Skyway Map and Move-in Musings

We have a comment! Which means we have at least one very helpful reader. Here's a link to a better skyway map(links to a pdf folks!). Thanks Condo Guru.

The poll is closed and perhaps we have two readers as someone wanted to know if living in downtown St. Paul is safe. It has nothing to do with St. Paul, but I always answer that question with "it depends." We lived in a quiet neighborhood in Tampa, where kids walk to school and play in the parks without constant adult hovering, but we also had two drug-related murders two blocks and half a block from our house. You can't control who comes down your public streets in the middle of the night and the neighborhood backed to woods and water-easy hiding places for people with ill intent (who weren't afraid of snakes and alligators). Which brings up other dangers-poisonous snakes, alligators, and rabid animals, all live in some surprisingly crowded habitats in Florida. It's almost to the point where a small dog being consumed by a large reptile is not news. Enough about Florida.

I feel very safe in downtown St. Paul. We checked out the crime stats, spent some time in Lowertown at various times of the day and night, and put some thought into security when choosing a building. However, bottom line is that as urban environments go St. Paul feels more small town wave at your neighbor with the dog than scary post-modern crime infested chaos. Perhaps in another post I'll talk about how that small town vibe can be the equivalent of a big yawn, but we won't know anything about that until we're done with the work in the loft.

As promised, a look at the bamboo floor- The cinder block area is going to house a Murphy Bed and cabinet for linens and a little clothes storage. Our version of a guest room for the 'rents who will undoubtedly want to stay overnight when they fly in for the annual pilgrimage to the old home place up north. I'll post pictures of that when it is installed, some time at the end of September if all goes as planned.

Here's another view of the floor. We had planned to go with stained concrete, but the loft is long and narrow with the balcony doors as the only natural light source. After spending some time in it we decided to go light, light, light, with all the floors. -

On the Skyway

Mr. L thinks he will be using the skyway a lot this winter. I'm not so sure, but the uniform hours in force since March of this year will help a bit. He's an early riser so he'll want to be at the Skyway Y when they open at 5:30 AM on weekdays. Unfortunately the new skyway hours are 6:00 AM - 2:00 AM, so he'll have to brave the half block walk to get there. You know we've lived in a lot of places, but never so close to Mr. L's workplace that it was too close to run or ride his bike to the office and call it a work out. I've added a link to a skyway map, but if any of my imaginary blog readers knows of a better one please leave a comment.

Sunday Up North

Mr. L is in the Army, and after 26 years there are still people who ask if he'll make a career of it, or they ask "when can he get out?" The answers are "yes" and "any time he wants." We find ourselves, after years and years of living in places we didn't choose but mostly came to love, in Minnesota which we did choose-and better love since we have only ourselves to blame.

But today we aren't in St. Paul, I am in our cabin north of Grand Rapids. In my family for four generations I've always taken this place for granted. We lived near a wonderful public marina on the Potomac River outside Washington, DC for a half decade and every time Mr. L wanted to buy a boat I gasped, "Why would we want to keep a boat 5 miles from the house when in Minnesota all we'd have to do is walk down to the dock in our own front yard?"

Mr. L is on his way to St. Paul, driving up from his last assignment in Tampa, and I will make my way to town to meet him on Monday. After almost 50 years as a military brat, then as a soldier, then as a soldier's spouse, all the while calling Minnesota "home," it really is going to be home. Don't you have to spend at least a few summer weekends "at the lake" or "up north" to be considered a true Minnesotan?

New Adventure

Or misadventure? Can a soon to be empty nest couple who've always had a yard, garden, pets, and too much stuff, find happiness in a Lowertown loft? I hope so, or we spent a lot of money in a bad market for a view of the capitol dome.

Step one-the first batch of our furniture arrives, in a U-Haul trailer, on Monday and we race to find bamboo flooring and get it installed (floating over concrete) before the rest of the stuff arrives. Pictures to follow.

On an exciting note- Bud Kleppe over at Your St. Paul Home reports the folks who brought Bulldog to two locations in Minneapolis are making the move to 6th and Wacouta (right across the street from Chez Lofty). I'll save the real excitement for opening day as eateries are having a hard time actually getting off the ground downtown, but this looks like a good development.