Will Minneapolis ever see 500,000 again? (St. Paul, Plymouth: mortgages, to live in, assessment)

[green_mariner]

Maybe Minneapolis should do alot of in-fill building.

[Kid Cann]

Well I asked this about 2 pages ago, but does MPLS have much open space?

[smith21]

we need more highrise residential buildings in the city but as we all know people complain about that because they dont want a highrise in there neighborhood for whatever reason. Its a city and if you dont like tall buildings and dense neighborhoods that are growing and have no way to go but up move to the burbs.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

Well I asked this about 2 pages ago, but does MPLS have much open space?

There is tons of space to build up. Also, there are still alot of places that are undeveloped or underdeveloped. Several are mentioned in the Rybak article on the last page.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Slig

There is tons of space to build up. Also, there are still alot of places that are undeveloped or underdeveloped. Several are mentioned in the Rybak article on the last page.

Then why not develop those spaces?

[uptown_urbanist]

Some of them are being developed; others face neighbor opposition (because of fears of traffic, etc.), etc. I assume that once the economy improves that there will be significantly more activity. I know of many pockets of land, even in prime areas like Uptown, that are sitting empty (some with "coming soon" signs) because the demand just isn't there right now for much new construction.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Some of them are being developed; others face neighbor opposition (because of fears of traffic, etc.), etc. I assume that once the economy improves that there will be significantly more activity. I know of many pockets of land, even in prime areas like Uptown, that are sitting empty (some with "coming soon" signs) because the demand just isn't there right now for much new construction.

I am aware that Mpls and St. Paul have been losing population since the 1950's, and at the same time, I don't think it is for the same reasons as Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and other cities in the "rust belt" region. I figure those couldn't be the reasons. What would be nice is to develop those areas. I read today that the era of the "McMansion" is coming to an end, and maybe one can cash in on that somehow.

[Minnesota Spring]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

I am aware that Mpls and St. Paul have been losing population since the 1950's, and at the same time, I don't think it is for the same reasons as Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and other cities in the "rust belt" region. I figure those couldn't be the reasons. What would be nice is to develop those areas. I read today that the era of the "McMansion" is coming to an end, and maybe one can cash in on that somehow.

Actually, it seems that the populations of Mpls and St. Paul have pretty much bottomed out around the 1990 census and have been steady or actually growing slightly since then, so at least we are not losing people any more like Detroit and Cleveland etc. The economy of the metro area as a whole is very strong compared to the economies of many rust belt cities, so that helps out alot. I think a lot of the growth has to do with the resurgance in residential development in and around downtown Minneapolis. The downtown area has seen the construction of quite a few condos in the past decade. I think the population has been ticking up in the uptown, northeast (old St. Anthony) and areas around the light rail line. There is an interactive map somewhere (I think the city's web site) where you can actually see the population changes by neighborhood. Suburban development has definatly slowed down quite a bit since the housing bust, but than again so has condo development. However it seems that although population growth in the outer ring suburbs and counties have come to a crawl in the latest estimates, the populations of the central cities and Hennepin and Ramsey counties have actually picked up pace.

[west336]

I think of it like inflating a balloon......push, push, release, push, push, release. The downturn in population in nature's "exhale" when growing or even staying afloat.

[future_minneapolitan]

Originally Posted by west336

I think of it like inflating a balloon......push, push, release, push, push, release. The downturn in population in nature's "exhale" when growing or even staying afloat.

You can think of it that way, but I don't think losing 1/3 of a city's population is a natural ebb and flow of city growth. It's more like some extreme white flight.