Take one look at this photo and tell me why the businesses along this roadway struggle. This is Wautoma, Wisconsin, a town of just over 2,000 in east Central Wisconsin, deep in the heart of Packer-land. Wautoma is nice, with some lakes and recreation nearby, and the Moose Inn (Friday fish fry!) located just east of town. However, like many small towns near resorts and cabins, I never actually see the downtown area because groceries and gas are located out on the stroad at the edge of town. I was looking forward to seeing Main Street, and I immediately identified the…

Hennepin County has decided to proceed with rebuilding Minnehaha Avenue in 2015 and 2016. A good plan, but not great. The much-discussed cycletrack is off the table, and the street will be rebuilt with bike lanes similar to today but with some improvements for pedestrians and cyclists alike. The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition’s announcement shows that organization’s disappointment with the County’s unwillingness to both listen to significant public input favoring a cycletrack or to provide a meaningful cycletrack design for the public to respond. As this video on Upworthy by a mystery Dutchman shows, the county’s proposal doesn’t ensure much of an improvement for cyclists (the county will…

I’m encouraged that the City of Minneapolis largely stood up to CenterPoint Energy on their request for a variance to reduce retail frontage facing Nicollet Mall from 60% to 20% of the building face. As reported in today’s Star Tribune, Minneapolis pushed back, and CenterPoint (and developer United Properties) have withdrawn their application for the variance on the 501 Nicollet Mall building (former Neiman Marcus store), and although retail will only occupy 20% of total floor area, at least the frontage of Nicollet Mall will include 60% retail space. Still, I can’t help but think this sets a precedent that leaves…

Walkable urban grocery stores are a critical component of great cities. While Minneapolis has a number of grocery stores in varying degrees of urbanity and walkability, Lunds in northeast Minneapolis set a new standard when it opened a little over five years ago by being located on the ground floor of a mixed-use building and in a very walkable setting. The new Whole Foods store in downtown Minneapolis opened last week. Developed by Ryan Companies and the Excelsior Group, the Whole Foods is at the base of 222 Hennepin Apartments, and overall the project is a big boost to downtown and the North Loop.…