I live in Powderhorn, 4 blocks off Lake. We bought in the neighborhood last year; before that I rented for 2 years on 17th Ave & 34th street, and before that more than a year at 32nd & Oakland. I'm not real active in the neighborhood politically, but I do live here.
I don't see how the Access project could help Powderhorn/Phillips financially. It seems to me that it will put a lot of strain on the small businesses that actually hire people from the neighborhood - how will they deal with traffic being messed up for however long the road is under construction? And what will widening Lake do to the bus/foot traffic they depend on now? I don't see the suburbanites who won't drive on Lake now suddenly waking up and thinking "Wow, I can get to the Bloomington Mercado 10 minutes faster, I should go buy something at the panaderia!" but making it hard to cross Lake or Bloomington by adding turn lanes *will* cut down their "I want to grab a juice before I catch the bus to work" business.
And if Allina were going to hire lots of people from the neighborhood, they wouldn't need the highway access.
It would be great if there were something in the Sears Building, but I think we deserve something better than an office building (will it close up early like the unemployment building at Lake & Chicago & the Indian Work Building, leaving a big blank dark space to walk past?) dominated by one large single player that will use it as a pawn to get concessions from the city.
Jennifer Pedersen, Powderhorn Park
(p.s. - I was pretty pessimistic about the light rail cutting right through my commute, but making it illegal to turn left on red from Portland to 5th street is going to save some lives all by itself.)
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