Audio Engineer
“Beneath the Skyway”
99 Percent Invisible

“Cities around the world have distinctive modes of transportation — the canals of Venice, the double-decker busses of London, and the Twin Cities (of Minneapolis and St. Paul) have skyways. In both downtowns, there are vast networks of climate-controlled pedestrian bridges that reach over the streets and connect adjacent buildings.

Walk along almost any downtown street in the Twin Cities, and you’ll see a series of these enclosed glass bridges tying together huge office buildings and shopping centers. Thanks to the skyways, people can park in a heated garage, go into work, run some errands, maybe go to the gym, entirely in short sleeves on a sub-zero day. People legitimately brag about how many weeks they can go without stepping foot outside. Minneapolis has the oldest and largest contiguous skyway network in the world and over the years this system has played prominent roles…”

Original Air Date: January 26, 2021