“She said City Center used to be the center of our scene. Now City Center’s over.” – The Hold Steady, Your Little Hoodrat Friend Could City Center have turned out differently? The answer is absolutely it could have. Reading Nick Magrino’s post on the four corners of City Center in Minneapolis, I recalled there is […]
In 2008 the City Pages voted the Riverview Café as Best Place to Meet Other Parents. That very year the Minneapolis Public Schools elected to close Howe, an elementary school located one block away. How tone-deaf, I thought at the time. The school board should have read the City Pages and they’d have chosen to leave […]
The Yard must be an active urban space, regardless of design. During the Park Committee meeting last week, co-chairs David Wilson and Tom Fisher went around the room asking people about their favorite park. Examples given included Hyde Park in London, the High Line in New York and Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. The most common […]
The Yard is the name of the 3.4-acre open space proposed as part of the redevelopment of five blocks of Star Tribune land adjacent to the new Minnesota Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis. With all the attention being given to the stadium and secondarily to attracting Wells Fargo as a major office tenant in the […]
There has been a lot of coverage of Block E lately, given the recent announcement of renovations and new tenants. It is way too early to really comment, but I hope the current owners add some doors and windows to better engage the street. In the meantime, in case you missed it, Bill Lindeke wrote yesterday an excellent piece about […]
If the streetcar project in Cincinnati is indeed cancelled, as newly-elected mayor John Cranley promises, it won’t be the first time that city has cancelled a transit project already under construction. A subway under construction in the 1920s was halted, and the website dedicated to that history is well worth checking out. It should also give […]
I’ve always been impressed by Chicago’s urbanism. Yes, the city of broad shoulders has more awesome old buildings designed by renowned architects than most cities have buildings total, but the fabric of the city impresses me the most. Over the years I’ve spent the most time on the city’s north side, and have found block […]
This week I am attending the ULI Fall Meeting in Chicago, and I’ll be posting on what I’ve learned here…. What is the link between health and development? Here at the 2013 ULI Fall Meeting in Chicago several sessions are trying to address it. Marilyn Taylor moderated a panel that included Ron Terwilliger, Peter Calthorpe […]
All right, Minneapolis. As I write this, the day after Election Day, it appears Betsy Hodges could well be the next mayor of Minneapolis. With Lisa Bender, Abdi Warsame and Andrew Jacob Frey knocking off incumbents, the City Council will have seven new members in addition to the mayor. As the final votes are counted […]
Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin sent me a pointed email in response to my latest post about Minnehaha Avenue. He was frustrated that I didn’t mention the one bicycle advocate at the September 30 public meeting who spoke up, saying “these will be the best bike lanes in the city.” As well, I failed to mention lane widths […]