urbanMSP

the number of signals on the mall is just insane. I think "comical" would also be a good descriptor. It's absurd looking down the Mall, it's like you're standing in an outdoor traffic signal showroom. Not only comical, but poor service with all the stops. I regularly beat the #16 from Wes...

That last image makes me hope the Oak Street ramp can go away or at least be shrunk down a bit, opening up Delaware Street to be at least a little more continuous. Every time I go past the Oak St ramp I think it would be good to have a building like the Rampton proposal built on the wasted lawn spa...

Yes, fire following earthquake can be a hazard. Gas lines and the like. But most deaths in earthquakes in developed countries (Pacific Coast of North America, Chile, New Zealand, Japan etc) in the last couple of decades have been in poorly built masonry and concrete structures, typically constructed...

This discussion is ironic/hilarious to me having grown up in an earthquake zone where of course it's safer to build with wood than concrete.

It seems that the city of Minneapolis has hitched its wagon to the demands and desires of wealthy people who have lived near a freight rail line for more than a century, lived near a designated light rail corridor for nearly thirty years, and now want to kill the project outright, or make it exceedi...

The elected and appointed politicians involved in this mess strike me as mostly sincere people trying to do their best in a terribly flawed process (why do we need 5 levels of government involved in this thing?!) but the Kenilworth people seem extortionate. Basically "build us a deep tunnel so ...

How much less opposition to the Opus project would there been if Podium and Book House already had new spaces lined up by the time word of the development got out? The Book House relocation was an interesting study in zoning itself. They wanted to relocate to 2720 University Ave, a block from the P...

Interesting proposal for a three story commercial building made out of recycled shipping containers. Comments on the Strib site are golden: http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/251428601.html Plans submitted to Planning Commission: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@cped/documents/web...

Devil would be in the details, of course, but an arch as part of a park could have been a nice focal point ("meet me under the Strib Arch") for the space, and provide shelter and shade during rain or heat. A lot of good public spaces have an area to shelter in or logically meet at, whether...

Maximum parking regulations are well-intentioned, but then so were minimum parking regulations. It would be a great thing if the parking was able to be converted to other uses at some point. But even it wasn't, what can be converted is the ownership structure of the spaces relative to the units, and...

Some photos from around the Prospect Park station
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjTfaMut

Now, actually this bridge will be more like the Golden gate bridge than the interchange be like Grand Central. When the Golden gate was built there wasn'tmuch residential out in Marin county, and to be fair there still isn't. A bbridge to if not nowhere, really only Sausalito. The Golden Gate did ma...

When I visited Austin I was not impressed with its urban form. Downtown is full of surface parking even in the parts people claim are cute and nice.

The details you've all been waiting for. Come along and advocate for removal of minimum parking requirements. Slim chance that'll go through, but move the window of discussion so a much lower minimum is possible. University Lutheran Church of Hope Heritage Hall 601 13th Avenue Southeast Minneapolis,...

From Cam Gordon's 2nd Ward Newsletter: "Hauenstein Burmeister Building. The Hauenstein Burmeister buildings at 2629 30th Ave S and 2608 30th Ave S have been demolished. The information I have received from City staff is that the owner of the property, Kraus Anderson, was unable to find an indus...

Meeting with interested parties will be held Wednesday, January 29, 2014; 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. time frame. Location to be confirmed.

[date edited]

While there is some support for eliminating them, I don't think that will carry the day (trying to report realistically on the discussion). But definitely a good chance of meaningful reduction for the whole area (0.35 seems likely) While I am skeptical of the spillover parking bogeyman, it's probabl...

The University District Alliance is reviewing the current parking standards for residential development in the University area neighborhoods (Como, Marcy-Holmes, Dinkytown, Prospect Park, West Bank), and will be seeking public comment on proposed changes. The current requirements are [basically] gre...

Y'all should fill out this survey and give your informed opinion.

http://www.metrotransit.org/sip

The average skyway is unnecessary. The marginal one might be necessary.

I'm generally anti-skyway, think we have too many of them in the downtown core of the Twin Cities, but I'll go easy on one at a health care facility.