If you’re walking to get somewhere, according to Streets.MN readers, the place to do it is East Hennepin Avenue to SE Main Street through Riverplace in Minneapolis. In the Best Place for Utilitarian Walking category, almost 30% of readers (14 votes out of 48) thought this walk from Hennepin over to the stairs at Riverplace was the best.
Photo credit: Riverplace (riverplacemn.org)
The runners up include three tied for second place:
- Loring Greenway 18.75% (9 votes)
- Nicollet Mall 18.75% (9 votes)
- Washington Avenue Bridge and Transit Mall 18.75% (9 votes)
- Selby to Kellogg 12.5% (6 votes)
- Other (Grand Avenue in Saint Paul) 2% with 1 vote
Overall I’d pick Nicollet Mall combined with Loring Greenway (pedestrian territory, transit connections, a Target, an old school department store, restaurants, then the greenway connecting from Nicollet to Loring Park and over to the Walker). I led a friend from out of town through Nicollet Mall and then the greenway over to the Walker, and he was remarked how seamless it felt.
Beyond this list, I would vote for the best practical and functional walk to be the one in your own daily life that goes where you want and need to go on a regular basis. Maybe that’s your walk to your bus stop on sidewalks that are regularly and promptly cleared of snow and ice by neighbors. Do you have a favorite alley shortcut? For some, it might even be (gasp!) a skyway. For over a year, my favorite practical, if short, walk to get somewhere was through Mears Park in downtown Saint Paul. We need a longer list of great practical walks for our daily lives.