Two may be a crowd in downtown condo

Published Monday, December 23, 1996

Two may be a crowd in downtown condo

After spending all 11 years of his post-college working life living in high-rises, there's only one thing that might budge Paul Barber out of downtown Minneapolis -- marriage.

The 35-year-old bachelor admits that his two-bedroom Centre Village condominium of 865 square feet might be a little snug for two.

Paul Barber

"I'm engaged now, and my fiancé is wondering, 'Where will I put my stuff?' " Barber said. He has put out some feelers for larger places but knows that in a few years, her itch for gardening might mean they'll move to a single-family home or a townhouse.

But for now, Barber enjoys the convenience of his building, where condos range in value from $31,000 to $140,000, according to the city assessor. "I haven't been outside all day," he declared one day last week as motorists slogged their way home 19 stories below through pelting snow. He walks to Norwest Bank, where he and his fiancé work, through the skyways. In warm weather, he takes his commute to the sidewalks.

"My car sits sometimes in the parking lot for a week or two" until he needs to make a grocery run. Of course, if the refrigerator runs bare, he said, there's a choice of 300 restaurants downtown.

To stretch his legs, Barber will hike to Loring Park and the parkway system beyond it, or to the riverfront. As an in-line skater, he'd like to see park officials improve the accessibility of the loop formed by the river banks and connecting bridges.

He's chairman of the Downtown Minneapolis Residents Association, which has worked with other downtown interests for uniform skyway signs and hours. He can take the skyways as far as the Target Center, when they're open. But he's comfortable taking the streets if they're not.

"I've never had any bad experiences. I think that downtown is very safe. The statistics tend to back that up," he said. Although there are occasional thefts from cars, he said, theft within modern residential buildings is virtually nil in the city core. With security doors and cameras, "it's hard to hide in a hallway," Barber said.

On a clear day, his southern window view easily stretches to the Linden Hills neighborhood, where he grew up, and even as far as Burnsville.

-- Steve Brandt