Minneapolis Skyway System
Coordinates: 44°58′35″N 93°16′15″W / 44.97639°N 93.27083°W
The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connects various buildings in Downtown Minneapolis enabling people to walk in a climate-controlled environment. The extensive system is renowned as the largest continuous system in the world,[1] and is compared to the underground cities of Houston, Texas, and the systems of Canadian cold-weather cities Toronto and Montreal.[2]
The system forms a network of climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that link sixty-nine full city blocks over eleven miles (18 km).[3] The skyways are owned by individual buildings in Minneapolis, and as such they do not have uniform opening and closing times.[4] This is similar to the City of Calgary's Plus 15 (+15) Skyway system as well, which runs for 9.9 miles.
The skyway is a series of passageways which connect the second and third floors of various office towers to hotels, banks, corporate and government offices, restaurants, and retail stores in addition to the Nicollet Mall shopping district, the Block E Entertainment District, the IDS Center and Foshay Tower, Target Center, Minneapolis Convention Center, and several buildings in the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas and Capella University.
References [edit]
- ^ Millett, Larry (2007). AIA Guide to the Twin Cities: The Essential Source on the Architecture of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-87351-540-4.
- ^ Ralph Blumenthal, It’s Lonesome in This Old Town, Until You Go Underground, The New York Times, August 21, 2007.
- ^ "Skyways". Meet Minneapolis. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ^ Gill, N.S. "Skyways: Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul Skyways". About.com. About, Inc., The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
External links [edit]
- Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Guide interactive map. Open Table, 2012.
- Minneapolis Skyway Map. Carticulate, 2011.
- Downtown Skyways Map (PDF). Minneapolis Dept. of Public Works, 2009.
