Introductions

Introductions - Urban Issues - Miscellaneous News, Topics, Interests
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Nick
Capella Tower
Posts: 2719
Joined: May 30th, 2012, 9:33 pm
Location: Downtown, Minneapolis

Introductions

Postby Nick » June 4th, 2012, 11:13 am

Hey folks, most of us have been together on the forums--even TwinCityScape from back in the day--in some way or another for the past few years, but I thought it'd be nice to start this again for newcomers or anyone who feels like introducing themselves again.

---

I'm Nick, I graduated from the U of M with an Urban Studies degree last May and have been working for the City of Minneapolis for a little over a year now. I'm a big fan of public transit and prefer filling in as many parking lots as possible over building a couple huge towers, though I wouldn't mind some skyscrapers here and there :D .
Nick Magrino
[email protected]

dmdhashw
Nicollet Mall
Posts: 149
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 4:10 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby dmdhashw » June 4th, 2012, 5:36 pm

I'm Ameer. I've been a resident of Minneapolis all of my life. I manage an apartment building (Santiago Apartments) over in Marcy-Holmes with my longtime girlfriend (fun fact: we met working at the Magical History Tour). I also work at Boston Scientific (we make stents, not sense).

NickP
Target Field
Posts: 509
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 5:00 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby NickP » June 4th, 2012, 9:08 pm

I'm Nick. I was born and raised in Minneapolis but currently live in Boston for grad school. Minneapolis is my home, and while I like to have the experiences of living in other places, I know it is where I ultimately want to end up. I love the way the city has grown and with the new public transit, I think it is a very exciting time to be in the city.

4-d
Metrodome
Posts: 55
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 8:21 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby 4-d » June 5th, 2012, 1:50 pm

I am Douglas,

It is nice to meet both of you.

I have been living in MPLS for about 4 years now with my new wife. We live in Whittier and we love it. I am on this site because I loved Minnescraper but those hacks couldn't keep it together so I guess the real people that care are here now. I work for a 3-d printing company in Hastings but hopefully I can find something else that will help he pursue my dream of being a hippie.

Anyway, I also manage a band called The Lock and The Dam. (check em out, www.thelockandthedam.com) I am interested in owning rental property so I may P.M. you Ameer, for tips. Mostly I just really care about art, and good design. I care about how people and things and the existing earth interact with eachother and I want to work to continue improving the connection of these, most importantly the people to people interaction.

Have a great day.


Douglas
^ 4-d

Shawn
Site Admin
Posts: 146
Joined: May 29th, 2012, 10:17 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby Shawn » June 5th, 2012, 3:26 pm

Hi All,

My name is Shawn and I am a graduate student at the UofM, studying Security Technologies. I'm here because Nick (Nick) asked me to throw something together since Minnescraper went down. As of today it kind of looks like it is down for good? Anyways, now that I put this all together it sparked my interest and I've spent a decent amount of time reading through posts etc. I will continue to browse and chat occasionally but will mostly work on back-end stuff to keep everything running smoothly. We have unlimited bandwidth and disk space, in addition to a great web-host so we'll definitely keep the site up and running this time. With that said, looking at our bandwidth usage so far I can see how there were problems on the other site...woah! Anyways, I live near and work at the UofM so I will probably spend most of my time in that forum. Cool community you guys have going though, I'm excited to watch it grow.

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

Re: Introductions

Postby Tyler » June 5th, 2012, 5:05 pm

Sup. This is newsole from Minnescraper. Figured I'd get that out there.
Towns!

4-d
Metrodome
Posts: 55
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 8:21 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby 4-d » June 6th, 2012, 11:18 am

Tyler,

Why did you change your name?
^ 4-d

Lancestar2

Re: Introductions

Postby Lancestar2 » June 6th, 2012, 12:22 pm

Hello everyone,

My name is Lee and I have lived in the Loring Park community for almost 3 years now and I love it! I used to be a GSTL at Target but I needed a degree if I ever wanted to move up the ladder. So now I live with my best friend in a one bedroom that looks more like a two bedroom with no living room, which helps us both afford going to school. I am working on a degree through FHSU (in Kansas and the 2nd cheapest university in the country) through their online courses to obtain a BBA (Bachelors Business Administration) as I hope to one day to run my own business. Also I would recommend online classes to everyone, because as they take a lot of the wasted time in education out and I can fit my studies into a social life instead of the other way around.

City planning and development may not be my first passion but it is a strong and close 2nd. I look forward to the many conversations and discussions on this forum. :mrgreen:

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

Re: Introductions

Postby Tyler » June 6th, 2012, 2:59 pm

Tyler,

Why did you change your name?
Hmm. Good question. It was a split-second decision. I'd say it was a combo of wanting to be slightly less anonymous and because newsole was a lame name anyways. Almost went with TangoPudding but felt it was a bit ostentatious. Also Tyler is my first name, so something like James or Thomas would be a little odd. Thought about adding my last name but that's not quite anonymous enough. Overall, I'm about 70% satisfied with my decision.
Towns!

theroose
Block E
Posts: 18
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 3:50 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Introductions

Postby theroose » June 6th, 2012, 5:22 pm

Hey all, I'm Brent. I was an avid follower on the Minnescraper site though I didn't post much. I used to live in Minneapolis both in Loring Park and Stevens Square, each for a year before a roommate situation gone bad forced me to go back to where I'm from in Elk River and regroup. I am currently a design student at the Art Institute downtown and will be graduating next summer with a B.S.degree in web design and interactive media. When I am done I am not going to limit my opportunities to just the Twin Cities. If an opportunity arises in another market I won't shy away from it but MN will always be home and I will always be following the site. I will admit I do not know a lot about the fine details and terminology of development but I find it extremely fascinating watching an area grow and develop, urban or not, 2 stories or 50 stories. I look forward to learning from all you and watching our Twin Cities grow and develop into something truly unique and exciting!

John
Capella Tower
Posts: 2102
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 2:06 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby John » June 6th, 2012, 9:35 pm

Hi, I'm John. I have lived downtown for 30 years and have a huge passion and interest in watching downtown Minneapolis change and grow. I bought a small condo 5 years ago with a spectacular skyline view so it can be part of me 24/7. I am a currently psychiatric nurse and I really love my job helping people with mental illness. I received a BFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design when I was in my 20's, and my interest in architecture blossomed at that school. I tend to look at buildings and urban landscapes like a painting or drawing composition, and I think that is evident in some of my comments. I grew up in Cleveland Ohio, so I'm a big fan of rock and roll!

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Nathan
Capella Tower
Posts: 3695
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 10:42 am

Re: Introductions

Postby Nathan » June 7th, 2012, 12:44 pm

Hey! I'm Nathan, I'm a Design Management Student at AI, previously I was a Housing and Urban Development Major at ASU, and I work in residential home design, creating curb appeal for the masses. I've lived in Uptown Mpls now for 4 years! Great to learn about ya'll and really enjoy keeping up on development news here!

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Le Sueur
Landmark Center
Posts: 253
Joined: June 5th, 2012, 3:30 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby Le Sueur » June 7th, 2012, 5:21 pm

Hello all,

I'm Dan. I grew up in Le Sueur in the MN River Valley on a large farm. Graduated from St. Olaf in Northfield in '09 and worked in Golden Valley for a year before moving back to the Le Sueur Area. Although I'm not still living in the metro, I really enjoy following all the projects that are underway.
Keeping in line with something Nick mentioned in his welcoming thread I think the best part of this forum is not having to pick through all the circular arguments you seem to find in so many online comment sections these days.
Here's looking forward to plenty of development and conversation to come!

PNWsotan
Block E
Posts: 5
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 4:22 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby PNWsotan » June 8th, 2012, 4:47 pm

Hello all,

I'm Jon and I was born and raised in the great state of Minnesota and currently reside in Oregon for grad school. I have been out here for almost 5 years and Minnescraper was a great way to keep in touch with projects in Minnesota and I am excited about this new site. My research is in higher-speed rail development and alternative transportation is my passion, basically getting people from point A to point B without using a private vehicle.

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

Re: Introductions

Postby MNdible » June 8th, 2012, 8:32 pm

MNdible here, over from the old site. I've been in Minneapolis for almost 20 years now, slowly migrating from the University of Minnesota to the southwest. I work in an architecture firm, but am interested in urban and transportation planning as well.

Northropdweller
Block E
Posts: 13
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 2:07 am

Re: Introductions

Postby Northropdweller » June 15th, 2012, 1:49 am

Hi. My name is Josh, 31, and you guessed it: I live in the Northrop neighborhood, near 48th and Chicago. I work as a conductor for Amtrak on the Empire Builder. My partner is a MPLS homicide detective. Dog and cat are our children. Pretty normal couple with a comfortable life. I grew up in a small town in northern Iowa in the 80s and 90s, and moved to the metro area as soon as I could afford the uhaul in the summer of '00. I studied Spanish in college, and in Bogota, Colombia, and became comfortably fluent. I put an indefinite pause on my studies when I decided to start a career with the railroad. My passions/interests include many things, but could be narrowed down to language, travel, new urbanism, organic food, public transportation, skyscrapers, art, music, peak oil, gardening...most definitely not in that order. I'm a nice guy looking for news on the latest happenings in The MSP.
I don't..uhm.. 'dwell' in Northrop anymore. Amtrak conductor currently residing in Powderhorn Park.

pfreyre
City Center
Posts: 30
Joined: June 2nd, 2012, 2:52 pm

Re: Introductions

Postby pfreyre » June 15th, 2012, 8:59 am

I might as well write a blurb too. My name is Philip, I'm originally from the northern suburbs, but I moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University and studied public policy and geography. I had a great time in Chicago and loved living in Lakeview - I was about 4 blocks from Wrigley Field and rode the "L" everywhere. I now live in downtown Minneapolis and work in the medical device industry thanks to some earlier programming experience that I had - how about that college degree, go figure!? I also try to bike to work at least 1-2 times per week when the weather is good.

I've been fascinated by cities as a kid, but my interests also involve: jazz, traveling, reading, walking and biking around town, good people, economics, and peak oil - props to Northropdweller for mentioning it. I think it is time we realized that the future will not just be the past extrapolated further out. Lately I've been engrossed in podcasts, and can't seem to get enough of the Kunstlercast and Strong Towns - the latter being hosted by Chuck Marohn, a Minnesota native. I love Minneapolis, although the two things on my wish list for our fair city would be: a really nice beach, and a downtown park/town square.

My favorite cities in the US are: Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh. Some day I really hope to visit: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, and Troy, NY.

Wedgeguy
Capella Tower
Posts: 3404
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 6:59 am

Re: Introductions

Postby Wedgeguy » June 23rd, 2012, 1:03 pm

Good day, My name is Allen. I've lived in the Twin Cities now since 1986. I've live in Brooklyn Center and Park, then moved to St. PAul's Frog Town area for about 8 years. And now live on Bryant Ave S not very far from the enterance to the Greenway.

Since I was a small boy I was always into tall building, although living in a small town in Iowa growing up I had very little exposure to them. Still I got into what we now call planning. I'm into transportant, highways, buses, and Rail lines. I remember when I 90 was being built back in the 70's I was facsinated by it.I really got into freeways. I now understand that they have to be used to best move people and good efficently around the regions. You don't build them "so they will come". Had I been exposed more to urban planning as a teen I think I would have found my calling in urban planning. But my other college courses helped me to understand that you need to look at the big picture if you want to do something right. You need to think outside the box sometimes to get the best designs for people to live in, work in, ship in, and travel from place to place on.

Forgive me is I don't always agree with you. Again that is the BIG PICTURE guy in me that knows there are many ways to accomplish the same thing. Some just don't work as well as others. Thanks again.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Introductions

Postby twincitizen » August 1st, 2012, 1:20 pm

Hey all,

Matt here. I was a latecomer to the Minnescraper Forums, but I'm glad that our fledgling community found a new home. I will graduate soon with a B.A. in Urban Studies. I will probably go to the Humphrey School for a Masters in Urban Planning or Masters in Public Policy, beginning Fall 2013. Unless of course, someone offers me a sweet job between now and then.

I grew up in Woodbury MN and post-High School, post-college-dropout (the first time around) I lived in Frogtown for 8 years. Now I live in the Whittier neighborhood and love it. I feel like I'm now fully qualified to comment on the differences between the twin cities (Minneapolis is better).

My interests are in urban development (duh), transportation planning (all forms, not just public transit), and local/county/state level politics. I regret not taking some Landscape Architecture courses at the U, because I'm very much interested in the physical layout of things. I also like to draw. I like imagining ways to improve roadway & intersections to be better for all users (ok mostly bikes, peds & transit). Aside from my career aspirations to be a city or transit planner, I would love to someday own a few rental and/or commercial properties or run a small retail/restaurant business. I'm not really made for office cubicle-monkey work long-term, I like to keep my feet moving.

I regularly read MinnPost.com, Streets.MN, TC Sidewalks, The Atlantic Cities, and other urban-issues blogs/websites. I will take it to my grave that "we" chose the wrong alignment for Southwest LRT. Not serving the Uptown Transit Center is f***ing criminal.

fehler
Rice Park
Posts: 496
Joined: July 30th, 2012, 8:33 am

Re: Introductions

Postby fehler » August 2nd, 2012, 9:23 am

Hello, I'm Dan. I grew up on a farm in the southern suburbs (Lakeville and then Jordan/New Prague), college in Northfield, lived a bit in Hopkins and am now in the Standish-Ericcson neighborhood of south Minneapolis, right next to the Hiawatha line (which I will never call "Blue" or "Green", unless they go and paint the rails) and working in Plymouth. I have no real transportation/planning/urban issues training, I just like seeing stuff get built, and this forum (and the several that preceded it) keeps me up to date on routine, mundane project statuses.


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