Make the Twin Cities even better !!! (Minneapolis, St. Paul: casino, live, restaurants)

[tijlover]

More urban sitting benches (Can there ever be enough of them?) and easy to find restrooms is a great plus for any city.

And given the grayness of MN winters, colorful murals, neon lighting wherever possible.

[Joe3rdwash]

They actually do have a indoor artificial park
It's called Edinborough Park, although not known well
We should make a bigger one and have it well advertised plus more realistic
I think we should create a virtual barrier to stop the creation of new suburbs
We could do it while having open spaces and beautiful lake views like the west metro
I think SOME school districts need to join in with others
Look at Hennipen County Library System
its #2 in the nation !!!! Heading to the crown

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by BillWallace

It's funny that you mention the indoor park thing. I had this brainstorm about a business idea - indoor dog park. Take some run down strip mall, like the one in Burnsville at Cty 5 and Burnsville Parkway, and put in a play area for dogs and walking track. I think my dogs are already going stir crazy.

Then I started thinking about all the issues like dog waste, barking, biting, ventilation, liability and most of all - what do you do in the 8 months when it's nice and nobody will pay?

Just another brainstorm that has no merit - unless you like it in which case you are free to steal my idea as long as I get a free pass to try it out.

It could work, just make it a doggy daycare in the summer! I once held a brief temp job in LA in a semi-industrial area, and used to walk past one of them on a regular basis. There were windows, and it looked like one big open space with a couple of old couches plopped in the middle; a couple of dogs were always napping on the couches, while the rest looked like they were having a great time running around. LA didn't have the same weather issues as here, of course, so I assume this was geared towards people who worked long hours and wanted their dogs to have time to run around during the day.

[Astron1000]

Confine urban sprawl, first and foremost (although this will never happen as long as the Governor keeps putting people with ties to suburban development on the Met Council).

Some people may think roads are cheap. They are not. And their cost is hidden within the system. Taxpayers are subsidizing the desire of developers to build further and further out, where land is cheaper and they can make a bigger buck. The infrastructure needed to sustain those new developments falls squarely on the shoulder of taxpayers. You are paying to run new waste management lines, gas & electrical lines and pavement to those cul-de-sacs. Not to mention the annual upkeep.

On a related note, continue infill building and development. There is a lot of vacant land available in the central cities that can easily accommodate growth for years.

Increase density and rebuild the Twin Cities' once mighty streetcar system.

Overhaul - or, as Thomas Fisher suggests, eliminate - the zoning system. Bureaucratically enforced separation of uses is economically wasteful and a burden of resources. And it's contrary to 5,000 years of city evolution.

Regarding liquor sales on Sunday - yes, that's a holdover of the "Blue Laws" that give preferential treatment to the Christian sabbath. Seems unconstitutional to me.

[southernsmoke]

Originally Posted by Astron1000

Regarding liquor sales on Sunday - yes, that's a holdover of the "Blue Laws" that give preferential treatment to the Christian sabbath. Seems unconstitutional to me.

I'm not expressing a policy preference here, but I'd like to hear your case that a statute prohibiting liquor sales on Sunday is unconstitutional.

[mrconfusion87]

More nonstop international flights to the area! Even if it means approaching airlines other than Delta for it!

[laxster]

Originally Posted by Joe3rdwash

They actually do have a indoor artificial park
It's called Edinborough Park, although not known well
We should make a bigger one and have it well advertised plus more realistic
I think we should create a virtual barrier to stop the creation of new suburbs
We could do it while having open spaces and beautiful lake views like the west metro
I think SOME school districts need to join in with others
Look at Hennipen County Library System
its #2 in the nation !!!! Heading to the crown

Edinborough isn't my cup of tea. It's pretty small and serves too many purposes. I wish there were more places like Como! I went there with some friends last weekend to escape the winter cold and visit the "tropics".

The Zoo is also open 365 days per year, and it's not so crowded. Many of the buildings had absolutely no one in them, making for a fun experience watching the animals.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by laxster

Edinborough isn't my cup of tea. It's pretty small and serves too many purposes. I wish there were more places like Como! I went there with some friends last weekend to escape the winter cold and visit the "tropics".

The Zoo is also open 365 days per year, and it's not so crowded. Many of the buildings had absolutely no one in them, making for a fun experience watching the animals.

Como is awesome. We probably go there 10 times a year. I agree that few other places in the area offer good indoor entertainment in the winter.

[kurls]

How about a separation of church and state against blue laws! Abolish the Met Council.

[Nordeaster]

I think the Sunday liquor law is somewhat ridiculous. How many people in this state get drunk watching football every Sunday? You can go to a bar and get drunk on Sunday. You can buy booze on Saturday to get drunk with on Sunday, but for some reason you can't purchase beer to take home on Sunday. So dumb.