Dr. Bill McGuire, Owner of the Minnesota United, on Snelling/University Stadium Development

My friend Wes Burdine (who owns the Black Hart Bar) hosts a good local soccer podcast: the Fiftyfive.One Podcast, discussing MNUFC and other soccer matters of the day.

Burdine had none other than Bill McGuire, very rich person, former CEO of United Health Group, and primary owner of the MN United, on the podcast the other day and asked him about how the development at Snelling and University is going so far.

If you recall, the development on the block is the big variable that might make the city's "stadium deal" a good or bad decision. The master plan was inspiring, but so far, there's little on the site apart from parking and huge ads for the team.

Here's what McGuire had to say [listen for yourself, starting around 9:00]:

Wes Burdine: Thinking about the development of the super block. You indicated recently, to one of the District Councils, that it's going slower than anticipated. I'm curious, where is that process right now?  

Bill McGuire: I think it will be spectacular. What I suspect, it has to be sequenced with the stadium. We had to get the stadium done first. Associated with the stadium, there are a number of things that had to get worked out. Then you go, and design the buildings. There’s a master plan, and its a good indicator of what it could be. But there are things in the master plan that I don’t think the developer will want to do it the same way. 

There might be a 25-story building in the master plan [Note: McGuire actually said “250-story building", but that is absurd; he surely meant 25-story building], but I don’t think we want a 25-story building. But how do we get enough mass and density? With lots of human density, but to get the financial part to work so that people will invest in it. 

The biggest thing about it is going back and forth with very smart people about how to make it more like an "urban village", as we talked about in the beginning. A space within a community that works that way. That’s different than saying, I have twelve plots of land and will sell them off and let anyone build whatever they want on that. 

So this is a unique complicated situation in that regard. Things have to work together. The city wanted to create a grid, part of the master plan. That grid changes the dynamics of those buildings and what the relationship is. How do you create something where people are inside and want to come there, live there, work there, take advantage of this transportation area we have already? How do we bring things there that people want? Not just another something... It's way too simple to say we just want to build a bunch of apartments there. 

Right now, the plan has been looking at reorganizing relationships, coming up with what would be first. We also have to consider things like the parking, and where is that, and what are the costs on that. Find some people who believe in this location enough to put their money in there, because this isn’t the team. This is a different deal. 

That’s really what’s been going on. There’s been a lot of energy time and money by people about what that could be. 

I would take on anybody who would say, having what we had, no streets, no sidewalks, no nothing. Now we actually have an infrastructure, we have a grid, and the opportunity is to fit things in there that work 

Wes Burdine: Is there any discussion about the block next to it? Kraus Anderson owns it, it has an empty Wal-Mart. Do you talk about what’s going to happen there versus here? 

Bill McGuire: We’re designing work around what we think works within the super block, bounded by Pascal and Snelling and University and St. Anthony. You gotta be attentive to what’s next door, but we can’t control what’s there. Even the Wal-Mart, what’s going to go in there? Is that going to be a Home Depot? Or is someone going to tear it down? We have to do the best we can to anticipate, but we can’t wait around. 

That may be the east side, but that wouldn’t be first place to build anyway. We still have a shopping center there businesses, let those folks continue. We hear things. When anybody does Herbergers, it has has actually been bought, and there’s discussion about some things to put in there that may be quite good for the neighborhood. And become there’s existing parking and stuff, it might be a good place for things that require a lot of parking. 

Wes Burdine: The types of questions that a lot of fans ask me are on these issues. Whether they live in the neighborhood or want to know what’s happening around it. In terms of the super block what basic timeline does that look like? Will it be done five years from now? 

Bill McGuire: There’s no chance of getting the 25 acres that’s theoretically available — and after the roads is about half that many —  built out in 5 years. That would be ... What we have on paper is potentially, without inflation, $850M of construction. That’s a lot. 
In an ideal world with all the parties coming together, the city as well as investors to get something done, I’d like to see shovels in the ground or planned shovels in the ground by late this year for four buildings. And I think there’s a good line of sight on those buildings, and where they would be, basically trying to sort of frame “the Great Lawn” to make that a center point for the block. Its a big open space, and it isn’t used that much right now, but it could be used a lot. 

You go to Chicago and see Gallagher Way around Wrigley Field, and see that and its a sponsored place and has public classes, yoga classes, movies. It takes something. You have to do certain things to organize it. We’re not far off from being able to do some things, but there are a bunch of technical things that have to be done, and we’re taking to people right now that don’t want to just invest in a building, but want to invest in a community where the vehicle is the building, and what it can provide. For instance, you build an office building, it may not be just a traditional 10-floor office building for companies for 20K to 100K square feet. It might be a smaller building, where you provide opportunities for business that are smaller or more startup businesses and we’ve talked a lot about that . Internally I’ve talked about that with [CM] Dai Thao and Mitra Jalali that’s bringing something to the community jobs interest attraction things that might provide opportunities for businesses that might come to other areas in the community. That’s sort or the purpose. 

The key takeaways for me are that four buildings are coming soon, and that's a lot! I particularly noticed the line where McGuire says he needs "the city" to "come together" to "get something done" there. Does that mean that the developers want more public dollars? The city has already spent over $18.4M to build the streets and other infrastructure on the site.

The other interesting line was about the Herberger's building, and the tantalizing prospect of something "that require[s] a lot of parking" moving into that empty big box store. I wonder what it is?

Also, I hate the term "urban village" and want to exorcise it from the discourse. "Urban villages" are never good.

PS. Home Depot dreams never die.

Six Quick Thoughts on Hosting the Super Bowl

[This was kinda cool.]

The Twin Cities just hosted its first Super Bowl since 1992. For some parts of the city, it was a real short-term transformation as it brought tons of tourists, crazy structures, and police into downtown Minneapolis in February. There were some bizarre sights to be seen.

I have mixed feelings about the experience, and wanted to jot them down before I forget. So here goes, the pros and cons of hosting a Super Bowl at least from an urbanist perspective.


1.    OK the subsidies are gross

This should go without saying, but should also be said as much as possible: the Vikings stadium was a huge taxpayer giveaway to the Wilfs from New Jersey, who seem pretty terrible. Within the Super Bowl dealmaking, too, there were all kinds of shady details. It almost makes me glad that that Eagles fan stole a seat from the stadium.


2.    Great choice of themes

The host committee theme – “the Bold North” – was a bit mockable, but I think it was a great choice. While single-digit temperatures weren’t the worst case, below zero, scenario, I’m sure that the cold temps gave nightmares to the civic booster crowd.

But the #boldNorth branding really did emphasize the aspirational embrace of winter that I think Minnesotans ought to have as a core part of our character. Just like Saint Paul’s ongoing Winter Carnival, we really ought to place winter at the center of our identity. Instead, for way too long, Minnesota’s first narrative reaction has been to retreat from winter and engineer it out of our daily lives.

I think “bold north” was great, and it worked even during an actual cold snap. I wish we had more of this kind of spirit in our media narratives, city planning, and daily lives.


3.    Offered a glimpse of a dystopian corporate future

[Militarized, privatized, corporate downtown.]

Um, Jehovah’s Witnesses on every corner preaching the end of days, military police running around on the streets and rooftops in full battle gear, barbed wire fences appearing and disappearing seemingly at random, trains being privatized and commandeered for the wealthy, billionaires running around in private jets and black limos, corporate branding of every single possible commodifiable fragment of the public realm… where have I seen these kinds of things before?

Oh yeah, dystopian science fiction like Children of Men, Idiocracy, Cosmopolis, The Road, Brazil, or a dozen other grim visions of the future. Only for a week or so, it was all happening in real life right here in Minneapolis.

Be wary, people. Be wary.


4.    Economic impact was really mixed

Of course the fantastical promises of a million people and bazillions of free dollars raining in from all across the globe were extremely misleading, and actual economic studies have been debunking the claims of stadium boosters, convention boot-lickers, and the like for decades now.

The macro picture is not great, but at the micro level, from business to business, it was interesting to hear about places that were seeing a lot of benefit and those that weren’t. Of particular note was the way that skyway businesses did not seem to thrive downtown while street-level ones did better.

Partly that’s because almost all the bars are on the street level, but it’s also because streets and sidewalks are inherently legible spaces to people from all over the world. On the other hand, skyways are inherently confusing and alienating to those who are not used to them on an everyday level.

If downtown Minneapolis is going to be truly ambitious as a global city, that’s something to note, because…


5.    Nicollet Mall is the focus of downtown (but isn’t)

[More cool stuff on Nicollet please.]

Even with the cold temperatures, Nicollet Mall shined during Super Bowl week, which is ironic because actual Twin Cities residents do not use Nicollet Mall in the winter and even in the summer, half the people downtown seem to stay holed up in the skyway. Partly that's because many modern Twin Cities buildings are not designed around Nicollet or the street, which lack shops and doorways compared to other downtowns.

But when the spotlight hits, only Nicollet can serve as the default public space for the city, the plaza and park that occupies the center of attention. I’d love to see the city double down on making Nicollet a true public space. I’d love it if downtown buildings began opening up to Nicollet, and if cafés, events, and people were thriving on Nicollet all year long. To my mind, the Super Bowl crowd during 5º weather proves that it’s possible.


6.    The Twin Cities should dream big

Finally, the way that Minneapolis and Saint Paul did not wilt during the Super Bowl spotlight reminded me that we need to think bigger. It would be nice if our cities began measuring ourselves against truly global competition, if we had a transit system that ranked in the top #5 nationally, for example, or had sustainability footprints that competed with the best in Europe. There’s no reason why the Twin Cities can’t think bigger and more ambitiously about its future.

All in all, a weird but exciting experience with some pluses and minuses if you can get past the subsidy stuff.

Last Days of the Midway Pro-Bowl

Like many of the great mid-century pastimes, bowling is in trouble. Leagues are disappearing, lanes neglected, and almost nobody is building bowling alleys anymore.

The latest casualty of change is the Midway Pro-Bowl, the behemoth complex in basement of the bleak strip-mall at Snelling and University.

"Yeah, it's sad," the alley keeper told me the other day. "We're closing on the 15th [of September]. Auctioning off all the equipment, and that's it."

The already surly employees have reached new heights of indifference, and the pallor of the place is bleak.

"It's the best alley in Saint Paul," my almost-pro-bowler buddy told me a while back. "What's going to replace it?"

Of particular interest to me were the murals on either side of the massive 16-lane complex. They're gaudy bright neon depictions of each Twin City skyline, Saint Paul on the left and Minneapolis on the right. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that the skylines have been updated, so that the Minneapolis landscape includes the new Vikings Stadium, for example. They are 90s cool!

"Yeah the artist is named Tony Stabke (sp?)," said the guy behind the counter. "He's great. He's always working. Someone just commissioned him to do some work in Fargo. We looked at keeping them, but they're attached to the sheet rock, right on the steel studs. There's no way..."

My Noteworthy Bowling Alleys of the Twin Cities Guide Booklet is sadly out of print, and I think I'm going to have to re-write it with updates before I make new copies. But in the meantime, here's the description of the Midway Pro-Bowl.

In the meantime, between now and the 15th, head over to the bleak Snelling and University parking lot and visit the Pro-Bowl one last time. You won't regret it.

Midway Pro-Bowl

Even looking straight at it, you can’t see Midway Pro Bowl. But it’s there, subterranean, a vast basement bowling alley camouflaged as absolutely nothing in a setting only noteworthy for its drab pathos. Midway Pro-Bowl lies smack in the middle of one of the ugliest strip malls in the city, just off the bus Snelling and University corner in the heart of Saint Paul.
 
 The strip mall and its unwhelming entrance is surrounded by a vast surface parking lot, almost always half empty, and to enter Midway Pro-Bowl you must first learn to see it, become one of the worthy few who can distinguish it from the vacant shops or the Walgreen’s on either side. Yet to open the thin door and descend down the stairs is to enter another world, an oasis in time and space that feels like bowling on Mars. 

Despite its inelegant trappings, the Midway Pro Bowl might be the alley most true to spirit of the Bowling Age. Here bowling is not kitsch, not hip, but quotidian. There are leagues and young people, bowlers speaking Korean, English, black and white. Here vast sets of lanes stretch out before you like a blank canvas underneath the asphalt. Here bowlers roll toward excellence in a characterless waste- land. 

And this is quality bowling. These are composite lanes backed by purple and orange 1980s decor, creating a timeless atmosphere that can feel liberating. During the day, men bowl alone, practicing shots. They are bowling away from Wal-Mart toward the freeway invisible through the mass of the earth. 
 

The massive expanse of the sixteen lanes are flanked on either side by a pair of satellite rooms, alcoves away from the incessant action. To the right, a well-lit pro shop hints of conspiracy. Old men murmur inside and, if you’re not in a league, you probably don’t feel welcome here.

On the other end the bar is tucked away. Everything seems carpeted, even the Grain Belt Premium, which by the way rests at dive bar prices. An inelegant haven, to be sure, but also one of the more colorful places to drink in the area, despite the drab orange surroundings.
 

Along the seemingly endless walls of the Midway you will find the usual bowling accoutrements embedded: the trophy cases, the vending machines, the racks of colorful balls, acres of unmoveable tables. This is where your league meets; pro bowl indeed. And rest assured there will be plenty of parking.

Reading the Highland Villager #162

[A Villager loiters.]

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.] 



Headline: Council is poised to approve soccer stadium plan
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article begins thus... "Despite concerns about traffic and parking congestion..." [It seems to me, does it not, that 75% of Highland Villager articles start with this premise? It should be in the Villager Style Manual that this phrase is implied and thus does not need to be printed every time. Perhaps the acronym: D-CATAP could be useful here and save on newsprint costs?] The City Council is likely to approve plans for the new soccer stadium. [And they did.] The plans had been idealistic about predicting the number of people who would drive and park near the corner. Article reports on a meeting where the strip mall owners spoke about the length of time required and need for flexibility [read: less density] when it comes to redeveloping the area around the stadium that is currently a strip mall, fast food, and parking. Redevelopment might take a decade. Article also quotes Bill McGuire [dubiously ethical wealthy team owner] about different traffic studies. McGuire replied with the quote that: "people can throw all kinds of figures around." [Indeed. If anyone would know...] Key sentence: "Local highways, streets, and transit lines will be able to handle gameday traffic." [Prediction: there will be a lot of cars and people walking and taking the train.] Neighbors are concerned about "parking, traffic and noise." [Dogged crank] Tom Goldstein is quoted demanding more evidence about redevelopment. Article also quotes CMs Prince, Thao, and Stark.


Headline: City loan help save old West End fire station
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: And old and abandoned fire station dating to the 1870s that was slated to be torn down for a new hotel project is going to be saved and restored instead thanks to a $500K forgivable loan from the city. [That's a hefty price!] Article includes some history of the building. It might get sold after it is renovated.


Headline: Mayor unveils city budget with 4% increase in tax levy
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Property taxes will go up. New money will go to funding street trees, a pedestrian coordinator position, and recycling. Saint Paul will be America's most "workable" city instead of its most "livable" city. [I'd like it to be America's most walkable city.] There was a speech.


Headline: Unspent STAR funds sought to transform Central' Handful of other local projects approved for city grants, loans
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Central High School's campus will get some money to make its public spaces more attractive. [School looks like a prison.] Things like "a paved walkway" and "water filtration" and "bike racks." Also funded: a theater marquee, old buildings, a soundproof room, affordable housing, and a balustrade.


Headline: BZA OKs variances for new Habitat home on West End
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A new affordable house will get to be closer to the property line.


Headline: St. Paul provides more funds for improving Dickerman Park
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A historic [very strange, linear, and almost useless IMO] park along University Avenue will get $50K for design improvements.


Headline: Union Park favors proposal to extend liquor store hours
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A neighborhood group thinks its OK if people can buy beer until 10pm. CM Tolbert is pushing for the change.


Headline: BZA supports allowing second home on Saratoga Street lot
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A guy who owns a house can build a second house on his large irregular lot. [This makes sense.]


Headline: St. Paul grants liquor license for restaurant at City House
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An old grain elevator by the river will now be allowed to serve booze. [See my story on this and how it is wonderful.]


Headline: Neighbors appeal approval of house on narrow West End lot
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) said it's OK if a couple builds a house on a narrow vacant lot, but neighbors are concerned about wet basements and "monolithic walls" and want the City Council to appeal the appeal. "The house would not have a basement." [Where will the snakes go?]


Headline: Brake Bread rolls out home delivery fresh from new West 7th St. bakery
Author: Frank Jossi

Short short version: You can have a guy on a bike bring bread right to your house! [Even though there are no bike lanes on West 7th or really anywhere in this area except for Jefferson. I wish I was in the delivery area but asking someone to schlep bread up the High Bridge is a bit much.] All the bread types have bike-themed names. [It's almost like things are changing in the West End, what with these "kids today" even though they're in their 40s.] There is a "toast bar." [I need to get there!]


Headline: WSNAC objects to short notice of UST plan to raze Grand buildings
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: St. Thomas wants to tear down older buildings that it owns along Grand Avenue and the neighborhood committee is upset about it. [I wish the school would just rehab these buildings and use them for offices. That would be pretty classy.] Article includes a lot of info about town/gown relationships and history. Quote from UST guy: "We thought people would be thrilled with the announcement." [Did you? Why? Because people in Saint Paul love tearing things down?] They are being torn down any day now.There might or might not be more parking added to the campus, and/or housing here instead. [I should hope so.]




Note: This Highland Villager recap composed while listening to Verdi's opera, La forza del destino, which is apparently cursed.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SNELLING-UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT AND SOCCER STADIUM

[The place we're talking about.]

There's a "public meeting" tonight co-sponsored by Neighborhoods First, a group I quite like that has spearheaded the efforts to re-think Ayd Mill Road as a pedestrian, park, and bicycle space instead of a half-assed freeway.

To me, re-developing the "superblock" at Snelling and University is the same kind of thing: taking a space for cars and making it a space for people.

But there are lots of unanswered questions like these:



Q: WHERE WILL I GO TO GET DRIVE-THRU FAST FOOD ONCE THE MCDONALDS IS GONE?

I worry about this a lot. If this development happens as planned, soon there will only be the drive-thru at the Taco Bell, Hardees, Wendy's, Arby's, White Castle, Popeye's, and Culver's to get fast food while sitting in my idling car.

(Thankfully there's always the bank McDonalds and the McDonalds two miles to the West.)

[I'd like to get rid of this drive-thru as well.]

Q: WILL IT FINALLY BE SAFE TO CROSS SNELLING AVENUE ON FOOT?

Good god I hope so, but history tells us otherwise.


Q: SOCCER IS DYING YOU GUYS

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world.


Q: WILL THEY BE ABLE TO EXPAND OR IMPROVE THE SNELLING AVENUE SIDEWALKS?

One big tragedy about the situation is that MnDOT just spent millions of dollars reconstructing Snelling Avenue and the I-94 bridge but didn't really figure on safely accommodating lots of pedestrians. Of course, they even came up with a plan to do so full of good ideas.

But, you know, MnDOT.



Q: DO I TRUST BILL MCGUIRE?

[Private park built by Bill McGuire and "given" to the city of Minneapolis.]

About as much as most billionaires.

Which is to say, no. I'm not a fan of the for-profit health care business, for example. But at least he's better than Zygi Wilf? (Note: very low bar.)

I'm also not a fan of privately owned "public" parks. But Gold Medal Park could be worse? It's OK for meeting up for large group bike rides and it's photogenic, even if it is mostly useless as a true public space.

So I don't know. At least he's been coming to meetings and answering questions.

To me, the important variable is the surrounding development, and at first glance, the initial plans are very encouraging

But plans are one thing, and actual construction is another. It would suck if the development didn't actually happen. Getting strip mall owners to redevelop their property is difficult. That's my #1 fear.

[Planned land use.]

Q: WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE BOWLING ALLEY?

I hope it can move into new space, but bowling pin machines are extremely unmovable and the alley has sixteen (!) thirty-two (!!) of them.

[The bowling alley is under here.]

Q: WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE LIQUOR STORE?

It's a good liquor store. It's kind of like Saint Paul's Chicago/Lake Liquors, if Chicago/Lake Liquors had a parking lot that was twenty times larger.

I bet it'll be able to move into a new building if the owners want, though the timing might be tricky. Target sells booze now but I don't shop there if I can help it.


Q: WHAT ABOUT FINANCING?

[Early Metrodome rendering.]

From a simple financing perspective, the Metrodome was the best stadium of all time. But it sucked.

Point being that stadium financing is a terrible thing. I wish there was a blanket ban on public dollars going to fund private sports stadiums. So thanks Obama for that.

Even if there were a ban, it's likely that government would still pay for things near sports stadiums such as roads or other infrastructure (e.g. almost useless pedestrian ramps to light rail platforms heading the wrong direction).

Tax-funded infrastructure is a thing that happens for many developments, from a parasitic Walmart store to a residential cul-de-sac development to the very existence of a thing like a freeway or a transit line (at least, if it's not using a "value capture" financing model). This relationship holds true about a lot of things, and the city would likely be spending millions of dollars building new streets for any development that went into this site. (There were plans on the books years ago.)

[From the already-existing Snelling-University plans for a re-built street grid.]

I respect people who adopt black-and-white attitudes about stadiums, but for me the question is more relative. For example, I think Target Field is really well-designed and just about the best baseball stadium we could have built in Minnesota. I wish it hadn't cost so many tax dollars because I don't like that at all.

(Note: I also wish the Minneapolis Convention Center didn't get big subsidies. And oil companies. And freeway construction and maintenance. And the defense industry. More stuff too.)

Thus the relativity. If Target Field hadn't been built, would there have been tax-paying development on that site? Probably someday. Maybe even today. Would there be as much development in the North Loop? I don't know. It's awfully close to the garbage burner and the city's homeless shelter "LULU" zone. So it's hard to say.

Financing aside, I think Target Field is the best-case scenario for stadiums in the Twin Cities. The Vikings stadium is the worst. Actually, Target Center isn't that great either.

But that's a big caveat. Including financing, you'd have to say that this proposal seems like the best-case scenario. Then I'd rank the regions' stadiums like this: Saints (scale!) > [tied] Gophers football  =  [tied] Wild >  Twins (because of the $$$) > Wolves > Vikings (death star).

Would the Twin Cities be better off if all these stadiums simply had never been built? I have no idea.

Probably maybe?


Q: WILL THERE BE "TEMPORARY" SURFACE PARKING LOTS ON THE SITE WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE PROPOSED MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT?

If so, I hope it's VERY short-term.


Q: WHEN WILL THE RAINBOW FOODS SEE THE WRECKING BALL?

I hear it's the first to go, but it still won't be soon enough.


Q: WILL THERE BE TRAFFIC?

Yes. The corner of Snelling and University will always have lots of car traffic.

Should we keep half of University Avenue as a giant surface parking lot because traffic is bad on Snelling Avenue? Hell No.

Is traffic better or worse with the Green Line than it was before? I think it's about the same. Maybe even a bit lower. Certainly, people drive a bit slower and more safely. That's kind of interesting if you think about it.



Q: WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE DIVE BARS?

[Hot Rods.]

Won't someone think of the dive bars?

I'm thinking about the dive bars. I hope half of them stay around for a long time to come. I really don't want to see the old two-story University Avenue buildings torn down.


Q: WHAT ABOUT NOISE?

Hm. Honestly, a lot of people were worried about noise at the Saints ballpark, but it hasn't proved to be a problem at least not according to my Lowertown friends who have a performance space next to the Farmers' Market. I have heard that soccer stadium designers think very carefully about noise.

You know what noise really sucks? The constant sound of a thousand cars and trucks driving on a freeway or on Snelling Avenue which is pretty much a freeway at least by technical designation. Soccer fans literally sing, which is better to me than the sounds of an engine-braking semi truck. But like I said, I doubt anyone will be able to hear it from very far away.


Q: HOW WILL I BIKE TO THE STADIUM?

Let's say I'm a 22-year-old person living in somewhere to the Southwest in either Minneapolis or Saint Paul, within about a 10-mile radius of the new stadium. Riding a bike would be ideal! Too bad there's no direct way to get there.

Here's the route suggested in a recent city presentation:

[Pascal doesn't connect to Selby. which means you have to ride on Snelling or Hamline, which both suck.]

I think the team and the planners should take this problem very seriously. I doubt they will spend any meaningful money on solving the problem, which would be too bad.

One idea would be a few more Charles Avenue-style bike/ped crossing medians.

Another grander idea would be turning one lane of St. Anthony Avenue into a protected bike lane. Maybe even Concordia, too. Someone suggested that to me a while ago and at least it's intriguing.

Even bigger idea? Ayd Mill Road linear park / bike connection to Pascal Street.

The biggest idea? Greenway connection to Minneapolis.


Q: WILL THERE BE A TIF DISTRICT FOR THE MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT?

We don't know. At least CM Noecker raised the issue. I'm skeptical but open-minded on TIF but would like clarity and transparency about how it's used and the conditions for termination.


Q: WHAT WILL BE THE NON-MOTORIZED MODESHARE FOR SOCCER GAMES?

In Portland, I heard it was 70%. In Ottawa, I heard that they have a unique ticketing/parking system that reduces demand to the point where they didn't build very much on the stadium/development site.

This is what we should be focusing on.


Q: WILL PEOPLE PARK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD?

Yes, sometimes I'm sure that will happen. People park in lots of neighborhoods. Lots of people thought that when the Green Line was being planned, that the neighborhoods would fill with cars. Has it happened? I don't know. Not much?

Will it be hard to park near your house if you live in Hamline-Midway? Slightly harder maybe.  It depends on where exactly you live. How many cars do you own? How far can you walk while remaining in a good mood?

There will be 12 17 soccer games a year. I think it'll be OK. If it's horrible, there are some quick-fix solutions, though like traffic, the "parking problem" is not going to magically disappear.



Q: WILL THE NEW SKYSCRAPERS BLOT OUT THE SUN?

Hey they're pretty tall! It's kind of mindblowing to see the before-and-after photos.

Here check them out:

The big change reminds me of two or three other neighborhoods, all in Minneapolis, that have been utterly transformed in the last decade or so. I'm thinking of the Mill District, which used to be a sea of surface parking lots and a one-story liquor store and is now a dense mixed-use neighborhood providing thousands of people with homes and lots of tax revenue for the city. For me, the change is one for the better. In 1996, my friend and I used to pay $1 a day to park in a parking lot where the Guthrie is located today. I'm not nostalgic about it.

Stadium Village around the University, and Washington Avenue in particular, is almost unrecognizable compared to 5-6 years ago. It used to be a car-choked death trap with a few middling stores, a car repair place, the Army/Navy recruiter (still there!), brutalist institutional architecture, and unromantic "student houses." Today there are thousands of new units of housing and shiny new retail places (though Big 10 is still my favorite), and the street has become a walking/biking/transit paradise full of people.

You might say the same thing about the many new apartment buildings that have been built along the Midtown Greenway in Uptown. It's a dramatic positive change.

For decades, Snelling and University has been a giant trash-strewn parking lot with a run-down strip mall, a Radio Shack, a few vacant lots, a couple drive-thrus, an underground bowling alley, and a decent liquor store. It's been a terrible place to walk or bike or wait for the #21 to show up. Nearby development like the CVS (or even the Spruce Tree) have left a lot to be desired.

To me, these plans look revolutionary in a good way. It's about time Saint Paul started seeing some dramatic steps forward. Minneapolis has a few examples and Saint Paul has lots of opportunities for similar positive change. Details are important, but let's not lose sight of the big picture in the mind-numbing chaos of a lifetime of parking lots and honking cars.

Reading the Highland Villager #151

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.] 



Headline: Council agrees to stadium plan; City commits to spending $18.4M on infrastructure
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The City Council agreed to spend $18.4 million on new infrastructure in the Midway area on the block where the soccer stadium is being built. The infrastructure list [buried at the very end of the article for some reason] includes storm sewers, public green space, new streets, sidewalks and bike lanes. [What a boondoggle. J/K.  The important thing for me is, what are you spending the money on? Is it for parking ramps and bulldozing historic buildings or for sidewalks, sewers, and bike lanes? Will it serve a larger public? Will it lead to urban agglomeration that catalyzes investment in the surrounding neighborhood? There's a big difference.] CMs Bostrom and Prince voted against the spending, preferring to delay by a week to get an independent analysis. CM Prince wants to see a parking and transportation study, which will not be done for a few weeks. Other CMs want to act sooner in order to get permission from the legislature for the building. Article includes shiny stadium rendering. [No offense, but it's one of the more ridiculous renderings I've seen. And I've seen a lot of them. It looks like round version of the spaceship from Flight of the Navigator sitting in a giant field with zombie people walking towards it because they have been mind controlled.] Quote from CM Noecker: "We're counting on the stadium to catalyze development." [Yes they are! This spending should be seen in context of the previous plans to redevelop the Midway site, which also would have involved large public spending on things like new streets only without a catalyst that cranked and accelerated the "payoff" in terms of tax revenue, added density, and activity on this ultra-important corner. For a vision of what the site might look like without any city help, witness the CVS building across the street.] Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking. There are no firm commitments about the development side of the picture, but there are assurances from the team owner and the strip mall owner. [There's a lot of not-necessarily-substantiated faith that the development stuff will happen. But the city / Met Council literally had no workable plan to develop the site without spending $30M on a parking ramp, IIRC.] Quote from concerned neighbor: "I don't know why we'd want to put any more congestion there." [Congestion is a state of mind.] Soccer hooligans attended the meeting. Chamber and business types like the plans. Quote from sports guy: "this is a sport that's about as egalitarian as you can get." [He's forgetting the timeless and universal sport of complaining about traffic and parking. Also, boxing, which is very egalitarian. Also, nobody knows how much or if any environmental cleanup will be involved, like for example grease from the Chinese restaurant.] There will be a new 300-space parking lot constructed at Pascal and St. Anthony for soccer employees. There will be no surface lots, if parking is built. The soccer team controls the naming rights for the LRT station, which they are going to "expand and improve." [What the heck does that mean, anyway? The LRT station is only 2 years old, right? What are they going to improve? Skyway bridge crap like the Vikings? Not on my watch. Soccer-themed public art? Ugh. Leave the light rail alone.]


Headline: Still controversial Cleveland bike lanes get one last herring [Oops, that's a typo, it should read "smearing"]
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A bike lane will be striped along Cleveland Avenue, along with a few new parking spots where the sidewalk and boulevard used to be. [Yawn. Something about permit parking or something I don't know.] Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking.


Headline: Workshop gives public chance to weigh in on UST master plan
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: St. Thomas is doing a new "master plan" for their campus, and people can weigh in. [Ankle bracelets for first-years? Bibs?] People have to pre-register and give their address. Architects are involved. There are campus boundaries and city permits that regulate building heights and many other details. Neighbors are concerned about Tommies and parking.


Headline: Policy Advisory Committee refines Riverview Corridor transit study; But five Mississippi River crossings are still in the mix
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Someday there might be high-quality transit from downtown to the airport/Ford site along West 7th Street, and it will have to cross the river somehow. The Committee might decide "as early as this summer." They might build a new bridge but they might not, and it might or might not involve demolishing existing buildings. Someone wanted to add a potential new bridge just South of the Ford Bridge but that idea was nixed. Neighbors are concerned about noise. The West 7th neighborhood group "passed a resolution in January opposing the railroad right-of-way as well as West Seventh for any dedicated transitway." [Well that's opposed to just about everything, then, is it not?]


Headline: MPR, Met Council settle for $3.5M over light-rail disruptions; Radio station will use settlement to resolve problems with noise and vibrations
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Some [very long-wave difficult to hear] vibrations got into the radio studio and MPR sued and now they have settled the lawsuit. [See also: the UMN lawsuits.] The [aforementioned] Riverview transit might also go near the studio. [Foreshadowing!]


Headline: Lexington's reopening moves closer with committee support
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An old fancy restaurant that's been closed for a long time might open again with new owners. There will be a patio on the roof. [There are not enough patios on roofs in this town.] Neighbors are concerned about privacy, noise, and parking. There is a debate about exactly what time the booze or rooftop will cease. An "acoustic engineer" will be involved. Strange parking dynamic: whether or not valet parking will be mandatory. [HAND ME THOSE KEYS SIR I AM TAKING YOUR CAR WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT. Interesting dynamic. Mandatory valet parking. Maybe Saint Paul could solve all its longstanding parking problems by making valet parking mandatory across the entire city, roving bands of valets parking cars for people unable to walk the block or so it requires to park the car oneself. Plus it could be a workforce/makework type of thing, providing much needed jobs to people who can drive and walk but might not have stable employment.] Article includes extensive discussion about valet parking. [This is a classic first-world problem.] The building is being remodeled and there's a room inside called the "Williamsburg Room."


Headline: SHA favors liquor license, patio seating for Starbucks on Grand; If approved by city, coffee shop could become first in area to serve beer and wine
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There will be booze at the Starbucks. [OK booze patios: Starbucks. Questionable booze patios: Wild Onion, Lexington.] There will not be booze in "to-go cups." [New Orleans, this is not.]


Headline: Superior Street townhouses sold
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A bunch of buildings with older people living in it were recently sold. There is/was TIF money involved in the project. The idea is to keep the buildings affordable rather than market-rate.

[This Villager re-cap completed while listening to Verdi's Aida.]

Reading the Highland Villager #150

[Villagers lurking across the West St. Paul border.]

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.] 




Headline: Master plan unveiled for soccer stadium new Midway Center; $150M stadium would anchor new retail stores, offices, hotel
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An old strip mall and vacant lots on a major streetcorner in the Midway will become a shiny soccer stadium and surrounding mixed-use complex of buildings, at least in theory. There were drawings shown to the public, along with lists of potential things such as "office buildings, hotels, retail stores, apartment buildings, new streets and several parks." The drawings were "met with excitement." The [very wealthy] soccer team owner would like to break ground this summer. The stadium will have "translucent plastic skin" [Like the robot in Ex Machina, I guess] that will [somehow] "block noise and light." It will cost $150M. [No public money! Read it and weep, Minneapolis.]  There will be new buildings where the strip mall, abandoned bank, vacant lot, and drive-thru fast food stores are currently located, and all of them will have retail on the first floor. It might take a long time for all this to happen. [I have heard that the the stadium is first, then the properties directly on the corner of Snelling and University are second, in order of development. Then probably the liquor store site.] There will be "two large privately owned parks." [That's an oxymoron, by the way.] Pedestrian crossings need to be built. Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking.


Headline: St. Paul seeks citywide participation in organized trash study
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city wants to think about "organizing" people driving garbage trucks all over to pick up trash at every home in the city. [What an idea!] There's a survey. Currently lots of people just throw trash wherever. The garbage men are upset. [Stand up fellas. I am sure they have the best interests of the city and the environment at heart.] Currently people in Saint Paul pay more than people in other similar cities for to have people take away their trash. [See also my Minnpost article on the topic.]

Headline: Coming Clean: City awaits report on extent of pollution on 125-acre Ford site
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Old abandoned car factory is polluted. The PCA is about to issue a report with details. Nobody knows how long it will take for Ford to clean up the property. [The key thing is that nobody knows whether Ford will clean it up to "residential" or "industrial" standards, which makes all the difference in terms of tax revenue for the city.] Article quotes city staff saying "Ford may have concerns about residential use on parts of the site." [This is like what happened at the old "Exxon oil tank" site off West 7th Street, where the company did not clean up the property to residential standards and so the city had to turn it into a park.] "Ford will always have some legal responsibility for the site" [which is why they are so testy about it]. It'll likely be a while until anyone really knows anything.


Headline: Met Council approves annual $556,620 [precise!] lease for stadium site
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: In exchange for having a shiny translucent plastic soccer stadium on the vacant lot owned by the Met Council, the team will annually pay money to the agency. Some Council Members are worried that everything is being decided without Council approval. CM Noecker would like to block the city from using TIF or other subsidies.


Headline: Legislature returns for new session; Transportation funding, bonding bill will dominate debate
Author: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: The Governor is asking the state for money for the city for the Kellogg/3rd bridge, a downtown homeless shelter, money for the zoo, and for the Science Museum.  The GOP likes roads and bridges, ostensibly to "alleviate traffic congestion." [Very conservative. Very thrifty. I'm sure long-term maintenance costs are not a problem at all.]


Headline: New Riverview transit line tops county's legislative wish list
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The county is asking the state for money for transit along West 7th Street, the details of which will be decided by the "late summer or early fall." They also want a new interchange for the 694 freeway at Rice Street, a youth treatment center, and snowmaking machines at an East Side park.


Headline: City lobbies for new Kellogg bridge, soccer stadium, facility for homeless
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city is asking the state for money for the [aforementioned] bridge, the [aforementioned] homeless shelter, as well as permission for TIF districts at the [aforementioned] Ford site and property tax exemptions for the [aforementioned] soccer stadium. [$43M for the Kellogg/3rd bridge seems like a lot of money for a bridge that's a bit too wide as is regardless, and the excuse for replacing it a BRT transit project that seems a bit dicey at the moment because of Lake Elmo intransigence. Just sayin'. Still though it's nice to get state money, I only wish it was for things that better served the people who live in the city. Imagine what you could do with $43M... I bet you could build a small part of a downtown bike loop, construct part of a "grand round" trail, improve a few streetcorners and fix up an old theater, for example.] The city also wants passage of a transportation / transit funding bill [but that won't happen; see the odds from last year and add a zero to everything].


Headline: Ramsey County reviews report on future use of its ice arenas
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: You can skate indoors but it's quite expensive. There was a study, but no real decisions were made.


Headline: Council allocates $1.5M for proposed Snelling Avenue medians; council working on design for project that would run from Randolph Ave. to Highland Parkway
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Crossing Snelling Avenue [See also this bit of history.] will be easier now because you'll be able to stop in the middle. [It's long long long overdue.] The new median will be using the city's "8-80" money and will go from Randolph to Highland Parkway. MnDOT must still approve it. [They'd better. They should have built it themselves when they reconstructed the street!] The city will no longer be spending "8-80" money on [tearing down perfectly good two-story buildings to] widen the Randolph-Lexington intersection for cars [which would have truly caused Gil Peñalosa's head to explode with semantic insanity, methinks. It's good we're not doing that, because I like him]. [And now we wait for the gigantic state agency.] Neighbors were concerned about walkability and safety.


Headline: City Council OKs plan to restore evening parking on University; But it agrees to leave out that stretch of University from Prior to Aldine Street to allow room for bicycles to share the right lane
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: You'll be able to park your cars on University Avenue again but only in certain places and only at night. Gigantic sharrows will be painted on the street under the railroad bridge by the big box hardware store. [I'm sure larger-than-normal sharrows will change driver behavior.] Car traffic on the street is not as high as it was before the light rail train was built.


Headline: Handicap space sought for historic stone house
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An old building that will be a brewery needs to have a spaced for disabled people to park cars in the alley behind the building. Neighbors are concerned about parking and safety. [They didn't have cars in 1859, but they did have disabled people.]


Headline: Historic Hague Ave. church will be razed to make way for preschool; Plans for day care center altered to reduce footprint, add second story
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An abandoned church will be torn down and replaced with a day care center that was originally supposed to be one-story but will now be two-stories. Kids will speak Spanish and English there. Some neighbors like it because they like kids, others did not because they like old buildings. There will be landscaping. Neighbors are concerned about parking.


Headline: Denied drive-through service, CVS will open at Grand-Fairview anyway
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An abandoned Whole Foods grocery store will soon be a CVS store but without a drive-thru along the sidewalk after the City Council decided to deny the variance for the drive-thru. [Highlight of the piece by far is this...] Article quotes from testimony during the Council hearing: "Planning Commissioner Bill Lindeke [that's me!] said there is some interest on the part of his colleagues to consider banning new drive-throughs in St. Paul." [Did I say that? That certainly was not my main point. I might have said this, but I did not mean to say exactly this, if I did. I might have meant to say that the Commission has considered limiting drive-throughs because of their negative impact on walkability, and I certainly said that Minneapolis was planning on doing so in all of its pedestrian overlay districts, which are the equivalent to Saint Paul's "traditional neighborhood" districts, sort of. Regardless, I said something, and this is the first time that the Highland Villager has explicitly quoted me in an article, so that's something I guess. It's a bit weird though, weirder than the time my knee appeared on the front page.] The new non-drive-thru CVS will have trucks delivering things to it. Neighbors are concerned about building design and walkability. Article quotes bike guy who would like to see another grocery store there.


Headline: Jackson St. rebuilding cost doubles
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A downtown street that is being reconstructed will cost a lot of money, more than people thought at first. The increase is because of gas, water and electrical upgrades, and a "leap in construction costs." [Not that informative of a quote really.] The street will also have bike lanes and nice sidewalks.


Headline: BZA to review new plan for eight-unit condo at 1174 Grand
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Developers want to build a condo on Grand Avenue and are making it slightly shorter because the first plan was rejected by people who thought it was too tall. [The neighboring buildings on either side are just about the same height even though they don't have indoor parking and this one does.] Article quotes the developer saying that the city's comprehensive plan calls for more density. [This is true.] Article quotes developer: "it's been difficult, I'm not going to lie." [This is exactly the kind of "missing middle" development that many people would like to see more of, only here it was fought vehemently, which might tend to discourage such attempts in the future methinks.] Neighbors are concerned about parking and sunlight.


PS. I read the Highland Villager this fortnight while listening to Verdi's La Traviata, with the recitative translated into German for some reason. I like Verdi very much!