The Lowry and 35W Bridges in Minneapolis, Minnesota following the passing of the equal marriage laws. Minnesota is the 12th state to accept same-sex marriages (but by far the most fabulous, although that may be my biased opinion).
You right.
I love you, Minneapolis. I absolutely love you.
$400 million plan would reshape Minneapolis’ downtown east
A $400 million mixed-use project near the new Vikings stadium would transform the eastern stretch of downtown Minneapolis, a largely barren area that has long struggled to attract substantial development.
The five-block area, now owned by the Star Tribune, would become home to two, 20-story office towers spanning 1.2 million square feet of space, Ryan Cos. said in a proposal released Tuesday. In addition, 300 residential units and retail stores will be part of the development.
The city’s end of the bargain involves borrowing $65 million to fund a parking ramp and an 8.9-acre park extending toward downtown from the stadium site, which would be the largest park in the heart of downtown.
The entire development is expected to be completed by July 2016, in time for the stadium opening.
via StarTribune
I am totally disheartened by the amount of money the football stadium redesign is asking for. I find it sick. But urban renewal? That I am very interested in.
Love Minneapolis’ Spoonbridge and Cherry? Now you can eat it
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden by scarfing an edible replica of the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture at Gather by D’Amico at Walker Art Center.
The dessert is available through the summer as a special item on the menu and includes a chocolate mousse dome on a chocolate shortbread, a chocolate almond cake filled with cherry cheesecake and a bittersweet-chocolate tart drizzled with cherry compote.
To finish it, a marzipan cherry is perched atop a spoon made of molded chocolate.
via TwinCities.com
Shapes of Minneapolis. Accurate to scale.
Wells Fargo Center, Rand Tower, Capella Tower, Campbell Mithun Tower, Hennepin Avenue Bridge, Foshay Tower (W Minneapolis).
Minneapolis’ East Bank stairways lead to quiet riverside solitude
The river in this part of the city can seem almost subterranean, separated and buffered from the flat, gridded, concrete expanses of southeast Minneapolis above it by sheer wooded bluffs. Descending the stairways, one gets the sense of traveling underground. The path down by the river is, on a Sunday morning, almost wholly deserted, and the roar of vehicular traffic over Franklin and 94 sound like it’s coming from some distant point overheard.
via Andy Sturdevant on MinnPost
Minneapolis-St. Paul Area Residents Most Likely to Feel Safe
Eighty percent of those living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area say they feel safe walking alone at night in the area where they live, the highest percentage among the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Minneapolis is followed closely by Denver, Raleigh, Boston, Salt Lake City, and Austin.
Minneapolis-St. Paul area residents have the highest sense of personal security among Americans living in the nation’s top metro areas, at least in terms of feeling safe walking alone at night in their local area. While the rank order of the top 50 on this measure may differ somewhat from other rankings of city safety, it nevertheless offers an important perspective on one aspect of how crime affects people’s lives.
Article via Gallup, photo via Thirteen of Clubs.
Ken Fletcher is a transit enthusiast from St. Paul, Minnesota. During the 1970s, Fletcher took an interest in the concept of light rail transit systems. At the time such systems were found in many European cities but were operating in only a few places in the United States and Canada. Fletcher felt the idea had potential in the Twin Cities as a cost-effective mass transit solution.
In 1976 Fletcher prepared a report for the Hiawatha Avenue Citizens Advisory Committee advocating for a light rail line along Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis. Fletcher’s proposal included a suggested route map, mockups of stations and crossings, financial estimates and comparisons to light rail projects then underway in other cities. Fletcher’s proposal also suggested that potential for further light rail development existed along the University Avenue corridor and the Southwest Corridor.
Though light rail in Minneapolis wouldn’t become a reality for another 25 years, many elements of Fletcher’s plan were manifested in the Hiawatha Line that was eventually constructed including the general route he suggested, the placement of stations along the line and running the system underground at the airport. With work now underway on the Central Corridor and the Southwest Corridor as well, Fletcher’s original plan seems all the more prescient.
-Guest post from our excellent volunteer, Nick.
I love public transit, Minneapolis, and history, so I almost drooled over this tidbit.
Well done, Fletcher. Very well done, sir.
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