urbanMSP

Why SHOULD the papers try to write better? The revenue is falling and will likely never return to former glory, as the internet and Kindles have taken over paper copies. They have to keep cutting and slashing just to stay afloat, so I don't expect to see the writing (or edittingg) improve anytime s...

Great news. Typically terrible reporting. Why did Valspar leave it's former headquarters in the first place? Where did it go? (to the Ameriprise building downtown). Why? Well, any interested reader has to go look it up, the Pioneer Press wants to keep you guessing (http://www.bizjournals.com/twincit...

Wasn't sure where to put this, but this thread seemed most appropriate. Good article about LRT serving as the "backbone" of a metro public transit system. Portland gets high marks. Dallas not so much. MSP would probably need both SW and Bottineau to get to where these cities are today. Che...

Many homeless prefer the street to shelters because shelters are not nice places. They are violent, incidents of sexual assault are high, and theft is rampant. Also, let's not kid ourselves, in addition to mental illness many of the homeless are serious substance abusers. Shelters have strict drug ...

Many homeless prefer the street to shelters because shelters are not nice places. They are violent, incidents of sexual assault are high, and theft is rampant. Also, let's not kid ourselves, in addition to mental illness many of the homeless are serious substance abusers. Shelters have strict drug a...

Generally though, helinski is correct. Combining our desires to feel like we live in New York with lots for street front retail all over hasn't meshed well with our desire to then actually do the vast majority of our shopping at a handful of chain stores. Which leads to A) Me cringing during the pr...

I agree with absolutely everything that the two of you just said. And I think that before we build streetcars, we seriously need to improve the bus system. Washington DC has shelters with maps and NextBus numbers to call at every single bus stop in the entire city - it's phenomenal. MSP is not a poo...

Did you read my post? It's quite clear that ridership on the 4 and the 6 is packed with people who could afford to drive, but choose to take the bus. They don't care that it's a bus rather than a streetcar, because it effectively and inexpensively takes them from their house to their place of work....

I think the debate is missing a huge element: incentives. I honestly don't dislike the suburbs. I grew up in the Hale neighborhood of south Minneapolis, and I always thought it was very suburban - everyone has a nice house, a yard, a garage, it is very green, safe, it is overwhelmingly Scandinavian-...

That's the way I'd like to see Minneapolis densify, and it doesn't always have to be on such a large scale -- 3, 2, or even 1 rowhome like this could fill in almost any site on any block in the city (save perhaps the Bungalow Belt). I have never heard this phrase 'Bungalow Belt' before. It's very a...

Similarly, it doesn't matter how great buses are - a substantial segment of the population sees them as detestable. Those same people have been shown in study after study to find rail modes of all types (it's "real mass transit!") to be desirable or at least more reasonable as a choice. Y...

Because all of those characteristics speak to mode. Yes, you can make a bus line seem a lot like a streetcar line. The point has been exhaustively made. When you stand next to a tram gliding away from the station or a bus roaring away from the curb, however, the distinction between the modes becomes...

I... still don't know who you're arguing against. And if we got $1 billion extra, we could build one LRT line, 16-33 miles of streetcar (based on $30-$60 million/mile) or more miles than that of some kind of better bus system. So let's stop with the mode fetishism and have a discussion about mobili...

Either Mpls funds it or no trolleys. This need not be the case. Yes, the Met Council (through Metro Transit) would run any streetcar line. With CTIB funds already dedicated to other projects, this does create another obstacle to realizing streetcars. The city, however, is not the only possible fund...

Respectfully, I think this approach is too dogmatic. The distinction between local and regional isn't so blunt. Stops can be more widely spaced towards the fringe, more closely spaced in the center - like a German Stadtbahn (Hanover is a good example). Agreed, I would extend the line - have gigantic...

There are a couple of things we have to remember about CTIB: 1. It is a regional tax. The counties and probably even the Metropolitan Council will be against regional money funding a local line. The streetcar network proposal will have effects on local trips but little effect on regional trips. The...

I know; I got a bit carried away - the hyperbole reflects that. Still, I don't buy Walker's propulsion argument. Yes, you can have electric buses with catenary wires, sure. But nobody is talking about that option in Minneapolis. It's a red herring. I completely agree about the improved bus service o...

Well, what's the point of building a streetcar line (that has no funding sources) that will do the exact same thing as a bus (which can be built cheaper, and is more politically palatable?) If a funding source did exist (for example, FTA new starts has funded streetcar lines in recent years, the Co...

Honestly, if we can get a high quality Arterial BRT line at half the cost of a streetcar line, we can have a bigger network. No one has been serious about funding this streetcar network, and only recently has Metro Transit considered the idea of spending capital money to improve the high-ridership ...

For a man who is, like, totally down with streetcars, Mr. Walker puts a lot of effort into casting doubts as to their viability. I don't think the issue is so convoluted: in the long run, streetcars can carry far more people, using less (and cleaner) energy. The cost of fuel argument is important: g...