Downtown Minneapolis vs. The “Apple Core”
I remain shocked almost every time I look at at the Metrodome side of downtown Minneapolis. For being, you know, a city, it has a shocking amount of surface parking. So what better to compare it to than the surface parking capital of the south metro, Apple Valley “Apple Core” downtown. (With a personal thanks to the AV Convention and Visitors’ Bureau for coming up with that one).
Blue represents surface parking (exc. ramps). Red represents a no-human zone (the I-94/I-35W/Hiawatha Avenue interchange).
Blue again represents surface parking, though in this case the red is a de facto no-human zone. That is, the designers have made both streets (Cedar Ave S and Dakota County 42) so unpleasant to walk along and cross, that very few pedestrians ever attempt it. If one did attempt it, it’s 10 lanes to cross — 8 lanes with no refuge island.
While Apple Valley does still have a higher proportion of surface parking, the similarity is shocking.
