EPTThis morning however, was the first morning I was able to take the Green Line, Minneapolis-Saint Paul's newest light rail line into the office.
![[image loading]](http://www.metrocouncil.org/Transportation/Projects/Current-Projects/Central-Corridor/Photos/CCLRT-Route-Map.aspx)
I always found it odd the first line we built didn't connect the Twin Cities, but getting people up from the Airport is a sensible enough priority.
This new line, for me at least, cuts out one of the most inconvenient, and dubious routes from my commute, by dropping me a mere ten minute walk from my house at the Victoria Street Station. You can see why I am excited at this new installation. It is also a bit closer to the office once I am downtown, but with everything up and running it ensures I get at least a couple miles in walking, if my lazy ass doesn't get to the gym that day.
The other bit I am excited about, is the opportunity that it brings to what has been a neglected bit of the Twin Cities for sometime, what the local transit authority calls the Central Corridor. From the Rice Street Station, to about Raymond, there is consistently a roughly two block area North or South of that stretch that are generally lower income, higher crime rates, in what has traditionally been a largely black portion of namely Saint Paul. The broader term for the area is the Rondo Neighborhood (more recently areas of the broader Rondo area, have seen influxes of different immigrant groups, specifically Hmong which has markedly diversified the area).
Going back to the days of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and even predating him a fair bit, the area through which this light rail runs, and through which that wide swatch of freeway called I-94 cuts would have housed the help for the palatial manors which line Summit Avenue in the city of Saint Paul.
![[image loading]](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/f1/8e/7b/summit-avenue.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.visitsaintpaul.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/discover-saint-paul/neighborhoods/summit-area/governor-s-mansion/29509-1-eng-US/Governor-s-Mansion_gallery_header.jpg)
There are a fair few row houses, and even more manors resembling the lower house, which was donated from a wealthy family to the state and now serves as the Governor's residence
Some of this old money is still around on that area, old alleyways still paved in brick or with brick peaking through blacktop still have servants quarters, stable houses and all the amenities you would expect in a railroad mogul's mansion in the early 20th century.
When I-94 was constructed here in the Twin Cities (in the 1960s), it really should come as no shock that they opted to run it through Rondo. This coincided with the dismantling of an existing, extensive streetcar network that had been running for more than fifty years throughout mid fifties and into the sixties running Buses instead.
![[image loading]](http://www.minnpost.com/sites/default/files/OldTwinCitiesStreetCarRailRoadLines640.png)
If you walk around Minneapolis or Saint Paul, and know what you're looking for you can still see the rail lines which were simply paved over. A fair few of the lines actually account for significant portions of our bike trails at this moment
In fact, if you live in Mexico City, chances are you may have seen some of the late model, Minneapolis streetcars, as they were sold off as the lines closed.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4SQR0jV.png)
Maybe this looks familiar to some? (I am sure these were all around at the time I just know Minneapolis's went to DF)
The really exciting thing about this new line, beyond my commute, is the chance to bring back a lot of money and investment to some of the less kept areas in the Twin Cities. Gentrification is a real risk, the closer you get to the University of Minnesota, there has already been massive amounts of capitol sunk into student housing high rises creeping steadily eastwards. Though the U just got a new stadium and this no doubt added to the development appeal.
University Avenue, insofar as I've always seen it, strikes an odd balance of dive-ish charm and down right run down. Peppering the length of it are some of the best Asian restaurants in the cities, occupying everything from old Burger King locations, to hole-in-the-wall markets selling assuredly illegal copies of DVDs in any South East Asian language you can imagine not ten feet from the counter where you place your order.
The further down you go you see where Buick, or Ford had a showroom that has since shown cars from countries the then CEO's would never have considered keeping on a lot next to proper, American automobiles. Next to that are buildings which have been unoccupied for even longer, showing signs of decay and neglect to the point of being useless for any real commercial purposes.
Invariably some of the haphazard charm will be lost to development, rent hikes, and other growing pains which will come with the increased commuter traffic along the street, but I am optimistic that things will turn out for the better and drive some concrete investment into neighborhoods and areas that really do need it. I am really looking forward to watching the changes happen out of the windows on the Green Line over the course of the next few years.
I was initially going to write this bragging about how my commute had just gotten a bit shorter, but wound up knee deep in a history lesson about mass transit in the Twin Cities. @___@. Thanks for the read and shout out to any TL public transit users.
