Perhaps if there were games every day, downtown would be a bustling place in the evening, but thankfully, there aren't. Perhaps when E-block is completed, I'll be able to evaluate how busy Hennepin traffic is, but for now I avoid it as much as possible -- past Davanni's going north. It still has a dirty, dangerous feel. In the areas of downtown I frequent (south of Davannis or east of Hennepin), my experiences are much closer to Roxana's. In the central area of downtown, just about the only place that is open in the wee hours is Kinko's and you can't get a decent cup of tea there. Most of the skyway food areas close after lunch and most of the stores of any sort are closed all weekend (in other words, people who aren't on the street level are not purposefully in the skyways after about 2 p.m. Friday). The area near the dome, itself an eyesore, is a wasteland of parking lots.
Still, I've been very pleased to see people on Nicollet Mall on occasional weekend days (no one but milling sales staff in Neimann Marcus and Saks; quite a few in Marshall Field's and Target). It's not crowded, inside or out, by any means, and it's nowhere near as busy as it was in the days of Woolworth's etc., but some weekends it does look as if downtown Minneapolis has risen from the dead. Peace. N.S. Gill About Guide to Minneapolis/St. Paul http://minneapolis.about.com About Guide to Ancient/Classical History http://ancienthistory.about.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Snyder" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I don't mean to sound disrespectful Roxana, but have you been downtown > lately? I share your preference for not adding taxes onto Minneapolis-only > if it can be avoided, but the downtown you describe sounds nothing like what > I know. > [snip]Oftentimes before games, I'll go downtown early and > get a haircut and visit the shops before tip-off. > > It is not dead downtown at 5pm by any means. Now, the streets may not be > packed in the winter because of that neat invention called skyways, but it's > definitely not dead. Hennepin Ave is quite busy and with foot traffic [snip] > Nicollet Mall generally has foot traffic, which I'm either a part of when I > go downtown early or that I see before games when I get downtown right > before tip-off, since I park at the ramp on 9th and LaSalle. Heck, I see > people at Marshall Fields still shopping AFTER the games, when it's nearly > 10pm! _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
