urbanMSP

I think it's a catch-22 on the current businesses claiming they need the existing parking given the fact that there's not enough population to support their business without it. The Opus and UTEC site developments drastically change that, and building another 1-2 stories up above would only help th...

There's always the Snelling Commons option. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=snelling%20station%20plan&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stpaul.gov%2FDocumentView.aspx%3FDID%3D7501&ei=9l-3UaD0B4mEygHW44CAAQ&usg=AFQjCNETqlTbImCE7mfUZ...

Snark is evidently lazier than strawmen.

I love freedom of choice. If only I could choose not to subsidize freeway capacity to third tier suburbs that I'll never use...

But where would they park? A block away from their destination? Two? Won't somebody think of the children, etc. etc. The current uproar isn't only about Book House and The Podium. There are plenty of complaints that parking will be reduced (which it won't, but whatever) and somehow nobody will be ab...

The building is attached to a large drive-thru awning which I would think will be removed since drug stores and offices don't tend to need four or five lanes. Which means more empty surface lot on the single busiest corner in the city and at a major light rail stop. While the building may be nice (I...

If we didn't have parking minimums we could do that same kind of small scale development. Just put a parking overlay district on those 4 blocks and require 0 parking and let developers go nuts. You'll see this shitty 1 story buildings replace with 2 or 3 story buildings in the same footprint in a f...

That's why the neighbors wanted the driveway closed (well, one of the reasons). But I've been told that MNDoT's reason to shift it was due to some sort of traffic flow concern, that cars wouldn't be "backing out" onto Snelling.

The Al's line has been around since this all started, and Save Dinkytown hasn't done much, if anything, to quash it. If nothing else it's an indication of how diseased Dinkytown is at the moment. People hear something is changing in Dinkytown and the only place they can remember visiting there is Al...

The building is staying, apparently. What a wasted opportunity.

http://finance-commerce.com/transit/201 ... still-tbd/

And on the topic of traffic on Snelling, here's MNDoT's study and plan from a couple months ago. Appendix D is where it starts getting interesting. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projec ... report.pdf

I suspect there are three primary reasons retrofitting won't be happening here. First, turning a bank into a grocery store sounds like a recipe for a messed up grocery store. Second, the new building will be covering a much larger portion of the block bordered by Dayton, Snelling, and Selby. As in, ...

And the saddest sort of alumni are terrified of not being able to drive through Dinkytown after hockey games and pretend that it's still 1963. I guess I fall into that category. I'm not opposed to this development (I think that UTEC is much, much more problematic for a few reasons), but I do get co...

I think the terror is largely from three sources, each affecting one of three groups. Business owners are terrified about the prospect of paying competitive rents in new buildings. A set of students are terrified about chains, corporations, and any shop that doesn't source all of its products from p...

I think we need to stop trying gimmicky things and focus on uses for buildings and spaces that enhance the businesses and residents in the area. A water park is mostly a gimmick in that it is a blatant tourist draw and not an everyday amenity for anyone living there. Challenges: 1) Turning the Armo...

Strangely, back in February The Podium was sounding confident they'd just move elsewhere while The Book House was talking like it was the end. But, yeah, given the number of places The Podium could have relocated to in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, this seems like it's probably just a good excuse for ...

That seems like a pretty arbitrary distinction.

If it happens that will be a very welcome change. It seems that every time the topic of new developments on transit lines and pedestrian-heavy areas comes up in Saint Paul, that CVS is brought up as the prime example of what not to do.

It's also the terminus for the 21, with (by my count) 230 Metro Transit buses a day in or out.

I like the two stops on a golf course. Brilliant.

Not quite sure where to put this, but it looks like Megabus has moved from their stop near the Metrodome LRT station over to a parking lot at St. Anthony & Pascal in Saint Paul (just southeast of University & Snelling). Somewhat related, what's going on at the corner of Snelling and Pascal?...