Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin sent me a pointed email in response to my latest post about Minnehaha Avenue. He was frustrated that I didn’t mention the one bicycle advocate at the September 30 public meeting who spoke up, saying “these will be the best bike lanes in the city.” As well, I failed to mention lane widths will be 11 feet instead of today’s 12, and the numerous bumpouts will make crossing safer for pedestrians. All of these things are well and good. I’m all for reducing lane widths and installing bumpouts. I’m still concerned a nice new street with left turn…

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.…

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…

A rebuilt Minnehaha Avenue can be a street that benefits residents and businesses. Another set of public meetings is happening next week, where Hennepin County will present revised designs for the street. One version will contain on-street bicycle lanes (somewhat similar to the current iteration), another a separated cycletrack option. Yet there seems to be a gulf emerging between cyclists and others over which of the two designs for the future of the street. There is a perception that cyclists want the cycletrack and everybody else wants the version with on-street bike lanes. Let’s hope after next week there is a…

How do developers create authenticity and community? It is a big question, and increasingly important, since apartment vacancy won’t remain below 3% forever and apartment developer/owners will have to find ways to set their buildings apart from the competition and keep occupancy healthy in the long run. Authenticity is one of many words used to describe great cities, including community, gritty, lively, and serendipity. In a January Financial Times essay, Edwin Heathcote says, “There is the thrill of serendipity, to wander from a tight, dark alley into a small square with a fountain.” This begs the question, can every developer create…

Thank you for your response. I’m sure citizens and voters will take these in to consideration and get back to you with additional questions regarding the reconstruction of Minnehaha Avenue. And I see we have our first questions now. You cite five pedestrian crashes from 2010 to 2012 and two pedestrian fatalities in 2009 (Question 26, Page 4 of the response). How many vehicle crashes have occurred in that time and how many fatalities? What is the primary culprit of these accidents (speed, inattentiveness, etc.)? With regard to trees, why do you continue to provide a false choice between cycletracks and…

The City of Minneapolis is promising to spend a lot of money on some critical pieces of downtown infrastructure. The new Vikings Stadium and Downtown East area, Peavey Plaza, Nicollet Mall all are being considered for major capital investments. With Nicollet Mall, take one look at the people using the street and you can see that maybe the answer doesn’t lie in fancy infrastructure and world-class designers, perhaps the key is the social realm. What’s more is it’s already happening. We need look no further than food trucks, the farmers market and the Piazza on the Mall for proof. Earlier this week…

Here’s a riddle. How do you calm traffic legally but without having to go through city hall? You have two options: have a road reconstruction project; or a major storm that knocks trees down and blocks streets. Standish-Ericsson got both this summer at the same time, causing undue stress and disruption. But alas, there is a silver lining and maybe some instructive ideas about better urbanism. While it is true that the summer-long closure of 28th Avenue near my home has caused me and my neighbors some inconvenience, and certainly the storm ravaged yards and homes, I suspect I will…

It has been seven years since this urbanist last visited Daybreak. In 2006 I wrote an article for ULI (you may have heard of it). At that time Daybreak was a few hundred homes, a school and the idea of new urbanism was indeed new to Salt Lake City. Now, one housing bust and a light rail line later, I returned to see if Daybreak has grown up. It has, but in human terms, it is no longer a young child and now a responsible teenager with a job and a bright future. The Trax red line now serves Daybreak, a…

On our way to the ceremony unveiling the plan for the five-block Star Tribune property in Downtown East, my son Shaw and I got off the train at the Downtown East/Metrodome station and I was asked directions by an older couple. They were looking for Periscope, the ad agency, at 10th and Washington. Obliging, I agreed to walk with them from the platform across 4th Street, where I would point the way to Washington and bid them adieu. We stood waiting for the Walk signal to get across 4th Street and I detected a murmur from them as nothing was happening;…