| Acknowledged as one of the premier mixed-use neighborhoods in the Twin Cities, the Uptown neighborhood still suffers from some of the most common urban maladies: large parking lots and congested streets that favor the car over the pedestrian. The new Midtown Greenway, a 24 hour multi-use public trail, will help bring balance to this issue by providing recreational and commuter connections from the Lakes District to the Mississippi River.
The Greenway Corridor, with future busway or light rail system, has the potential to spur significant additional re-investment along and near the Greenway edge. New development opportunities in the Uptown neighborhood will be more transit-and recreationally-focused. Success ultimately relies on the marriage of public and private reinvestment, including the creation of a well designed “public promenade" along both sides of the greenway rim, and a richly detailed 29th Street along the south edge. With appropriate attention to design and quality, these public ways will become signature addresses in the neighborhood.
The need to re-structure the soft district between Hennepin and Lyndale Avenues is another issue that must be addressed if the area is to become a model of urban redevelopment. It is here that the street becomes less inviting with parking lots along the street and buildings pushed way back on the lot. This paradigm must be reversed by bringing buildings to the street edge, concealing parking behind and between buildings, and providing a much-enhanced pedestrian realm with wide, landscaped sidewalks, good lighting, places to sit and talk with friends, places to buy a newspaper. In short, the pleasant urbanity of Hennepin and Lake must be carried to the east. | | |
