Secrets of the City

Maybe the new line could be something like the Green Line and the Hiawatha line be the Red line. Or is that copying too much?

From the LRT naming story:

What do you think the Central Corridor Light Rail line ought to be called? Join the discussion at twincities.com  before the politicians decide for you.

Was that just a cut-and-paste from the print article? Because that’s a really useless link. And the comments at the PiPress are predictably retarded. I will give credit for “Tween Cities” though. I presume they mean ‘tween as in between and not as in 8-10 year olds

Two more points:

1. There’s a difference between naming the individual LRT lines and the system as a whole. I think Hiawatha and Central Corridor and the other proposed names are just fine. What to call the system as a whole is still up for discussion.

2. This has already been discussed on Metroblogging, in the Mpls Issues Forum, and I’m damn near positive it was discussed on mnspeak way before either of those although I can’t seem to find it.

I like “The Willis” after former Twins pitcher Carl “The Big Train” Willis.

Everybody on board the Willis!

PiPress: Light-rail route needs a memorable moniker

How ’bout the “Wang Ho?”

I would ride the Wang Ho.

How about “Rondo Redux?”

You wouldn’t get that unless you’re a seasoned citizen.

Or watch TPT, who does tons of documentaries about Rondo.

Or attended the Minnesota History Center’s unveiling of the Tiger Jack exhibit in 2003, complete with his little shack.

Given that a University Avenue light rail would run partly through Frogtown, how about calling it The Frogger or The Rapid Ribbit. Central Croaker?

I miss Tiger Jack. I stopped and left some flowers on his shack after I heard of his passing.

Frogtown was named for all the frenchies who lived there.

Frogtown was named for all the frenchies who lived there.

Perhaps not, accord to this:

Frogtown or Thomas-Dale

That’s the politically correct version.

Who cares how it got named Frogtown. Wouldn’t you love to ride the Rapid Ribbit?

Local historian! I choose you!

PS, I endorse Kevin’s suggestion to call it The Frogger.

With people trying to cross university without getting killed by one, perhaps Frogger is the best name. heh

I recommend that we name the train after Fredrick L. McGhee, lawyer and activist from Saint Paul.

Let’s face it; given either the current price or the eventual price, how can you NOT call it the Gold Line?

Given my two plus years riding the bus down University, I’d say the jaywalkers are well adept enough at dodging vehicles that they will easily adapt to dodging The Frogger.

There are a lot of them, aren’t there, kev? I always watch very carefully — some will just step right into the road without warning.

Once, near University and Victoria, I saw a deer running across the road. It was about 6:30 a.m.

Better yet — The David Strom Special.

Bruhahahahahahaha!

Gee, I’d leave this comment on the original article, but it would just get buried under the regressive babbling of a hundred anarchists from North Oaks wondering why everyone doesn’t just get a nice reliable Buick.

How about the Core?

I’ve written about Central Corridor and its various iterations for more than two decades for the various St. Paul neighborhood newspapers and for suburban newspapers. The naming decision was made by Ramsey County, not Met Council, so I found it curious that no one from the county recounted that for the article.
Historic note: It WAS the Midway Corridor in the 1980s. I still like that name.
People also forget that for many years, the plan was to run the line down the center of I-94, with the possibility of extending east into Washington County and Wisconsin. That, too has naming possibilities — some stranger than others.

Thanks Jane, very informative. Now I’m curious so feel free to share some of those strange names.

well, there were some strange ones — I recall someone wanting to use combinations of the county names, like ram-wash. That was kind of a huh? It sounds like what you do with your livestock at the county fair.
there was a Washington County commissioner who wanted to call the rail line the Cheesehead Express, in honor of a link to Wisconsin.
There were also jokes about the placement in the freeway trench years ago, so it was the Not Quite Underground or the Trench Line at the some of the St. Paul neighborhood meetings.
There are about 20 distinctly named neighborhoods all along the St. Paul section alone so I don’t know which neighborhood name you’d pick. a group called Big Stick Productions did a map several years ago with all of the Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhood names so I’d have to dig that out. Frogtown IS a great name but I don’t know how you’d single them out and not hurt feelings in Aurora-St. Anthony, Iris Park, East Midway, South St. Anthony Park, Capitol Heights, Howard Park, etc.