(no subject)

[hnpcc]

So in between trying to work out how the hell you access the shared Institute drive from this computer I've been fantasy travel planning. And I am now totally in love with a hotel I found in (of all places) Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now I just have one question that is not answerable from googlemaps (at least not that I can see) - is it possible to walk to Mall of America? I know, I know - it's probably not high on anyone's tourist list. But it is Miss Alli's old stomping ground and this hotel is very close to it. I'm just wondering if I'm going to have to hire a car to travel all of 1.8 miles, or whether I could just walk it. Because... I'd probably rather walk it. Even with what looks like a 12 lane highway in the way. Surely there'd be a crossing, right?

(No, the Mall of America isn't actually the reason for this fantasy travel planning. That would be something completely different. It just so happened that Minneapolis-St Paul was the closest airline, and the cheapest flight got in at 10.55pm which necessitated finding a hotel... and then I found one just down the road from Mall of America. Which is still making me giggle.)

And from googlemaps... no it is completely not possible to walk there. Amazing.

Comments

[bungo.livejournal.com]

There's a bus between MSP and Mall of America. It's quick, frequent, and costs a dollar or two, but the drivers don't give change. If I remember right there's a newish light rail thing between downtown Minneapolis and MoA - that may also stop at the airport. A mile is a long way to walk in America... save your legs for walking around inside the mall.

[hnpcc]

Ooh thank you for that and for the pictures link - now I am really wanting to go there. I think it's the weirdness of it all.

I am still surprised that you can't walk there - I was wandering (via google) along house-lined streets, with footpaths up until the 12 lane highway. Presumably people living there must work in the Mall? And either bus or drive in to work? It just seemed odd that there didn't seem to be one underpass anywhere that I could find. I could see the parking garages and everything!

[bungo.livejournal.com]

I have a few more photos of the interior of the mall. It was certainly large but not overwhelmingly huge. In the end I was a bit underwhelmed - perhaps I'd expected more; perhaps the idea of a gianormous mini village full of all your favourite shops in one place just isn't as radical now as twenty years ago. The light rail and bus service terminates in the ground floor of the car park on the eastern side - you won't see it from above in Google's imagery. (Dammit, you made me go back and add a location to that photo.)

[hnpcc]

Oh and the 1.8 mile is driving directions, I realised somewhat after the fact. Walking would knock 0.4 mile off that, if you could go under the freeway!

I'm glad bringing guns into the Mall is illegal though, especially during sales. That could get nasty.

[reverancepavane.livejournal.com]

[hnpcc]

When we were staying in Syracuse, NY in 2000 we stayed at a motel just in the next, um, locality. (Too small to have suburbs really.) We didn't have a car - we arrived by train - so we walked. No footpaths anywhere, so we walked on the road until we found a bike path, which ended abruptly at a road/rail intersection - a four lane highway under the rail overpass, no pedestrian/bike access at all. Naturally we scrambled over the railway line. Eventually we found ourselves at the major shopping centre for the area, which had buses into the main downtown area of Syracuse. Apart from these buses, which ran all day, the public transport in Syracuse to the outer localities was limited to buses between 6 and 10am, then again from 3 to 7pm. There was nothing during the day - everyone was working, except the disabled, the elderly... and us. Between us we made up the roughly 15 people in this major shopping centre who weren't working there. It was seriously weird. Even the shopping centre only picked up after 6pm when everyone got out of school/work. I have no idea where all the new mothers were - at home or at work I guess.

The downtown area was even quieter - there were literally papers blowing down the main street, and about three drunks outside. Everyone else was inside, working. And this was a university town!!

On the other hand no one stopped us to ask what we were doing - I'm guessing the local grapevine already had told the cops who we were, where we were staying and that we were walking down residential streets taking photos of squirrels.