urbanMSP

Isn't this a well known racket in Minnesota? Suing for minor ADA violations then accepting money to make it all go away?

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The lawyer involved in most of these cases is currently going through a very contentious bankruptcy because of all the sanctions he's racked up related to the porn copyright trolling cases he was filing prior to moving on to the ADA scam. Also being investigated by the FBI

Hopkins is starting to plant raspberries around the city on public land in a nod to its heritage.

http://m.startribune.com/hopkins-return ... ection=%2F

I got my 10x20 patch in my back yard over growing its bounds. I'll need to start giving away some of the new spreading growth someday soon because they are sprouting up in my decorative wild flowers.

We eventually got rid of our bushes. Fresh raspberries weren't worth the tradeoff of it being a massive mosquito hideout.

Doran opted for a Minneapolis Moline antique tractor showroom instead of his standard art pieces.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2016/09/01/deve ... o-hopkins/

He ended having to expand the room to make space for getting carried away with tractor auctions.

That is by far the weirdest development news I've read on this site. I love it.

I love it too. Maybe Doran can do a project at Hi-Lake (on the site of the other MM factory), name it "Minneapolis-Moline," and have another museum there.

Doran hates us

That is bizarre and adorable. So cool.

Blake School campus to undergo $32 million expansion.

http://finance-commerce.com/2016/10/bla ... expansion/

A lot of what's happened lately have been athletic field upgrading.

Doran's "Moline" is up to five stories along Excelsior, the 1st St S side is not yet beyond the concrete ground level. It has certainly changed the feeling of driving westbound on Excelsior where it takes a bend at 8th Ave.

So, they've been up for a couple months now...

Anyone else think that the new directional signs downtown are horrendously misguided? They're at varying heights, and most of them seem too high up to be of any good use. I mean, are they meant for pedestrians? If so, shouldn't they be at a more comfortable height for reading? Or are they for drivers? If so, shouldn't they be less fancy and more legible?

I mean, I appreciate the effort, but those signs are just... I dunno. Inconsistent.

Hopkins is considering a moratorium on pawn shops and coin dealerships.

http://www.startribune.com/are-pawnshop ... /409416685

The city says the arrival of SWLRT pushed the city to look at the effect of pawn shops on small cities and vulnerable populations.

Feels an odd justification, the arrival of SWLRT. Are LRT lines known attractors of pawn shops?

Reading the story you will see the city has had a moratorium on tear downs of single family homes. While SFHs are a huge percentage of Hopkins land use, renters I recall were something like over 65% of Hopkins population. Home owners in Hopkins have a belief they are under represented and are thus quality of life is threatened by transient low income people. Thus a moratorium on SFH teardowns.

While I'm not a fan of pawnshops, I've never used one or been in one, they give me a vague shifty feeling I can't rationally justify. There are other things I'd much more rather have moratoriums on, like drive thrus on Mainstreet if not everywhere in the city.

8th Avenue Artery moving forward.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2017/01/24/hopk ... rovements/

Over 100 art submissions.

Oxford Green finally got some actual construction started this week or so. All of the rundown duplexes were finally demolished and construction has begun first on the Blake-side walls.

There's a 4-story apartment building being constructed on Blake Rd. near Oxford St. where the new playground was put in recently. I hadn't heard anything about this previously so I was surprised when I noticed superstructure being built there, and now there's a sign with a rendering showing the apartment building. It looks like it'll be a nice addition to the area and a great fit.

It's been mentioned quite a few times up thread, it's called Oxford Green, built by PPL.

Ooh, looks like 434 Blake Road, currently a 3-story 37-unit apartment sandwiched between Blake Road, Minnehaha Creek and Wendy's will be coming up to the city Zoning and Planning commission for redevelopment into a 5-story 140-unit market rate apartments (25 2-bedroom, 105 1-bedroom, 10 studio) 152 parking stalls with 9 tandems. Looks like zero surface parking which is currently a large portion of the lot currently. This will have seven walk up units with direct access from Blake and 20% affordable.

This lot is across from the Oxford Green being built today, and the new Cottageville Green park just finished.

The developer is KM2, (working with Collage Architects) who are developing the SE corner of 66th and York (they say will break ground this March 17) and will be involved on the 49 1/2 Ave redevelopment in Edina. The overview for the submission mentions with the coming SWLRT station on Blake and the proximity of the Cedar Lake Trail makes redevelopment along Blake make sense.

I wonder if the two fast food parcels just to the north would have developer eyes on them...
image by Eric Anondson, on Flickr
image by Eric Anondson, on Flickr

So, right in the floodway?

The elevation has it as 2 feet above the flood line, so says the documentation.