The Commons - Downtown East Park

Downtown - North Loop - Mill District - Elliot Park - Loring Park
alexschief
Wells Fargo Center
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Location: Minneapolis

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby alexschief » January 26th, 2018, 8:42 pm

Huh? How was the greenspace happening without the stadium?
Politically they became connected, but there was absolutely nothing preventing that kind of development and investment when the Metrodome was there. If Minnesota had spent $400 million on the new park and on, say direct subsidies to developers for projects, there'd have been more building than there is now.

Separate the political reality from the economic reality. Stadiums only catalyze development in the former sense.

BoredAgain
Union Depot
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Location: Lyndale Neighborhood

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby BoredAgain » January 27th, 2018, 11:05 am

Previous statements from Wells Fargo essentially said the new parking ramp (which they didn't have to pay for) was probably the main factor in choosing the location. That also happened "because of the stadium" but could have happened at any time if the city had political will to build it.

Anondson
IDS Center
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Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby Anondson » May 24th, 2018, 8:33 pm

Judge ruled the city does not have authority to operate The Commons.

http://www.startribune.com/judge-city-o ... 483656801/


Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby Bakken2016 » May 24th, 2018, 11:13 pm

It looks like the city and park board are going to appeal.


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MNdible
is great.
Posts: 5989
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby MNdible » May 25th, 2018, 8:59 am

Get rid of the Park Board. Problem solved.

nordeast homer
US Bank Plaza
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Joined: June 1st, 2012, 11:11 am

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby nordeast homer » May 25th, 2018, 11:26 am

One problem they have is that they keep gaining properties to manage through gifts, endowments and other means, yet the people leaving this land don't leave any operating budget so they are constantly running at a deficit and it continues to snowball. They're in charge of a property across the street from my house and it's lucky to get mowed once every 3 weeks; they still haven't mowed this year and the grass is over a foot tall.
Could you imagine the Commons being neglected like that? I'd rather the city stay in control of it.

grant1simons2
IDS Center
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Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby grant1simons2 » May 25th, 2018, 11:51 am

Are we honestly comparing the integrating of a brand new park to that of a vacant gas station?

nordeast homer
US Bank Plaza
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Joined: June 1st, 2012, 11:11 am

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby nordeast homer » May 25th, 2018, 1:08 pm

Not necessarily, but over the long term they have a history of letting things go without repair and regular upkeep. I'm just glad that they outsourced restaurants at their food buildings because they had a bad track record with that as well.

Qhaberl
Foshay Tower
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Joined: February 25th, 2016, 9:51 am

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby Qhaberl » June 7th, 2018, 8:19 am

Not development related, but figured it would be a good place to ask anyway. Does anyone know if you can have a wedding at the Commons? My fiancé and I are are looking at locations to get married next August. I would love to be married here.


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SurlyLHT
Wells Fargo Center
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Joined: February 21st, 2017, 3:50 pm

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby SurlyLHT » June 7th, 2018, 8:57 am


mplsjaromir
Wells Fargo Center
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Joined: June 1st, 2012, 8:03 am

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby mplsjaromir » June 11th, 2018, 7:26 am

New residents can't come soon enough to this area. On an absolutely beautiful Saturday evening I counted exactly zero people in the Commons. I have also heard that the new Wells Fargo building is loathed by the workforce. All the inconvenience of working downtown, with little of the benefit.

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amiller92
Wells Fargo Center
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Joined: October 31st, 2014, 12:50 pm

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby amiller92 » June 11th, 2018, 8:43 am

There were quite a few people in it when I walked through Wednesday afternoon and they didn't all look like Wells Fargo officer workers.

Record Machine
Metrodome
Posts: 59
Joined: March 31st, 2014, 2:55 pm

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby Record Machine » June 11th, 2018, 8:44 am

After 2 years in the Edition building I moved out this month. Similar feelings; outside of the occasional concert at US Bank stadium, it's kind of a dead zone. Felt oddly lonely in the middle of "the city".

PhilmerPhil
Moderator
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Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby PhilmerPhil » August 21st, 2018, 7:20 am

So is 5th Street just going to remain as is? Weren't there plans to close the section between the park and tracks to cars?
Some changes have been made to the streets here, but purely to the benefit of cars :(

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
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Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby mattaudio » August 21st, 2018, 12:03 pm

You might say,
- After the closure of 5th St between 11th Avenue and Park Avenue as part of the Vikings Stadium (4 blocks), and the $9.79 million project to realign the I-94 offramp to 7th St rather than 5th St.
- AND the elimination of all curb cuts and curb uses of 5th St between Park Ave and 5th Ave S (2 blocks) with the Commons/Edition redevelopment
- AND the lack of continuity for motorists on 5th St S where it is blocked by Government Center Station, AND the lack of a traffic lane north of the tracks on 5th St between 5th Ave and Hennepin Ave (5 blocks)
- AND the lack of comfortable bicycle facilities into the core of downtown AND the newly-created two-way bikeway next to the stadium from 11th Ave / Samatar Crossing to Park Ave at 5th St
- THEREFORE this lane becomes THE PERFECT space for a two-way bikeway that extends existing bikeways on the east side of downtown right into the downtown core near Government Center Station.

But Public Works would say,
- But think of the handful of cars that need to use 5th St S to go from Northbound Park Ave to Northbound 5th Ave who do not want to use 3rd or 7th Streets to make the jog! (Here's data on the usage before the stadium, back when 5th St S actually served the Star Tribune blocks)

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amiller92
Wells Fargo Center
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Joined: October 31st, 2014, 12:50 pm

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby amiller92 » August 21st, 2018, 12:42 pm

5th between the stadium plaza and government center plaza was always good biking because there were few cars, but there's even fewer now that the ramp is closed/being demolished (although the demolition taking up a lane makes it less so).

Tyler
Foshay Tower
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Joined: June 1st, 2012, 10:10 am

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby Tyler » August 21st, 2018, 12:45 pm

Cool story, but this park is kind of great and the programming this summer has been awesome. We've lived near gold medal park since 2008 and we've used this park this summer way more then we've ever used gold medal park. Other people are figuring it out as well. Its a great spot.
Towns!

grant1simons2
IDS Center
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Joined: February 8th, 2014, 11:33 pm
Location: Marcy-Holmes

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby grant1simons2 » August 21st, 2018, 1:02 pm

No one is arguing that it isnt?

Tyler
Foshay Tower
Posts: 976
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 10:10 am

Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby Tyler » August 21st, 2018, 1:15 pm

Sorry, just a random thought since this thread popped back up to the top.

On topic -- to me, as a frequent user, 4th is easily the most disruptive of the surrounding streets with the 3 lanes of speeding cars. But I assume the least likely to be changed for the better.
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bubzki2
Foshay Tower
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Re: The Commons - Downtown East Park

Postby bubzki2 » August 21st, 2018, 3:08 pm

It's a really, genuinely pleasant part of town -- provided you didn't drive there. I actually have to basically agree with the WF employees that they don't really get the benefit of the dense core unless they walk a number of blocks. It's a great park, though, and a bit of programming or services (like a cafe) would go a long way to making it come alive.


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