Transcript Part 1: The Earliest Phase of Development

Geography of the Twin Cities
Development
Part 11: Renewed Interest in the Core
David A. Lanegran
Geography Department
Macalester College
The downtown leadership has responded with facilities that require centrality and
proximity. The Convention business seems ideally suited to downtowns. In addition,
developers have worked hard to make plans work for multipurpose office towers. In
practically all cases, these new buildings have been facilitated by government programs.
Minneapolis has some spectacular examples of post-modern
architecture. This is the I. M. Pei building, designed as the
headquarters for Norwest Bank.
The 1990s were a time of excitement in the development and architecture
communities. This is the building that would be headquarters for the First Bank
System.
This building, built by speculators, lacks a major tenant but is an excellent example of a postmodern structure. We see the fanciful top, the bands of colored masonry, and the denial of
the idea that form should follow function with as little decorative trim as possible.
This view of downtown Minneapolis in winter shows how abruptly the built-up portion
of downtown ends. We can see the surface parking lots and armory as indications of
the limited economic power of the city center. Much of the surface parking in this
picture was cleared some 30 years ago.
Here we see the potential of
downtown; the high-rise core
with its beautiful and efficient
high-rise skyline, the open land
around the Metro Dome, and the
University of Minnesota. Many
believe that an effective link
between University research
and downtown business will
cause another growth spurt in
the urban economy, akin to the
computer boom of the 1960s
and 1970s.
Perhaps the most disappointing development scheme put forward by the downtown business
community was the Hubert H. Humphrey Metro Dome. The downtown interests forced the move
of the Vikings and Twins into downtown from Bloomington with the expectation that an
entertainment and lodging boom would follow. These optimists apparently did not study the land
use around the Met Center. In any event, Bloomington got the Mega Mall and Minneapolis has
been forced to cope with the illogical economics of professional sports. Even the world
championships of the Twins could not bring development to this part of the city.
The small and compact center of St. Paul seeks a new identity. It can no longer be thought of as
competition to downtown Minneapolis, but it clearly is not an edge city.
What heavy industry that remains in the metro area is located in the suburbs where there is
space and few neighbors to complain. This is the refinery in St. Paul Park.
Suburban development continues apace but economies of scale are producing high
density developments so the simplistic thoughts about single family suburban and
commercial downtowns have proven untenable.
Some manufacturing and headquarters activities have moved to the suburbs to take
advantage of accessibility and space. This is a portion of the Deluxe Check corporation in
Shoreview.
The Land-O-Lakes Headquarters seems to defy common notions
about Corporate culture. This building is not visible from the roads
around the site.
Close up of the Land-O-Lakes Headquarters.
The need to compete with the Mega Mall forced the owners of Southdale to
expand and remodel their historic shopping center.
Southdale was the world's first climate-controlled shopping mall. It is now dwarfed by the
larger malls and lacks the entertainment functions that were added to malls in the 1980s. It is
basically a covered, air-conditioned street.