Minneapolis & St. Paul Fantasies and Speculations

[PhilmerPhil]

I like the way you think,1200. As my ideological twin when it comes to urban issues, Gil Penalosa says, "People first, then bikes, then transit, then cars." Also, no more Trevors!

[Nordeastmpls]

Great post 1200. Being a sort of downtown dweller (work DT and live just across the bridge), I feel like downtown does cater to the commuter and not the resident.

[MNdible]

It should be noted that there are roughly 160,000 people who work downtown and 35,000 people who live downtown.

This is not a justification to ignore downtown dwellers (far from it), but just an effort to keep things in perspective. The real estate supported by these jobs generates a huge chunk of the property taxes that pay for the operation of the city.

These two uses can coexist.

[nasa35]

I like the way you think,1200. As my ideological twin when it comes to urban issues, Gil Penalosa says, "People first, then bikes, then transit, then cars." Also, no more Trevors!

No more trevors mean no more DWTN vibrancy. Get off your suburban hating, it's becoming borderline insane. Sorry, cars and Pedestrians should be the focus. Go ride your bikes around the lakes. Traffic and commerce is the point and purpose. You are WAY over catered to, hence the me, me, me attitudes.

I think some of you woud do well in an isolated commune with only like minded people in attendance. The I hate diversity chant is odd.

[nasa35]

Let's get serious about creating the best bike/pedestrian friendly city in the world! Let's stop calling it "friendly", let's call it what it is, priority for bikes and peds! We need to think bold and be bold about changing the way people move around Minneapolis. Here's some ideas I have about how to do that and a few other random ideas. 

1. Set a target date to install bike lanes on every street downtown. If we need to eliminate a traffic lane or 2 so be it. Cycle-track not painted lines and the promise of pylons that never get installed.

2. Stop building the city for people who don't live "in" the city, why does someone who lives in East Bethel have priority over the family who chooses to live at 10th and Washington in the Mill District?

3. Enforce traffic laws like your life depends on it because my life does depend on it. As someone who walks 1.5 miles to-from work everyday I need to know that someday, someone is going to get a ticket for running that red light. Ticket people who constantly pull into the intersection on the yellow light and end up stuck there. Does the city have a vehicle noise ordinance? If so enforce it, if not get one.

4. Every street crosswalk downtown should have a bump-out island at the crosswalk making the distance to cross the street for the pedestrian as short as possible.

5. Remove all traffic from the Nicollet Mall on Farmers Market days. The quality of the Farmers Market needs some work also, ban the truck farmers, those who purchase pallet loads of nearly expired produce and resell it on the mall, in my opinion this stuff should be thrown out.

6. Create a "Sunday Art Market" on the Mall, or small clusters of kiosks that are open all summer, we are home to 1000's of creative artist, let's give them a chance to sell their wares on The Mall.

7. Create mini concerts of organized street performers, set a few chairs up around a talented person and let the people enjoy, Partner with 

8. String semi-permanent lights across the Mall, or better yet install retractable sun-rain shades over the Mall creating Minnesota's 3 season sidewalk cafe street.

9. Allow restaurants to setup semi-permanent patio seating along the street with retractable canopies/curtain walls and heat making these patios 3 season.

10. Near buildings were large numbers of bicycles are parked, remove on-street auto parking and replace it with dedicated bicycle parking freeing up the sidewalk for other uses.

11. When designing road/streets include the quantity of pedestrians and bicyclist that could be moved thru a certain design. Get the Old School Traffic Engineers out of the way and let's try something thats innovative or god forbid cutting edge. 

12. Turn off those obnoxious "car approaching" horns at the entrance/exit of parking ramps downtown. Do I as a pedestrian need to be yelled at by a robot while Trevor from Eden Prairie flys out of the parking garage in his $60,000 pile of steal? Trevor, you do not have priority in my world!

Just some of my thoughts.....

Got to love the unfunded demands from people who think anyone outside downtown is a disease. I read this stuff and it actually gets me mad. Remove a street or two? So be it?

The hubris is stunning. There isn't even one good idea in your list of unfunded demands. The city should be easier to get in to and get out of; it SHOULD be catering to the working class and people who dump millions into the downtown economy. You want to spend money, not create it. You chose to live DWTN in its current state; deal with it.

[mnmike]

I gotta agree with NASA on one point...yes, I said that:) "Stop building the city for people who don't live in it"? So what...you would rather not have the other 3 million people in the area be able to get to Minneapolis with relative ease, park, and spend their money in the city? I mean I get what 1200 is saying, but that statement seems a bit extreme. We need the people who are not from the city to come here! It should cater to both residents and visitors.

Wow, that post is actually pretty offensive now that I read it in it's entirety. You know what? You are no better than "Trevor" from Eden Prairie, and maybe the city is just concerned for your safety as it is hard for "Trevor" to see the sidewalk while coming out of those parking ramps....it is not giving "Trevor" priority, it is warning you that he may not see you, even though you have the right of way. I mean wow, condescending much? Nice sense of entitlement. I like SOME of your ideas, and would love a better pedestrian environment, but that post just screams of snobbery(I know, because I am kind of a snob sometimes!). I like living in the city, as do you, but that doesn't mean all people from the burbs are evil and riding around in $60,000 piles of steel. lol. That post kind of made me angry too NASA, and as you know, you and I don't usually agree:) I think a lot of us have similar ideas to 1200, but NASA, I am sorry his post comes off in such an elitist way...I really don't think that attitude is representative of most of us city folk. And I apologize for my rampant sarcasm and intermittent smiley faces:)


Sincerely,

Trevor, who lives in uptown, has lived in the city his whole life, works downtown, and drives a $20,000 pile of steel to work. Oh yes, and that is steel, not steal.

[Tcmetro]

I've also got to go with Mndible and Nasa on this one. There is discrepancy of 125,000 between the number of jobs and residents downtown. You can't expect those people to get downtown by walking or biking. It's a wonder we can even get 40% of people downtown by public transit, considering the limited service provided to the suburban areas. Almost all the rest of workers have to drive downtown. Despite the fact that the core would be much healthier (economically-speaking) with good public transit, lots of investment in freeways and highways to downtown have been made, as well as lots of parking infrastructure. These investments cannot be allowed to go to waste.

That being said, there are a lot of room for improvements. Some streets could be more pedestrianized. 2nd St in the Mill District and North Loop, 5th St next to the light rail, Chicago Ave from the river to the hospital, 15th St from Elliot Park to Loring Park could be improved. Nicollet Mall needs to be redesigned into a world-class pedestrian mall, and the buildings remodeled to provide street level shops.

Ultimately, to allow a truly impressive downtown, we need to embrace public transit to get rid of more parking lots, and place more towers in the Warehouse District and Hennepin Ave areas. This area is close to the proposed downtown rail station, and would be more convenient to the riders of future suburban train lines.

[PhilmerPhil]

My "No more Trevors!" remark was merely a facetious response to 1200's comment which made me chuckle a bit.

I appreciate people coming into Minneapolis to work and spend their money, but I don't appreciate it when it comes at the cost of livability, safety, and quality of life of those of us that choose to live in the city. It doesn't have to be an either/or situation though. Our cities can be welcoming to all without having vast parking supply and road capacity. With an improved transit system and programs like NiceRide, it shouldn't be too hard for suburbanites to come into and navigate the city.

Besides, many of these "Trevors" are beginning to appreciate the urban lifestyle and making a shift back to the city, so in a way, by building it to be more urban friendly, we are making it more attractive for not only current city dwellers, but also the current suburbanites that want to live here in the near future. If that makes sense...

[1200onthemall]

sorry folks, this was "my" take on fantasies for the city, I'm sorry if some thought these were demands.

[nordeast homer]

On kind of a side note to this conversation, I believe that the Nice Ride idea is one of the better ones our city has implemented in recent history. They've expanded into NE and I see people riding them all the time! Do they have these stationed around the hotels downtown or are they trying to keep them more toward the entertainment and office areas?

[reeckman]

Check the map:

https://www.niceridemn.org/

Looks like they also have an ap called Spotcycle

[Aville_37]

New idea that would involve improve Hennepin Avenue and create more greenspace.

How about doing away with the surface parking for First Baptist Church (1021 Hennepin Avenue) and turning it into a small park? Perhaps a shared investment by the church and the school across the way for the school kids to use during recess/gym?

[min-chi-cbus]

Good idea, but I personally wonder about panhandlers and drug dealers, especially at night. That's probably an issue almost anywhere downtown though, not necessarily unique to this area, although this area is close to the epicenter of that kind of action in downtown....

[Didier]

Speaking of Nice Ride and out-of-town guests, a college friend who works at Conde Nast Traveler was recently in town for a wedding. While here she used the Nice Ride system as the basis for a short photo tour of Minneapolis for their website. Here it is, if anyone is interested:

http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-travele ... ke#slide=1

[MNdible]

I'd love to see the parking lot at Maple St. and Harmon Place (next to Loring Park and Joe's Garage) redeveloped. What a waste of a great site. That parking lot can't be that lucrative, can it?

[Nathan]

I'd love to see the parking lot at Maple St. and Harmon Place (next to Loring Park and Joe's Garage) redeveloped. What a waste of a great site. That parking lot can't be that lucrative, can it?

You ever tried to park in loring park? lol... but I agree.

[Aville_37]

@ Min-chi-cbus: I agree safety is always an issue with free public spaces (hence why Mpls. is so behind and hesitant about creating new ones). However, I was thinking that the park could be fenced in/gated, with gates closed locked at 9/10 PM. Chicago has several parks like this and seems to work. Also - if the park is well lit - would deter drug dealers, etc.

@ MNdible: I also would love to see that parking lot developed - artist lofts/apartments? I imagine though it makes pretty good $$ being so close to the Basilica, the school, etc.

[MNdible]

I also would love to see that parking lot developed - artist lofts/apartments? I imagine though it makes pretty good $$ being so close to the Basilica, the school, etc.

I don't know -- it never seems that full to me, and it probably isn't commanding the pricing that a lot closer to the downtown core would.

Although I'd be happy with any development, I'd love to see an office/retail development there. I think it would help solidify that block as a mini office node for creative types, and do a better job of activating that area than more residential.

[martykoessel]

This is what used to sit on that parking lot. What a loss. Can you imagine this as a restaurant?

[MNdible]

That's got Harvey Ellis written all over it! Based on the ages of the commercial properties around it, that house must not have lasted very long...