St. Paul's Riverfront

I've come to realize that it really isn't fair to compare Minneapolis' riverfront with Saint Paul's. Constrained by bluffs and an active railroad track, downtown Saint Paul just simply doesn't have the same easy access to the Mississippi that its brother upstream has. Nonetheless, Saint Paul really has done a good job making the riverbanks an attractive place to be. All along Shepard Road the river is flanked by a beautiful landscaped trail--divided for cycling and walking traffic. There are lovely flowers and grasses and lots of points where you can pull off and check out the river. Teresa Boardman, author and photographer of the excellent "St. Paul Real Estate Blog" has some great photos of one of the newest park installments on the east bank (north side) of the river. Check these out:

The park is really bringing you right down to the water's edge, while still giving you the great sense of urbanity--with the High Bridge and the skyline in the distance.

So Saint Paul, hat's off! You've done some great work on your waterfront given all that you've had working against you. Kudos!

All images: Teresa Boardman.

Why Minneapolis is Great: Reason 2

Reason 1 was the lakes. Reason 2 is the riverfront. When I last lived here 10 years ago, the Whitney Hotel (now the Whitney Landmark Residences) was the only thing happening near the mills. We cyclists were overjoyed with the opening of the Stone Arch Bridge back in the early 90s to non-auto traffic. You could ride your bike on the parkway, but if I recall correctly it was incomplete (as you headed down river toward the U.) But otherwise, there wasn't a whole lot going on here.

Now this part of town is a true Minneapolis treasure.

There's the amazing mill architecture--and it's great that we've got the Mill City Museum to show and tell the story of the area, but you also get the bonus adaptive reuse of random mill buildings and warehouses into stunning lofts. The North Star Lofts are my favorite.
Second, this area has some of the most innovative and funky parkland in the city. Going to Mill Ruins Park is like embarking on an historical scavenger hunt or archeology dig.

Climbing to the top of Gold Medal Park is like being King of the Hill--where you preside over the Guthrie Theater, downtown, and the Mighty Miss.
As if these two parks weren't enough, the land along the river banks is all park too--complete with the aforementioned trails.

All of these things bring people to the river--which is in and of itself a remarkable asset. It's the Mississippi--the father of US waters--right here in MPLS! Standing on the Stone Arch Bridge, looking down at St. Anthony Falls or off at the skyline, it doesn't take long to realize that this is a pretty stellar place to live.

images: Riverfront @ U of MN; North Star Lofts homepage; Mill Ruins Park at wikipedia; Gold Medal Park @ oaala.com; Pedestrians on the Stone Arch Bridge @ MNDOT.

A short walk between cities

I bet Texans can't say "I walked from Dallas to Fort Worth this afternoon." But if you live here, you can say "I walked from St. Paul to Minneapolis in 5 minutes." It's an especially easy thing to do if you are at the western end of Marshall Avenue in St. Paul and you cross the Lake Street bridge, then BAM! you are in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis! I love that if you live in the Twin Cities you can get from one city to another with relative ease--and without countless suburbs separating the two. In some places the river divides the cities and in others places there's no real defining feature that tells you that you've crossed a border.


I was also reminded of how wonderful it is to live where the Mississippi River traverses. A national treasure flowing through our cities, its character changing as it winds itself past steep limestone cliffs, along built-up river banks, and through locks and dams built in another age. Walking along the river trails (which are on both the St. Paul and Minneapolis sides of the river), especially in the winter, is peaceful, bracing, and inspiring.

Images: map from Big Stick maps; Lake Street bridge aerial photo from technologyevangelist.com.