Speed Gibson

North Metro is the place for us
Big business without the fuss
Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep downtown, just give me that countryside.


Downtown is where I'd rather work
Cor'prate citizenship you should not shirk
I just adore the restaurant scene
The 'Burbs have bistros but downtown has cuisine


The roads!

The Codes!

Fresh air!

The Mayor!


I am the Chair!

Goodbye, Oceanaire!

North Metro here we come!

Today's Star Tribune Editorial entitled Target's move should alarm downtown is pretty much correct despite a couple of convenient misconceptions. It may even be an understatement of the situation.

The news last week that Target Corp. will add thousands of corporate jobs at its north suburban campus was a severe blow to downtown Minneapolis, which had expected to land many of those jobs. It was a harsh reminder, too, of how clearly the deck is stacked against central cities, and a warning to Mayor R.T. Rybak that poking a giant with a stick can bring consequences.

Exactly correct. Pray tell though, who's stacking that deck?

None of that is good for the city or the metro region. Yes, it's good for Brooklyn Park, where land is cheap and tax incentives flow, that Target can develop a $2 billion "new city" with 15,000 jobs plus shops, hotels and a central park. But the project will exacerbate sprawl, worsen traffic and diminish job opportunities for the people who need them most.

However cheap, the point is that the land is available. Downtown, the only place to go is up, and the Rybak administration wouldn't even permit that as the editorial notes. As for tax incentives, whatever amount Target gets will be chump change compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars in external subsidies Minneapolis receives in fiscal disparity and local government aid (LGA).

But how will this exacerbate sprawl? The site is within 15 miles of downtown Minneapolis, well inside the current extent of the "sprawl" many miles beyond. If anything, this is "sprawl" that didn't happen, staying fairly close to the core cities.

Worsen traffic? How? The site is fairly isolated due to Brooklyn Park's "smart growth" planning limiting development north of 85th Avenue until fairly recently. It has pseudo-freeway access from U.S. 169 and Minnesota 610 which will eventually link to Interstate 94. Reworking the "Devil's Triangle" of 85th Avenue, Country Road 81, and U.S. 169 will further improve the situation. The site can handle it now, and it will get better. But put those 15,000 jobs and related parking places in a downtown that still just doesn't "get" parking and see what happens.

The editorial says this will "diminish job opportunities for the people who need them most." I can only guess that this is some reference to the urban poor. Regardless, the demographics of Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park are not all that different. Don't they deserve job opportunities, too? Besides, it's an easy drive, against the rush hour flow, and the existing bus service should expand as Target expands. If Brooklyn Park residents can be expected to commute to downtown Minneapolis, certainly the reverse is true.

The best cities don't wait for a crisis, but act while still on the upswing. Target's tilt to the north and Southdale's challenge from the south should launch not only a comprehensive rethinking of downtown, but a redoing.

The strategy should be obvious. Stop doing what you're doing, like over-regulation, over-taxing, and over-zoning. Repealing the smoking ban (with Hennepin County's co-operation) would be a good first step. Start doing what you're not, like education and policing. Offering educational vouchers to escape the worst public school system in the state would show that Minneapolis is serious about its problems. So would restoring the police ranks to their former levels and not tying them up with endless citizen review boards. Providing a greener street for a pan-handling high school drop-out to accost you solves nothing.