Rumors: A Historical Record of Mystery

[FISHMANPET]

The difference between building rumors and infrastructure speculation is that buildings are generally built by private companies that citizens have no control over, and infrastructure is built by the government, which citizens do have some sway and control over.

And to be honest, I think the I35 capping fantasy map shows way more imagination to inspire a person in power than endless claims of "it should be taller" would to inspire a developer.

[Nathan]

The difference between building rumors and infrastructure speculation is that buildings are generally built by private companies that citizens have no control over, and infrastructure is built by the government, which citizens do have some sway and control over.

And to be honest, I think the I35 capping fantasy map shows way more imagination to inspire a person in power than endless claims of "it should be taller" would to inspire a developer.

It's not even infrastructure speculation. in many cases there isn't even a proposed project we're just fantasizing. SO I don't really see how that's different than talking about a project we have no control over when it's not even a project that's happening anyways. It's just ego stroking on this site... but I digress.

[FISHMANPET]

An elected official could see one of these fantasy maps and think it's a creative idea and work to implement it. A developer isn't going to read "it should be taller" and be inspired to do anything.

[LakeCharles]

I don't know why it's obvious that an elected official would see a fantasy map one of us made and want to build it and impossible for a CEO to see a fantasy proposal one of us made and want to build it. Your claim seems to be that elected officials are open to ideas and unelected officials are closed to ideas. Which seems bizarre.

And even still, if there is a 0.1% chance that Mayor Hodges sees a map and wants to build it and a 0.0% chance that the Target CEO sees something and wants to build it, why should this site restrict ourselves to that?

[Silophant]

I don't know why it's obvious that an elected official would see a fantasy map one of us made and want to build it and impossible for a CEO to see a fantasy proposal one of us made and want to build it. Your claim seems to be that elected officials are open to ideas and unelected officials are closed to ideas. Which seems bizarre.

Because, generally, they don't see fantasy building proposals. They instead would generally see us looking at the publicly released renderings of a proposal (so, late in the game, when lots of design effort has already been done), and then see us suggesting that it should maybe be twice as tall and not have any parking at all. It is pretty much impossible for a CEO to see that and then say "Yeah, these internet guys think we should do this instead. Make it so."

[LakeCharles]

Well of course on a specific project they wouldn't, and I never pretended that they would ever say "These internet guys think we should do this instead. Make it so." But I think pretending that this site should be only for drawing maps that will somehow sway public officials is pretty limiting.

[Didier]

Wasn't retired banker that kinda fat thin guy, about five or six feet tall, with lightish darkish skin?

[Nick]

Unfortunately emojis don't work on the forum, so

[Didier]

I don't carry any malace against retired banker, but I think this basically sums up his time here:

1. A poster with an official sounding name and an avatar showing an old (wise) white man grabbed our attention with juicy nuggets and hints of insider information that were just vague enough to avoid scrutiny.

2. These nuggets continued for a long time and made us all feel good about Minneapolis' future.

3. He left for a while.

4. He came back.

5. Upon his return, the juicy hints of future development turned into outrageous declarations of supertalls and claims that hundreds of international businesses were looking into coming into Minneapolis-St. Paul.

6. The vagueness of the new rumors combined with the scale of the rumored developments resulted in many posters turning up the scrutiny meter, while other posters maintained a fierce allegiance to retired banker, seemingly because they want to believe in his rumors.

7. He left, and now maintains a proxy relationship to the message board via min-chi-cbus.

Personally I don't doubt that retired banker is a real retired banker who has real connections to the industry, and as such I don't think it's terribly far fetched to believe that he knew of many potential projects that were nowhere close to reality. However, the disciples of retired banker's rumors were becoming a little too intense in their fellowship, and if they/he can't handle the scrutiny, he probably shouldn't be posting here anyway.

[the kid]

Count me as part of the group that enjoys retired bankers' occasional postings. Even if it's all BS, and I suspect its not, I'd rather be teased by rumors of greatness than tormented by the snark of our more curmudgeonly cynics.

[nordeast homer]

I have no allegiances toward RB one way or another. I couldn't pick him out of a 1 man lineup, but the thing that bothers most in his camp is the fact that there is an intollerance for speculation. I certainly didn't believe that all of his "nuggets" were going to come to fruition, but it was interesting to speculate on it, even if only in the "what if I won the lottery" sense. I don't see the harm in it, but to continually badger and belittle people for having a sense of optimism is pretty sad. Don't be a f-ing Nazi and tell people they can't post because you disagree!

[Nick]

I definitely agree that being skeptical of anonymous people with Yahoo! email addresses making grand claims on the Internet is comparable to orchestrating the Holocaust, but I think referring to "his camp" is pretty silly.

[woofner]

Come on man, they're just "actors" "playing" "Nazis".

[City slicker]

It sounds to me like he's the wizard of oz. and that nasa guy was the lion..

[web]

bring back the NASA35 quotes it spurned debate!

[go4guy]

I for one have been coming back to this site many times daily, waiting for the post from Retired Banker's friend. Please post soon so I can stop my madness?

[SKOL]

I for one have been coming back to this site many times daily, waiting for the post from Retired Banker's friend. Please post soon so I can stop my madness?

I have a feeling that RB's supporters far outnumber his detractors. Unfortunately those few, whether out of jealousy or sheer meanness, speak out most loudly so as to appear as a majority.

[John]

Nick, I find it disconcerting that you as moderator posted that photo. It conveys a message that insulting or hurting people is acceptable on this blog. Does not set a respectful tone for a public forum with a wide diversity of opinions and perspectives.

[go4guy]

I for one have been coming back to this site many times daily, waiting for the post from Retired Banker's friend. Please post soon so I can stop my madness?

I have a feeling that RB's supporters far outnumber his detractors. Unfortunately those few, whether out of jealousy or sheer meanness, speak out most loudly so as to appear as a majority.

I really do not get the hate for the type of posts from Retired Banker. Other than actual developments being shown, those are my favorite posts. It sure beats all the negative posts from people complaining about parking because they dont use cars themselves.

[Scott16475]

Nick, I find it disconcerting that you as moderator posted that photo. It conveys a message that insulting or hurting people is acceptable on this blog. Does not set a respectful tone for a public forum with a wide diversity of opinions and perspectives.

I agree. When the Moderator posts snark, it opens the flood gates for the other folks who feel the same. Very little in way of professionalism when the inmates run the asylum.

I'm looking forward to hearing what retiredbanker has to say.