How to convert sprawl to urbanity?

[Linda_d]

Originally Posted by memph

I think retail is pretty "centralized" today too, or at least clustered together. It's that they're clustered around auto infrastructure and not necessarily that close to where population is clustered (close = 10 min walk, usually still within 10min drive).

Actually, retail decentralized as cities grew in population and spread out towards the city limits. Most city residents did not do all their shopping in downtowns by the turn of the 20th century, but shopped in their neighborhoods for food, clothing, hardware, legal services, funeral homes, etc. They used neighborhood restaurants and neighborhood entertainment like movie houses, bowling alleys, etc. Going downtown was a big event for most city residents because retail and entertainment -- and jobs -- were in their neighborhoods, especially among blue collar factory workers. You see the remnants of these neighborhood industrial/commercial areas in many older American cities today.

[Tim Randal Walker]

I have been having trouble posting a link. The basic idea is to rebrand Minneapolis/St. Paul as the "Capital of the North." The goal is to make the area fashionable, and attract human capital.