Things I Like About Uptown

In the spirit of taking the time to reflect on both the big and the small things I both like and don't like about Uptown, here's a list of some personal positives:

1. Spanish-style Apartment Buildings. These are attractive and have fun names. They evoke visions of tropical flowers and singing parrots - especially appreciated on cold winter days.
2. Lunds. Lunds has a long history in the neighborhood, and I'm happy that it remains a presence in our main commercial hub today.
3. Local Coffee Shops. Minneapolis in general has lots of them, and Uptown residents have multiple independent coffee joints to get their caffeine fix. And yes, Dunn Brothers might be a chain, but at least it's a local chain. They can stay in this category for now.
4. Magers & Quinn. We're lucky to have such a fabulous independently-owned bookstore in our midst.
5. Calhoun Square. I think it's good for Uptown to have a large, open climate-controlled space in the main commercial core. While a private company can never be a true community center, Calhoun Square seems to be doing a good trying. I don't like traditional malls, but Calhoun Square was designed to remain somewhat open to the street and to engage foot traffic, and I hope that this will continue to be the case post-renovation.