The winner of the 2013 Urban Land Institute/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition for the downtown east area of Minneapolis has been chosen. But with existing plans in place and potential developments emerging for apartments and offices, what of the winning team’s plan will, or even should, be built? Hopefully a lot of it. A team from the University of Kansas/University of Missouri/Kansas State created a plan for downtown east in Minneapolis that focuses on the Armory as an indoor market and civic space, flanked to the north by two blocks of green space – the first downtown park. Retail, entertainment and…

With all apologies to Jeff Foxworthy (please add your own in the comments section)… …If you choose a slightly longer route to your destination because you know the walk is pleasant, you might be an urbanist (you also might be a rational human being) If your vacation photos have more buildings than people in them, you might be an urbanist If you come home from vacation in a walkable city depressed by your own you might be an urbanist If the first thing you do on vacation is drop your bag in your hotel and set out on a walk,…

With spring coming it’s time to install that on-street bike rack (bike corral) in front of my brewpub, the Northbound. I approached the ownership prior to their fall 2012 opening about whether they would like that, and I was informed that an application was in process. Thrilled, I volunteered on their behalf to follow-up with Minneapolis Public Works on this application. After all, once they opened, a LOT of people found their way to the Northbound by bike so the need was clearly there. And after all, Minneapolis is the number one biking city in America, right? All these months, dozens…