How cities work and change, how they are the product of their inhabitants and outside forces, and the resulting livability keep me thinking and dreaming about the future. I work in urban real estate development, am an Executive of an Uptown business organization, grew up in Uptown, was on an Uptown neighborhood association Board, and am an Uptown and Lyn-Lake historian. I started OurUptown.com in the early 2000s to serve a growing need for visitor information and local business news. In October 2010, the visitor content was donated to the Uptown Association and the new OurUptown.com was started as a way to share business and community news and opinion.

Charging for apartment parking – part 2

A project in West Calhoun caused the neighborhood group to raise concerns over parking, including asking the developer to add more stalls and include them in rent.

Traffic calming – potential strategies

There are a lot of traffic calming options out there aimed at improving pedestrian safety. We have a number of options already in use in Uptown, but there are some others that may make sense to try out at some point. Let’s explore and discuss.

Charging for apartment parking

With some new apartment buildings charging for off-street parking, apparently some neighbors are upset as cars spill to the streets instead. Some questions are being asked about this, whether this will translate into policy change has yet to be seen.

Planning: 1964 Henn-Lake Study

A preliminary study from 1964 on the Uptown area of Minneapolis looked at the Hennepin-Lake shopping district and discussed a concept for the area.

Vegan in Uptown

We’ll start with a disclaimer: I’m not a vegan, but I do eat often eat vegan due to food allergies. I recently traveled to Vancouver, BC and visited a couple of great vegan businesses while I was there. I had my first vegan chocolate croissant, a chocolate cake doughnut, a cupcake, and cookie sandwich. All [...]

Lowry Hill District brand launch

After years of having a difficult brand, the South Hennepin district in Uptown has re-branded as the Lowry Hill District.

A cycle track for Lake Street?

While no proposal currently exists to bring a cycle track to Lake Street in Uptown, I think the community, City, and County should serious consider one. Lake Street, especially west of Hennepin to Lake Calhoun, has excessively wide lanes and has room to add one. What the heck is a cycle track? A cycle track [...]

Bennett Lumber redevelopment update 4/7/12

The east parcel should start construction in April and conceptual massing was discussed for the west parcels.

Uptown Business News – 4/7/12

Primebar coming to Calhoun Square, late night hours, some relocations, and more.

Trader Joe’s update

Trader Joe’s tweaks design, fails to gain neighborhood association support (or opposition), and details emerge on the land use approval process.