Minnesota/Minnesotans C or D

It’s me, hi, I’m the biggest planning blunder in Minneapolis history, it’s me❗️ pic.twitter.com/qFAFHsWRwN

— Abigail Blonigen (@abigailblonigen) October 31, 2023

I haven't been around Minneapolis that much for a number of years but the moment I heard "k-mart fire" I knew exactly what building was burning!

I'm actually K Mart defender, it was a store where the local population without cars could get basic household goods and clothing.

I don't think the existence of a k mart on that block was what people disliked about it, but again, was never a local

Correct; no objections to the Kmart itself (though, obv, I don't speak for everyone ... I'm sure there were plenty of residents who hated it because it attracted lower class shoppers). It was merely the building's function as a bulwark, dividing the neighborhood in half.

I also believe that the largely immigrant restaurants that turned Nicollet North of Lake into "Eat Street" never could have thrived without that K Mart making it less attractive to developers. the only harm it caused was drivers having to drive around it, big deal.

I'm sure they are licking their chops to gentrify it now and drive the local low income population out.

look forward to a couple new ugly apartment buildings with a shitty brewery on the first floor

LOL, plenty of speculation lately that they'll do exactly the same thing to the brutalist Nicollet Mall YMCA building if/when they knock that down

Related-ish: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/new-study-says-downtown-minneapolis-has-one-of-the-worst-post-pandemic-recoveries-but-there-are-questions-about-methodology/

Apparently Minnesota is redesigning the state flag, and there have been over 2000 submissions to date. Needless to say, there are some really good ones, if you are willing to dig:

https://serc.mnhs.org/flags

good riddance and FUUUUUCK YOU

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/business/uber-lyft-minneapolis-minimum-wage/index.html

I don't want to clog up another thread with a niche observation, but the new Taylor Swift album so far is very Cities 97 circa 1990.

lmao

haha let's line up to get it at a Best Buy in Bloomington like an old Cities 97 sampler

Apologies for deflecting the thread away from Swift talk but why is this state so fucking windy?

Good question. The wind tunnel on 7th Street downtown between Nicollet Mall and Hennepin (where a lot of buses stop) is fairly legendary.