Can you give more details on the wind turbine deal?

I know there is a business in West Duluth that makes small turbines for farms.

Also how does this factor in with the piles of wind turbine parts down near Garfield Ave. ( http://www.startribune.com/local/34968914.html )

Quick tell me something about Duluth that will justify my perennial pessimism!

Seriously though, all four possibilities could be excellent.  Does anyone know the route that a Lakewalk/Munger connection would take?

If someone could get their hands on the map and post it here, that would be really cool.  My brother and I have discussed this for years about how we would do it or how might the city do it.  Unfortunately, I can't darn make it to the meeting.

thanks Paul!

Order of goodness by excitement impact:

1. Google Fiber
2. Armory
3. Trail
4. Wind jobs

By likelihood of becoming reality:

1. Trail
2. Armory
3. Google Fiber
4. Wind jobs

I heard you can get a cheap wind job down by the Kozy.

Sorry. Found the end of that thought:

Be wary of gentrification, is all I'm trying to say.

Belltown, Seattle.
Uptown, Minneapolis.

Aaand let's not forget about our very own foghorn.

On the whole, I'm pretty excited to see what takes place in the next five years with that neighborhood. I hope it's not nothing, and doubly so that it's for the good.

We have an interesting opportunity with more than a few things potentially taking place and if those things take place ... all the better. Toss in the light rail and you have all the makings of a reinvention of Duluth's purpose. If they don't, well ... there'll be other opportunities.

dude. i wish.

Peace supplies the Mug now. I think it's an image thing.

I'm very hopeful about the Northern Lights Express too.

Light rail from the zoo to lakeside would be marvelous. Add a spur up the hillside to UMD and then the mall and I'd never drive again in Duluth.

We could add the Northern Lights Express to the list of awesome possibilities for Duluth, although we were left out of the fed's original $8 billion investment.

The long shot status of Grand Ave/Superior Street light rail doesn't mean Duluth shouldn't dream up a plan now. Portland prepped their streetcar plan during the Bush Administration when it had no hope of federal funding, but guess who gets the funding when a more progressive administration comes in and looks around for shovel-ready transit projects?  Minneapolis developed their streetcar plan despite the fact the federal funding formula (cost effectiveness index) made getting them built impossible.  Well Sec. LaHood unexpectedly changed that formula last month, and suddenly street cars in Mpls look a lot more likely.

On that whimsical note, shouldn't the city run a gondola/tram from the 12th and Superior LRT station to UMD? What college student wouldn't take that from Duluth's Dinkytown to school?  How many tourist's would come just for the views from the gondola?

@zra

Thanks for the clarification. Obviously out of my element here! I would love to source some locally roasted coffee beans here that haven't gone so far as to become oily. I love the Central American beans with a "cinnamon" roast.

I'd be willing to pay extra money for the bus if duluth transit wanted to invest in rail.

The Armory idea was my idea.  Nothing against Buddy Holly (RIP) or Bob Dylan or any of that, but I thought it was best suited to student housing all along.  I'm amazed it took so long to catch on, like 5 years.  We came up with it while I was at Scholastica when we were far over capacity on campus housing. Wanted to find a COOL connected place to put students rather than just a hotel.    And I said to focus on arts-oriented student housing with studio space and a performance area, free high speed internet (a la Google) and hey, maybe even energy efficient apartments ... come to think of it, if you add in that it is just steps from the Lakewalk then basically this whole thing was my idea.

Barrett, I found your comment to be a straight forward question. 

I've been hoping that this optimism could extend to a vision or brainstorming about a transportation system uniquely Duluth.

I accept the thrust of the post though, that we have these great possibilities to focus on, almost consensus. A parade not to rain on for sure.

Not to derail (horrible pun intended) the thread again, but the Depot was running a single Bunn train car from Lakeside to Downtown either last year or the year before (I forget which), and it had mixed reviews.  While Duluth's topography might be conducive to a single light rail line from Lakeside/Lester Park to Gary/New Duluth/Fond du Lac/Morgan Park, I just don't see enough people using it, as there isn't a high enough concentration of jobs in the Downtown area.  Once you start trying to run lines up and over the hill, you'll run into a problem with available right-of-ways and train-unfriendly terrain.

On to Google Fiber.  We are right in their wheelhouse as far as the test market they're looking for.  As far as competition in the Midwest, I know Fargo is also lobbying hard for it as well.  I hope we're able to get it done.  For anyone that is interested, there's a meeting at the Tech Village today at 4pm to rally more support for the project.

The Armory project seems to be a lock from the info in the DNT the other day.  Apparently, there are two developers that are aggressively bidding for the project.  While I don't like the idea of making it exclusively for arts students, I do like the idea of planting a seed for a Duluth version of Dinkytown, and the London Road corridor is as good a place as any--there are numerous buildings/sites that could use a facelift along that stretch, and it is somewhat of an eyesore between UMD/CSS, Canal Park/the Lakewalk and Downtown Duluth.  With everything our valuable student population needs in close proximity (shopping, banks, bars/restaurants, recreation, etc.) it is probably the best option available.

With regards to the trail connection, it'll be helpful for people that use it, and I'm all for it considering the funds are already appropriated (I believe?).  Another feather in Duluth's cap.

The wind turbine plant that may show up in Duluth would be great for the job market, though I question two things: Duluth's ability to compete with other more business-friendly communities, and the availability of the work force necessary to staff the plant considering the exodus of manufacturing workers away from NE MN.