Category: Skyways

Skyways: What Lies Beneath

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 […]

“I Am Not Your Brother” – St. Paul Cops Allegedly Taser and Arrest Black Male for Sitting in Public Space (Video)

Twin Cities Daily Planet brings our attention to this story: St. Paul cops allegedly taser and arrest black male for sitting in public space. City Pages provides some details: St. Paul police roughly arrest black man sitting in skyway Note, this is hard to watch. There are a number of transportation and land use and other […]

The Pedway: Elevating London

via BikeHub The Pedway: Elevating London is a documentary on the post-war redevelopment in the City of London – focusing on the attempt to build an ambitious network of elevated walkways through the city. Featuring interviews with professor of town planning Michael Hebbert (UCL), architecture critic Jonathan Glancey, city planning officer Peter Wynne Rees and […]

Mindless Skyway (video)

Today is the first day of voting for Architecture MN’s annual Videotect competition. This year’s contest challenged entrants to show how design enhances social interaction in a bar, restaurant, or café. Voting ends February 21. Since I don’t have a dog in the race this year and I don’t want to influence the vote by […]

Friday Photo

Love them? Hate them? Love to hate them? A few views looking up, looking down and looking out of the Minneapolis Skyways.  

The Nicollet Walk: A Stairway to the Skyway

The proposed interventions to the Minneapolis Skyway system were a subtle, yet powerful element of the James Corner Field Operations’ proposal for the Nicollet Mall Redesign.  The proposal explicitly included five distinct interventions that while in some cases are relatively superficial, demonstrate a new attitude about interfacing the skyway with the street.  The skyways have […]

2012 Best Skyway/Underground System: Downtown Minneapolis

Skyways are often derided by idealistic urbanists. Critics point to barren downtown streetscapes and blame the skyways for lack of activity. In my previous life as a naive urban planning student learning about cities, I criticized them myself. But I now think of skyways in the same way as most people probably do: just another option […]

Bill’s Skyway Revolution Tour

Our hero leads the revolt … with an educational walking tour!  Chaos soon erupts … NOTE: *A big thanks to Bill Lindeke (of Streets.MN and TC Sidewalks) for the great Minneapolis skyway tour (courtesy of the Soap Factory’s Common Room). For the record, in real life, talk of revolution was light, but the tour was […]