These three commercial streets are each a mile long or so and all connect together: Lyndale and Hennepin are north-south and connecting the two east-west is Lake. I noticed it's somewhat common for some commercial streets to branch out a block into the residential areas. These are shared corridors where they serve as the gathering spot of five or so neighborhoods. Here's a map of this urban trinity. Note that I started at halfway down Lyndale, along Lake, and up Hennepin  to Franklin, so there are numerous blocks not included here, but it gives you a good idea of what vibe here.

 

Lyndale Avenue South

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When they do sidewalk construction, they don't force pedestrians to cross to the other side or just walk in the street: they're accommodated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Lake Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hennepin Avenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed these, because these blisters tell me my feet didn't.

Great post. My favorite area in Minneapolis is in the Lynlake, Wedge, and Whittier neighborhoods. You cover the first two in the beginning of your post. I enjoy how cohesive and complementary the business corridors are in those areas. The infill looks amazing, and really fits in with the older building stock.

 

And YES--I noticed how they accommodate pedestrians when construction fences off a sidewalk. How considerate.

 

I think areas of Cincinnati really need the "No Bike Riding on the Sidewalk" signs badly.

Thanks, Keith, for sharing photos of a such a hip, urban commercial district--the sheer variety of intertwined small business & entertainment venues could be the envy of any large city. (For example, I think I counted three bike shops alone!)  Another positive aspect would seem to be the area's "walkable-factor." (It must be pretty high.)  Maybe you could give us your own impressions of such, in light of your recent walkable-factor discussions on the Columbus post.  No matter what, this "district" (if one can label it that) is impressive--just wishing it were part of Cincinnati; it looks more extensive than Northside, the Gaslight District, and O'Bryonville combined.  How do the new, trendy retail/entertainment areas of Columbus compare/contrast with it?

While there are some holes in the urban fabric, some more noticeable than others, it seems like they're getting filled in quickly around here, although Lake had some of the most egregious offenders, including a suburban style Rainbow Foods on a street that branches just off Lake. With the configuration of three streets forming a triangle vs. one linear major street one benefit is that more neighborhoods are served in a more walkable fashion. Any one of these most closely resembles the Short North which is also a one mile strip, which if dropped off as a further extension here would fit right in. I am going to post Whittier shortly, but I'm going to include some residential shots too aside from the main strip, which is also just a handful of blocks away from these.

Uptown is always a treat.

uptown...is where i wanna be!