Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

[MNdible]

If I were to make a list of Park Board members who've overstayed their welcome, Anita Tabb might be on the list, but she certainly wouldn't be at the top of it.

Also, I'd agree that the situation at Hidden Beach has become not good over the last couple of years.

[grant1simons2]

Shut er down boys. I, on the teenage side of the argument, hate this beach. It's gross and well. Not hidden

[NickP]

What's new that is happening at the beach that hasn't been happening there for years? Legit question as I do not know.

[EOst]

What's new that is happening at the beach that hasn't been happening there for years? Legit question as I do not know.

"People are smoking drugs and alcohol!" "Someone punched a cop!" Mostly it's hearsay.

[NickP]

Except for the cop, I think people have been doing the other things for a while now lol

[MNdible]

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting older, but the last few times I've been there, you feel like the vibe of the place is off. There are people that seem like they're just looking to start something. You're sitting there trying to relax at the beach, but in the back of your mind, you know that at any moment there's going to be a pushing/shouting match, and you're hoping it doesn't escalate beyond that.

[min-chi-cbus]

Is it ever very busy? I mean what makes it so different from Thomas Beach (another beach where public drinking and intoxication is, uh....semi legal)?

[grant1simons2]

It's packed.

[aeisenberg]

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting older, but the last few times I've been there, you feel like the vibe of the place is off. There are people that seem like they're just looking to start something. You're sitting there trying to relax at the beach, but in the back of your mind, you know that at any moment there's going to be a pushing/shouting match, and you're hoping it doesn't escalate beyond that.

I go there all the time and I have no idea what you're talking about.

[aeisenberg]

Is it ever very busy? I mean what makes it so different from Thomas Beach (another beach where public drinking and intoxication is, uh....semi legal)?

It's different because it's hidden (about 100 yards down a path through the woods) on an out-of-the-way dead end street. You don't find hidden beach by accident.

It draws its own crowd, and that's what makes it so great. Hammocks, drum circles, boomboxes, slack lines, guitars, saxophones, hula hoops, hippies, weirdos, families (YES, families), young, old. Its adorable. It's one of the few places in the city where strangers mingle. It's got some of the best people watching anywhere. It's a jewel.

The problem is that there is no parking. And a lot of (harmless but) illegal activity. I think providing parking and sight lines from the street to the beach would solve a lot of the neighborhood frustration. As it is now, the constant police patrol is absolutely ruining the laid back, free-to-do-as-you-please culture of the beach, which is a shame. The optimist in me says that if they provide parking solutions, the neighborhood will ease up. It may not be what it was, but I agree that right now, this beach is a big pain in the ass for neighbors. I hope they find a permanent solution that doesn't ruin the culture of the beach and placates the neighborhood.

[MNdible]

I go there all the time and I have no idea what you're talking about...

It draws its own crowd, and that's what makes it so great. Hammocks, drum circles, boomboxes, slack lines, guitars, saxophones, hula hoops, hippies, weirdos, families (YES, families), young, old. Its adorable. It's one of the few places in the city where strangers mingle. It's got some of the best people watching anywhere. It's a jewel.

What you describe is the Hidden Beach as I remember it -- I used to love going there -- and what it still is on its best days. But lately, it's just felt somehow meaner. It only takes a few bad actors to screw something up.

[grant1simons2]

It's not like that anymore. Trust me. It's where people at my school get drugs

[mattaudio]

Why is it a problem that there's a beach without parking? Especially with a LRT stop opening up a block away in a few years?

[TommyT]

Why is it a problem that there's a beach without parking? Especially with a LRT stop opening up a block away in a few years?

5 years.

[grant1simons2]

4 years

[Silophant]

6 years.

[Anondson]

And a bus line extended to the LRT?

[RailBaronYarr]

32nd St Beach on Calhoun has no parking. It has a little playground and is fairly full (though few people in the water, IMO). Why would Hidden Beach need dedicated parking - as noted earlier, LRT + bus line, plus proximate bike trails.

[TommyT]

+ rich white folk who don't like to share their space = need for parking :-/

[aeisenberg]

32nd St Beach on Calhoun has no parking. It has a little playground and is fairly full (though few people in the water, IMO). Why would Hidden Beach need dedicated parking - as noted earlier, LRT + bus line, plus proximate bike trails.

32nd is in a totally different kind of neighborhood and a totally different kind of crowd. It's also MUCH easier to get to by transit and trails (IMO).

But yeah, the beachgoers should just take the unbuilt LRT that doesn't run through their neighborhood, or the infrequent bus that stops several blocks away. You're right. No need for parking here.