urbanMSP

Was that the aim?

"Welcome to the forum! I think a lot of us here would be interested in hearing your take on living in North Loop. If you don't mind sharing, we have a general topic called "North Loop Neighborhood" where you could post that. It's fascinating to me how we're essentially building a new neighborhood out of new & old buildings, super close to downtown, but with pretty mediocre transit service. Most of the residential development going on is outside of easy walking distance from Target Field Station, and there aren't great bike connections directly into the core either. Since you have 2 cars, does that mean neither of you work in N.Loop or downtown?"

Thanks for the warm welcome...I posted in another thread about us being ElseWarehouse residents and finally got back to see this reply LOL.

A bit about us and our journey here - we are empty nester's (late 40's) and recently moved into the MN area. We previously lived in a small Wisconsin town along the Mississippi River and owned homes for about the last 20 years. Our last home was a large 3-story victorian (2700 sq. feet). When we decided to relocate to the metro area we initially moved to Cottage Grove (while our home was for sale) and after a short time realized the 'burbs weren't for us and we wanted to try something really different - urban living! So after MAJOR downsizing we're now in a 2 BR unit at ElseWarehouse - around 1200 sq. feet. I work downtown Mpls (but rarely go into the office - mainly work at home) and my wife commutes to the Maplewood area (although she would love to find work downtown). We still have 2 vehicles (truck and car) but will be getting rid of the truck once we finish getting rid of the last of our "crap" LOL.

We really like the NL area because it's close enough to downtown but not right in the heart of it - and the number of restaurants and bars has been great for us (we actually really like Bunker's because it doesn't feel like a "big city" bar and the prices aren't as bad either). We can walk to Target Field Station to catch the light rail if we want as well. We tend to do quite a bit of shopping to the west (SLP area) mainly because it's so easy to hop on 394.

One thing this end of Washington really needs is a SAFER way to cross the street. There aren't any stoplights for about a 4-block length (from 6th to 10th) and crossing 4 lanes of traffic during rush hour can be dangerous (especially since people don't slow down here either).

Let me know if anyone wants to know more - this is definitely a new stage of our lives!

Welcome, and glad you like your new digs. I've always thought it would be nice to live, or maybe just have a vacation home, in a small Wisconsin town along the Mississippi River. Curious which town you lived in, and how you liked it.

Welcome, and glad you like your new digs. I've always thought it would be nice to live, or maybe just have a vacation home, in a small Wisconsin town along the Mississippi River. Curious which town you lived in, and how you liked it.

We lived in Alma (across the river and down a bit from Wabasha)...it was a nice, quaint tourist town and we had a great view of the river but there wasn't anything to do "socially" really, especially in the winter. We found ourselves driving at least an hour to a larger city for events, concerts, etc. So we thought moving to a large city would be a good "shakeup" in our lives LOL.

http://looplink.cushwake.com/xNet/Loopl ... 5391506956

Hmm.. Interesting property posted for sale about a week ago by Cushman Wakefield for $750,000

Rare redevelopment opportunity in the North Loop District. Two blocks from Target Field. Next to Target Field Station.

http://looplink.cushwake.com/xNet/Loopl ... 5391506956

Hmm.. Interesting property posted for sale about a week ago by Cushman Wakefield for $750,000

Rare redevelopment opportunity in the North Loop District. Two blocks from Target Field. Next to Target Field Station.

I bet we'll see something like the condos proposed a couple blocks away.

That's the "Tubs" property that is sandwiched between the recently completed Junction Flats and Metro Transit's "lower lot" of overflow parking for employees. Metro Transit has received a ton of interest in that property, but my assumption is that they can't sell it until the "Heywood 2" bus garage facility is complete. Heywood 2 would be built to the north, here on property the Met Council already owns. This expansion is needed for aBRT service, and any new local service that gets funded in the future. Word is the current garages are basically all at capacity. The current garage will remain in place. As reported yesterday, it looks like the police station, which at one time was slated for Target Field Station, will now be built next to the Heywood office building.

For a little additional context on Metro Transit's lot, see my post in the Junction Flats thread, from almost 2 years ago now https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?f=13& ... ubs#p21608

UPDATE: From the transit news thread, this presentation on the Heywood campus master planning process and potential location of the police station. I'm not sure if the idea is that the buses would drive under/through the new police station, or if that is supposed to be a new driveway going out to 5th St N, on the site of the tubs facility (701 5th) discussed above. There's a steep grade change there between the existing Metro Transit bus driveway and the Tubs property, so I'm not sure that a new access point is even feasible there.

6th Ave N reconstruction layout: http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 138097.pdf

Not bad. It would be cool to get pavers instead of asphalt for those two blocks.

REAL pavers, not those crappy concrete patio blocks they used on Nicollet Island.

Yes, I've noticed that the concrete pavers they used on the reconstruction of Main Street have started disintegrating already, after just a few years. Shocking that pavers that look like the were purchased at Menards wouldn't stand up to the elements.

Cross-posted to the 729 Washington Ave Thread:

Two critical pieces that are currently missing if downtown/North Loop has any meaningful aspirations to become a place for families: a decent play park and a school.

If "we" (as a city) are saying that downtown isn't a place for families I *guess* that is fine but I think it would make for a TRULY urban city to have a dense place that also provides opportunity for families to live comfortably.

I understand there are play spaces at the river but it shouldn't be necessary to travel 3 blocks to climb or swing and bussing kids all over to go to school seems ludicrous given the state of surface lots all over downtown - there MUST be an opportunity to create a school downtown. I'd love to hear opinions of others - maybe I'm dreaming...

3 blocks is too far?

Three blocks isn't too far, but a lot of the neighborhood is much farther than that from the playground area. The area on the west/south side of Washington really is cut off between several blocks where traffic doesn't have to stop and the superblock along the east side.

3 blocks is too far?

Three blocks was just a number that I pulled out of nowhere because it obviously depends where you are.

I started listing the avenues (north/southish) in this area that are incomplete and the list became exhaustive as they are almost ALL incomplete. On a brisk and/or drizzly day with a stroller and the diaper bag with water bottles, the 4-7 year old not wanting to walk the whole way because they are SOOOOooo tired etc, three blocks can seem like murder but I think we are talking about more than three when you factor in all of the incomplete streets (not to mention the pedestrian nightmare that is Washington Ave).

With the number of surface of lots *right there*, there just has to be a solution on Washington.

3 blocks is too far?

Three blocks was just a number that I pulled out of nowhere because it obviously depends where you are.

I started listing the avenues (north/southish) in this area that are incomplete and the list became exhaustive as they are almost ALL incomplete. On a brisk and/or drizzly day with a stroller and the diaper bag with water bottles, the 4-7 year old not wanting to walk the whole way because they are SOOOOooo tired etc, three blocks can seem like murder but I think we are talking about more than three when you factor in all of the incomplete streets (not to mention the pedestrian nightmare that is Washington Ave).

With the number of surface of lots *right there*, there just has to be a solution on Washington.

Totally. I live on the river side of Wash ave so getting to that play lot is straightforward. Not that I go there. No kids. However, if I were on the other side of Washington, it might be a bit more daunting. When looking at a map, everything seems relatively close, but the real life pedestrian experience can be a bit more challenging, especially when trying to cross the Wash ave gauntlet. There's not really a straight shot there.

FYI: I deleted most of the school/park conversation out of the 729 Washington thread, since it was taking place here as well.

The elementary school issue has been settled, at least for now.
See discussion in the Downtown General Topics thread here: https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?f=13& ... ter#p81832

Obviously that is not in the North Loop, or even on the downtown side of the river, but it IS the elementary school for North Loop / downtown kids going forward.

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...

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...

Agreed! The lack of lights/crosswalks between N 6th and N 10th makes walking across Washington a bit of an adventure.

Plans for the Hennepin Hotel Building restoration:
http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/pub ... 137966.pdf

Alleyway pocket park!