Per Trains NewsWire:
Transit ridership up in Twin Cities
(http://trn.trains.com/~/media/Images/Railroad%20News/News%20Wire/2014/01/Metro%20Transit%20MSP.jpg?bc=000000&mw=225)
MINNEAPOLIS – Customers boarded Metro Transit buses and trains in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area nearly 81.4 million times in 2013, an increase of more than 300,000 rides (0.4 percent) over 2012. The Northstar Commuter Rail line had a particularly strong year, with ridership up more than 12 percent.
Passengers boarded Northstar trains 787,239 times in 2013, the highest number in the line's four-year history. The overall 12.4 percent increase is attributable to a fare reduction and the addition of a station in Ramsey in November 2012, Metro Transit says. Average weekday ridership, the line's primary commuter market, increased 17 percent.
"Although trains served more special events than ever before, new weekday commuters drove the strong gains in Northstar ridership," Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb says.
Ridership on the Blue Line light rail from downtown Minneapolis to Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America dropped 3.2 percent to 10.2 million. Planned service interruptions for construction and maintenance projects dampened weekend ridership, the agency says. The projects included surfacing track, completion of the junction with the new Green Line to St. Paul, and accommodating a major rebuilding of the road interchange at 34th Avenue and Interstate 494. Average weekday ridership on the region's first light-rail line continues to exceed projections for the year 2020 by more than 25 percent today.
IMO the Twin Cities is one of the most underrated metro areas. Of course the winters are brutal though.
Quote from: I-10east on January 26, 2014, 10:40:07 PM
IMO the Twin Cities is one of the most underrated metro areas. Of course the winters are brutal though.
I visited there last October and TOTALLY agree. If the MJ forumers made a list of everything they wanted Jax to have that it doesn't, you would essential have Minneapolis.
Light Rail that is clean, has significant ridership and actually takes you were you want to go - check
Downtown residents by the (tens of) thousands - check
Downtown residences that you can actually afford - check
Clean, landscaped, attractive DT streets that look and feel safe - check
Downtown retail in abundance including several Department stores and smaller national retailers - check
A pedestrian mall that actually works - check
Well maintained and funded park land in large abundance - check
An attractive riverfront that is also a park and which has a pedestrian bridge connecting the two banks - check
All the major league sports teams NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB - check
New and attractive venues for all of the teams - check
A well located, not isolated, large, functional, Convention Center with numerous hotels serving it - check
A nice skyline with lots of towers - check
A city government where the grassroot citizens call the shots, not deep pocketed developers - check
An urban greenway that is maintained and well traveled - check
A well deserved national reputation for recreational opportunities and participation - check
Bicycle and walking paths throughout the entire city and metro area - check
A magnet for millenials and home to numerous Fortune 500s - check
Numerous desireable neighborhoods and urban centers outside of the DT core proper - check
A major airport that is served by Light rail - check
One of the strongest markets nationally for the Performing Arts - check
An obvious absense of surface lots and moonscapes - check
The absense of a do-nothing, all government is evil, Teapublican mindset - check
In other words, pretty much an urban utopia.
I took pictures which I will get to Lake this week.
One of the few American cities that I have not visited as of yet. I can't wait to see your pictures, Vic.
I was with you on the checks Vic until the last one. The "teapublican" thing is recent. What the Twin Cities developed took decades.
Quote from: spuwho on January 27, 2014, 07:20:21 AM
I was with you on the checks Vic until the last one. The "teapublican" thing is recent. What the Twin Cities developed took decades.
The Tea Party name may be recent, but the mindset isn't. There may be more adherents now, but that is the extent of it.
^^^Remember, The Twin Cities mayors are VERY liberal, as both of them are in the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party. So it's not like that area is some Republican stronghold or something. The majority of the state is in the DFL. Who cares if an outnumbered group has differences with the majority.
Quote from: I-10east on January 27, 2014, 08:25:24 PM
^^^Remember, The Twin Cities mayors are VERY liberal, as both of them are in the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party. So it's not like that area is some Republican stronghold or something. The majority of the state is in the DFL. Who cares if an outnumbered group has differences with the majority.
My point was that those cities have created a great environment in large part because the they are not controlled by the ultra conservative forces that are holding other cities, like Jacksonville, back.
^^^I misread that Vic. My bad.
that place is too damn cold though. My uncle pitched for the Twins for a year and I visited there as a youngster, I do remember it being pretty in the summer.
Quote from: vicupstate on January 28, 2014, 05:22:32 AM
Quote from: I-10east on January 27, 2014, 08:25:24 PM
^^^Remember, The Twin Cities mayors are VERY liberal, as both of them are in the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party. So it's not like that area is some Republican stronghold or something. The majority of the state is in the DFL. Who cares if an outnumbered group has differences with the majority.
My point was that those cities have created a great environment in large part because the they are not controlled by the ultra conservative forces that are holding other cities, like Jacksonville, back.
they are also one of the few places in the country that actually has a regional government
Quote from: I-10east on January 26, 2014, 10:40:07 PM
IMO the Twin Cities is one of the most underrated metro areas. Of course the winters are brutal though.
-9 F there this morning. :o