It was bound to happen. After a year spent enduring the daily trauma inflicted on our country by its own president, concerned residents have adopted the language of resistance to Donald Trump and applied it to the perceived atrocity of new apartments in their backyard.
Residents Gather to Remember Iconic Arby’s Sign
People from across the Twin Cities flocked to Arby’s Island in Uptown Friday night to celebrate the memory of a fallen icon: a fast food sign that lit the corner of Lake St and Emerson Ave for more than 47 years.
Organizer Noah Hevey billed the event as a candle light vigil. Rather than mournful, the atmosphere was friendly and celebratory as the temperature hovered around zero degrees. The image of the old Arby’s sign was projected onto a screen in the parking lot while attendees displayed cardboard signs and lit candles in remembrance.
Fire dancer at the Uptown Arby’s vigil. pic.twitter.com/8qc7NcRML4— Wedge LIVE! (@WedgeLIVE) February 10, 2018
Arby’s Restaurant Group provided free t-shirts and the Moxy hotel provided Arby’s signature roast beef sandwiches, which were enjoyed afterwards in the lounge across the street.
A statement from Arby’s president Rob Lynch offered “condolences for the loss of a community icon.” The statement explained the reason for the restaurant’s closing was the unwillingness of the property owner to offer a 10-year lease.
Lynch continued, “Tonight we bid farewell to the Uptown Arby’s and its beautiful sign, but this doesn’t have to be goodbye forever. We have more than 60 Arby’s restaurants in Minneapolis and surrounding areas within 3 to 5 miles of here.”
But come ye back when hunger’s in the belly
Or when the city’s hushed and white with snow
‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Arby’s sign, oh Arby’s sign, I love you so
Of you I dream, oh when the night is falling
And then I’m fed, as fed I may well be
I pray you find the place where I am lying
And kneel and place an Arby’s there for me
And I will know the sixty other metro locations
And so my plate still warm and sweet shall be
For you shall serve and show me that you love me
And I will eat in peace, oh Arby’s come to me
The Uptown Arby’s is Now Closed
With rumors swirling about the fate of the Wedge neighborhood’s most beloved fast food restaurant, I was present for the final hours of the Uptown Arby’s. Joined by four of my best Twitter friends, we ate curly fries and reminisced about the good times.
Employees confirmed that the Arby’s at 1116 West Lake Street is closing, and speculated about a new apartment building taking the place of the single-story drive-thru restaurant. A wistful young cashier spoke of the coworkers he won’t get to see anymore.
After learning of the news, former Mayor Betsy Hodges wondered whether the city might save the historic Arby’s cowboy hat signage.
Has anyone made an HPC application for the sign?— Betsy Hodges (@BetsyHodges) January 29, 2018
Over the last year, the Uptown Arby’s has seen neighboring properties transformed. The former parking lot across the street has become Uptown’s only hotel — or what some residents loudly complain will be a sex hotel (the Star Tribune found photos on the hotel’s website featuring “half-dressed patrons jumping on beds”). One block to the west, on the site of a former single-story retail building, stands a new apartment building with a small-format Target store operating on the ground floor.
As we imagine what the future holds for this odd triangular patch of land, let’s take a look back at how Uptown’s geography has evolved over the years. In the mid-1960s, Lagoon Avenue was constructed north of Lake Street, cutting city blocks in half and creating what we know now as the “Arby’s Island” triangle.
1961: pre-Lagoon Ave |
1970: Lagoon Ave splits Uptown blocks in half. |
1974 with original Arby’s building and sign. |
1989 Uptown Arby’s newspaper ad. |
Promotional material from Wedge LIVE event held at Arby’s Island. |
What’s the difference between a 62A and a 62B?
You may currently be hearing a lot about a couple of open and competitive Minnesota State House seats this year: 62A and 62B. If you’re like me, those numbers are geographically incomprehensible. You may be asking, what is the difference between a 62A and a 62B? Who is running in which of these districts? How can I get involved?
First, a brief explanation of district naming conventions. The “62” represents Senate District 62, which is one of 67 senate districts in Minnesota. The “A” and “B” come from dividing a senate district into two house districts. In this way, 67 senate districts are subdivided into 134 house districts.
But where are 62A and 62B? Use this tool to find your district and caucus locations. I expected to be able to find a good map showing exctly where these districts are, but strangely there’s nothing that puts them in context. So I had to make one. (Reader sent me this link to a map of House districts.)
- 62A goes roughly from Lyndale Ave on the west to Hiawatha on the East; and from I-94 on the north, to Lake Street on the south.
- 62B, as explained in this candidate write-up in the Southwest Journal “includes the Lyndale, Kingfield, Central, Bryant and Regina neighborhoods, most of Powderhorn Park and Field and a portion of Tangletown.”
- Osman Ahmed
- Omar Fateh
- Hodan Hassan
- Jen Kader
- Farhio Khalif
- Margarita Ortega
- Guhaad Said (he mangled the Obama logo)
62A candidate forum – Tuesday, January 30, 6:30 – 8:30 PM, Sabathani Community Center.
App Matches Minneapolis Politicians to Their Fine Art Dopplegängers
Cam Gordon, Ward 2.
Steve Fletcher, Ward 3.
Phillipe Cunningham, Ward 4.
Jeremiah Ellison, Ward 5.
Abdi Warsame, Ward 6.
Lisa Goodman, Ward 7.
Andrea Jenkins, Ward 8.
Alondra Cano, Ward 9.
Council President Lisa Bender, Ward 10.
Jeremy Schroeder, Ward 11.
Andrew Johnson, Ward 12.
Linea Palmisano, Ward 13.
Billboard Proposal is “Rash That Won’t Go Away”
Update: New Ward 3 Council Member Steve Fletcher has confirmed that the billboard proposal is dead.
The mysteriously persistent proposal to allow more billboards in downtown Minneapolis has Planning Commissioner John Slack feeling as if he’d like to pour a bottle of antibiotics all over it:
For me this is like the rash that won’t go away. I don’t see how this supports any of the comprehensive plan goals, I don’t see how this improves livability in the downtown. All I see is negative and adverse effects.
As described by city staff person Steve Poor, “the ordinance is designed to allow for a robust building out of off-premise advertising” in areas of downtown near stadiums and along Hennepin and Washington Avenues. The proposal was unanimously rejected by the Planning Commission in September, with near-universal negative reaction from commissioners. In October, the proposal lacked the votes to pass the City Council’s Zoning & Planning Committee. Yet the plan came back stronger and more expansive in December.
Based on discussion at December’s meeting, the only Planning Commissioner willing to support it is Rebecca Gagnon, who failed to disclose that her daughter is a lobbyist for the company who would benefit most from the change. She afterwards provided a weak defense of her failure to recuse herself from the process.
In the time since I wrote about this last month, the Star Tribune editorial board has come out against the zoning change; city staff has further consulted with City Council members, including author Abdi Warsame and others who are no longer on the City Council; and a bunch of neighbors, previously unaware of the proposal, showed up to testify against it.
One of those neighbors is Joe Tamburino, Chair of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association. Tamburino said he spoke with the author of the zoning change, Abdi Warsame, at a retirement party for former Council President Barb Johnson. Warsame told Tamburino he doesn’t support the Washington Avenue expansion.
This raises a question I’ve had for a while: where is the political energy for this change coming from? It’s hard to find many who like the idea of more billboards downtown, and if you believe Joe Tamburino, even the nominal author of the change won’t support it entirely. There’s a confounding lack of transparency about exactly who on the City Council wants this and why.
Supporters of the plan like Barb Johnson and Warsame have been unable to articulate the public interest in easing the restriction on billboards, limiting their arguments to allowing companies like Blue Ox Media and Clear Channel to make more money from the upcoming Super Bowl in Minneapolis. (One might also speculate wildly, connecting the dots between Warsame and Johnson’s urgent arguments last October regarding the Super Bowl, and a leaked 2014 document detailing the Minneapolis Super Bowl Host Committee’s obligation to provide the NFL with 20 free billboards around the stadium, team hotels, and practice facilities.)
In order to give more chance for public feedback, the Planning Commission voted to delay a decision until the January 22 meeting.
Lisa Bender Expected to be Elected President of Minneapolis City Council
Commemorative shirt. Get yours today! |
In the Minneapolis City Council’s virtual one party system it can be tough to know how election results translate to actual governing. This morning we get answers to some of the big questions lingering since last November’s election, setting the stage for the next four years.
Who will be elected City Council President?
It’s very likely Lisa Bender will become Council President. The other candidate is Andrea Jenkins.
The public vote for president is traditionally unanimous once it becomes clear which candidate has majority support. Privately Bender has had seven of 13 votes secured for a while: incumbents Cam Gordon and Andrew Johnson, joined by new members Steve Fletcher, Phillipe Cunningham, Jeremiah Ellison, and Jeremy Schroeder.
Andrea Jenkins had the support of Alondra Cano plus the four remaining incumbents who were part of President Barb Johnson’s coalition during the last term: Kevin Reich, Abdi Warsame, Lisa Goodman, and Linea Palmisano.
The council will also elect a Vice President, a Majority Leader, and a Minority Leader.
Who will lead new committees?
It’s important to note the obvious: large turnover on the council means large turnover on many committees, both in terms of membership and who chairs those committees.
Here are some committees to watch for changes (previous committee chairperson in parentheses):
- Community Development & Regulatory Services (Goodman)
- Transportation & Public Works (Reich)
- Public Safety, Civil Rights & Emergency Management (Yang)
- Zoning & Planning (Bender)
- Ways & Means (Quincy)
You can watch the first City Council meeting of the year at 11:30 on Channel 14.
Acme Comedy: The Parking Crisis That Wasn’t
Acme Comedy’s remaining parking lot was half-filled during a Friday show last June |
In 2016, Acme Comedy Co was the subject of the most high-profile movement to save a parking lot in recent Minneapolis history. If the owner of an adjacent parking lot was allowed to turn it into apartments, Acme’s owner predicted he would be forced to move his business out of Minneapolis to a parking-rich suburb. Nationally-known comedians rallied to Acme’s defense. Nearly 6,000 people signed an online petition to save a parking lot — in order to save a beloved comedy institution.