urbanMSP

It is an interesting question. But it's in the realm of "what makes someone credit worthy" or "what determines my health or life insurance rates". There is a risk to the lender the mortgage goes bad, they have every reason to use tools that help reduce their lending risk within t...

I hunted for a thread related to home mortgage subsidies, and this one seems very much appropriate for the idea of location efficient mortgage ratings. That cost of ownership needs to include housing and transportation, and home mortgages in areas easy to get around in perform better. The book The E...

The city council unanimously approved an ordinance to rezone the properties in front of huge turn out of angry residents speaking against the proposed project that needed the rezone.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2014/09/25/proj ... ridgedale/

Get some photos!

The battle over Paris's abandoned railway line.

http://gu.com/p/4xzge/tw

It isn't mostly about height. Just slightly. Mostly about how federal agencies (like the National Park Service) that have nothing to do with urbanism are deciding urban development issues (like bike share stations and cart vendor licenses in parks and trash can placement.)

FirstTech site bought by Green Mill CEO.

http://m.bizjournals.com/twincities/mor ... 313&r=full

This could as well be used to start a discussion of the pros and cons of historic districts, the small city of Excelsior organized an historic district for Water Street, its "Main Street". The historic district now looks to be interfering with a land owner adding a second story. http://sai...

He's like the Robert Moses of anti-development.

Hah! That made me laugh.

The most important man shaping D.C. growth and development.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arti ... aping-dcs/

Lots of insight on the stupid rules and laws that must be followed in that city.

Originally proposed to be a mental health care facility for children, neighbors freaked out thinking it meant all sorts of "undesirables" would be wandering their streets. The company proposing it withdrew its proposal when the council raised objections at the behest of the neighbors, caus...

If Four Seasons had considered a plan like that in Minneapolis, but fell through here, they still might be inclined on a different site right?

... if they are up on the warehouse for free, it is assumed on the other end that they are available for download and use.

More broadly, 99.9% (slight exaggeration) of internet users assume if something is found on the internet it can be reused for free.

In order to show what I mean when I say "massive" I grabbed some equal scale maps, see the scale in the upper left corner. They take up tremendous amounts of real estate with arguably unnecessarily long ramps. I realized the land around 610 is effectively banked for future development, the...

Shouldnt an interchange also be built to support the uses of the area? That is exactly what many are objecting to the geometry of the these interchanges. It is the inverse. The area around the interchanges will never support the immensity of the interchanges—over the future life cycles—the way the ...

Don't have any recommendations about dry cleaners. But I'll offer as alternatives to Yelp, Angie's List and Nextdoor. Angie's list just pulled a handful up.

Here's the North Minneapolis tornado path. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/15129394168_bece225a86_c.jpg North MPLS tornado by xeoth , on Flickr For comparison, the stretches in South Minneapolis. Especially compare with the map linked to by kiliff75, there is a darker green band in the aerial im...

Wasn't this an area that was throttled with storm damage in recent years? I'm not talking about the path through North that is seen on aerial imagery. I remember South Minneapolis also getting hit by a less-than-North Minneapolis like storm.

Minnetonka home owners say the proposed apartments on the Highland Bank site threaten the woodsy idyllic character they moved to Minnetonka for. Seriously.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2014/09/20/lett ... e-blinked/

I just don't even ...

"We don't need Park(ing) Day anymore."

http://gizmodo.com/why-we-dont-need-par ... 1351116328