catch the Belmar area before going out to the Jeffc...
by nlt
October 29th, 2014, 9:59 am
Forum: Nostalgia
Topic: Walker Art Center and the Sculpture garden
Replies: 11
Views: 9424

Re: Walker Art Center and the Sculpture garden

This aerial from 1957 shows its pre-highway state: http://geo.lib.umn.edu/hennepin_county/y1957/wn-1t-131.jpg A six-way intersection, with that huge area to navigate between them. Nowhere near as unpleasant as it is now, for sure, but probably not pleasant either. Great aerial, thanks for sharing! ...
by nlt
October 29th, 2014, 9:14 am
Forum: Nostalgia
Topic: Walker Art Center and the Sculpture garden
Replies: 11
Views: 9424

Re: Walker Art Center and the Sculpture garden

That must have been a beautiful building. Reminds me of the old Armory building at the U. Really cool building, though. It must have been such a pleasant area pre-freeway. I wouldn't count on it; I've been told that it was a traffic nightmare even before the freeway was constructed through. Heck, I...
by nlt
October 29th, 2014, 8:11 am
Forum: Nostalgia
Topic: Walker Art Center and the Sculpture garden
Replies: 11
Views: 9424

Re: Walker Art Center and the Sculpture garden

Thank god we got rid of that historical armory right!?!?!?! Apparently the armory had severe foundation problems and was structurally compromised before it was demolished in 1933. At least that's what I remember from the AIA Twin Cities book. (I think that's where I read it?) Really cool building, ...
by nlt
October 28th, 2014, 9:20 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Denver RTD Transit System
Replies: 37
Views: 5422

Re: Public Transit News and Happenings

So what do people think -- should we be jealous of Denver's LRT system? As a former Denver resident, I have to comment on RTD- they have awful vehicles, the clunky, high-floored SD160s, and the system mostly hugs the freeways (even the West line, though that does go within a couple of blocks of wes...
by nlt
October 22nd, 2014, 2:09 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

I'll continue to be the curmudgeonly philistine here. I'd have to imagine that the combined income of the art (which I think is like 60%) and their other work might put artists out of a regular section 8 housing situation, and their needs are completely different. These are live work units. IF an ar...
by nlt
October 22nd, 2014, 1:08 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

Using quote marks around "artists" implies that there might be some sort of deception going on, but I'm pretty certain the criteria is more sophisticated than the honor's system. I think you have to have a certain percentage of your income from some sort of artistic endeavor. I could be m...
by nlt
October 22nd, 2014, 1:05 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

I don't think that IS the case, but how does that argument differ from any other 'xxx is code for yyy' arguments that are frequenty employed when arguing against discriminatory policies? I think it would be useful to try imagine the development happening without the artist requirement. Nothing abou...
by nlt
October 22nd, 2014, 10:34 am
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

I don't think that the "artist lofts" concept is new to anyone; the Frogtown lofts have been around since '92, for example. The debate is over whether or not it's an appropriate use of federal housing subsidy programs, now that we have several large, prominent projects employing LIHTC for ...
by nlt
October 21st, 2014, 12:06 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

What bothers me about the "artist lofts" concept is that it uses a program that was intended to ensure the availability of affordable housing in high-demand areas to pick the "right" kind of lower-income tenant. How would this project have been received if it hadn't had the "...
by nlt
October 16th, 2014, 7:26 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

I got to take a tour of this beast last week. It's quite an interesting development, as you would expect. I'm not totally on board with the financing- LIHTC "Artists Lofts" are not something I think we need to be building more of- but it's great to see the buildings being reused for someth...
by nlt
December 18th, 2013, 10:43 am
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: Washington Avenue (reconstruction, restriping, etc.)
Replies: 253
Views: 60564

Re: Washington Avenue

I would speculate that it's because the bridge over 35W isn't as wide as the road to the west. There's barely enough room for the bike lanes and five traffic lanes as it is. I bet that one of the eastbound lanes could be eliminated over the bridge, so you'd have a through lane and the turn lane. Pro...
by nlt
October 31st, 2013, 8:46 am
Forum: Minneapolis - North, Northeast, and Southeast / University of Minnesota
Topic: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment
Replies: 185
Views: 45465

Re: Pillsbury "A" Mill Redevelopment

It's certainly great that this building is going to see re-use, but I can't help but think that in ten or twenty years there might be some regret that one of the city's most impressive and iconic buildings hasn't seen a better use. As someone who works in tax-credit housing (including an artist loft...
by nlt
October 25th, 2013, 9:19 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Higher Priority: Nicollet Streetcar or Midtown streetcar/LRT
Replies: 16
Views: 1956

Re: Higher Priority: Nicollet Streetcar or Midtown streetcar

Midtown streetcar could be great, given the grade separation and population density of the area. The Nicollet streetcar will be a very expensive joke. As a NE resident living near Central, I'm irritated at the way this has been handled. It would be great to see aBRT for the whole corridor- you know,...
by nlt
October 25th, 2013, 8:47 am
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: A Strip Mall - (129 Plymouth Avenue North)
Replies: 60
Views: 11577

Re: 129 Plymouth Ave N

Is it that bad? It's a terrible site, next to the tracks and ugly light industrial buildings. Not exactly a pedestrian paradise anyway. I'm not convinced that we need a shining example of New Urbanism on this site- simply getting anything developed here is probably an improvement.