Downtown

by Patrick Coleman, Minnesota Historical Society •

by Jay Gabler •

This week’s picks

Thursday, November 27
If the blindly patriotic, crassly commercial nature of Thanksgiving is just too much for you, head to First Ave, where you can really stick it to ‘em by enjoying free turkey and music by a Soviet panda.

Friday, November 28
After battling the Black Friday crowds to score that discount Oreck, take Sanctuary with a delicious and—most importantly—leftover-free meal downtown. MORE »

With construction scheduled to begin in just 18 months, the North End community is looking ahead to the impact light rail transit (LRT) on University Avenue will have on the neighborhood. I attended the November 13 Town Hall Meeting, sponsored by the District 6 Planning Council and the Ward 5 City Council office. Many North End residents use public transportation and the meeting was called to discuss the importance of planning for future potential and opportunities for growth for the community as transit changes play out. MORE »

I asked four experts to nominate examples of great architecture that have gone up in St. Paul in the last 30 years. Daily Planet readers had their own nominations.

“Interesting that no one mentioned Minnesota Public Radio’s newish building. I worked for them for a decade before being laid off, so I’m not a huge fan of the organization—but the building is GREAT.”

“Flannery Construction building at St. Anthony just west of Hamline is a fun and functional building with green credentials.”

“I don’t mind that St. Paul isn’t a showplace of architecture from the past 30 years. I greatly appreciate that the city has preserved so much from its past 150 years—more so, I’d say without any expertise, than Minneapolis has.” MORE »

Members of the Metropolitan Council’s Corridor Management Committee and community advocates met November 13 to discuss the Central Corridor Light Rail project. At a forum broadcast on KFAI’s “Truth to Tell” and recorded for later broadcast on St. Paul Neighborhood Network, participants provided an update of the project and outlined issues of concern. MORE »

by Brian Moen, East-Lake.net • 11/10/08 •

Not realizing until we heard the song twice this morning that today was the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgera

I was having coffee with friends last weekend, and the conversation turned to which city was more livable: Minneapolis or St. Paul. One guy argued that St. Paul is a more pleasant city to walk around in because the architecture is more cohesive. “Sure,” replied another, “but name one building that’s gone up in St. Paul in the last 20 years that you’d look at and say, ‘Now that’s great architecture.’ Or 30 years—I’ll even give you 30 years!” MORE »