North Loop Neighborhood

[Archiapolis]

Planted medians, or at least mid-block pedestrian islands and crosswalks should be placed all along Washington Avenue - in the North Loop and through the downtown area...

Can the "streets" nerds chime in here...does the Washington Ave redesign not encompass this area?! If it DOESN'T then I have to seriously question what city planning staff does all day.

[gpete]

You mean COUNTY planning staff.

[VAStationDude]

Only Hennepin to south 5th ave is being rebuilt.

[twincitizen]

^That is correct, Hennepin County is only reconstructing Hennepin to 5th Avenue South, beginning this summer. From that point to 35W will eventually be reconstructed as well, but that project has no timeline or funding.

However, they recently announced they are studying restriping the entire North Loop, from Hennepin to Plymouth Avenue. Hennepin to 5th Avenue North would remain 5 lanes, but 5th Ave N to Plymouth Ave would receive a road diet to 3 lanes. Bike lanes would be added throughout the entire North Loop, and they would be buffered lanes between 5th Ave N and Plymouth.

http://www.hennepin.us/residents/transp ... restriping

According to the website, they would do the restriping as soon as this summer

Meeting with the North Loop Neighborhood Board on March 25th at the Paxon - 360 North 1st Street.

If you feel strongly about getting some kind of activated pedestrian crossing beacon, or refuge islands at 8th Ave N, you should definitely contact the project staff and/or attend that meeting.

[David Greene]

I understand there are play spaces at the river but it shouldn't be necessary to travel 3 blocks to climb or swing

I regularly walk three to six blocks to go to either Mueller Park or Bryant Square Park with my son. It is not a big deal.

[xandrex]

Arguably, a stroll through the tree-lined, fairly quiet Wedge neighborhood is not quite the same as walking through a post-industrial warehouse district still filled with busy streets, vast parking lots, and superblocks that lack pedestrian crossing facilities.

[David Greene]

Arguably, a stroll through the tree-lined, fairly quiet Wedge neighborhood is not quite the same as walking through a post-industrial warehouse district still filled with busy streets, vast parking lots, and superblocks that lack pedestrian crossing facilities.

So then the problem isn't a lack of parks, it's a lack of access. That's a different problem than was originally stated. And I agree, access could be very much improved.

[xandrex]

In this case, is it not both?

The Wedge has pretty good access to parks in just about every direction: Mueller Park right in the neighborhood, Bryant Square Park to the south, Whittier Park to the east, Lake of the Isles to the west (as well as a few pocket-sized parks), and Loring Park to the north (with obvious physical and mental barriers there, but still accessible). That's a decent number of parks, especially for a neighborhood where many people in houses have yards and the area could generally be described as "leafy." I biked through there yesterday and got caught up in traffic once (on 26th, which obviously could use some fixing).

The North Loop, on the other hand, has some access to the riverfront, depending on where you're located in the neighborhood, although the most usable area for children is located pretty far out toward the edge. Connectivity is horrible, and it's not just Washington: 1st, 2nd, and West River Parkway all have limited access points to the one stretch of green space. And unless the hardscape of a rooftop deck is what you're children are looking to play on, backyards are pretty lacking.

We really should expect better connectivity and more green for our fastest-growing neighborhood.

[Archiapolis]

In this case, is it not both?

The Wedge has pretty good access to parks in just about every direction: Mueller Park right in the neighborhood, Bryant Square Park to the south, Whittier Park to the east, Lake of the Isles to the west (as well as a few pocket-sized parks), and Loring Park to the north (with obvious physical and mental barriers there, but still accessible). That's a decent number of parks, especially for a neighborhood where many people in houses have yards and the area could generally be described as "leafy." I biked through there yesterday and got caught up in traffic once (on 26th, which obviously could use some fixing).

The North Loop, on the other hand, has some access to the riverfront, depending on where you're located in the neighborhood, although the most usable area for children is located pretty far out toward the edge. Connectivity is horrible, and it's not just Washington: 1st, 2nd, and West River Parkway all have limited access points to the one stretch of green space. And unless the hardscape of a rooftop deck is what you're children are looking to play on, backyards are pretty lacking.

We really should expect better connectivity and more green for our fastest-growing neighborhood.

Well-stated.

[Tyler]

Unfortunately, this park proposal isn't family-friendly. At the minimum it needs a set of swings and a climbing/sliding facility. If we're serious about attracting families to the North Loop, playground equipment is a must.

There is a playground by the river.

[grant1simons2]

And now all they need to fix are access points and infrastructure, but I'm sure there will just keep being reasons why families don't want to move here.

[Archiapolis]

Unfortunately, this park proposal isn't family-friendly. At the minimum it needs a set of swings and a climbing/sliding facility. If we're serious about attracting families to the North Loop, playground equipment is a must.

There is a playground by the river.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, the grid in this area is disrupted and access to the "playground by the river" isn't great (at best) and bad (at worst).

If "we" (whoever "we" are) are saying that it isn't important to have families downtown then that is fine but we are running out of opportunities for desirable play spaces that are IN the North Loop and not a walk of several blocks that aren't the best/easiest to traverse. If it IS important to have families here then they need a place to play that is more directly accessible.

[Tyler]

The partial grid does not affect access to the playground. And adding another playground is a fine idea as the current one is on the fringe, for sure. But no need to pretend like it doesn't exist.

[Wedgeguy]

We seem to forget that part of the grid problems is because this area was industrial and there were several rail holding yards that made the grid undesirable. We seem to forget that this area was developed nearly 100 years ago. You adapt and work with what you have, You can't rewrite history.

[swallman]

Just my personal opinion but I can't imagine a lot of families really wanting to live in the North Loop area (even if we added a lot more park area)...I can see why they want to live in the 'burbs (can just let the kiddos out in the back yard, more room to run around, larger homes typically, easier to have friends (with other small kids) over for a cookout/playtime, etc.)

As someone who did raise a family in the country and also a small town, I don't think many families would really look at downtown as a place to live.

Just my 2 cents though...

[grant1simons2]

Well times are changing are more families are looking at living in downtown's. It's happening in Dallas, Austin, Portland, Seattle, Denver, etc. If you actually look up on Google, "families moving downtown", you find one of the results as the North Loop website.

[min-chi-cbus]

Just my personal opinion but I can't imagine a lot of families really wanting to live in the North Loop area (even if we added a lot more park area)...I can see why they want to live in the 'burbs (can just let the kiddos out in the back yard, more room to run around, larger homes typically, easier to have friends (with other small kids) over for a cookout/playtime, etc.)

As someone who did raise a family in the country and also a small town, I don't think many families would really look at downtown as a place to live.

Just my 2 cents though...

I would, for my family. The wife is okay with an urban setting but not necessarily high-density (i.e. no yard whatsoever), so we butt heads on that. However, I'm not the only person who would consider such an environment for families. As long as we have access to top-notch PUBLIC schools and there's a place to play with other kids (i.e. playground), those two things make urban living much more desirable in a place like North Loop, whereas other places -- like the Mills District -- seems a bit more exclusive and not geared towards young families (yet). It would also really depend on where our jobs were, among other things.

[grant1simons2]

Webster Elementary will be a great catalyst for getting people to move downtown or the NE: http://webster.up.mpsedu.org/attendance_area

[trkaiser]

I'm surprised how much work they're doing on this building. There's so much broken up concrete piled up outside now!

[5th Ave Guy]

Just my personal opinion but I can't imagine a lot of families really wanting to live in the North Loop area (even if we added a lot more park area)...I can see why they want to live in the 'burbs (can just let the kiddos out in the back yard, more room to run around, larger homes typically, easier to have friends (with other small kids) over for a cookout/playtime, etc.)

As someone who did raise a family in the country and also a small town, I don't think many families would really look at downtown as a place to live.

Just my 2 cents though...

Go by the playground by the river on any nice day... it's packed with parents and little kids.