This week on Deep North: The climate controlled hallways that elevate Minneapolis and St. Paul humans to the second floor. The value of these skyways is a contentious issue. Some say they kill street life and hurt small business. Others see the skyways as an asset for less mobile populations, and a comfortable way to […]
At the March 6th Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, two renderings of future Minneapolis developments were unveiled. One of these renderings was the long awaited new Thrivent Headquarters – a half block development that will be accompanied with paired developments on the remaining half block. Similar to the fantastic Kraus-Anderson HQ redevelopment, in methodology at least. […]
Leaving everything from Washington Avenue to the Mississippi River for a fourth day, I planned a nice, systematic route to finish off the rest of what I hadn’t walked on days one and two. And then reality happened. As a result of construction, the block of Nicollet Mall between Washington Avenue and 3rd Street was closed even to […]
As we cruise into the middle of January, alternating deep freeze and spring-link temperatures, here’s an opportunity to submit (by Thursday, January 18) to the Call for Proposals: Inaugural Bike + Walk Minnesota Conference where “for the first time ever, this year the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota is adding an explicit pedestrian focus to its 2018 conference, the appropriately […]
The mysteriously persistent proposal to allow more billboards in downtown Minneapolis has Planning Commissioner John Slack feeling as if he’d like to pour a bottle of antibiotics all over it: For me this is like the rash that won’t go away. I don’t see how this supports any of the comprehensive plan goals, I don’t […]
The podcast this week is a conversation with Leif Pettersen, a travel writer and tourist public relations professional who lives in downtown Minneapolis. We sat down a few weeks ago in the Minneapolis skyway system to chat about a recent op-ed he wrote in the Star Tribune, calling for the creation of pedestrian-only streets downtown. We […]
In 1893, Court Avenue in Bellefontaine, Ohio became the first American street paved with concrete. George Bartholemew is still celebrated for his “artificial stone” pavement. Bartholemew convinced the Bellefontaine City Council to try it around the Logan County Court House by posting a bond that guaranteed the pavement would last at least five years. The […]
Since The Commons opened this summer, I’ve visited a few times and passed by several times, making a point of counting patrons and observing how people use this new public green downtown space. After all, how people use a new park is the best indicator of success, right? Here is a collection of observations so […]
At the beginning of last month, with the help of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, The Downtown Neighborhoods Association (DMNA), the Minneapolis Pedestrian Alliance and streets.mn, I conducted a survey to collect thoughts on the reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue in 2020 to help inform the design process. More than 400 people responded. The DMNA collected 37% of the responses, […]
There has been a lot of discussion about the number of travel lanes needed on 3rd Avenue South lately (click here, or here). The Transportation and Public Works committee was presented with a four-lane design for the section south of 8th Street last week, and sent the matter on to City Council with “no recommendation.” […]