urbanMSP

Thanks for speaking out Homer you're a courageous man. Your strongly held beliefs, as expressed numerous times on this board, include "government spending is out of control." Like most conservatives you're living in an alternate universe and deserve to have your fee fees hurt. Government ...

I was talking to a project manager the other day...we were working on a four story building. Let's say each floor shrinks 1/2" due to the wood drying out, temperature, humidity changes, etc. On a stick-framed six-story building, you are talking three inches! That is a lot of movement for most c...

I was thinking about this the other day...the Pedro family donated their building (in 2010 or '11 I believe) for a park to be built. The building was demolished, but nothing else has been done. I would think that the family would be fairly upset that they made such a valuable donation for an empty l...

The Penfield is also directly across the freeway from the State Capital, and a short walk to Regions hospital. I could see this place filling up with higher-paid government workers, lawyers, nurses, and doctors. I think it is definitely going to be different than the 20-something corporate-types tha...

Okay, I'll take the bait. Personally, I'm glad places like this exist. We all went through the stage in life that we didn't like new things that might be "trendy" and ruin the vibe of a particular block/street/neighborhood. If this place doesn't have the vibe you like when you eat and drin...

Let's say there are 30,000 riders per day (from southwesttransitway.org). Since this appears to be a commuter rail, most days it will be the same people riding every day. The simple math is this: $1.5 billion divided by 30,000 people would be $50,000 per person. I presume that the actual number of &...

It was stated a while back for the 3C proponents to beware, because if this project doesn't start, it will snowball to NO projects being started. I couldn't disagree more...I believe the opposite - if this project IS built with a tunnel under a bike path, it will forever turn the tide AGAINST future...

Is this supposed to be light rail, or commuter rail? The reason the Hiawatha line is good is because it connects downtown Minneapolis to the airport and then the MOA...things that are part of a 24 hour, lively metropolis. The Green Line between Minneapolis and St. Paul will connect our two downtowns...

This is the view from the fourth and fifth floors of the building. It's a unique view of the skyline combined with a beautiful view of the river. My phone's camera doesn't quite do it justice...it is an amazing panorama.

Regarding the Council's vote on this project, I think that it happen EVERY TIME. You vote the way I want, and I'll do the same for your votes. Remember back to the Trader Joe's project - the Zoning and Planning Commission actually approved the project, but the Council denied it because, wait for it,...

I know they plan on using the stadium for many other things (it is the "People's Stadium," after all)...but since there are so many windows, and the roof is even partially glass, might the field be real grass? That would be pretty cool - an indoor stadium with natural turf!

Many of these developments are using fiber cement panels as a replacement for real stucco. It is seen as a cost savings, but the difference is probably in the 15-25% range. The problem is that there are now many, many seams (places for water to penetrate), and the material is untested over time. You...

I used to live behind Uncle Franky's (on Quincy Street right off Broadway) and I always thought this was such a cool building/area. The street (Quincy) on the north side of Broadway is still the original cobblestones...I hope that some of the developers integrate this. I didn't notice...do these pro...

The idea that plenty of people receiving assistance are living in nicer places than those without assistance really bothers me. I totally agree. I have a small rental building in Whittier, and last fall I was going to rent to someone receiving assistance from the county (he was disabled, and a coun...

I think it would be cool if KARE-11 or KSTP moved their headquarters to Block E. They could do it like WCCO does on Nicollet Mall, with windows looking into the newscasts. I also envision some sort of moving light display that would scroll top news stories along either Hennepin or First Avenue... If...

These are actually rooming houses. They are pretty much dumps, even though they've been under a constant stage of construction. The owner has been trying to sell these buildings on craigslist for years. I think the neighborhood would love to get rid of these, as there have been some pretty shady peo...

Am I the only one that thinks kayaking/whitewater rafting (where you get pretty wet) in the Mississippi sounds disgusting? I know it's cleaner in Minneapolis than St. Louis or New Orleans, but still...

On a related note to the topic...there is a "For Rent" sign in the window of the old Sunnyside Up.

Meg says that 25th and Hennepin is not Uptown? I think if you asked 100 people if that intersection was in "Uptown," at least 90 of them would say yes.

I think it is fascinating that the City Council would allow a duplex on a residential street (Colfax) to be torn down for a parking lot, but essentially thwarted the Trader Joe's because there would be half of the parking lot on a commercial corridor (Lyndale), with the other half below grade. And y...