urbanMSP

Couple of related questions here that I think are important in this discussion. 1. How many users of the Kenilworth trail are commuters? I run and bike for leisure on this stretch of trail, and it sho' is nice, but if it were gone I'd find other routes in the same area. My point: re-routing recreati...

Did all the people claiming to love the Kenilworth trails not notice all the signs saying the area is owned by Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority?!!

Couple of ideas, though I'm no architect, so ... The M-Flats (corner of Arthur and University Ave SE) have ground-level parking, but with windows and it does make for a slightly better engagement with the street. The other thing I wonder about (again, not an architect) is whether these buildings can...

It's great they are adding residents to these areas. Wouldn't be my choice of places to live, but I could think of way worse places. But the photos make me wonder why developers are 3/4-assing these things. Why are there only cross walks on 3 of the 4 sides of the intersection? Is there no better wa...

I was disappointed in Cam Gordon's vote too, but after reading his blog post and thinking about his political background it makes sense to me. Yes, he's a Green Party member and here on this board we all think Greens should be for higher density etc. But there's a significant part of Green Party tho...

Can't make the Friday meeting, but emailed all the council members. Worth emailing Rybak as well, bully pulpit and all. I went and looked up how many people used to live on this block historically before the 1960s zoning code required all that off-street parking. In 1930 and 1940 censuses there were...

Peak-only bus lanes and signal priority for buses are simple things which can speed buses up significantly and make the ride smoother. They're all over similar cities in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Roundabouts do not seem to be pedestrian friendly, because generally cars and focusing on yielding to each other then getting out, not focusing on yielding to ped-exing when exiting. As my username implies I'm not originally from round here :) My personal observation would be that drivers here have...

The Minnehaha roundabout is one the worst places for bikes in the city. Mainly because bikes are obviously the slower vehicle and are supposed to stay on the right in general, but that's the wrong place for them if they are going to the 2nd or 3rd right turn (I hope that made sense). And I hope tha...

Yeah, having seen the way they do roundabouts in many US setting I understand that. But a well-marked crossing at the exit/entrance to the roundabout works well for both traffic flow and pedestrians. Minnehaha Park is a good local example.

hopefully they'll be emboldened by this experience to put a roundabout in at Beacon and Walnut too (by the Rec Center), one of the world's most ridiculous signalized intersections.

More progress, it's nice how it is sympathetic in style to what's across the road.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evanrobertsnz/9345342272/

Yes, in many ways a ridiculous situation. If we had fewer than five levels of government and multiple municipalities involved these things would go quicker. There is a small element of extra-Minnesotan desire to not make anyone unhappy, but lets not kid ourselves, American infrastructure costs are h...

In reply to UptownSport, Holman Field with its 6491 feet runway could technically handle a lot of 737/A-319/A320/757 flights departing to the lower-48 and nearby Canadian destinations. They could land, they could take-off etc. Boeing business jets use Holman for similar missions, so definitely possi...

Lots of people like the idea of new transit in theory. When you get down to the nitty gritty of where the line goes, and whose street is going to be dug up, and who is going to have to find a new way to drive to the grocery store/yoga center/school/wherever, then there's opposition. My general view ...

Grant to the Velo for clean-up work
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/215690651.html

Guess I'm lucky, I've only been stopped by the BNSF police once. The new trail still has "trail not open" signs up, perhaps because the lampposts don't have bulbs in them yet. Will be interesting to see if they keep this trail plowed, I suspect they will because of the dual use by universi...

The Book House wanted to move to 2720 University Ave (where MPIRG is, where Obama campaign offices were) which is 3 buildings joined into one on the corner of University and St Marys. Street frontage, nice display windows. But the zoning is only OR-2, and a bookstore needs C2. Absolutely crazy given...

Thanks for the quick replies!

There's a steel-framed building going up by the Greenway just as it goes over (or across!) Hiawatha. No obvious banner announcing what it is. Does anyone know?