Secrets of the City

The Pioneer Press discussion board, like most other newpaper article chat features I have seen, are the lowest form of Internet life I have yet encountered. The level of discourse on MNspeak is lofty in comparision, even if the conversation was limited to a flame war between raindog, big g, maz and bud jr.

I’ve always wondered what that was. I thought it was a path to the parking lot for people who didn’t want to cross the street from Macy’s. I hope they build it. I’d liver there, if I could afford it.

Bob, you’re forgetting YouTube.

Second that on YouTube.

Does anybody remember City Pages discussions from back in the mid-90s? Those were pretty great until a single poster, calling himself Joe Blob, derailed the entire thing. They shut down the whole board just to make him go away.

Ah, memories.

Bob, you’re forgetting YouTube

I think you have a point.

A more representative example

Oi, that’s all we need downtown – more condos. We can’t even fill up the ones we have.

The best line ever….

If St. Paul seems cautious, it’s because it has been burned before.

As it turned out, he was not Italian but a Twin Cities native raised in Fargo, N.D. He conned hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors and pleaded guilty to fraud in an Arizona court.

Ahh, St. Paul, I love you but you are gullible. Thank god the Bridges is dead. That was plain stupid. I do support this development though as the city really does need development at its core. What always bugs me is the amorphous “arts venue” that all these developments claim they will have. What the hell does that mean? A gallery, a poster shop, a theater, a frickin’ Museum of Mythology? Just ’cause something looks good on paper doesn’t means it’s wise. Name some names. I mean, I could talk about how my kitchen remodel is going to contain an arts venue and condos but that doesn’t mean it actually is.

By the way they, the myriad developers, claimed the same thing for the Great Northern Lofts development. The first floor was going to be retail and a gallery. How’d that work out? They got the TIF financing, a bunch of $$ from the city and now it’s all luxury condos. No retail. No arts venue. Nada.

Nice condos though. My mother looked at one the other day.

I wouldn’t say St. Paul is hurting for square footage, either, but that skyway connection to nowhere looks awfully lonely, and I could never object to another one across 6th for a direct indoor route into Lawson.Commons.

St. Paul isn’t just a leader in surface parking lots — they also have the most parking ramps in various states of disguise. Such a shame to see old Lowertown buildings turned into indoor parking ramps lots.

Ahhh Lowertown. We may not have a grocery store, but our town has a magix shop. Does your town have a magic shop, hmmmm?

I didn’t think so. Who needs food when you’ve got magic!

If you can pull a rabbit out of hat, hey — rabbit stew!

Well, we do have a few smaller markets, that’s something – right? They just opened another one on Wabasha. I would kill for a larger grocery store closer though.

And yes, the stealth parking is a tad weird too. Seems like in St. Paul, if we don’t know what to do with a spot, parking ramp it is. But hey, I get to park for $65/month.

Only because your friendly building Association negotiated that price on your behalf with the developer, who wanted to charge owners – OWNERS who need parking – more than $80/month for parking. In the lot of the building they OWN condos in.

The level of discourse on MNspeak is lofty in comparision, even if the conversation was limited to a flame war between raindog, big g, maz and bud jr. — Heh!

I’m bemused by the PiPress discussion boards.

Hey! Another Laura Yuen article!

From said article: “What I say is, ‘Why don’t you get one project going and then start talking about the others?’” said City Council member Dave Thune. “Frankly, people get nervous when it looks like they’re biting off an awful lot before their dishes are served.”

That is such a St Paul thing to say. Okay, and probably pragmatic, too, if the guy’s as flaky as they make him out to be.

In August, he and business partner Henk Habers quietly bought the Minnesota Thunder and pledged their commitment to build a soccer stadium. — Wonder how that’s going to be funded…

I know Thune. He is an odd duck, but I like him.

Did you ever read the PP discussion boards on smoking bans erica? I very rarely join in (and always using my name and title), but there is someone who comments regularly there who is convinced I am posting constantly under assumed names. They go something like this: “DO NOT BELEAF THE LAST POSTER! That is really Bob moffit, spreading his filty lies!!! How much taxpapyers money did you pay Thune for the BAN, you freedom-hating liberal!!! –anonymous.

I love how they never sign their names….

Still spreading the liberal lies, eh, Moff?

Dad?

Only because your friendly building Association negotiated that price on your behalf with the developer, who wanted to charge owners – OWNERS who need parking – more than $80/month for parking. In the lot of the building they OWN condos in.

They’re selling you a condo, not a piece of the parking garage. There are upkeep costs associated with parking structures too. Plus it’s a nice little revenue stream they can count on when they’re financing the construction. It’s not like they’re building condos out of the goodness of their hearts, after all. It’s an investment which they expect to pay out.

And the way you emphasize OWNERS makes me think you believe that only renters should have to pay monthly for parking. Hey, I rent and get a parking spot as part of the deal (even though I don’t have a car). If you want to own a parking spot, you’ve got to expect to pay extra for it, as well as some monthly fees for power/maintinence/etc.

Well, I live downtown Saint Paul and work downtown Minneapolis. There is A LOT more surface parking in downtown Minneapolis. The worst areas are the block in front of the library, many areas along Hennepin, and the areas between the Government Center to the Metrodome. Also, there’s quite a long stretch of asphalt along Washington, though Washington seems to be improving. So much for the Gateway revitalization project in the 60s. St Paul’s worst area is along 10th/Jackson, but has far less surface lots than Mpls, which is definitely the leader by a LONG SHOT in surface parking lots.

Of course, there is a lot more office/retail vacancy in St Paul than in Minneapolis. But still, I’d rather have vacant spaces in a building as opposed to a surface parking lot filled with cracked asphalt like what seems to cover most of downtown Minneapolis.

Dave Thune just barely squeaked by in the election. His major accomplishment in downtown St Paul… A PLAYGROUND. Hosko received my vote. He runs a business downtown St Paul, and has true ideas about what the city needs. Thune seems to be fine with the status quo, which is not good enough for me.

They’re selling you a condo, not a piece of the parking garage.

Yuppers. When you buy a condo that includes parking, the price of your condo also reflects the price of that added “bonus.”

Good thing this ain’t Manhattan. I’ve read somewhere that the going rate for a condo/co-op parking spot mid-town is around $60k to purchase.

Love your comments Saloth Sar. You have just nailed what is so wrong with downtown development. . . or what passes for that. . . in St. Paul.
As for Laura Yuen, thank goodness she isn’t cheerleading for this proposal the same way she slanted her Bridges coverage in favor of Jerry (poor man’s Donald Trump) Trooien

Good thing this ain’t Manhattan. I’ve read somewhere that the going rate for a condo/co-op parking spot mid-town is around $60k to purchase.

Which is why most people who live in Manhattan don’t own a car.

My condo included the parking spot but I also pay a portion of my association dues for its maintenance. I even get a separate tax statement for the parking spot.

I work in Golden Valley
I live downtown St Paul
I left work at 2:33pm
I got home at 4:28pm

BOO!

I live two miles from work and it took 40 minutes. Normally takes 9.

I was in a cab for almost 2 1/2 hours trying to get home from the airport. I still haven’t made it home. I finally asked the driver to drop me at a restaurant so I could get something to eat and have a drink. I just couldn’t sit in that cab any longer. I’m waiting for Rich to pick me up. Who the hell knows how long it will take him to get here. I have a funny feeling I’ll be missing book club tonight. [sigh]

Left work at 4:50, got home at 7:21. That’s on the bus, btw. 11 miles.

It took me close to three hours to get home tonight, jenc17. It was terrible.

As for Dave Thune, he yields significant power on the City Council, even though he officially holds no leadership position. He will also be remembered as the “Father of the smoking ban.” Thune was first to propose a smoking ban, he passed it three times (vetoed twice by then Mayor Kelly, his action launched ordinances in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Bloomington and Golden Valley. The movement then spead to other cities (including Saint Paul, at last, after Coleman was elected) and counties in greater Minnesota and within three years, the entire state was smokeefree. Thune played little role in the later actions, but he certainly got things rolling.

Sorry, 7:12, not 7:21. Incidentally, we were so full that the bus didn’t even make the 6/Wabasha stop.

Today would have been a very bad day to bike commute my 19 miles each way and it was a horrid drive. If only someone would invent and install a commuter system that moved large groups of traffic quickly and efficiently.

I saw a guy on a bike.

Bet I saw a half dozen people on bicycles.

If you had the sense that God Gave a Goose, you wouldn’t ride a bicycle in this weather.

Bicycling is over until April.

No mas!

I biked today. Totally smoked all the traffic that was just sitting there.

Hooray for biking. Normally my commute is 20 mins, today it was 30. The unplowed streets slowed me down somewhat.

Greenway was plowed already at 5pm.

The greenway was plowed Sunday morning by my house at least. So was the new ramp, but the guy did take out a huge chunk of sod b/c the path wasn’t marked. It’s typically cleared well before the streets b/c the park board does it, as opposed to the city. It doesn’t look like it’s been done yet today.

No mas!

Actually I bike every day in the winter and see many people biking as well. Totally awesome that the bike culture around here persists in the winter.

It really isn’t that bad at all. I enjoy the extra time outside and I want to embrace the cold and winter as much as possible. Can’t wait to find some time to test my new -20F sleeping bag by spending a night in the yard.

Woo-Hoo biking in the winter.

if you had the sense that god gave a goose

Sorry, atheist here, don’t god doesn’t really compute well with me.

Funny. I have a meeting with Thune in the morning. The city is looking to get some bonds rolling for building improvements downtown.

I think it took me four minutes to walk home from work instead of the usual three. Sucked.

Please don’t turn this into a bicycle thread. Let’s keep it focused on a “St. Paul is full of idiots” topic.

Some would argue me biking year around in Saint Paul is a reinforcement of your “St. Paul is full of idiots” theory, but if it’s focus you want I’d like to know what percentage of the people posting on Pioneer Press discussion boards are actually from Saint Paul.

Hey cj why did they f* with the 53 schedule in the morning so we now have to 53B buses leapfrogging each other all the way to St. Paul? Now the schedule is 6:5X, 7:16, 7:17, 7:3X. Wouldn’t it make a helluva lot more sense to spread them out more evenly?

Can’t wait to find some time to test my new -20F sleeping bag by spending a night in the yard.

Heh!

Thune and building improvements? Seems his idea of good building improvements are if there are no businesses. What is he doing about Town Square Park? Some building improvements could be used there. Or the completely vacant Pioneer/Endicott Buildings, as well as the Minnesota Buildings? Those buildings apparently are better being empty to get tax benefits than they are being full with businesses.

I am a non-smoker, but it is fascist of him to state how a restaurant or bar must not allow smoking inside.