urbanMSP

He seems like a good government guy. But it's pretty lame to run for office and serve only 2.5 years of a 4 year term. Totally agree on the special election costs being a sour deal for taxpayers. If there ANY funds left in his campaign account, it should come from there first. Since Hennepin County ...

I agree it would be nice to run trains even just to Farmers Market Station as soon as that is physically and operationally possible. On the other hand, if we get a new route fully approved for the Blue Line extension by mid-2024, and engineering done by early 2026, it would be nice if they could get...

Apologies for posting this in two places. I commented over in the NE/SE general thread that this area could really use a hotel, given the many wedding venues in the area, lack of any hotels in Dinkytown or NE, etc. After looking at the map for where the ideal hotel location would be... (Attn: develo...

Given the direct connection to the public parking ramp, and its location perfectly splitting the walk between Main and Hennepin, the 200 Central development shoulda/coulda included a hotel component all along. A hotel lobby/restaurant would actually be a great ground floor activation on that site, a...

Just realizing how weird it is that there's not a single hotel on St. Anthony Main. Especially considering the many wedding venues. I guess there's the Nicollet Island Inn, so there's one. Not a single hotel in Dinkytown either. A few in Stadium Village.

The filing period closed yesterday, here are your candidates: https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/candidat ... e-filings/

Before getting too far along in asking "How will people transfer between the Blue and D Lines?", I think it would be wise to first ask that question with a "Why" instead of "How". I don't mean to suggest no one will transfer; obviously there will be some transfer demand...

Here's the full presentation from the Corridor Management Committee meeting on 8/10: https://metrocouncil.org/getdoc/f92eafe6-c9e5-4765-9cc9-541a831aaa93/BusinessItem.aspx Next meeting is 9/14. From my reading of the project website, the next formal steps will be approval of the new route by Hennepi...

Something that would be pretty critically important to do as a pre-requisite to reducing traffic in the 94 corridor between the downtowns (up to and including replacement with a surface boulevard) is to first remove the ramps connecting 394 to 94, especially from eastbound 394 to eastbound 94 due to...

Personally I'm in favor of freeway capping, limiting access and adding BRT. Full freeway removal will require a careful navigation and bulding up of political capital in addition to the technical challenges. I feel like I-94 in North Minneapolis has a good case to be the flagship freeway removal. R...

Did they choose a specific option for the 21st Ave bridge over 94, or is that TBD later on? Referring to pages 5-7 on this doc: https://metrocouncil.org/Transportation/Projects/Light-Rail-Projects/METRO-Blue-Line-Extension/Web-Docs/2023/Winter-Open-Houses/July-East-of-I-94-Meeting-Materials.aspx As ...

A Met Council pre-design grant was authorized for the former site of El Nuevo Rodeo. It doesn't say who the owner/developer would be. Probably a strong chance that a building of at least 4 stories will replace the 4-story structure that was lost to arson. Rodeo Plaza, Minneapolis: $150,000 for desig...

Milwaukee got a 25-story mass timber apartment building, tallest in the world (for now). Ascent MKE: https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/apply/worlds-tallest-timber-building-opens I can't imagine it will be much longer before Mpls gets another mass timber building that will top the ...

Are people in fact breathing poison from HERC? I was under the impression that the exhaust systems are pretty sophisticated and have been upgraded over the years. The biggest source of emissions related to HERC operations could very well be the garbage trucks coming and going, and those emissions wo...

An exclusive look at the $6.49 million penthouse in the Eleven condos in Minneapolis: https://www.startribune.com/an-exclusiv ... 600286600/

That makes it all the more interesting that no one tried to call for a special meeting to be held on Monday or Tuesday this week. The date change for Eid (happening Wednesday instead of Thursday) was apparently known 10 days ago. They could have called for a special meeting as late as Friday, in ord...

Counter-thought: The three who were not in the room were all strong proponents of rent control, and they 100% knew the vote was happening at this meeting (which, again, had already been rescheduled from Thurs to Weds in efforts to avoid conflicting with Eid...until the holiday changed just 10 days a...

Apparently Serbia's victory is coming as a total surprise to those who were involved in the MN-US bid. All along this was thought to be a close contest between the US and Spain (Malaga), but that the US would prevail.

Regarding jurisdictional transfers / turnbacks (e.g. MnDOT to County, or County to City), I came across this map in Hennepin County's 2040 transportation plan. Circa 2018, so nothing new and has probably been shared here before, but interesting to look at. These are not set in stone to actually happ...

Two random questions/thoughts on MAC, since the conversation went there: 1. I still think it makes sense to close the Crystal Airport and develop the property with housing. 400 acres of land in a 1st ring suburb, located along the Blue Line extension. This would likely require an infill station as t...