With the emerging debacle of The Yard prominent in the press (Strib and blogosphere), it is natural to overlook the fact that downtown Minneapolis just opened a brand new public space. It is called Target Field Station (formerly The Interchange), and despite Tom Fisher’s review on MinnPost, people actually use it and it is pretty nice. So considering downtown […]
After many decades as a sad parking crater, the eastern side of Downtown Minneapolis is being rebuilt. The next few years will see the completion of the new Minnesota Vikings Stadium, a two-ish block public-ish park, a two-ish block set of matching office towers filled by Wells Fargo employees, a block-sized ~1,600 space parking ramp, […]
Langford Park on a July afternoon is a hive of activity. Kids buzz around the playground, scampering across its jungle gyms and catapulting themselves off its swing sets. Moms hover over the general mayhem trying to enforce some level of order on the chaos. Kids slightly older and with a higher capacity for organized […]
Next Saturday, June 21, from 1-4pm, Neighborhoods First, a community group in Saint Paul’s Merriam Park, will be hosting an event on the corner of Summit Avenue and Syndicate Street. The event is titled “Imagine an Ayd Mill Linear Park.” There will be speakers, music, food and exhibits. It will be an opportunity for community […]
You may have seen the artist renderings. The drawings lay out a vision for The Yard, the planned four-acre urban park adjacent to the mammoth new Vikings Stadium. In the winter versions, the park is shown populated by happy, hearty Minnesota families skating, admiring ice sculptures, making snow angels and generally laughing in the face […]
Back in 2012, Reuben Collins wrote about the the Cedar Ave bridge over Lake Nokomis, “a clear example of a roadway that went over when it should have gone around.” Fast forward to 2014, and there’s a revision underway to the Park Board’s master plan for Nokomis Hiawatha Regional Park (well, everything except Hiawatha Golf Course, which Bill […]
I live really close to Nicollet Island and love to take walks around it. It’s so quiet and secluded that for a few minutes you can forget that you are right in the middle of a huge city. Most people pass right over it as they cross over the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, but the island […]
When I was little, I was mildly obsessed with tiny people a la the Borrowers. Growing up, we had a bottle-shaped vase on our piano and I’d pretend my very own Jeannie lived in there. If your kiddo has a big imagination involving tiny humans, I say embrace it. And hurry up and build those little people a home before they take residence in your […]
I’ve always wondered what life would be like if we did away with highway infrastructure. Television shows such as Life After Humans depict infrastructure eventually succumbing to the forces of nature, overbearing with moss and exotic animals. What if this happened while humans still inhabited this world? While only the fantasy of some urban designers, […]
We’ve always loved the sledding at Columbia Park Golf Course. And that was before I realized that that building there? IT SELLS SNACKS! Boasting the steepest slopes in NE Minneapolis, Columbia Golf Course offers different sized hills for all levels of sledders. Looking for the big kahuna? Once parked, just climb the hill to the […]