kenos_leong_central lowry technical memofinal

Memorandum Date: October 19, 2016 TO: William Smith FROM: Nathan Bakken, Kenos Leong, Joshua Olson, Denise Pike SUBJECT: Central Avenue & Lowry Avenue Assessment PURPOSE This memorandum presents an assessment of the intersection of Central Avenue and Lowry Avenue located in Northeast Minneapolis. Bordered by the Holland, Audubon Park, and Windom Park neighborhoods, the study area is contained within the Minneapolis Arts District and the Central Avenue Business District. Home to many diverse restaurants, this intersection is an important destination point by all modes of transportation within the Northeast Minneapolis area. Our assessment focuses on the areas of context within the city of Minneapolis and the metropolitan area, demographics, transportation, inventory and condition of infrastructure, and streetscape elements of the intersection of Central and Lowry Avenues. CONTEXT OF STUDY AREA The intersection of Central and Lowry sits in the northeast portion of the City of Minneapolis (see Figure 1). Central Avenue as well as Lowry Avenue were both home to streetcar lines in the early 1900s and still exist as major corridors in NE Minneapolis today. According to the Minneapolis Zoning Administration, the intersection is zoned C1 (see Figure 2). Adjacent zoning codes include C2 , R5, and R2B. This area includes a PO zoning overlay district. FIGURE 1 LOCATION OF CENTRAL-LOWRY INTERSECTION

Source: City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Esri, HERE, DeLorme, NGA, USGS, NPS

Bakken, Leong, Olson, Pike October 19, 2016

FIGURE 2 ZONING MAP OF STUDY AREA

Source: Department of Community Planning and Economic Development, Planning Division This intersection sits in one of ten special service districts for the City of Minneapolis. The Central Avenue Special Services District raises taxes for property owners to fund the increased pedestrian access and ease of parking within the area. The effort is evident in the enhanced streetscaping and higher pedestrian activity. The area is also considered an Activity Center which is a destination that attracts visitors from the region. According to The Minneapolis Plan , the goals of an Activity Center are to:

○ “Promote developing medium to high density residential uses” ○ “Encourage providing convenient and accessible transit service and enhancing the pedestrian

environment to make Activity Centers more easily navigated by pedestrians” ○ “Support parking strategies that accommodate high customer demand yet minimize impact on

sidewalk traffic”


This area appears to have the qualities of an Activity Center. According to MNCompass, only ⅓ of the housing within a half mile radius of this intersection is single-family housing. Compared to the community of Northeast Minneapolis as a whole, which is almost ½ single-family housing, this study area seems to promote medium to high density residential. There are four bus routes serving this intersection with one route (10) being high frequency. Parking is readily available without meters and directly in front of business locations. Certain businesses that attract a lot of business, like Holy Land, provide off-street parking for convenience. This makes it desirable as a destination. Overall the pedestrian amenities could be slightly improved based on the observations in the Inventory and Condition of Infrastructure section of this assessment. The land uses present in the intersection and immediately adjacent are primarily commercial and transportation with some residential and recreational mixed in. The southeast corner of the intersection houses a permaculture demonstration garden, Cultivate NE, which is maintained by local businesses. The sustainable urban garden experiment is highly visible to visitors of the area with two murals, benches, and a pergola. The buildings that run along Central Avenue are mostly two-story with commercial on the ground floor and residential above. This dates back to streetcar days when business owners would often live above their shops. These buildings running along Central Avenue, one block to the north and south from Lowry Avenue, have a median year built of 1910 (see Table 1). Central Avenue is home to a diverse food culture which helps to attract visitors (see Figure 3). This food culture is the main local draw to Central Avenue as a destination.


TABLE 1 PROPERTY PARCELS YEAR BUILT

NW Central Facing SW Central Facing SE Central Facing NE Central Facing

1923 1906 1918 1924

1909 1900 1901 1937

1980 1900 1901 1930

1886 1900 1926 1924

1919 1917 1900 1910

1906 1900 1900 1911

1928 1911 1900

1907 1978

1900

1953 Source: Hennepin County Property Information Three parcel dates unavailable through Property Information* FIGURE 3 RESTAURANTS NEAR INTERSECTION

Source: City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Esri, HERE, DeLorme, INCREMENT P, NGA, USGS


SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS All demographics in this section of the assessment are taken within a ½ mile radius from the intersection of Central Avenue and Lowry Avenue. According to MNCompass, there is a population of 4,055 in this area. There is a slightly higher rate of residents of color in this study area compared to the City of Minneapolis as a whole. 44.7% and 61% respectively. This study area also has a slightly higher vacancy rate than Minneapolis, and most residents rent their housing (see Table 2).

Nearly all of the people who work in this defined area live outside the radius and nearly all those reside here work outside. Only 49 residents both live and work in this study area according to The United States Census Bureau. Most residents commute to the north and the south side of the metropolitan area for work. Thus, Central Avenue serves a major corridor for regional commuters (see Figure 4). TABLE 2 POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDY AREA AND MINNEAPOLIS 2014

STUDY AREA MINNEAPOLIS

Total Population 4,055 394,419

Race and Ethnicity

White alone 55.30% 61.00%

Of Color 44.70% 39.00%

Black or African American alone 16.20% 17.60%

American Indian and Alaska Native alone 1.90% 1.20%

Asian or Pacific Islander alone 2.10% 5.90%

Two or More Races 4.40% 4.30%

Hispanic or Latino 19.70% 9.80%

Housing Units

All housing units 1,856 13,912

Vacant housing units 10.30% 7.70%

Owned and Rented Housing

Owner-occupied 38.70% 44.90%

Renter-occupied 61.30% 47.40% Source: mncompass.org


FIGURE 4 INFLOW/OUTFLOW JOB COUNTS AND DISTANCE/DIRECTION 2014

Source: onthemap.ces.census.gov

TRANSPORTATION Both Lowry Avenue and Central Avenue are classified as collectors, moving traffic from local streets to arterial roads such as I-694 and I-35W (see Figure 5). During rush hours they have Level of Service (LOS) C. Non-rush hour is LOS B. The significance in these streets are their connections to other parts of the metropolitan area. Central in this area of Northeast connects to the suburbs of Columbia Heights and Fridley, as well as Downtown Minneapolis and the rest of Northeast Minneapolis. Lowry Avenue also connects to Northeast Minneapolis and North Minneapolis. Both roads carry a high volume of traffic (see Figure 6).

http://onthemap.ces.census.gov/


FIGURE 5 REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION

Graphic by Kenos Leong On-street parking is available as well as off-street parking for some businesses such as Holy Land. All parking in the area is non-metered. Lowry Avenue has limited street parking due to the width of the road and parking restrictions during rush hours. Central Avenue has less restrictions on parking and is limited to 90 min from 9 AM to 6 PM and unrestricted other times. When we observed Central and Lowry it was nearing the end of rush hour. There were very few people walking in the area, we observed about 3 to 5 people walking in each direction. Due to the low number of people walking around we determined a pedestrian LOS A.


Central-Lowry Intersection is also well-connected by public bus service. ○ Bus shelters are present on northbound and southbound Central Avenue. ○ Routes that serve Central Avenue at this study area: 10, 59, 118

○ Route 10 connects Downtown Minneapolis through Northeast Minneapolis, to northern suburbs. High volume bus service runs all times of the day. Bus is usually near capacity. Some passengers are required to stand.

○ Route 59 is a limited stop version of the Route 10. Route 59 runs during peak times only and is near capacity, but does not usually require you to stand.

○ Route 118 is a limited stop bus from the northern suburbs that connects to the UMN via Central, Lowry, and then 35W. Route 118 runs during peak times and is usually near capacity, but does not require you to stand.

○ Bus benches are present on westbound and eastbound Lowry Avenue. ○ Routes that serve Lowry Avenue at this study area: 32, 118

○ Route 32 connects North and Northeast Minneapolis via Lowry Avenue. This route is low volume, usually plenty of seats available at all times of the day.

Traffic at this intersection is controlled with traffic lights, but these lights have no protected left

turn in any direction. This makes the intersection feel unsafe for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians due to congestion during rush hour. The pedestrian walk signals are on fixed-time signals, which helps make pedestrians an equal part of traffic signal system by providing regular and consistent intervals for them to cross the street. Bikes run in traffic with motorized vehicles, as the sidewalks have many “no riding on sidewalk” signs. FIGURE 6 DAILY TRAFFIC VOLUME AT INTERSECTION OF CENTRAL & LOWRY

Source: City of Minneapolis - Traffic Count System


INVENTORY AND CONDITION OF INFRASTRUCTURE The intersection of Central and Lowry, as well as the surrounding blocks, are laid out on a standard grid pattern. Alleys run parallel to Central Avenue on both the East and West side of the street, mainly used as service to the local businesses, with several small off-street parking lots in the alleys. The sidewalks are the only separation between the buildings and the street; in other words, no buffers from the street exist to separate the sidewalk. Along Central Avenue, the sidewalks are half concrete and half brick. The intersection itself is controlled by stop lights, with a pedestrian crosswalk on each side. The pedestrian walk signals are functional. The crosswalk paint has faded over time and could use repainting for better visibility. The corners of the sidewalks have two ADA accessible ramps, leading to a total of eight at the intersection. One of the curb ramps is slightly blocked by a fire hydrant which could lead to some accessibility issues (See Image 1). Only one of the curb ramps uses truncated domes, the rest are concrete. Sidewalk furniture exists in the area, but the corners themselves are generally free of furniture, save for the fire hydrant and several light poles. Few dedicated bike lanes exist within the area of study, with several shared bike lane logos on the furthest right traffic lane in each direction. Unfortunately, these don’t do much to aid in the definition of a dedicated bike lane on Central Avenue itself (See Image 2). Lowry Avenue has a bike lane East of Central, but does not West of the street, leading to more emphasis towards cars on Lowry Avenue as well. The conditions of these street elements are moderately well kept, with some street surface cracking occurring near the intersection. Several portions are the sidewalk are deteriorating, and the curb ramps near the intersections are not as accessible as they could be. The curbs between the sidewalks and street have large cracks most likely due to weather stresses and vehicle parking. In general, some repair of the sidewalk surface could help to improve the streetscape elements of the area (See Image 3).


INFRASTRUCTURE IMAGES

Photos by Kenos Leong STREETSCAPE ELEMENTS AND ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS The buildings in this area are mostly two-story streetcar height. Lowry Avenue is about 40 feet wide so the buildings are 1/2 the width of the street. Central Avenue is about 95 feet wide so the buildings are about 1/5 the width of the street (See Image 4). Comparing the two avenues, Lowry has a more defined sense of street because it is relatively denser. According to Jacobs (1971), human’s sense of street weakens as height-distance ratio gets smaller, and the sense of street would be hardly defined at the 1:5 ratio and beyond. Thereby, sense of street of Central Avenue is quite weak according to Jacob’s standard. According to Jacobs (1971), spacing of trees is the most effective at 15 to 25 feet. Trees are planted at 23 feet apart from each other along Central Avenue which provides a comfortable balance of shade and sunlight to pedestrians. Sidewalk is wide, about 14 feet, and they are made of half concrete and half brick. Bike racks, bus shelters, garbage bins, trees, and streetlights are installed on the brick side of the sidewalk, leaving the concrete side barrier-free (See Image 5). The permaculture demonstration garden, Cultivate NE, located at the SE corner of the Central-Lowry Intersection, functioned as a landmark of the street; it produces food while providing educational and community-building opportunities (See Image 6). However, Central Avenue is missing a clear beginning and end.


Brick is the most common material in this area due to the age of buildings. Fabric awnings are a staple on most of the storefronts. Some storefronts have modern updated facades with steel and decorative wood. (Recovery Bike Shop, Fair State Brewing Cooperative, Aki’s Bread Haus). The restaurants tend to have visible tables from the street bringing a more social feeling to the street when walking or driving past (See Image 7). Lastly, the area can be accessed in multiple transportation modes, making it an inviting ‘all-welcomed’ place. Drivers, bus riders, bikers, and pedestrians are all taken into consideration in the design of this intersection (See Image 8 and 9). CROSS SECTION OF STUDY AREA

Photo and graphic by Kenos Leong


STREETSCAPE IMAGES

Photos by Kenos Leong


SUMMARY In summary, several flaws of the area have been observed, and further development in several different regards could do much to further improve the already vibrant and diverse intersection. Initially, implementation of bike infrastructure, more specifically dedicated bike lanes, perhaps a protected bike lane, on both Central Avenue and Lowry Avenue, would improve the bike accessibility of the area, as four lane traffic can often be daunting to bike in. As an Activity Center, Central Avenue should increase its density by redeveloping or buildings new mixed-use buildings. In addition, creating a visible beginning and end of the street would help with increasing the sense of street. Street condition can be improved by more frequent maintenance, such as fixing street surface cracking and repainting crossroad. Moreover, sidewalk needs to ADA accessible. Overall, we think Central and Lowry is a memorable street and it has room to improve. Its vibrant and diverse culture jumpstarts its success as an activity center. With better pro-pedestrian and pro-cyclist street design, Central and Lowry can become a regional focal gathering center with a lot to offer to the community.

kenos_leong_central lowry technical memofinal

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