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
Good Garages, Bad Garages
Good garages in St. Paul (Cathedral Hill) Bad garages in Maple Grove (on Trulia) … When it’s the most prominent architectural feature. The hidden front door. The garage is bigger than the house? *Note: To be fair, I intentionally selected homes in the suburb of Maple Grove that would be equal in price to those … Read more
The Next Big Thing …
Note: Also on the Strib … (I corrected a lot of the spelling errors there, but not here -didn’t have enough time) One of the few podcast I’m still listening to on a regular basis is NPR’s Planet Money (it’s one of the few NPR shows that doesn’t put me to sleep). They have some … Read more
Everything you need to know about failed economic development policy
This photo, taken in 2009, should tell you everything you need to know about failed economic development policy in the United States. The stadium construction, parking lots, pedestrian overpass, shopping mall, the dozen lanes of interstate and the indoor ski slop. Yes, an indoor ski slope. While I’ve always been fascinated by indoor ski slopes; … Read more
It’d Take Up Mostly All of Downtown #Bemidji
The Sanford Center (as discussed here and here) is a $75 million convention center in Bemidji, Minnesota. As it turns out, it’s about the same size as downtown (minus a few blocks). And, this doesn’t include the “green space” next to the site. The parking lot is 10 blocks large (as displayed here). Financing of … Read more
Bemidji’s Mistake on the Lake
Last week The Atlantic Cities asked if it is time to stop building convention centers? Here’s a quick recap: Over the last 20 years, convention space in the United States has increased by 50 percent; since 2005, 44 new convention spaces have been planned or constructed in this country alone. That boom hasn’t come cheap. … Read more
Here’s an obvious one: Is It Time to Stop Building Convention Centers?
The following post was hammered out on the Strong Towns Network. Here’s an obvious one: Is It Time to Stop Building Convention Centers? Over the last 20 years, convention space in the United States has increased by 50 percent; since 2005, 44 new convention spaces have been planned or constructed in this country alone. That … Read more
Meet the Streets @ BURP # 5
Here’s the important stuff (from Alex’s Getting Around Minneapolis): 5 pm Thursday May 31st! Approximately 66° Aster Cafe 125 SE Main Street, Minneapolis $3 taps & $5 flat bread pizzas till 6 Meet some of your favorite Streets.MN writers (and some of your least favorite Streets.MN writers). There will be chats about life, liberty and … Read more
Ideas for Cities: Development w/o subsidies
The new economy, which I firmly believe we are transitioning into, will require multiple players who can produce small scale, incremental development. This is how urbanism will be accomplished in the next 20 years. This will probably need to happen outside of contemporary channels; such as ignore tradition lending methods, approval through out-dated bureaucratic methods … Read more
In defense of “Kicking the can down the road”
“When a town can’t grow out, it must grow up.” I wrote this on the Strong Towns Blog about the inner-ring suburb of Roseville. This line was supposed to be taken literally and figuratively – as in, the city must literally grow upward (density) and “grow up” by shedding our past development history and accepting … Read more
