On Tuesday night, a healthy crowd of local downtown residents and other interested parties gathered in the rustic lobby of the Mill City Museum for the first of several public meetings about the forthcoming Downtown East Commons park. It was a fun atmosphere, with the palpable enthusiasm that comes with the chance to shape big changes […]
My friend, Josh Lee, takes us on a tour of the Minneapolis Sculpture garden in this episode of UM, Access to Fun. Published on Dec 4, 2014 He’s back! Welcome to Episode 7 of the “UM, Access to Fun” show with University of Minnesota student host Josh Lee. In this week’s episode, Josh hops a […]
This past weekend the Star Tribune reported the Minneapolis city staff have recommended approval of a $1.8 million contract with Hargreaves Associates to design Downtown East Commons, the 4.2 acre park proposed on two and one half blocks near the new Wells Fargo campus and Minnesota Vikings stadium. The park and campus are being developed […]
Yesterday on Twitter I suggested selling part of Iris Park in Saint Paul to developers for housing. Right across from Fairview Ave station is this desolate park. I say sell part of it off for building. http://t.co/QoqWrw1UTr — Evan Roberts (@evanrobertsnz) December 17, 2014 The reaction was mixed. Lots of people love Iris Park; I […]
So it seems our little Holidazzle Market has some critics. Apparently, it’s not stroller or kid friendly enough. Apparently it’s outrageous to stop offering the same old free entertainment the patronage for which was insufficient to induce downtown businesses to continue supplying it. Apparently it’s just uncouth to ask visitors to contribute a small amount […]
It is hard to overstate the importance of the Mississippi River in the urban form of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Once a source of energy and an important transport route, the river’s main value now is environmental and aesthetic. With the imminent closing of the Upper locks and the Upper Harbor Terminal–basically the Port of […]
The Southwest Light Rail debate has been heated. Suffice it to say, there is no shortage of opinion. The debate on streets.mn was mostly polite. This was either a victory for civility or Minnesotans being Minnesotans. The best way to understand the complicated debate would be to read Nick Magrino’s “A Southwest Light Rail Explainer” and Jeremy Mendelson’s “Southwest Light […]
In this 2009 video we see a few parts of downtown Minneapolis used as a street skate scape by Davis Torgerson. It is interesting to see the downtown streets, public spaces, and parking garages with few cars on what is most likely a weekend day. An empty skyway even gets transformed into a temporary skate […]
Much as Minneapolis has turned back to the Mississippi River, different cities and groups are turning back towards Minnehaha Creek, gathering up land that would have fallen prey to developers. I’ve had a fantasy that a new regional park could be cobbled together from this patchwork to make the first regional park in the inner […]