urbanMSP

Also, PTC was installed but isn't operational yet. Which is kind of boggling that they'd run full passenger service before having it. I'm not convinced that we need driverless inter-city trains for safety (or even keeping costs down, tbh). Japan manages to run timely, frequent, and VERY SAFE inter-c...

^ Yes, but it's basically 800' away, longer than a N-S non-downtown block, and without an 8th St connection it's over a quarter of a mile between the 7th St ped walkway and the sidewalk on 10th. That really limits pedestrian circulation to/from the cool stuff along and north of Washington, potential...

I think I agree on the green space side, but the other side seems to extend less, and the infrastructure there seems much more useful for pedestrians. Civil engineers have a much different idea of what a nice sidewalk is in the context of crossing a freeway, and as much love as I have for the folks ...

Hasty Tasty gets coverage in the SWJ: http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/bi ... ke-corner/

The simple action of a developer introducing new, nice, expensive units doesn't unlock the older building landlord's *ability* to raise rents. It certainly does if the new luxury development catalyzes neighborhood change, or anyway a change in perceptions of the neighborhood. This is arguably happe...

But no one is saying "increased supply of housing negatively affects affordability." They are saying that new *luxury* housing negatively affects affordability. And that's almost certainly true in some cases. As I said, it's being overgeneralized but that shouldn't cause us to completely ...

^...But that would have been the case if the city used the special taxing streetcar TIF district of 8 parcels to fund its share, right? The city would have committed a certain amount of dedicated revenues, then worked with the Met Council to find other local dollars to then apply for federal matchin...

Well, the project area as defined in statute doesn't include much of the starter line that would extend down to Lake St, so you could obviously build a line that extended beyond Nicollet Mall onto other streets, but just not pay for it with this special taxing district. So something that went up Was...

Maybe someone can point me to state property tax laws saying otherwise, but is the city not able to establish a value capture district that assesses local property owners for public improvements and just go do it? Is there something special about a streetcar, aBRT, or anything else that would preven...

First, we need to dispel the notion that increased supply of housing negatively affects affordability. Except that's not what people are saying. I don't think we can say that putting luxury housing in "desireable" areas hasn't increased housing costs. I don't think we can say it has, eith...

I'm a little confused on the focus of ire on this one. This isn't the only structure that's gone up in/near downtown that's around this size. The Edition on the west side of the new park, basically all the stuff in the Mill District and many of the North Loop buildings, etc. I think it's maybe a sha...

Well, as a member of the CLIC who saw all the projects being funded with the neighborhood parks money, I can say that there's a lot of core-function-spending going on in the near-term. The city (wisely) restricted that money to those neighborhood parks by ordinance, which the park board commissioner...

After a day thinking about this, I actually am more disappointed about the project on the whole. Yes, these designs check the "good sidewalk, bulb-out, street-tree, etc" list. The pavers will mean drivers go slow. Lanes are narrowed. It's all the core things you expect in a good street. Bu...

Wasn’t sure this appeared anywhere else, but a parking lot is proposed to be apartments and a hotel in March Holmes, at the corner of SE 9th St and 6th Ave SE. http://finance-commerce.com/2017/12/hotel-rentals-pitched-in-marcy-holmes/ Article talks about two separate projects, one on (part of) the ...

I mean, not to get all nitpicky (since I know the thing I'm about to talk about also serves trucks), but the state did just spend over $150 million relocating a highway to a new big bridge that makes driving from Virginia to Duluth much easier than having just closed the road entirely. Obviously any...

I'd really like a hard journalism take comparing monthly rent at:
- Concrete-built high rise with views and a pool, literally 18 steps from a LRT station
- UMN-owned apartment buildings
- Concrete block dorm rooms
- Non-profit co-op housing

Floorplans are online with some "starting at" prices per person for different unit sizes: http://hubminneapolis.com/Floor-Plans Some highlights (as much for me to reference back to if these prices get pulled from the site): 347 sqft Micro Studio: $1150 357 sqft Studio: $1310 403 sqft Studi...

Agreed, although I'm fairly disappointed to see a lack of sidewalk-level bike facilities on 5th Ave. These streets and intersections will all obviously be much calmer after this project, but 5th is wide enough to fit them in (yes, I'm more open to the idea of losing~16 on-street parking spaces to do...

Yeah count me in the camp that thinks the ramp out front rather than relegated to the back is a good thing. Obviously the developer's desire to have basement units meant the ground level was higher than might otherwise be, necessitating more ramp. Still, the tradeoff is worth it - I'd rather have mo...

One thing that struck me about the parking levels is that the floor-to-floor height is 10'8", which is exactly the same as a typical residential clear height. Since the ramp is only on one side, it'd be possible for them to convert parking to residential starting on the topmost ramp level *rela...