So, here we go: a thread to keep track of UrbanMSP posters in the news.
https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... tory9.htmlWeb site forum keeping tabs on Twin Cities development
By Sam Black – Staff Writer
Aug 13, 2006 Updated Aug 10, 2006, 3:21pm CDT
Self-described "development nerds" in Minneapolis have a new online forum where they can debate the design merits of the latest condo/hotel project or whether The Nicollet condo tower will ever get built.
Matt Bappe, a 37-year-old process improvement analyst at Ameriprise Financial Inc. in Minneapolis, started the site, called Minnescraper.com, as a hobby in January.
The site features an ongoing discussion forum that has grown to 140 registered users who contribute about 1,000 postings per month.
Bappe said he used to be a member of Twincityscape.com, a similar online discussion forum that started in 2000 and ran until 2005, when technical problems forced it to shut down.
In January, Bappe saw an active Minneapolis discussion on a national bulletin board site (BBS) called www.skyscraperpage.com and he decided to start his own.
"I've been interested in development in Minneapolis since I moved here in 1982," Bappe said. "I was the kid that goes downtown on the bus and takes pictures and looks up articles at the library."
That was before the Internet. Now, he takes photos and reads stories and posts them online.
To help set up the site and keep it looking fresh, Bappe recruited his wife Cathy, who is a software designer.
Like Bappe, most of the site's diverse group of members are not in any field related to development, planning, construction or architecture. There may be some active industry professionals that post comments, but it's difficult to tell since users aren't required to disclose their real identities.
The site features discussions about transportation, outstate Minnesota, St. Paul and suburban Twin Cities development, and several threads on development in Minneapolis.
Nick Magrino, who goes by the screen name Elfangor, is really a 15-year-old high-school junior in Fredericksburg, Va., who used to live in St. Louis Park.
He said he's keenly interested in The Nicollet condo project in downtown Minneapolis and development along light rail transit lines in the Twin Cities. He expects he'll move back one day.
"I'm a skyscraper buff and I like to know the inside scoop on the local projects. The site has an amazing amount of information and pictures," he said.
Ryan Balbach, a 31-year-old commercial sales manager for Best Buy Co. Inc. who goes by the nickname HiawathaGuy on the site, uses the forum to follow development of projects like The Ivy Hotel + Residences and The Nicollet in downtown Minneapolis, and the area around the future Twins stadium.
He also is an active contributor to the forums, with 478 posts since February, often including news published in various media outlets and his opinions about various projects.
"I post on Minnescraper to appease the appetites of others like me," Ballbach said.
Bappe said he doesn't plan to make money with the site, but he'd like to cover his expenses. He shelled out the $350 to get server access for two years and he's spent "hours and hours" of his own time. He may sell some T-shirts with the site's logo as a fund-raiser.
