tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17629790.post9035771452634707311..comments2024-03-28T06:21:34.602-06:00Comments on twin city sidewalks: Sidewalk of the Week: Lamar Avenue SouthBill Lindekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11373780012930618768noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17629790.post-40310675416668307752014-02-14T14:42:41.061-06:002014-02-14T14:42:41.061-06:00I lived a couple of blocks from here in the 70s.
...I lived a couple of blocks from here in the 70s.<br /><br />- Next to the Boondocks bar used to be an old upscale hotel that had been abandoned for quite some time. I think they tore it down in the 80s, but it was a beautiful building.<br /><br />- That tractor/lawnmower shop used to be a body/auto repair shop and was smaller. Part of that property was a small grocery store and post office.<br /><br />- The park had a different building on it<br /><br />- The side roads were not paved until the 90s, and they did not get mail delivery until the very late 70sAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07313984383358954208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17629790.post-75733704471347710652010-11-01T16:37:07.346-06:002010-11-01T16:37:07.346-06:00Heh, yep, many suburbs have these little kernels h...Heh, yep, many suburbs have these little kernels hidden in them somewhere. In Minnesota, many towns were set up by or for the railroads, so you can follow existing or abandoned rail rights-of-way to find the old centers of towns -- the railroads tend to be even more central to the cities than the 1920s-era state or U.S. highways that often parallel the rails.<br /><br />Towns that had always been along roads are a bit harder to discover. Certainly, a number of places really have vanished. Others, usually outside of the zone of influence of larger cities, have continued to grow with almost perfect little grid systems, or have just remained little unincorporated settlements along roads. Heck, there's a community in Olmsted County west of Rochester that's literally called "Shanty Town" (despite the name, I believe there are a number of 1970s-era and possibly newer homes there).<br /><br />I am somewhat fascinated by this whole concept too. It's amazing to see how the car changed our development patterns, and to wonder what might have been.Mike Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15257599090818492294noreply@blogger.com