Education can occur anywhere, in an office building, in a warehouse, or on the internet, but students, their parents, and their employers often prefer higher education on a College or University campus. Faculty like campuses because they are conducive to research. There are other reasons for a traditional campus, among them the signaling model as […]
Recent development debacles and near-debacles in Minneapolis have made me wonder if form-based codes could help the development process here. I’ve been researching form-based codes around the country lately, and I believe they may well have a role in my hometown. At a minimum, they can provide developers, city staff and elected officials, and neighbors […]
The amount of parking along the Central Corridor in Minneapolis and Saint Paul could be measured in square miles. It is huge. Business owners have expressed frustration over the loss of hundreds of parking spaces along University Avenue itself, but those spots are dwarfed by the total amount of parking in the corridor. The Metropolitan […]
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were able to steal a rare night away from our 9-month-old for a date night. A relative had gifted us some tickets to a musical at the Orpheum Theater, so we were excited for a chance to spend an evening in downtown Minneapolis. We don’t get downtown […]
Defense of the proposed Minnesota Vikings downtown stadium is typically accompanied by a handful of arguments. One of the most prominent being that of associated development. If we build it, the developers will come! Unfortunately this commonplace argument is based little in reality. “The mayor’s position is he believes that the site is really prime […]
Urban farming is a hot topic right now. From figuring out the policies and politics around backyard beekeeping or chicken rearing, to full-on community garden spaces, there is no denying that urban agriculture is being rediscovered. So where is this push coming from? And what resources exist for newbies to the urban farming trend? I sat down […]
The newest description of the Minneapolis Vikings Stadium proposal is that it will be constructed “at or near” the the existing Metrodome site. There has been discussion of the possibility of building a new stadium slightly east of the existing dome, which would allow the dome to continue to be used during some or all […]
Safe Routes to Schools is a state and federal program that assists communities in fixing development problems that make it unwieldy for children to bike or walk to school. Through competitive grants and education, Safe Routes encourages communities to bring back the practice of getting to school under kid-power, reducing obesity and greenhouse emissions. One […]
Midtown Greenway Coalition email subscribers, twitter followers, or website visitors will have seen this notice at some point today: Let the Sun Shine In The Midtown Greenway Coalition fights excessive shadowing on the Greenway. What the Coalition is fighting is the shadowing of the Greenway that would result from the proposed development of a 6-story mixed-use […]
Having a quality streetscape is beyond important, and one essential elements of this is having buildings that address the street. But, what if the street isn’t any good? Should buildings still address it? What happens when a street is just no good? The River Crossing Apartments in St. Paul are pretty good. It’s St. Paul’s largest project […]