The Streets.MN Rundown
What’s happening around the Twin Cities and Minnesota … Bipartisan support for I-94 Expansion between Maple Grove & St. Cloud [Star Tribune] You know what we need? More lanes on I-94 to St. Cloud. “Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, backed by a bipartisan cohort of about three dozen lawmakers, local elected officials and business folks, … Read more
Strong Towns: Infrastructure for the sake of jobs? [New Post]
You can read this at Strong Towns – In fact, it’s encouraged that you head over there and check it out! We shouldn’t build infrastructure for the sake of creating jobs. “Jobs and growth are the results of a productive system, not a proxy for one. Until we reconfigure our places, sustained prosperity will remain … Read more
Do stroads cause more accidents?
FYI: You can read this on Strong Towns! The word “Stroad” has officially made it into the Urban Dictionary. “Noun. Portmanteau of “street” and “road”: it describes a street, er, road, built for high speed, but with multiple access points. Excessive width is a common feature. A common feature in suburbia, especially along commercial strips. … Read more
Shipping Container Housing is a Terrible Idea
Cross-posted on Streets.MN — I bumped into an article on how Detroit will join some European nations and build America’s first shipping container building. It got me thinking: shipping container housing is a terrible idea. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Why? Because it’s the “same shit, different day” and “experiment on the poor” urban … Read more
What’s the plan now? @ Strong Towns
Election 2012 Note: You should read this @ Strong Towns … There is something great about experiencing an election with a group of strangers over a beer in a public place. Unlike the last Presidential election, I stayed in this year. It was quite the juxtaposition to 2008 and 2010 (read: Sweeny’s Pub, plenty of … Read more
Downtown Mankato on a rainy weekend (Mobile Post)
This is the updated Heco Building (got nearly $43 million in subsidies by the way). The architecture is bad. I’m not sure what exactly is going on here, but it ain’t pretty. Notice the parking garage behind the building, it costs $4.3ish million dollars for an added 77 parking spaces. This successfully allowed the US … Read more
Historic Downtown Nostalgia
Like so many American towns, Mankato dropped the ball. It went from what seemed like a vibrant place, from the postcard and historic photos above, and it transformed into what you see below: When you Google Image Search “Mankato Minnesota Downtown” – this is the first image that pops up. To reassure you, yes, it … Read more
Plans, yes. Implementation, not even close.
The American collective is slowly starting to figuring out how to make plans look good. City Councils and Planning Commission members across most of the Nation have either started to read some literature, fallen in love with New Urbanism or traveled to Europe and want to replicate the charm of an Italian village. Whatever the … Read more
Too Much Infrastructure is a Big Problem
This is one of the reasons why small municipalities are going broke … It’s a four lane road (with turn lanes and a median) into a vast cornfield. About the only thing this road doesn’t have are buildings and people. It can be down-right depressing to drive down the wide, uninhabited boulevards of Mankato’s northeast. … Read more
