Front doors are an important part of the urban landscape. Irish doors may be the most famous example (just Google it). I have successfully advocated for front doors in the past, and I even came up with the GDA, or Gehl Door Average, based on Jan Gehl’s book Cities for People, whereby only when there are 10 or more doors per 100 […]
Roberta and I live in a loft in the Union Depot and we are always encountering lost, bewildered and confused travelers. Very often, they step off the Green Line and ask us where the Amtrak station is or the bus terminal. This should come as no surprise as the train and bus platform is not visible from the Green Line platform and there […]
Minneapolis folks, the draft ordinance for Accessory Dwelling Units is available! It’s like Christmas-come-early for urbanists. Ok, maybe not that extreme, maybe it’s more like President’s Day? I dunno. Either way, the pace that the city council and planning staff have moved this particular topic through to this point is very encouraging, as is the level of […]
If you’re into architecture, this is a riveting attempt to place most of the 20th century into an “evolutionary tree,” made by the theorist Charles Jencks… I like how Le Corbousier shows up all over the place, including under “purism”, near “brutalism, and somehow under the category “Unselfconcious 80% of environment” (whatever that means)…
As it says (down there) in my bio, I’m a pretty regular user of Minneapolis skyways, especially in any form of inclement weather. Nonetheless, some days, especially this time of year, are not quite cold or inclement enough to make me want to retreat entirely indoors, but still chilly enough to make an entirely outdoor walking […]
May 26, 2014 Summit Hill, Downtown, Lowertown 15.8 Miles Memorial Day is a holiday that has various meanings to folks.There is a certain solemnity to Memorial Day and for good reason, but it’s the unofficial start of summer. It’s an extra day off. For many retailers it is another excuse for a sale. Most importantly, […]
May 24, 2014 17.9 miles Macalester-Groveland, Lexington-Hamline, Frogtown, North End I spent much of the first portion of this ride in Frogtown and on Charles Avenue specifically. (It was named for Charles Rodney Rice, a merchant and brother of developer Edmund Rice.)(1) You’ll find details of that part of the ride in “Charles, Churches and […]
Minneapolis is growing. For the first time since the 1970s, the population has reached more than 400,000 people, and folks are struggling to find places to live. There’s a lot of economic pressure to demolish old homes and develop apartment buildings and condominiums to make space for these new residents. This influx of people […]
Well, it happened. The referendum allocating $47 million dollars for a new high school along with renovations to current schools passed with a narrow margin of 52 votes. Is it the end of the world? No, absolutely not. If I’ve known people from New Ulm to be anything, it’s responsible with their money and investments–we’re Germans […]
I was recently invited to visit Austria by Advantage Austria as part of a delegation to learn about their Smart Grids and Smart Networks. But what I really wanted to see was the legendary city of Vienna, at whose gates the Ottomans were halted. Those defensive walls are no longer present, and it is their […]