urbanMSP

It will always be the Taco Cabana to me.

Parking lot is all torn up. Old building is all torn down. They have the steel on site to pound into the ground for the exterior of the site. What are those called?

Sheet piles, probably.

On that note, I drove by tonight and they've got between a quarter and a third of the piles in the ground already. It looks like this thing is going to be moving pretty fast.

That's awesome. I'll get some pictures this weekend if I remember.

It's crazy that just 18 months ago when I moved to Uptown (Lyn-Lake if you want to get technical), Flux, Mozaic, and Greenleaf were all under construction, none of them topped out even. As of right now, Track 29, Elan (Bennett East), and now City Walk are all under construction and should open sometime in 2013. In that time, Buzza has gone from vacant dump to fully leased apartment building. If we're lucky, 2900 Lyndale will be underway soon too.

Are there any plans to do anything to Girard Ave between Lake and Lagoon? I thought I heard at one point there was going to be an attempt to connect the gap between the pedestrian zones at Mozaic and Calhoun Square, creating a continuous pedestrian promenade from 31st St to just north of the Greenway at Flux.

EDIT: Found more info from an undated article from earlier this year (SW Journal doesn't date their articles?!):
http://www.swjournal.com/index.php?&sto ... ategory=63

Gassen is also working with the city’s Public Works department to widen Girard Avenue to make way for a plaza with landscaping and other amenities for pedestrians. It would eliminate a lane of on-street parking.

It would be part of a vision for a Girard Meander — a walkway that would connect the north side of the Midtown Greenway with Calhoun Square. “The Girard Meander should become a festive public space that, like the main streets of Uptown, is animated with pedestrians walking from Calhoun Square to Mozaic and the Greenway,” according to a project description reviewed by the Planning Commission. “Girard Avenue should remain a vehicular street but should be designed to be closed, on occasion, on weekends and evenings for special events.”

So does anyone know if this is happening?

Don't know, but auto circulation sucks in Uptown, glad it will remain open to vehicular traffic.

OT, but ever noticed that some of the coolest parts of Minneapolis are the hardest to drive in or access by automobile? Uptown, Nicollet Mall, Hennepin Ave, Milwaukee Ave, Eat Street, etc. There might be something to that...

Where's Milwaukee Avenue (or do you mean the Depot downtown)?

Milwaukee Ave is in Seward, its a pedestrian only street with a bunch of big old houses on it, and rich people living in them

Actually, the houses along that street are tiny...and were originally built for low income workers in the 1880s. They are all fixed up real nice now, but non are "big old houses".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_ ... c_District

"The Milwaukee Avenue Historic District is a historic district in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the Seward neighborhood. The district comprises two city blocks of small homes on quarter-sized lots. These houses were built between 1884 and 1890 by William Ragan, a Minneapolis real estate speculator. Built for lower-income residents, the houses had deteriorated in condition by the end of World War II, and by the 1970s, were planned for demolition. A group of residents and concerned citizens fought to save the houses, eventually leading to their inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and the federal protection and rehabilitation that comes with the designation. Today, the houses sit along a bike- and pedestrian-friendly mall on which motor traffic is prohibited."

Yeah, Milwaukee Ave is THE BEST! But mostly for historic context, I don't think it's a high income neighborhood... everyone there seems pretty modest.

Actually, the houses along that street are tiny...and were originally built for low income workers in the 1880s. They are all fixed up real nice now, but non are "big old houses".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_ ... c_District

"The Milwaukee Avenue Historic District is a historic district in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the Seward neighborhood. The district comprises two city blocks of small homes on quarter-sized lots. These houses were built between 1884 and 1890 by William Ragan, a Minneapolis real estate speculator. Built for lower-income residents, the houses had deteriorated in condition by the end of World War II, and by the 1970s, were planned for demolition. A group of residents and concerned citizens fought to save the houses, eventually leading to their inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and the federal protection and rehabilitation that comes with the designation. Today, the houses sit along a bike- and pedestrian-friendly mall on which motor traffic is prohibited."

That is a really neat neighborhood! I drove around that area about 2 years ago looking for a rental home, and I really kind of fell in love with it and would consider living around there (I'm from the SW side, so SE areas like this are "another world" to me!).

I ALSO noticed that there are some TINY homes in that general area -- look like working class homes for every day people, unlike some of the mansions in South and Southwest Mpls.

Several years ago that district had a few houses on one of the city tours for the remodeler show case I do believe. Anyone that thinks that rich people live in these houses are smoking something. These are people who love this district and put alot of there own equilty to get these houses back into shape and proabaly better shape than when they were first built. These houses are quite small and a challenge to fit furniture into. I beleive that you are also limited to what you can do to make changes to these houses. They are very unique and beautiful.

The piling are 90% completed on the Lagoon end of the project today when I walked by. I would imagine that they will have all the piles driven in by Thanksgiving. Then in December they will start digging out the 2 levels of underground parking.

Well I guess my reasoning is only anecdotal, but I knew a girl who lived on Milwaukee and she was loaded, her dad was some record exec and they had a super nice house, but like I said that's only anecdotal it could be different for other people.

As you can see, it was a bit dark by the time I got over here...

Holy cheese and crackers Uptown is booming!

Er, small old houses, right? Well, I guess I don't know their square footage. Originally cheaply built housing for railroad workers, many of them didn't have plumbing or proper foundations. There used to be a lot more housing of that type in Minneapolis, and it represents some of what got torn down in urban renewal.

I see that they have the piles driven on the north and east sides of the property. they still have alot of concrete and old trees that have to yet get shipped away before they can do much digging.