Twin Cities' National and Global Image

[Nick]

The study notes that 135 buildings in Minneapolis are certified green, representing more than 152 million square feet of office space. That means 29.7 percent of the buildings here are green, better than 26.6 percent in Atlanta and 24.4 percent in Manhattan.

Put simply, more than three-quarters of all office space in the Twin Cities is green.

?

[nBode]

Yeah, they got confused…

[mister.shoes]

Seventy-seven percent of the commercial real estate space in the Twin Cities is certified as green, the study states. We’re followed by San Francisco (67.2 percent); Chicago (62.1 percent); Houston (54.8 percent); and Atlanta (54.1 percent).

[FISHMANPET]

If the green buildings tend to be the larger ones, then it could make sense that 29.7% of the buildings comprise 77% of commercial real estate.

[mister.shoes]

Bingo. I didn't find it that confusing, but I see how it could be.

[Nick]

Yop yop I'm dumb sry

[mattaudio]

Goes to show that green building metrics are 99% gizmo green bs. I bet the Target BP campus is "green" according to someone.

[xandrex]

CityLab did a nice write up of the Nice Ride system, along with some general boosterism of the Twin Cities.

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/07/ ... es/373679/

[Anondson]

Yeah. Quite worth a read, the local branch seems to be doing its own thing successfully, even expanding. It feels like Nice Ride is to bike sharing what MPR is to public radio.

After Nice Ride expands to St. Paul, I'd like to see them try a suburban expansion. Self-serving, but I'd like to see expansion into Hopkins and St. Louis Park.

[PhilmerPhil]

If I'm not mistaken, their next expansion plans were more of a (well needed) "inspansion" that would fill gaps and densify the system. Those plans came to an unfortunate halt with the financial complications of their supplier in Montreal.

[grant1simons2]

Awwwwwww yeah

http://www.startribune.com/business/265 ... fsgcoOB.97

[Minneboy]

Awwwwwww yeah

http://www.startribune.com/business/265 ... fsgcoOB.97

I love all the comments.

[mullen]

that citylab article read a tad condescending imo. the whole minnesota nice blah blah. and was minneapolis ever a "fading city"? fading?

[twincitizen]

Yes. Fading like nearly every other non-costal, non-sunbelt city, in terms of population (which they specifically state in the article), job loss to the suburbs, etc.

I enjoyed the Citylab article. It's nice to have the spotlight every once in a while. I appreciate that they didn't gloss over the fact that Nice Ride only operates 7 months a year. We can still be a great biking city 7-8 months a year, there's no shame in that.

[min-chi-cbus]

that citylab article read a tad condescending imo. the whole minnesota nice blah blah. and was minneapolis ever a "fading city"? fading?

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't like it when articles artificially deflate and then inflate a city just to bring about a point. Minneapolis was no more in the doldrums than NYC, DC, or any other American city was, and it's not exponentially more progressive, liberal, or booming than many of America's top metros either. It's a great success story and a great model for ride-sharing, period. That's enough for me, why not leave it at that? One thing I didn't necessarily agree 100% with is the traffic and congestion issue. Yes, it's not as bad as NYC, DC or Chicago but it's bad enough, and certainly a reason for many people to prefer to be car-less here. I know it's something most of us think about (ditching the car and not driving in traffic).

[mullen]

yes, the article makes it seem like u can just get in a car and there's no traffic. like avoiding the tumbleweeds in this backwater burb. i guess the author hasn't looked any congestion figures for major metros. we're right up there.

[Nathan]

so... starburst knows we exist...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta6hlm0 ... ata_player

[nBode]

Does anyone else find it curious/amusing that we seem to be offended at not having terrible congestion? I mean; I totally understand—no traffic means no people, and people in cities are a good thing. Traffic indicates vitality. But it seems we're at that turning point where we're realizing that [everyone] driving in cities is no good, and are trying to push other modes of transit. In a few decades, maybe it would be an actual compliment to say our city has less congestion than others?

[Nick]

2003 Nick absolutely thought it was a good thing to have congestion in his SimCity 4 cities because he thought it made them look more real.

[garfield]

Twin Cities has the lowest unemployment of any metro area in the nation.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101807315

The article on CNBC focuses on what we are doing "right." It's a good read if you want to feel good about us!