Walking along the Street: Marshall-Lake

This is the first of what I hope will eventually become a series of street tours around the Twin Cities area. The idea is to simply pick a stretch of a certain street, walk along the length of it, and take photos of whatever looks interesting.


This is a street tour from Cleveland Avenue and Marshall Ave in Saint Paul, MN, to Lake Street and the Minnehaha Center plaza in Minneapolis, MN. This was taken on August 17th, 2017.



Starting off at Cleveland and Marshall, we have a two story mixed-use building in the southeast corner of the intersection. The ground floor is home to Choo Choo Bob's Train Store, a Martial Arts studio, and a few other businesses, with apartments located on the upper level. This building likely dates back to streetcar era days.


Heading west, some new curb cuts and bus stop pads are seen. This is part of a street improvement project along Marshall Ave to bring curb cuts up to current accessibility standards.


Continuing along, a Minnoco gas station and service center is spotted. This used to be a BP station judging by the logos. Minnoco stands for Minnesota Independent Oil Company for those who may be curious. (Link)


Now after a couple of blocks we get to the bridge, this is the connection between Marshall Avenue in Saint Paul and Lake Street in Minneapolis. It is also the northernmost bridge on the Mississippi River to connect the cities. (The Franklin Avenue bridge is next, and has Minneapolis on both ends)


The Mississippi River viewed looking north towards downtown Minneapolis and the University of MN Minneapolis campuses.


Now in Minneapolis, one of the first changes seen are the custom Lake street branding banners on the bus stop shelters. These were installed as a corridor branding attempt around 10 years ago (give or take).


Lake Street also has a noticeably commercial vibe to it compared to the short stretch of Marshall just observed. In the next couple blocks a bustling SuperAmerica convenience store...


... the American Rug Laundry Building...


... and the imported Hi-Lo diner are seen.


One of the more creative bike rack designs I've seen, this was outside a dentist office.


Now an example of some recent development, this building was at one point some type of machinery dealer or factory from what I could tell. Now it is home to Longfellow Market, a local grocery store:


A very industrial looking sign for the Don's Leather Cleaning service building. I'm not certain if this has always been Don's or if it was originally something different.


Further along a strip of retail storefronts is seen at 36th and Lake. River Lake True Value Hardware is seen front and center. Neighborhood hardware stores are not an easy thing to find any more with the proliferation of the national big-box home improvement chains in the suburbs. I think the lettering over the white sign for the store states "Since 1947" but I can't quite tell as there are numbers missing.


Across the street a new Tim Hortons location has been opened this summer as part of the chain's expansion into the Twin Cities market. This replaced a former White Castle.


Continuing along, a former movie and/or performance theater is now home to a church:


Here we see a non-nondescript strip plaza with a laundomat and coffee. Not sure what this would have been before, perhaps a video rental store or some other obsolete retail use.


Walgreens Pharmacy has just completed their move into a new location, right next door to their former store! This makes for a nice comparison however in the evolution of design and sidewalk access. First we see the old store with small windows, a tight sidewalk entry, and bland exterior.


Next is the new location with a more welcoming walkway and plaza, bigger windows, and more buffer space between the sidewalk and parking lot.


Looking across the street now, there is the old East Lake branch library building, currently home to a merchandising business. A plaque noting the building history can be seen in this photo.


Continuing on, the street has a more suburban look. This US Bank branch uses up a whole block with a building and parking lot. I have to wonder if they even use the whole building anymore.


And finally we will end with a couple parting photos at the Minnehaha Plaza shopping center. A former Rainbow Foods is now home to a charter academy of some type, a 1990's look Wendy's sitting in a sea of asphalt, and Cub Foods appears to be getting a facelift.
     

Long term I would expect that some of the plaza area here will be converted to new development with apartments.

That brings us to the end of this street tour!

Minneapolis to Move Towards Single-Sort Recycling System

Despite the move by waste haulers across the metro area to single-sort recycling, Minneapolis has stayed with their original curb-sort recycling method. All that will change however thanks to the Minneapolis City Council's Transportation and Public Works Committee vote Tuesday to transition towards the single-sort system.

An example of the type of recycling container currently used by Minneapolis residents

With the single-sort method, all recyclable materials such as paper, cans, bottles, and boxes are placed together in a single container. The material is collected and then sorted out at the recycling center or collection facility. Containers for recycling are typically larger than the 18 gallon bins Minneapolis currently uses. For example, Waste Management and Allied Waste both offer large carts, with recycling instructions on the lid, for collecting recycling.
 

Currently, Minneapolis has some of the most extensive sorting requirements available for recycling curbside. There are nine categories, and little tolerance for improperly sorted material. 18 gallon bins with lids are issued for biweekly recycling per residence. The bins tend to fill quickly, which also may contribute to the poor participation rate of 18%.

WCCO TV recently covered the changes coming, and has a report along with this footage of the current system:


While it is ideal to try to produce less waste in the first place, it will be interesting to see if this new system leads to better participation and material recovery for Minneapolis, and Hennepin County.