Transit Oriented Development : Featured Stories

Architects, developers and city officials hope that two new apartment towers, which are changing the skyline of downtown Minneapolis, will transform street life and commerce with an influx of new residents and new businesses.  

We recently sat down with Shawn Combs Walding, MnDOT’s Transit Advantages Coordinator for the Twin Cities Metro District to discuss alternative transportation in the Twin Cities, what local entities can do to promote transit use, and how easy it really is to be car-free. 

The message of this year's Rail~Volution conference in the Twin Cities was clear: To attract and retain top talent in the coming decades, cities must meet Millennials' preferences for effective transit options.

Four neighborhood initiatives along the Green Line demonstrate how the Central Corridor is becoming a local and national model for equitable and empowering community-driven transit-oriented development (TOD).    

"What's next for your city?" That the question Urban Innovation Exchange (UIX) will explore at its first national convening this September 24-26, 2014 in Detroit.

After decades of population loss, many cities are now growing faster than the rest of their metro areas. Urban living is now the new normal. What amenities are necessary to sustain a dense and vibrant city? The answers might surprise you.

More than providing a convenient, environmentally friendly transit option, the $957 million Green Line light-rail project down the Central Corridor is proving a catalyst for rejuvenating the once vibrant, 11-mile spine connecting the Twin Cities.

A sneak peek at the solar initiatives of a Twin Cities homeowner, nonprofit and entrepreneurial restaurant/farm featured during the EcoMetro Sustainable Living Tour on May 31 sponsored by the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society.

Since the passage of the Surly Bill 2012, craft-beer entrepreneurs have rapidly opened breweries with taprooms in neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul. All are doing their part to turn neighborhoods into top-of-mind destinations.

The Central Corridor is becoming the Twin Cities' new cultural hotspot showcasing local diversity, bringing communities closer together, and boosting economic opportunities.

Creative CityMaking, Intermedia Arts’ bold placemaking, problem-solving collaboration with the City of Minneapolis, recently received a three-year grant that promises to deepen the initiative’s reach in previously unimaginable ways.

James Corner, who re-imagined New York City's wildly popular urban destination, the High Line, is the latest to re-envision Nicollet Mall's potential as a vital, urban public space.

Smart cities like Saint Paul are renovating their train stations (like the multi-modal hub Union Depot) into neighborhood and urban amenities.