Author: Nathan Roisen

Nathan Roisen

Nathan Roisen

Nate Roisen is an architect that lives in Midway. When he is not hanging out with his wife and baby son, he enjoys dreaming of ways to make the public realm a little more inviting.

Pedestrianizing Big Box Stores – Midway Super Target

• November 3, 2016

Like many parts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the Midway in Saint Paul is a slightly strange hybrid between urban and suburban built forms.  Houses and apartments on narrow lots and streetcar-era retail buildings with zero setbacks coexist (oftentimes uneasily) with suburban-style big-box stores that have giant parking lots.  The Green Line provides frequent transit service to places that have […]

Can We Hit the Pause Button on the Macy’s Site?

• April 25, 2016

It is easy to look at the former Macy’s store in St. Paul and see an irredeemable wreck. It is large and hostile to pedestrians. Its few windows and huge floorplates were ideal for the retail environment of the 1960’s, but are stubbornly resistant to redevelopment. It is too expensive to tear down, and besides, developers aren’t […]