Keep Quincy Weird

September 16, 2024

TLDR
- Minneapolis wants to tear out the trademark red brick streets around Northrup King: Quincy, Tyler, 14th, etc. to update the city plumbing below and improve the driving surface.
- The red bricks and city neglect has kept traffic slow and safe, helping to activate these avenues for pedestrians and contributing to the success of the businesses in the area (Centro, Indeed, Buch, MN Nice Cream) which all benefit from pedestrian access to outdoor space.
- The repaved streets will increase traffic speeds, reduce the vibrancy of these avenues, and stifle business growth.
- Instead, the streets should keep their characteristic red bricks and slow speeds (10 mph), but maintain access for all.
- The driving surface should be raised six inches to signal to drivers that they are entering pedestrian space.
- That's it. Access for all (walkers, rollers, patios, deliveries, etc.). Quincy and Tyler are currently working great for businesses, residents, and visitors. They do not need to be "fixed." We should lean into the qualities that make them great now instead of erasing those qualities, surrendering another walkable street to traffic, and risking hurting the businesses that inhabit these vibrant corridors.

To comment on these projects, reach out to Ward 1 City Council Member, Elliott Payne and city project planner, Katie White:

elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov
katie.white@minneapolismn.gov

Sept 17, 2024

Last month Minneapolis city planners held back-to-back community engagement sessions for the redevelopment of the Logan Park Industrial (LPI) area streets. These are the signature red bricks around Northrup King: Quincy, Tyler, 14th, etc.

What we said on Monday was activation, walking, vibrancy, character.

What was delivered on Tuesday was parking. Gone are the red bricks. Gone is walking in the street. At risk is the vibrant event center of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District that has fostered so many great businesses.

Project lead, Katie White, addresses those gathered for the community engagement session Sept 17, 2024.

I do not envy the job of the Minneapolis city planner. The loudest voices tend to be the least happy. And no plan can make everyone happy. But LPI has something we just can’t get anywhere else in Minneapolis and the sheets of fresh asphalt and reams of formal parking spaces will throttle the energy and the vibe and the pull that this area has for customers and residents. This plan will reduce the value of the neighborhood for everyone, even the people that will only visit if there is access to convenient parking.

Today LPI has almost no pedestrian infrastructure and so, people simply walk in the streets. This is fine because the neglected streets’ red bricks and potholes force cars to drive at safe speeds. This deterioration has helped foster a vibrant, activated commercial district with thriving businesses like Indeed, Centro, Buch, and Bauhaus. This is the heart of Art-a-Whirl. It is one of the few commercial spaces in Minneapolis where it feels safe to be a pedestrian.

Smooth asphalt will increasing the speed of cars and change the life and character of Quincy and Tyler that feeds these local businesses and makes LPI a jewel in our city.

It will be another half-century commitment to cars.

Instead, we should keep the historic brick. This is the industrial brand of these old streets. The road surface should be leveled and raised six inches. This will eliminate the curbs and communicate to drivers that they are entering a public walking space. The presence of pedestrians and the texture of the bricks will keep traffic slow and safe as it does now while still allowing access for drop-offs and deliveries.

The edges of the right-of-way need concrete sidewalks (tinted red to match the bricks) for accessibility.

That’s it. Access for walkers and drivers and rollers and deliveries and residents and customers and patios and workers and all.

Concept art for a street conversion in Atlanta, GA. (source)

All that is needed is slow cars. It’s all that Quincy and Tyler have now and it has helped these streets thrive.

Truly slow cars. Streets DESIGNED for 10 mph speed limits give commercial streets the opportunity to have it all.

We live in a city that recently dropped speed limits from 30 to 20 mph on all municipal streets. Has anyone noticed? Speeds still average above 30 mph. This is because signs don’t slow traffic. Minneapolis streets are designed for faster speeds.

The current conditions of Quincy and Tyler simply won’t permit driving above jogging speed unless drivers are willing to risk damage to their cars. This is how street “design” works.

These are vibrant activated streets only because they have not been brought up to the city standard, which favors lifeless car throughput over activated commercial corridors.

One fear from local property owners is that parking = customers. This is a completely rational fear. Most of us use our cars to access businesses. And we all prefer to park as close as possible to our destination. Convenient parking makes a business more attractive. Parking increases the DRAW that a commercial district has (or any destination).

Draw is the reason to visit a place. It is the pull of the products or experience we expect when we arrive. Draw is why we go.

And it’s enough to support plenty of businesses. Home Depot has enough draw (and convenient parking) that it is self-sustaining. The same Home Depot and parking moat works in community after community.

But Home Depot scores very low on DWELL. Dwell is the amount of time people spend. It is the feel of a place. It is the energy of the street. It is the intangible thing that makes you leave one store and drift down to another one nearby. Dwell makes it easy and pleasant to stay. And the longer a customer stays, the more money they spend.

This is the bargain we make with parking. Drivers are more likely to go to their destination, get what they came for, and leave. That’s what we do at Home Depot. There are 22 businesses at the Quarry (not counting the Amazon lockers and Tesla charging stations). After visiting Home Depot or Target, how many do you walk to? How many can you name?

Very few of these businesses benefit from the throngs of customers that are drawn to Home Depot or even the convenient parking. Parking lots inspire us to complete our errands and move on. They don’t inspire us to stroll, to continue shopping.

What Home Depot and its vast sea of parking lacks is dwell. It’s just no fun to stroll the parking lot to see what else is available. And the next destination is so far away, it hardly catches our eye and draws us in.

We may have other errands to run at the Quarry and we may combine trips by also grabbing what we need at Target. But this is not the same as spending leisure time walking over to Famous Footwear to see what’s in the window. It’s not the same as wandering down Quincy to get an unplanned cone at MN Nice Cream after dinner at Centro. Or sticking around to have a beer at Indeed because another friend is headed that way.

Maybe Centro and Indeed have enough draw that they don’t need to share customers with Architectural Antiques. But why give those customers up? Parking lots push destinations away from each other and decreases customers’ desires to walk to the next shopping opportunity.

Convenient parking gives businesses a little boost of draw. But it destroys dwell.

Parking lots and traffic actually divide Quincy into THREE distinct shopping districts that help each other out but are not getting the full benefit of dwell because of the space and cars that separate them. Indeed and Centro anchor one of those districts. Buch and MN Nice cream carry another. And then right across Broadway is little Franky’s. It’s right there. It’s just steps away from MN Nice Cream. But Franky’s might as well be a mile away. Broadway keeps Franky’s from getting the full benefit of the energy and the vibrancy of Quincy because Broadway is so hostile to pedestrians.

Cars are great, but their presence makes us want to spend less time (and less money).

Draw and dwell within the LPI project area are strongest during Art-a-Whirl. They are strongest when destination and activity density (pop-ups and open studios and food trucks) are the highest and easy parking evaporates entirely.

Quincy and Tyler are at their best when cars have almost no access and people are everywhere. The more places there are for customers to visit, the more customers are drawn to an area and the longer they stay to shop.

The truth is, when Indeed has a show or Francis Fest jams up the street, a driver still has plenty of access to free parking. And the walk is no more than the length of a Home Depot parking lot.

This is how life is for the businesses on SE Main St or in Dinkytown. Parking sucks in these neighborhoods. But the customers still come. Because customers aren’t parking.

So keep the bricks. And keep the cars. Just keep them under 10 mph. Let the people keep the street and the businesses keep the customers. This is working now. Don’t “fix” it. Tell Ward 1 City Council Member Elliott Payne and city planner Katie White that you want to keep Quincy weird.

elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov
katie.white@minneapolismn.gov

And ride your bike and carry your helmet when you shop so that businesses can see that customers aren’t cars.