urbanMSP

Sadly Macy's owns the retail name Dayton now... and Marshall Fields and Hudsons... If (when?) Macy's goes out of business the name might then become available ...would be awesome to bring that back... I always thought the two sons of Governor Dayton who created "Askov Finlayson" and who a...

Hy-Vee will be opening up a new store across from the soon-to-be-closed J-Mart, on the site of the old Oakdale Mall. It's about time this area got a decent grocery store. Maybe Cub/former Rainbow will step up their game. Oh, how naive I was about HyVee 3 years ago.... Anyway , has there been any ne...

It's interesting to contrast this discussion with the one on Block E. Did anyone ever argue for Block E to retain its original look? Not saying I disagree with Nathan, just noting the difference. The difference, I would say, is that the "old" Block E was an architectural MadLib. A super-s...

One objection to the 4-3 + bike lane conversion on Rice Street is that "nobody bikes on Rice Street". But if you look at Strava, you can see that many cyclists use Rice Street -- they are just being ignored. I doubt that many people biking down Rice are doing it for recreation, they are do...

I just did a search for Strava on this site, only to find two references to it -- one by myself. I think Strava Heat Maps would be a useful tool for evaluating where bike lanes and bike paths are needed, as well as improvements to pedestrian safety. It is based upon users uploading their rides to th...

I try to point out all the benefits of 4-3 conversions, and how all users on Rice would benefit. But since it includes "bike lanes" a lot of people are holding the status quo on Rice Street. I've even heard things like "no one bikes on Rice Street! We don't need bike lanes." whic...

Isn't this part of why Cray left? Lack of contiguous office space at the highest level? That's the official word. There was also the small matter of it raining in the office rather regularly. And the flood that took out the machine room. And the fact that the Green Line was entirely constructed fro...

Tim Horton's is coming! Tim Horton's is coming! Get ready for your double-doubles and maple-glazed donuts! (Tim's is seriously my favorite chain coffee shop by far.)

http://www.twincities.com/2017/04/11/on ... tice-rink/

Got an idea to remake St. Paul's police building? Make sure it's not housing http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2017/04/11/got-an-idea-to-remake-st-pauls-police-building.html Per an announcement from the St. Paul Planning and Economic Development department, "Proposals to demolish the ...

Leased doesn't necessarily mean active. Keep in mind the Woolworth building in St. Paul was apparently "100% leased" until just recently despite being vacant for decades. Not sure how that works... I'm having trouble finding out whom it was held by, but I've read a few places it had a lon...

Any developer looking for a big box anchor tenant right now deserves the shitstorm about to hit their books due to the collapse of this segment. "Who the hell wouldn't want to use TIF financing to lure Hy-Vee fitness centers, gas stations, liquor, and fake-and-bake pizza all under one glorious...

Will the hotel feature over-priced cheaply-built furniture?

Adding a 4th tenant now just seems like a poor long-term strategy when the mall owner probably could've waited a few years and negotiated an exit with one of the other 3 anchors. The anchors all own their plats and respective buildings. My guess is that at this point, none of them are interested in...

http://www.twincities.com/2017/03/22/st ... ave-buyer/

There is a new buyer for the Pioneer Press building. Interesting that they are moving from away from "upscale".

I don't get into downtown St Paul often, is this project moving forward?

Last month it received an asbestos clean-up grant - so it must be!

It's definitely "out of character" for the neighborhood... I "mildly" like it. It is a well-kept mid-century building with a cool exterior pattern. The street level could be spruced up a bit, maybe a couple more trees added. Given the bland sameness out of apartment projects in ...

I don't know who you're arguing with, because nothing that you're saying is a response to what I've argued here. Your latest article isn't even about skyways, but "downtown"! One (final) time, it is possible for both of the following propositions to be true: 1) there is crime in the skywa...

Great strawman, but again, has anyone here said that downtown Saint Paul is problem-free? The strawman was crying "racism" in regards to the problems that have started occurring near St. Paul's skyway-street connection at Central Station once it was built. I merely pointed to this street ...

We are never going to make any progress on our racial issues if white people keep insisting that it's "not helpful" to point out racism. Or worse, view being called on the racist baggage that each and every one of us has as more offensive than the actual racism. "Statistics on report...

There is too much focus on Minneapolis, without realizing that not everyone has the need or desire to go there! I chose to live in Maplewood (as opposed to, say, Robbinsdale) because it is close to St. Paul, but I digress. People using this line won't be using it to take to Minneapolis, so I am not ...