Shot in the Dark

Their Best Interests

A friend of the blog emails:

North Minneapolis residents have voiced concern frequently about the Blue Line extension, which is supposed to “benefit them” per the elites who would never be caught dead on public transit, but in actuality will likely drive residents out to some new location so the elites have a new hipster playground.

A developer for the area says, “I think it’s horribly sad and unfortunate for the community to take out a performing office building.”

I offer him to check out University Avenue following the Green Line project. While that project didn’t demolish any buildings immediately, it has gradually over the past almost 10 years emptied the street. Whether the Blue Line extension demolishes the building that houses KMOJ right now or not, I would guess the area will be gutted within a decade anyway.

Of course, to the Met Council, “lessons learned” are of no more importance than “public feedback”.

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Mitch Berg

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12 responses to “Their Best Interests”

  1. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Using University Avenue before-and-after light rail is the wrong metric to measure success.

    Liberals are to be judged on Intentions, not Results. The fact that The War on Poverty destroyed Black families and left them generationally less successful than before Liberals started ‘helping’ is completely irrelevent to the discussion. Their motives were honorable and pure, therefore the program was a resounding success.

    So, too, the fact that light rail replaced the thriving retail businesses along University Avenue with a thug-trolley and abandoned businesses is completely irrelevent to the discussion. Their motives were honorable and pure, therefore the program was a resounding success. As the Blue Line will be, in the end.

  2. Pig Bodine Avatar
    Pig Bodine

    N Mpls has a bunch of empty lots and ready-to-raze buildings … it would be an ideal place to put half dozen Cedar Square West type high rises in furtherance of Mpls’ goal of remaking itself as a 15 minute City

  3. MacArthur Wheeler Avatar
    MacArthur Wheeler

    The next very progressive idea that the MET Council should embrace is limiting the construction of ANY future big box stores to locations no more than 100 yards from a light rail station/stop. That way folks won’t have to walk so far with their shoplifted goods to get on a train back home.

  4. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Well sure, now that this guy has been locked up, the streets of North Minneapolis are perfectly safe to build light rail and new office towers.

    https://alphanews.org/minneapolis-shootout-suspect-sentenced-to-over-15-years-in-federal-prison-on-gun-charge/

    Oddly, it wasn’t the city or county prosecuting him. He wasn’t sentenced for shooting at a moving car or any other state crime. He was prosecuted by the feds for a single count of possession of a gun by a felon.

    https://www.atf.gov/news/pr/minneapolis-felon-pleads-guilty-illegal-possession-firearm-2

    Look, people, if you’re going to depend on the federal government to clean up your streets one thug at a time, it’s going to take forever. How about a little help from local law enforcement? Is that too much to ask?

  5. John "Bigman" Jones Avatar
    John “Bigman” Jones

    Moderation. Probably objected to the link. Try again:

    “Well sure, now that Dominique McCaskel has been locked up (look for him on Alpha News), the streets of North Minneapolis are perfectly safe to build light rail and new office towers.

    Oddly, it wasn’t the county prosecuting him. He wasn’t sentenced for shooting at a moving car or any other state crime. He was prosecuted by the feds for a single count of possession of a gun by a felon.

    Look, people, if you’re going to depend on the federal government to clean up your streets one thug at a time, it’s going to take forever. How about a little help from local law enforcement? Is that too much to ask? “

  6. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    Two links, Big guy. Asshole-met or whatever it’s called, doesn’t allow more than 1 link per comment.

  7. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    Pig, also, more room for experimental theaters, interpretive dance and of course, more sports facilities! Rugby team needs a stadium, no? How about tennis and pickleball? XFL? x-country ski track needs a lot of room!

  8. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    One would hope that the sheer cost of light rail vis-a-vis buses would kill it off, and this is only one small part of it. However, no such luck, sad to say.

  9. Pig Bodine Avatar
    Pig Bodine

    bb
    when the Met Council is involved cost is not an issue
    if you want to dive down an entertaining rabbithole tally up the Met projects that have come in at or under budget in the last 25 years
    then for the real fun tally up the overruns by % and by actual $

    cost is NOT an issue.

  10. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    No doubt, Pig. I once reckoned that a huge portion of the string of failed Met council projects had their roots in the HomerDome. Instead of updating Met Stadium, you build the HomerDome. So then you are on the hook for rebuilding Met Stadium’s site, and you get massive subsidies for the Mall of America. So then downtown shopping is decimated, and you get Block E. And then people figure out that city people have trouble getting to the MOA, so you get the Hiawatha Line. So Pig’s Eye gets jealous of the Minneapolis Death Train, so you get the Green (?) Line. Then Minnesota sports fans figure out that the HomerDome is a dump, so you get Target Field, the U’s new stadium, and the new Crystal Cathedral. And then you need ……

    “need”. Maybe….just….stop?

  11. Pig Bodine Avatar
    Pig Bodine

    bb
    thats just the headline grabbers
    the Met has been doing a lot of projects; for instance the various watershed district improvements, right-of-way improvements, solid waste management facility improvement, energy & sustainability, Tribal engagement, landfills, etc.
    If we didn’t know better we’d think Tony Soprano was running things.

  12. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    No doubt, but it just strikes me that a lot of the big ticket projects are “required” because of the damage previous big ticket projects have done.

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