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The Abandonment and Rescue of Landmark Center in Saint Paul

By on August 20, 2018 in Architecture, History

In 1969, demolition of one of the most elegant Richardson Romanesque-Chateauesque-Style public buildings in the Upper Midwest seemed imminent. The federal government had declared the nearly vacant Federal Courts and Post Office Building (later named Landmark Center) in downtown St. Paul to be surplus property. Many public officials and business leaders in the city saw […]

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Chart of the Day: Share of New Homes with Central Air Conditioning, 1970 – Present

By on July 24, 2018 in Architecture, Environment, Weather

An evergreen chart here from the New York Times about a seasonal (in Minnesota anyway) amenity that has radically transformed our cities and homes for the better and for the worse. Here is the chart showing the trend in the Midwest and other regions of the US: I grew up in a house with central […]

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Architectural Style: High Style vs Vernacular

By on July 5, 2018 in Architecture, Housing

We know well Winston Churchill’s famous statement, “ We shape our buildings, and they shape us.” But architectural historians know that how we shape our buildings is the outcome of cultural influences within the history of a particular time period. Realizing these factors is key to a deeper appreciation of architecture that goes beyond learning […]

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A Tale of Two Development Proposals

By on March 13, 2018 in Architecture, Land use

At the March 6th Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, two renderings of future Minneapolis developments were unveiled. One of these renderings was the long awaited new Thrivent Headquarters – a half block development that will be accompanied with paired developments on the remaining half block. Similar to the fantastic Kraus-Anderson HQ redevelopment, in methodology at least. […]

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Remnants of Stonebridge

By on January 31, 2018 in Architecture, Railroads

May 20, 2016 Macalester-Groveland, Desnoyer Park 10 Miles Stonebridge. Today, it’s little more than a two block long street in Macalester-Groveland. From the 1910s into the early ‘30s, however, Stonebridge was the grandest estate in Saint Paul. To this day, the mystique of Stonebridge remains fascinating to local historians because of estate’s size, extravagance and […]

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A Schoolhouse, A Parkview, A Lakeview

By on December 6, 2017 in Architecture, Neighborhoods

April 16, 2016 Highland Park, Hamline-Midway, Como, North End 17 Miles April rides can look gloomy no matter the temperature, with few signs of spring, and sandy grit still on many roads. No matter, that first ride of the spring is always exciting. The first stop on the first ride of 2016 was 2122 Highland […]

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“A History of Future Cities” Review

By on September 11, 2017 in Architecture, Books, History, Politics

I know I can’t be the only one who has wondered, while waiting through a full light cycle for a walk signal only to see that my button pressing was in vain, what it would be like to have the power of Tsar Peter the Great to create through imperial decree a city tailored to […]

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My Front Porch and Why I Love It – Volume 1

By on June 14, 2017 in Architecture, Culture, Neighborhoods, Sidewalks

A front porch wasn’t necessarily on the “must have” list for our house when we were shopping in 2015. But, as we looked into housing, it moved further and further up the list. The house we bought has a full length porch on the front. It is long and it is DEEP. It’s about 12 […]

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Bauhaus Design and The Sidewalk Ballet: Two Conflicting Views of “Neighborhood Character”

By on June 7, 2017 in Architecture, Development, Urbanism

It is with great joy that I have seen some of the authors here at streets.mn start to open up discussion on the meaning of “neighborhood character.”  Answering the question about neighborhood character is difficult to do quantitatively, as it is hard to measure what culture is and how it is changing. That said, the […]

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Simple Urbanism – Inspiration and Aspiration

By on February 16, 2017 in Architecture, Urban Design

As a follow-up to the critique of a recent post about the urban design of Harriet’s Inn, let’s consider the parts of the city that inspire us and the standards to which we should be aspiring. To do so, we need only look past Harriet’s Inn, as well as the gold standard for old urbanism […]

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