The Urban Steppe
By Mitch Berg
I love the new Guthrie. Oh, it’s disconcerting, and when you react to it – inside or out – you feel like you’re playing a part that’s been pretty well scripted out for you by some dweeby little metrosexual architect somewhere, as if you’re part of his artistic vision…
…but at the end of the day, it’s a great place to go to watch not just a play, but to see the world go by.
Inside the building.
Outside? A very different story.
The area around the New Guthrie is a dreary, arid place; cold and cement-y in the winter, dry and hot in the summer. It’s long been one of the most depressing parts of Minneapolis.
The Strib’s architecture beat reporter (for now), Linda Mack, points the finger:
Stand in front of Spoonriver, the streetwise new restaurant facing the Guthrie Theater, and you’ll feel the problem. The cafe’s outdoor tables with their orange umbrellas are inviting, but what lines the street? Parking meters.
No trees are allowed on this part of S. 2nd Street because most of the buildings are historic ones. Trees weren’t part of the original industrial landscape that the St. Anthony Falls Historic District protects, preservationists argue, so trees aren’t allowed today.
That’s absurd. There weren’t sidewalks either when this area between the mills on 2nd Street and Washington Avenue was a giant rail yard. But there are sidewalks now, and people living in the mills and walking the streets. The city should foster neighborhoods that are as livable as possible, and there’s nothing that works better than trees.
But…:
In Minneapolis, the city’s Public Works Department holds more sway than the Planning Department. And despite Mayor Rybak’s push to turn Washington Avenue into a tree-lined boulevard, the nearby streets are wanting.
In Minneapolis, bureaucracy trumps the market.
Which is a shame, because it’d be nice to walk out of just about the coolest theater in the business onto a street that looks like something other than a Bloomington car lot sans cars.
Especially since, y’know, that’s what the market is trying to do, without any tax money needed in the process.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Cue is a beautiful space but the food needs some work to live up to the space and the prices. The area arounf the Guthrie needs some major work and many developers would love to do it if the city would cut them some slack on their insane regulations.
The current rules practically require to sprout straight up out of old parking lots. The city’s rules pretty much assure that the area remains ugly.
May 16th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
The new Guthrie itself is a looming mountain of darkness that blocks out the sun. There is a structure that goes from the new Guthrie to the parking ramp that isn’t even a skyway – it’s just freakin’ there, evidently.
A lot of work has been put into making that area the new hipness – but it’s just too damned depressing. They wanted concrete and steel and they got it. Even the new/old loft buildings are bland. They apparently were commissioned to create brick boxes without any whimsy or flair or anything.
And, the powers-that-be even took out my favorite liquor store in the bargain. Liquor Depot was one fine bottle shoppe – and it is no more. Good going, fellas. All those responsible for that area’s development should feel deep shame.