Thanks to everyone who helped make our first year at Streets.MN a success! Thanks to all our writers and our new logo designer. And, it goes without saying, thanks to each and every reader and commenter. 2012 was great, and we’re looking to make 2013 even better.
‘Best of 2012’ series recap:
2012 Best Pedestrian Shopping Street: Hennepin Avenue
“Much like Broadway in Manhattan, Hennepin was originally an old indian path. That’s probably the reason why it’s one of the few streets in the city that dares to run counter to the rectiliinear street grid, creating all kinds of odd and intriguing angles.”
“I get it. Stillwater is a lovely town, as popular as ever for a day trip. There is a historic Main Street for strolling and lovely waterfront to sit and watch the boats go by.”
2012 Best Mid-Late 20th Century Enclosed Shopping Mall: Mall of America
“Mall of America is not only how the world knows us, it is what we think of as the Best Mall in the region. It is big, oversized even, but we live in the land of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, that is how we roll in the Upper Midwest.”
2012 Best Late 20th/Early 21st Century New Urbanist Simulacrum of Main Street: Excelsior and Grand
“The location is aided by its proximity to Minneapolis. That, and it’s surrounded by a partial traditional street grid. The strip malls nearby are old by strip mall standards, but they look quaint relics of the bygone years when compared to the expansive Power Center Strip Malls of the late 1990s and early 2000s. In a way, Excelsior and Grand is still surrounded by suburbia, but a humble suburbia in its first generation. The type of suburbia that still had some traditional patterns and acknowledged that Minneapolis, the big city, actually existed.”
2012 Best Skyway/Undergound System: Downtown Minneapolis
“Of the skyway and underground systems in the Twin Cities, downtown Minneapolis’ clearly provides the largest connected network and the most high profile destinations.”
2012 Best Farmer’s Market: St. Paul Farmer’s Market
“Some go for the doughnuts and the bagel sandwiches, but you can also find fried rice, cheddar brats, corn roast (seasonal), soup and a number of other brunchable items to power your shopping experience. (Pro tip: Don’t miss the fresh spring rolls. They’re fantastic.)”
2012 Best Current Multi-Million Dollar Public Works Project: Central Corridor LRT
“We all have a good idea of what is a fair price for a jar of peanut butter, or even something as large as several hundred thousand dollars for a home. But most of us have very little ability to know if $957 million is a good price for a transit line, or if $597 million is a good price for a bridge.”
2012 Best Opportunity to Do Something Useful: Dinkytown Trench
“Once you have moved heaven and earth to maximize your automotive infrastructure, the only useful thing left to do is improve non-motorized infrastructure or public transit … A swath of land used for infrastructure that was once but no longer is considered useful (i.e. a railroad) is proposed to be used for infrastructure that isn’t unanimously currently but many think probably soon will be considered useful (i.e. a bikeway).”
Best Current Plan: Access Minneapolis Transportation Action Plan
“It’s comprehensive, has had a good public involvement strategy, is at times both technical and approachable, and covers all realms with special consideration for cyclists, pedestrians, and even consideration of a re-implemented streetcar network!”
Most Read Posts of 2012:
- Tax Land, Not Buildings
- Is “Forgiveness” Just for Auto Drivers
- Best Mid-Late 20th Century Enclosed Shopping Mall: Mall of America
- The Magic of Streetcars, The Logic of Buses
- Urban Highway Removal in Minneapolis?
- What Minneapolis Planners should have said to Trader Joe
Top Referrers:
- Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)
- Facebook [Like us!]
- Twitter [Follow us!]
- Google Reader
- The Transportationist
Other Interesting Streets.MN Statistics:
- Most hits in a single day: 1,509 (December 10, 2012)
- Most hits in a month: 16,185 (December 2012)
- First most searched term leading to Streets.MN: “mall of america”
- Second most searched term leading to Streets.MN: “streets.mn”
Happy New Year!