Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Minneapolis' New Town Center

Thousands of fans pouring off of trains from Big Lake and Bloomington, families riding bikes in from Southwest Minneapolis, pedestrians making their way from bars and restaurants in the Warehouse district ...that will be the scene (at least) 81 times a year at Target Field starting in April, 2010.

Click here for an update on the exterior of Target Field

It's becoming more apparent that there actually was quite a bit of thought that went into building this ballpark on the north side of downtown Minneapolis. Yes, the small lot makes for a tight fit and yes, there is a garbage incinerator right next door, but when it's complete, Target Field will be the meeting place for tens of thousands of Minnesotans. A hub of activity that will be especially easy to get to, with or without a car.

In a recent Star Tribune article (see above link) the writer describes "the escalators and elevators used to connect commuters to the two levels of trains at the ballpark's transit station." Imagine if every major gathering point in the Twin Cities was designed with this transit strategy in mind. Imagine how much less congestion we'd have at the Xcel if (or when) rail lines brought in 1/3 of the spectators. Or how much easier the commute from the southwest suburbs would (will) be when the southwest light rail line pulls thousands of vehicles off the roads every day.

The multiple means of getting to Target Field will make the game-day experience more enjoyable and less congested for everyone involved. And that ease of use will help draw people to the stadium long after, God forbid, the Twins current string of success runs out. Which means the new Target Field will continue to be a center of economic activity for decades to come.

Monday, March 16, 2009

We can't wait for TCF Bank Stadium!

If you've driven buy the U of M campus recently, you've probably seen it ...and if you're a football fan, you're probably as excited as we are about next fall and outdoor football. Just in case you missed it, here's a video tour of TCF Bank Stadium from the Strib...

Click here to watch the tour

So who else has tickets? ...any special plans for the first game on September 12th?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Wares enter the blogosphere!

Testing, testing, 1-2-3...

Yep, Paige and Justin have started a blog. We don't have any kids to talk about, no pets to show off, we're not traveling the world or anything cool like that ...so why have we started a blog? Good question ...I guess because we can.

So please, follow along! We promise we'll make it worth your while at least occasionally!!