Connecting the Midtown Greenway Streetcar to Lake Street Destinations Prepared by: Simon Blenski Nicole Doran Jeremy Jones Kyle Weimann Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Prepared for: Midtown Community Works Partnership 0table of contents 1 Introduction p. 3 Study Purpose, Overview, The Midtown Corridor, Why Streetcars? 2 Considerations p. 14 Rider and Area Demographics, Land Use, Small Business, Stakeholders 3 Principles p. 25 Station Design, Wayfinding, Connections, Land Use, Pubic Spaces and Art 4 Station Areas p. 39 West Lake, Hennepin Avenue, Chicago Avenue, Bloomington Avenue, Other Stations 5 Future Research p. 63 6 Conclusion p. 64 7 Appendices p. 65 Summary of literature reviewed for this study 1IntroDuctIon acknowledgments Connecting the Midtown Gre- Course Instructors enway Streetcar to Lake Street David Hollister, School of Social Destinations is a report pre- Work, University of Minnesota pared by Simon Blenski, Nicole Doran, Jeremy Jones, and Kyle Kris Nelson, Center for Urban Weimann for the Midtown and Regional Affairs, University Community Works Partnership. of Minnesota This report served as the term project for the fall of 2009 in Project Coordinator PA8203: Neighborhood Revital- Faith Cable, Midtown Commu- ization Strategies and Theories nity Works Partnership at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. We would like to Community Partners acknowledge the assistance and Tim Springer, Midtown Green- guidance of the following indi- way Coalition viduals throughout the project Joyce Wisdom, Lake Street process. Council Thank you. Technical Assistance Alyssa Erikson, Center for Ur- ban and Regional Affairs Jeff Matson, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs Joseph Bernard, City of Min- neapolis Jonathan Obermoller, City of Minneapolis connecting the Midtown Greenway streetcar to lake street Destinations 3 1IntroDuctIon executive summary The Connecting the idtownM streetcar line, more deliberate ing principles in action. Further Greenway Streetcar to Lake attempts at connectivity need study will be needed to conduct Street Destinations Study is a to be made to link the future such analysis with increasing guiding framework for future streetcar stations with destina- detail of each station. discussions surrounding land tions and neighborhoods along use and transportation develop- Lake Street. Successful implementation of ments along the Lake Street/ the best practices contained Midtown Greenway Corridor. To create a launching point for within each principle can create Plans for a 4.4-mile modern future study and a framework a fused, symbiotic corridor of streetcar line to run through for implementation, this study efficient, sustainable transporta- the Midtown Greenway from provides a series of specific tion options, thoughtful, com- the Chain of Lakes to Hiawatha principles to guide development pact development, and public Avenue offer the opportunity based on ridership, demograph- pathways and plazas stitching to further strengthen the spine ic, land use, small businesses, land uses together. of south Minneapolis. This and stakeholder considerations. 20-foot deep, grade-separated These principles cover the wide route would provide fast and range of issues that will confront reliable transit but poses distinct civic leaders during streetcar challenges to create physical development: station design, and mental connection with the wayfinding, connections, land Lake Street corridor, one block use, and public spaces and art. to the south. The City of Minneapolis has The conversion of the historic identified seven potential station railroad trench into the Mid- locations and the community town Greenway has already has expressed interest in several stimulated private development more. This study includes de- in the area and has called at- tailed discussion of four of those tention to the need for guiding stations—West Lake, Hennepin, land use development principles. Chicago, and Bloomington— With the implementation of a that best demonstrate the guid- connecting the Midtown Greenway streetcar to lake street Destinations 4 1IntroDuctIon study Purpose This study creates a vision for destinations to the regional connecting the Minneapolis transit network as well as link Midtown Greenway—particu- the Southwest and Hiawatha larly with a proposed streetcar— LRT lines. to the Lake Street commercial corridor. It is intended to serve The nature of the corridor as a framework for future discus- and surrounding areas present sion as the streetcar project and challenges to effectively con- land use changes are considered nect transit with the vibrant and implemented. To date, there business districts a block to the have been numerous studies south. Much of the Greenway and plans of various aspects of is built below-grade, a historical the Greenway and surround- relic of freight trains running ing areas, but they have never through the city. As such, unlike been consolidated into a single, other routes or current buses, forward-looking document. streetcar riders will not be able to see destinations as they pass. In 2007, Minneapolis complet- Additionally, being out of the ed a comprehensive feasibility line of sight of most activity can study that identified several cor- decrease perceptions of safety, ridors for streetcar development, particularly at night. Overcom- including the Midtown Green- ing such challenges, however, is way. Independently, the final not insurmountable and success alignment for the Southwest would create a model combi- Light Rail Transit (LRT) is likely nation of transit, commerce, to use the Kenilworth rail and development, and open space trail line into downtown rather and recreation. than traversing Nicollet through Uptown. A Greenway streetcar line then serves to better con- nect Uptown and Lake Street connecting the Midtown Greenway streetcar to lake street Destinations 5 1IntroDuctIon overview Traversing Lake Street east- by nature. Purposed by practical access the vitality of Lake Street.  Represent the short and ward from the Minneapolis pioneers. Reshaped for chang- With its proposed placement long-term needs of the sta- city line to Hiawatha Avenue, ing times. Marked by progress on the Greenway comes a tion area community one can trace the novel of this and progressive people in ways new opportunity to promote great Midwestern metropolis. In uniquely, identifiably Minne- complementary activities that The very purpose of a transit its pages one finds the breadth sotan. promote community, security line is to link people with places of life that makes a city beauti- and connectivity. and purposes, and the Greenway ful beyond any aesthetic. The Tying them together like chap- Streetcar line will succeed if its surging energy of immigrant ters are the major avenues that With opportunities come future conception and con- businesses and a community traverse the Greenway and Lake. challenges, but none that are struction is grounded in these that sustains them. Magnetic The names Lyndale and Henne- so insurmountable if following principles. clusters of restaurants of every pin evoke the bustle of Uptown. the core recommendations and ethnic stripe and shade. Salsa Bloomington and Chicago call principles of this analysis. After meets shawarma meets puerco to mind ascendant revitaliza- a thorough study of the history meets lutefisk, all in the interest tion and the city’s immigrant and present conditions, the core of a well-seasoned life. Thor- past and future. Hiawatha, like values of a Midtown Streetcar oughfare, destination, gateway, its epic poem namesake, is both Line and its stations shall: home — essentials, all of them metaphor and living embodi-  Be a conduit for a sustain- in their way, to the lifeblood of ment of a journey’s continua- able way of life South Minneapolis. tion.  Exemplify connectedness  Forge identity Just north of Lake Street, the In the latest revision of an  Consider humans, their Midtown Greenway provides a already compelling corridor, a needs, and how they inter- devoted pathway for pedestrians streetcar would run this path act with their environment to pedal, stroll and slipstream from West Calhoun to Hi-  Emphasize connections through the heart of the city. awatha. In doing so, it would between activities While the Greenway does connect two major metropolitan  Begin connectivity at the not hum and churn with the rail initiatives and provide a Greenway insistent energy of its southern modern rail amenity that would  Integrate and involve parallel, it is no less an emblem serve commuters, errand- private enterprise in design of life in Minneapolis. Sketched runners and tourists alike to and implementation connecting the Midtown Greenway streetcar to lake street Destinations 6 Lake Street/Midtown Greenway Corridor Study Area 1. IntroDuctIon study area Lake Street Midtown Greenway Study Area 1IntroDuctIon the lake street/Midtown Greenway corridor The study area for this report remained a consistent home for 1990s. Concentrations of east The Midtown encompasses the two parallel hundreds of small, independent African populations now live corridors of Lake Street and businesses. Serving as Minne- east of Nicollet and Hispanic Greenway the Midtown Greenway. Lake apolis’ southern boundary at the immigrants have significantly Between 1914 and 1916 the Street, a 5.5-mile commercial turn of the century, Lake Street reshaped the corridor east of In- City of Minneapolis undertook conduit stretches from the developed along a historic street-