Some buildings are still boarded up from the George Floyd protests, and I am not sure whether they are still actually worried about break-ins or just went out of business entirely. In the case of Hikari Sushi, I suspect that it’s the latter.
Some buildings are still boarded up from the George Floyd protests, and I am not sure whether they are still actually worried about break-ins or just went out of business entirely. In the case of Hikari Sushi, I suspect that it’s the latter.
The Ivy City neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, so it is not unusual to see brand new developments abutting shells of former buildings. But this pair of buildings on Capitol Avenue NE looks mighty familiar.
Surely it is not a coincidence that they match perfectly? Perhaps this is what progress looks like.
Gentrification in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Gentrification in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC.
There are a lot of random facades being propped up in this manner around the neighborhood. I am not sure why they are worth keeping, but at least they are providing inspiration for new buildings?
Aside from a dramatic life-saving rescue, and bi-weekly fires, the view from my desk is mostly the mundane, slow construction going on across the street.
It took weeks for the construction workers to put up the giant sign for the Compass Coffee roastery. For an hour, it hilariously read “ASS COFFEE,” which my inner 13-year-old found hilarious.
Then, when the sign read “MPASS COFFEE,” an actual impasse happened and the construction workers started a full-on screaming fight in the middle of the street.
Michael used to live in Lewisville, a suburb of Dallas.
I had been to Lewisville a few times, and it seemed like pure sprawl: chain stores, fast food restaurants, big highways, and a massive landfill. When we finished cleaning out Michael’s old apartment, I got the brilliant idea to visit downtown Lewisville – a city of 100,000 people must have a cute downtown, right?
Well…
Shops and vintage signs in downtown Lewisville.
The Wayne Ferguson Plaza water feature has some very specific rules.
Things in my second year look dramatically different – I have a boyfriend, a new dog, and a promotion at work – the Lowertown life is great.
I also discovered that there is an express bus that is actually quicker than driving to the office, so I rarely use my gas guzzler anymore.
I couldn’t have fathomed bus commuting to work even one year ago.
The faux-car-less life is amazing.
It is going to be even better during winter because 1) driving in the suburbs with snow is terrifying, and 2) the office campus is so huge that the walk to the front of the building can take 15 minutes, which is brutal in -20 degrees.
Plus, the bus pass is only $85 for 31 days. (Way cheaper than gas.)
I’m also able to buy new passes at the office, which is insanely convenient. I’m smitten.
Transportation aside, I love living on Mears Park, the Farmers’ Market, the restaurant options, the Cathedral, and all of the gorgeous architecture:
A shot of downtown St. Paul overlooking the ghetto Walgreens and Bruegger’s Bagels. It’s a beautiful area but usually crawling with creeps.
The Green Line station in front of the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. It is in front of the Bedlam Theater and the CoCo Coworking Space.
The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. It’s run by Minnesota Public Radio and hosts shows like A Prairie Home Companion.
Thankfully, I’m far more active in St. Paul during the winter than I used to live in Minneapolis, even without having to rely on a car.
Last time I was in Miami, it was February and miserably cold in Minnesota. I realized that I spent minimal time outside because being outside felt extremely weird.
The Galtier Towers and Mears Park in downtown St. Paul during winter.
It’s also open until 2 a.m., which is highly convenient for wintertime bar hopping if you don’t piss off the cops.
We are in downtown St. Paul for at least another year, and then may try something else. But for now it’s a great life choice.
There’s an episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey where Teresa Giudice moves into a new mansion styled after a French Chateau. I remember being appalled by how large and gaudy the mansion was.
The James J. Hill House is one of the mansions that I routinely pass during my dog walks by the Cathedral of St. Paul. This Gilded Age mansion was built by railroad magnate James Hill and features 36,000 square feet of livable space.
I’m not sure why I consider Teresa Guidice’s mansion tacky but remain impressed by the mansions on Summit Avenue.
The James J. Hill House in Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St. Paul.
Not all of the mansions are old, or architecturally noteworthy. For example, there’s a fairly new mansion near the James J. Hill House which looks just like a medical office building.
This house has more in common with a medical office than a mansion.
The Summit Hill mansions are part of a fairly densely-packed community, which is probably why they don’t seem as tacky as the Guidice mansion (or Minnesota’s other BFE palaces).
I doubt that I’ll ever be able to afford a house on Summit Hill, and even if I could, I think a Horst condo is more my style.
I spent summers in Germany growing up, and I love having this building so close because it reminds me a lot of Trier.
I haven’t seen many other comparable cathedrals in the U.S. and the building commands my attention anytime that I venture to that side of downtown St. Paul.
An exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.
A long-stance view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.
An exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.
The interior of the church is on par with anything that I’ve seen in Germany. My mother recently visited and said that it was impressive as the Kölner Dom.
An exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.
The outside of the cathedral almost looks like a European church, minus the lack of dirt and acid rain stains.
Every time I venture into Uptown, I see another new vaguely-industrial loft building. There are also a few going up in St. Paul.
Generic condos outside of downtown St. Paul
These buildings are trendy, but boring. Most of these developments will also look ridiculous in 10 years.
Do you know how we roll our eyes at those 80’s brick skyscrapers? That’s what’s going to happen with the fake factory loft buildings.
The particular “loft” building in the picture is called West Side Flats. It’s on the opposite side of the river from downtown St. Paul, and despite having a few Hour Cars, it must be terribly isolated in the winter.
West Side Flats is a few hundred dollars cheaper per month than the core Lowertown buildings, but it’s far enough away from everything that it doesn’t make sense to live there unless you live at the US Bank or Comcast buildings on that side of the river.
The Rayette is a new condo building going up in St. Paul.
The building is called the Rayette Lofts, and it’s in a former parking garage right across the street from the downtown St. Paul Farmer’s Market.
The Rayette’s leasing office is near my building and the leasing company is extremely aggressive (much to the annoyance of my building management.)
The rival building kept putting sandwich boards in front of our building until our management started stealing them.
I went to see the Rayette show unit out of curiosity. The charming sales agent couldn’t make the mock apartment less underwhelming. The unit was smaller than my current apartment and far more expensive. (One bedrooms top $2,000k/month)
The Rayette show unit also didn’t have the same specs as the real building (flooring, windows, ceiling height, cabinets) so only information that I got from the staged unit that the Rayette is another spendy, generic luxury building.
The prices for rentals in Lowertown are beginning to rival Uptown and the Warehouse District, and we have a dramatically smaller social/bar scene.
Another problem is that the condos in downtown St. Paul are relatively cheap, so people who have the means to spend $2,000 on rent will either buy (or rent) a condo instead of opting for the spendy building next door.
But who knows, perhaps I’m wrong about people’s tolerance for high rents in fake factories.
It houses a variety of businesses, including an Aveda Salon, a bookstore, and Nina’s Coffee Café.
Blair Arcade also has a gorgeous atrium with a basement fountain.
The hallway of Blair Arcade in St. Paul
The atrium of Blair Arcade in St. Paul
The atrium of Blair Arcade in St. Paul
A lamp closeup in the atrium of Blair Arcade in St. Paul
There was a couple arguing in atrium when I took these pictures, hence why I don’t have any fountain pictures. I’m not a full pap yet.
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