I kid, but only sort of. Not a single candidate at the Mayor’s forum yesterday convinced me Minneapolis is ready to move from good to great urban design. The forum, sponsored by AIA Minnesota and ULI Minnesota and held at International Market Square, was a chance for candidates Cherryhomes, Hodges, Winton, Samuels, Fine, Andrew and Woodruff to offer their opinions on urban design, transportation, the approvals process, sustainability, life-cycle housing and preservation. Despite a lovely setting, very good questions and fine moderation, candidates mostly danced around issues with big generalities and they only rarely reached out to us to indicate they’d value…

Tomorrow, Thursday January 17, ULI Minnesota will be hosting a program entitled Value Capture: Funding Infrastructure. Scott Polikov of Fort Worth-based Gateway Planning, will be the presenter. Scott Polikov will be demonstrating the link between public improvements like transit service and streetscaping and private investment through the increased value and development potential of real estate located near these improvements. Synchronizing public and private investments and using a form-based approach results in better urbanism. I’ve written about his work on Airport Boulevard in Austin. I will be part of a responder panel and will be applying Polikov’s work to the possibility…