I was really excited to learn several months ago that my aunt Penny Rakoff, who often designs large public art projects, had worked on a light rail station in Minneapolis that highlighted the economic history of the place. (See this PDF.) The station features tiles with photographs of people in the historic marketplace and also of “Bloody Friday” a 1934 strike at which the police fatally attacked the workers.
A trip for work this week took me to Minneapolis and right to the Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue station she designed! I was really impressed with the train system, it was very cheap simple to use and nicely-integrated into the varying developed environments around it. So I took a bunch of pictures with my phone:
The entry to the LRT station from the airport.
The stations are very clean and well-lit. Of course they are brand new.
Here comes my train.
These guys were freestyling and sining acapella jams the entire way. Like the other passengers, I smirked and pretended not be entertained. They were pretty amusing.
Buying tickets was a snap. Similar to the DC Metro but easier.
Ads for iPods (and Target) are all over Minneapolis.
Some of Aunt Penny’s pieces:
first, you scoop me on the Ukrainian festival. Now the LRT. Curse you, Ruby…