Posts
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| Minneapolis Skyway service directory, 250 2nd Av S |
In only my third post on this blog I confessed my love for Cedar Rapids' Skywalks, which connect a few downtown office buildings between the Doubletree Hotel and the Ground Transportation Center. During a sabbatical that spring, I had walked the Skywalks every day while working out of the downtown library's temporary location. Now that I'm (mostly) retired, I find I can from end to end and back in thirty minutes, a good fitness walk.
During that same sabbatical, I read Suburban Nation for the first time. Authors Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck excoriated skywalks (or "pedestrian bridges") for taking pedestrians off the streets and for separating middle class workers and shoppers from poor people. (See chapter nine for their critique.) I defended my love by saying the twists and turns of Cedar Rapids' Skywalks make them impractical for most pedestrians, and that they put me into historic buildings I would have no other occasion to enter. (At the time those included the American Building, which has since been closed off from the system by United Fire Group.)
The Minneapolis Skyway operates on an altogether different scale. Its various paths and spurs total about ten miles, and cover more than 80 blocks. While Cedar Rapids has a couple of law offices in its skywalks--the Armstrongs Department Store that once was its hub closed in 1990--Minneapolis has restaurants and bars and stores and hair salons and on and on, besides connecting to a Target store. It also connects to US Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Vikings, and Target Field, home of MLB's Twins.
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| Target Field: me and Tony Oliva, 2016 (got there by light rail not Skyway, though) |
We didn't come close to covering all ten miles of Minneapolis Skywalks, nor to Target Field. We began our ramble at the Minneapolis Central Library:
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| Getting to the Skyway from the Minneapolis Central Library |
Some though not all ramps have street signs...
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| Skyway ramp with street sign |
...and wayfinding signs...
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| Skyway wayfinding sign |
...and there are frequent maps, though not so frequent that one doesn't get lost (part of the Skyway experience, say the websites). East is up on the maps, instead of north, which can be disorienting.
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| Skyway map |
I'd suggest taking a middle schooler up to the Skyway and giving them some place to lead the group. As soon as they go wrong, put a map or at least a sign there.
The Skyway system is notable for its extensive commercial operations, including cafes...
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| Skyway cafe |
...and clothes shops...
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| Skyway boutique |
...and offices, and barbershops, and all manner of other stuff. There's room for more!
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| Skyway vacancy at 215 S 4th Street |
There are apartments like this one off the Skyway, though I couldn't tell if it actually was connected.
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| Apartment and courtyard by Skyway |
A directory of condos that are connected is at homesmsp.com.
Not all parts of the Skyway are hotspots. Some parts were just tubes...
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| Skyway empty tunnel |
...where the lack of "eyes on the Skyway" can be uncomfortable.
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| Skyway empty tunnel sign |
It felt weird sky-walking into the Public Safety building. I wonder if other people feel that way?
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| Skyway entrance to Public Safety building, 401 4th Avenue S |
Eventually we found our way back to our hotel, which like most if not all downtown hotels and parking garages is connected to the Skyway.
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| Skyway ramp leading to Westin Hotel, 88 S 6th St |
Most of the Skyway is open only during normal business hours Monday through Friday, so we're not establishing an alternative society here. I don't know whether I am happy with that (allows street life to flourish at other times) or would like more extended hours (my rental van was accessible by Skyway until Sunday morning when I needed it).
For dessert, here's a homey scene I found on the way to the parking garage:
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| 50s kitchen display, Northstar Center |
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