Duluth’s Tentative Good News
So, which are you most excited about?
* Duluth being in the running for ultra-high speed Internet access.
* Duluth being in the running for a plant making wind turbine tower tops.
* Plans to finally connect the Munger Trail and the Lakewalk.
* The recent interest by developers in creating student housing at the old Armory on London Road.
What are the odds-makers saying? Can Duluth nail down all four of these? Even one would be awesome. I’ll bet we get at least two.
Wind turbines would be great for a lot of different reasons and a lot of different people.
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. ( https://www.startribune.com/local/34968914.html )
Link to Duluth News Tribune story “Duluth area in running for 1,500 jobs.”
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?
I haven’t seen a good map of that yet, Resol, but it goes through the industrial parts of the West End. So it’s more utilitarian than the existing scenic parts of the Munger Trail and Lakewalk. It’ll allow West Duluthians to bike to work downtown without being on busy streets, and folks from the Hillside and eastern neighborhoods can ride out to the Munger, the zoo, Beaner’s or whatever and stay off the streets, too.
There is a public meeting tonight regarding the trail extension. I’m sure there will be a big map available.
Tuesday, Feb. 16
6 to 7:30 p.m.
City Center West
City Center West is the little library and senior center building at 5830 Grand Avenue in West Duluth.
I’m for the trail project and turbine plant. But, I’m biased since I spend most of my travel on foot or bicycle.
The other two sound awesome, but I’m still thinking the Google wire-up is pretty unlikely unless Google is specifically looking for a small profile town. We may hit the lottery on that one, you never know.
I’m not aware of student housing issues so can’t attest to that one, though that one could possibly have the best cost/benefit of the four.
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.
Kick Off Event for the Google Fiber to Home bid will be 4pm at the Tech Center. The more the merrier! We’ll have more information and details then.
I’m a’titter about all of it. Hmm can’t wait to ride my wind electricity fueled ebike to Beaners for a Googlebit webcast of the armory opening.
Note to those who don’t follow the link: The kickoff Baci is referring to is on Thursday, Feb. 18 — not today.
*The idea of Google Fiber completely gives me a geek-gasm! And who knows,a smaller city might have an advantage over a larger one just to keep the scope down for their first test.
*More turbines would be cool, but sometimes they hold me up for work while negotiating the 27th Avenue bridge. I suppose I should be thinking more about the environment, and less about my commute.
*That would be cool, but I have yet to actually walk any part of the Munger Trail.
*That would be sweet! I’d be super envious of any students living there (but won’t hold my breath as I don’t see the Armory getting a new purpose any time soon).
So, I’ll put money on 2 outta 4 (Google Fiber is as unlikely as winning the lottery, and many Armory plans have already come and gone).
thanks Paul!
Order of goodness by economic impact:
1. Google Fiber
2. Wind Turbine Jobs
3. Armory
4. Trail
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
Kozy Bar up for sale.
I heard you can get a cheap wind job down by the Kozy.
I’m just glad Duluth has Paul Lundgren.
Flattery will get you … a map of the trail. I’ll have a fancy one posted in a few days, as soon as the requested file shows up in my inbox.
I’ll say that anyone potentially developing the armory for any reason will have to compete with the stack for our roaster just across Jefferson. Alakef lends a certain olfactory ambiance to the neighborhood. I find it pleasant, and I rarely if ever hear anything negative from our neighbors. I will say it’s better than living in Tacoma.
There *was*, some time ago, loose talk of building a hotel where the old Perkins is now (attached to the Armory) and I noticed that the tenants of the building are moving out, so that may mean something’s about to take place there. Who knows? I’m pretty sure that Alakef ain’t goin’ anywhere … though losing my view would royally suck.
Along those lines, does anyone remember the McKnight Charrette??
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.
Man, I LOVE Alakef’s Mexican Altura, it’s the ultimate coffee in my mind. Wish it was available at stores (please bring it back, Red Mug!) instead of just online. Sorry about the topic detour.
dude. i wish.
Peace supplies the Mug now. I think it’s an image thing.
What Zra said — not about the coffee, but about that neighborhood’s being possibly revitalized and also, about Duluth being poised for reinvention. I think great things are heading Duluth’s way. Keeping my fingers crossed about Google Fiber. And everything else. And the train.
I’m very hopeful about the Northern Lights Express too.
It would be great to see the Plaza area get a jump start! That is one place that could use a bit of gentrification.
As to Alakef, could you guys possibly roast something below Full City like perhaps a Vienna roast? Not everybody wants oily beans.
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.
I really doubt light rail is in the cards…high-speed train to/from MSP, yes – but not light rail.
Has Alakef considered selling beans wholesale from their roastery? I hate paying the markup at grocery stores considering how much coffee I go through in a week. Hmm…maybe even offer a small coffee-sampling bar at your shop?
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?
@digit: full city is lighter than vienna…cinnamon roast>full city>vienna>italian>french.
Just a question: What makes light rail along those routes so much better than the existing DTA buses along those routes?
If you don’t use the bus, why would you use the rail?
Because we are all little children who need new toys, Barrett. And the more expensive the better.
But seriously, the four things listed in the post above are realistic, noncontroversial things. The rail stuff — let’s just say there are lots of arguments for and against it. Maybe we could focus on the four indisputably awesome things right now.
@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.
Advantages of light rail over the bus:
Light rail cars are more spacious, easier to board and move around, a smoother ride, quieter, cheaper to maintain, better for the environment, use less energy, safer. Unlike existing bus routes light rail has its own right of way, pre-purchase of tickets (which makes boarding times faster), and there are better facilities at train stations versus bus stops. Trains are better in poor weather. Train routes are seen as permanent and they tend to drive denser and more walkable transit oriented development. Train routes are also easier to understand and navigate. If an out-of-towner shows up at the MSP airport and needs to get downtown, they could take a cab for $30 or take the Hiawatha for $1.75. Most will take the train. Prior to Hiawatha the options would have been a cab for $30 or the bus for $1.75, most opted for the cab. Does it make sense? Doesn’t seem like it to me, but it’s the way it is.
Rightly or wrongly, there are many people who will use the light rail but not the bus. Light rail does a better job of competing with cars. Buses have a stigma of a second class transportation system and LRT has a positive image.
Certainly, some of the advantages of LRT can be co-opted by bus rapid transit, and buses have advantages over LRT. Do the net advantages of LRT justify the huge expense? I have yet to see a feasibility study for service in Duluth, so all I support at this point is exploring the idea, but jeez, no need to be so condescendingly dismissive.
I’d be willing to pay extra money for the bus if duluth transit wanted to invest in rail.
I just reread my comment and have no idea how you got “condescendingly dismissive” out of it. But now I will be condescendingly dismissive.
Buses have a stigma of a second class transportation system and LRT has a positive image.
This is my point exactly. I am not in favor of our bankrupt city ponying up millions in tax dollars so that certain people can maintain a liberal, metropolitan, pro-public-transportation image without having to ride the scary bus with the unwashed.
There is absolutely no way that a rail system within our city can serve the citizens better than the bus. The main failures of the bus system in Duluth are that it doesn’t run late enough and frequently enough, and that it doesn’t reach deeply enough into the residential areas of the city. A rail system would have even less of a reach, requiring either bus transfers or further walks to stations, making things more difficult for many of the people who need public transportation most.
If Duluth is going to spend millions of dollars improving public transportation, I would like to see it improve the system already in place, rather than build an entirely new system on top of a tiny portion of the old one, simply to appease a certain classist psychographic.
I should mention that none of this ire is personally directed at Resol or Mevdev, and I apologize that it seems that way. This is my general opinion of the issue. I’m not calling anyone on PDD a classist or anything else.
I too think it would be fun to ride the light rail to work in Duluth, but I also think it’s a really bad idea.
But to bring this hijacked thread back to its original point, Duluth really seems to be improving — and continuing to reach high for more improvement — despite its recent economic woes. Who knows what enormous projects may actually become feasible in the future?
As for Paul’s question, I’m most excited about Google Fiber, because it would allow me to spout my half-witted opinions to the world all that much faster.
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.
My tongue is FIRMLY in cheek here lest anyone launch into me. I’m in favor of all of it, especially student housing in the armory complex not that hotel/performing arts center that has been talked and talked and talked about. ‘Zra is totally right about that. Gentrification up the wazoo. Plus I lived on Jefferson a few blocks away parking is already a nightmare around there add in a hotel and concerts … you would FLOOD one of Duluth’s (heck, Minnesota’s) coolest mixed neighborhoods with unwanted traffic, hassle and ick.
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.
At the risk of continuing the hi-jack:
Resol says: “brainstorming about a transportation system uniquely Duluth”…
How about not plowing some Canal Park streets in the winter and having horse-drawn sleigh transport? How about summer-operated chairlifts (bicycle equipped) to get pedestrians/bicyclists up the hill at various points? High-speed summer-operated passenger boats between the harbor and Superior, Bayfield, and/or Spirit Mt area?
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.
In the right time and place I think all four have merit. Sometimes you have to find the bull that’s fighting you. I try to look at it through the eyes of Mother Earth and what would be good for her.
So which of these four, all of which are good ideas? I’m going to put the expansion of the trail at number three. It would be three million dollars, not a lot in the budget. What I call a comfort expenditure, like the DECC and aquarium. Windsor Colorado in 2008 gained a wind manufacturing plant for one million dollars. But I got no problem with it. I like bicycles and walking. Good for you. If somebody wanted they could start a bussinees renting electric bikes on the trail with recharging stations, who could sell a lot of Red Bull. I’m warming to this idea, I can see spinoffs. You know that somewhere on the route somebody has got the best garlic and you get on a nice weekend and take a little trip. So I like this idea.
Number two, the high speed Internet. Streaming 1000mgs if I heard right. I think our mayor is all over this one, I like seeing that progressive action. I think we need to see more of it.
Number four, high-speed rail. I like rail, but a billion dollars for comfort and low-paying jobs plus probably another billion for the new Vikings stadium and I have been a died in the wool fan for a long time, went through Tarkenton era. I would miss the Vikings. Wrong time, wrong place for money, good idea.
Number one, Nacelle manufacturing plant. This is about jobs that pay a decent wage doing something that would be contributing to solving one of the major problems getting of oil. I’m a little tired of those wars, time for a change. This is about those people that don’t get mentioned for economic development in this town. Machinist, tool and die, painters, people that work with their hands. There’s a ton of people in Duluth that are capable of doing this work, they live on the west side of Mesabi. There’s a heritage there. The affect on the port could be major. If the nacelle plant makes 300 a year that means the blade plant makes 900 blades and if they are the 2.5 mg turbines that means 500 homes supplied with electricity times 300 equals 150,000 homes on alternative energy. The spinoff industry could be huge and if people have jobs then we have taxes, then we can have comfort spending. And wind is just one of the things, haven’t even talked about solar.