Every planning textbook will tell you skyways are bad. They pull people off the street, they hollow out ground-floor retail, they make downtowns feel empty. All true. I have written some of those memos myself.
But it was -18°F on Tuesday. I walked from my office to a lunch meeting six blocks away in a light cardigan, past a barber, a dentist, a food court and a man playing the violin. Nobody froze. Nobody slipped. Everybody said hi.
St. Paul's skyways are the underrated ones — shorter than Minneapolis's, quieter, with better views of the street they're accused of killing. In January they're not a design mistake. They're a public service.
In July I'll be back on the sidewalk, lecturing you about street life. Ask me again then.