This morning, the North Loop was awoken by the sweet sound of pile driving as the Archive project started construction on a surface parking lot near the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The surface parking lot is one of the last in the area, with several being redeveloped in the last ten years into mixed-use […]
It wasn’t always like this. This changed roughly five years ago. I’m talking about the parking restrictions, that is. See that sign? As I said, roughly five years ago my neighborhood’s sixty-year-old streets reached their functional end. When we moved in about 11 years back the streets were horrendous. Every Spring potholes were patched. The […]
On January 25, 2019, Ryan Companies presented its plan for the Ford Site redevelopment to the St. Paul Planning Commission. One third of the way through the presentation, Ryan officials finished talking about themselves and turned to the city’s (supposed) vision for the Ford Site, That vision includes environmental sustainability, vibrant urban infill and a transit-oriented […]
On Thursday, February 28, LanderGroup will present its proposal for a new development on vacant, industrially-zoned land across two properties, at 2301 California Street NE and 78 23rd Avenue NE. That night there will be both meetings at the Planning Commission Committee of the Whole and the Bottineau Neighborhood Association. The proposal includes 24 townhomes and 110 […]
Last week, an extensive discussion of parking garages and parking as an employee benefit occurred here at streets.mn. As I read the discussion, one thing really stood out to me: Commuter benefits are wildly inequitable, and companies are given more incentive to provide parking than any other possible benefit. Beyond issues like the Fed garage, the issue […]
Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis proposed the building of an 800-stall parking ramp on land that it bought in April of 2018. The land is currently a 300-stall parking lot that is adjacent to the Fed campus. As my colleague Alex Schieferdecker discussed in his article on Tuesday, the proposed “Heritage Landing Parking Ramp” would […]
More parking leads to more driving, which leads to more greenhouse gas emissions. And we’re long past being able to afford that.
Why do we have parking minimums in the City of St. Paul? The current city ordinance is copied at the bottom of this post for reference, but it provides no justification. Parking Minimums = Control I once asked an employee from DSI (Department of Safety and Inspections) why a bar should have more parking space […]
[This post originally appeared on my blog.] On Monday, Nov. 26, the West St. Paul city council considered a site plan for construction at Garlough Environmental Magnet School as part of the 2018 school district bond referendum improvements. In addition to classroom and facility additions, the plans include adding a second driveway and expanding the […]
Here’s a map from a recent presentation out of Saint Paul Planning and Economic Development department, a small point made in a larger conversation about updating the city’s parking requirements and policies. Here are the maps, created by Tony Johnson at PED. The first shows the total amount of space in the city that is […]