Russ sez:
I didn't see anything really inspiring, just a lot of lines and squares on
paper.
C'mon, man, the glass isn't always half-empty! grin This is an early idea!
In spite of the bewildering Star Tribune graphic (designers: when you use
that many colors, make 'em more distinct, or also use patterns!), this
generally looks like the right idea for the space. Retail on Lake Street,
housing facing the Greenway, delivery/parking junk in the middle.
Theoretically, this showcases how the Greenway can enhance commercial design
a couple of blocks away.
The devil, of course, is in the details, but I hope something like this
happens. Even though I live south of there close to Nicollet and know the
traffic will explode (we factored this in when we purchased here six years
ago, so no problem).
One thing to keep your eye on is how transit is integrated in the area.
There's supposed to be buses or LRT on the greenway, but also a major
"transfer station" for bus passengers at Lake and 35W. What's happened is a
lot of these developments have overwhelmed the planning, but it makes sense
to me to have one major highway collection/transfer point that accomodates
both Greenway transit users and Lake St. riders. (Right now, the Greenway
users couldn't transer to the highway north-south route without walking two
blocks to the Lake St. transfer station.) The problem is, as the transit
planning has lurched forward, some of the newer ideas like Greenway transit,
for example haven't been integrated into an older master plan.
By the way, is the Sherman involved formerly of Sherman-Boosalis?
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
