urbanMSP

Hodges is running through Ways & Means right now. Zoning is next. Here we go...

Colvin Roy is back on the board. Forget the split vote.

City Council meeting has begun. Colvin Roy was cited as absent, so there are 12 members currently.

I'm not a city council voting expert yet... what happens if there is a split vote?

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/tv/79

Charter chat is running a little long.

Went last night too. I kept my receipt for the scoop that I got so I can stash it in my hoarding junk drawer. I went around 8:00, and the thing I loved was the number of people in Gold Medal Park holding cones. The times I go near the park it seems empty, but I was very glad to see how many were enj...

If there was such a trail along that stretch, you could technically bike from Chaska to the St Paul Campus on segregated trail the entire time. The route isnt ideal (parts of gravel trail, road crossing stops), but the fact is still pretty awesome.

http://goo.gl/maps/Rrh4W

and now this...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/201 ... great.html

That was too scary.

Also relatable is the Bluff Street Park extension that orangevening mentioned. This will (finally!!!) connect downtown to the U of M without having to traverse any interstates, ditches, LRT trains or stairs near Mondale Hall. Ways & Means Committee approved this a couple weeks ago. http://www.ci...

Not the best, not the worst. The whole foods will add value to the area (Cited... http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/morning_roundup/2013/06/how-to-quadruple-property-value-add.html ), but it could definitely have a better street facade, patios, match the brick-based warehouse district architectu...

Ohhh goodness, they are reaching now. Looks like that stuff is gone now. On a completely different topic, I noticed there wasn't any place for U of MN Retail News, so this is the closest I could think of. Some interesting new places are opening soon: Insomnia Cookies, a cookie bakery that will deliv...

Signage on the Walgreen's is up. It is being advertised as a "W-corner" or something. Perhaps a scaled back version of the full store? Also, I couldn't help but notice the big slap-in-the-face that Walgreen's is doing unintentionally with their sign: A red background with a white "W&q...

I believe BNSF also sees it as valuable real estate and is portraying the ugly combination of semi-attempted property advertising and expecting a top dollar for it. If I remember, that was a problem with the City and the U when they originally developed the bike trail. It was supposed to go closer t...

Those flyover and PDF files are great, thanks Rich! But... with the actual Vikings Stadium design now included in Ryan's models, it really shows how massive it is going to be. Holy crap. I mean, that odd slanted alien landing pad pointing to the sky looks like it will be taller than the 20 story bui...

Talked to the CPM developer Daniel Oberpriller at the June 24th Planning Commission meeting. He said they found a location for the Plasma center elsewhere in the city, and the project is back and starting to run again. No specific dates on construction or opening were mentioned though.

Anyone know how much these will be going for rent? I would be interested to see how truly affordable these are. If this is the Dinkytown Rental group, their other projects include the lodges on 8th Street, and they arent necessarily cheap. Looks like a 5BR is going for $2850, which would be over $55...

I am also hoping some connection near Donhowe will happen in the future. This trail could potentially be a direct non-motorized portal to Dinkytown, but instead bypasses under it and misses the center (14th and 4th) by a couple blocks. On another note... I would love to see BNSF sell that piece of s...

This is what it looked like a couple weeks ago. I think they have the lanes painted now and lampposts working. I wouldnt be surprised if the Dinkyditch section opens next week officially.

Hmm... looks like the Podium isn't closing after all! So, lets do a check for the businesses affected by this project: - House of Hanson is selling and was going to close anyways - Bookhouse isn't closing and moved to Dinkydale - Podium isn't closing and moved to Minnehaha Avenue - Duffy's pizza is ...

Fishmanpet had a killer response. "The biggest thing that could improve Dinkytown is more Dinkytown." Excellent point.

I was the other one who spoke in support - I wouldnt call it my best public speaking appearance, but regardless, Im glad the Commission sees the fantastic benefit of it.