Make the Twin Cities even better !!! (Minneapolis, Bloomington: real estate, apartments, city hall)

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

^I agree about bar close -- it should be 3 a.m. at least. When I go out I usually "pregame" until 11 or so and don't really get inside to where I'm going until at least midnight, which gives me about 1.5 hours to pound a few expensive drinks before they turn on the lights and do last call. Most people aren't ready to stop at 1:30-1:45 and the result is you have a lot of beligerant drunks leaving the bars at once and looking for alcohol/trouble. I realize this is better than when we had 1:00 close, so maybe it'll take a few years for this idea to catch on, but I firmly believe that the later the close (to a certain point, like 4 a.m.) the less likely you'll have a rush of people hitting the streets at once looking for more "entertainment".

[audadvnc]

How about offering free euthanasia services for bad drivers? Here in Minnesota we call them "winter roads"... best of all, they're already here!

[southernsmoke]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Sunday Laws are odd, even if they never really apply to you. I find myself needing to go buy booze on a Sunday maybe a few times a year. Do I need to purchase a car on a Sunday? No, but it's just the principle of it all. I don't get the "too much of one thing" or "too much of a good thing" type of attitude. Why hinder commerce at the expense of an age old law that predates us all?

As to the Sunday laws: you could reframe the issue as an employee-friendly statute. Some things need to be made available on Sundays. But, like you said, I can't imagine many scenarios where you have an emergency and need to BUY a car on a Sunday. But I just say that to make the point that you could reframe a lot of these issues... I agree with you that dealerships should be legally permitted to sell cars on Sundays--as a general proposition, I like less governmental interference/regulation.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by southernsmoke

As to the Sunday laws: you could reframe the issue as an employee-friendly statute. Some things need to be made available on Sundays. But, like you said, I can't imagine many scenarios where you have an emergency and need to BUY a car on a Sunday. But I just say that to make the point that you could reframe a lot of these issues... I agree with you that dealerships should be legally permitted to sell cars on Sundays--as a general proposition, I like less governmental interference/regulation.

I could see that. But, there is also a slew of people that would do anything to work right now, even on a Sunday.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

^I agree about bar close -- it should be 3 a.m. at least. When I go out I usually "pregame" until 11 or so and don't really get inside to where I'm going until at least midnight, which gives me about 1.5 hours to pound a few expensive drinks before they turn on the lights and do last call. Most people aren't ready to stop at 1:30-1:45 and the result is you have a lot of beligerant drunks leaving the bars at once and looking for alcohol/trouble. I realize this is better than when we had 1:00 close, so maybe it'll take a few years for this idea to catch on, but I firmly believe that the later the close (to a certain point, like 4 a.m.) the less likely you'll have a rush of people hitting the streets at once looking for more "entertainment".

Exactly. That's how it is in Chicago. Most places are 4am on weekends. Where by then, people just want to go home, and usually go straight home and continue partying or pass out, or just get breakfast then go to bed. But at 2am you have all of a sudden half beligerent drunks downtown not ready to go home or go to bed, so ruckus is caused.

[Joe3rdwash]

other ways other than alcohol please

[MN55]

Socialize the bars!!!! Free beer for eeryone!!!

[Thegonagle]

What the heck is wrong with coordinated traffic signals? The intersections in Minneapolis and St. Paul are too close together NOT to coordinate them. In fact, the twin cities has a combination of both, which operate in different modes (sensor vs. rigid coordination) depending on the time of day, traffic conditions, and the individual decisions of the agency maintaining the particular signals. MN-DOT and the suburbs rely on sensors a lot during off-peak times, but during rush hour, I generally notice some form of coordination between close intersections.

During rush hour, MN-DOT likes very long cycle lengths on state highways such as 7, 47, and 65, which helps get a lot of cars moving at once on the main line, while lighter traffic on the cross streets waits (and waits, and waits). Late nights/early mornings, those same highways will give you a green on the cross street within a few seconds of showing up.

In Bloomington, some lights are coordinated in groups at certain times, and are activated by sensors at other times.

Minneapolis has generally shorter distances between intersections, and many equally busy streets intersect, so shorter cycle lengths aim to move a block's worth of traffic at a time, and when possible, create a 20-35 MPH "wave of green" on one ways. Minneapolis prefers to keep the signals coordinated at all times, so even at intersections with sensors and pedestrian buttons, they give you the green (or walk) at the beginning of the next cycle.

I think Minneapolis generally does a pretty good job, but they could probably do some things better. They recently upgraded their main traffic signal computer (about a year and a half ago), and they seem to be having fun, because I can't predict the signals like I used to be able to. In the olden days, I just needed to know what time it was (rush hour vs. not rush hour), and I'd know how to time my approach to the next intersection. I generally don't do that anymore, because the engineers alter the timing so much more frequently, and they do more different things at different times of the day.

Also, more sensors are in fact being used in Minneapolis. For example, at several intersections on Central NE, the the green is skipped for cross traffic if nobody's waiting. Now, that's well and good, but late at night, it can be frustrating if you're the cross traffic (or a pedestrian), and you just missed your would-be green light (or walk signal). That's where they could improve things and use more of a hybrid between rigid coordination and sensor activation, so cross traffic isn't so frustrated waiting at a red during what could be their green. I bet their new computer system can do that, but some of the signals themselves (like the really old ones that go "ka-kunk" when the lights change) probably can't.

[knke0204]

MPLS needs more highrises. The strib recently did an article about how there are no new skyscrapers planned for the next 10 years or so.

MPLS needs more of a 'big city feel'. It just doesn't have that same feeling as driving into Chicago or LA. I know Chi and LA are way bigger, but MPLS seems so tiny, with it's tiny skyline (still nice) and small area (56 sq miles) and small pop (389,000).

Get some high rises, and densify MPLS, make it the same area but double the pop, that should be interesting.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by knke0204

MPLS needs more highrises. The strib recently did an article about how there are no new skyscrapers planned for the next 10 years or so.

Is there an actual market for more office space?