On our way to the ceremony unveiling the plan for the five-block Star Tribune property in Downtown East, my son Shaw and I got off the train at the Downtown East/Metrodome station and I was asked directions by an older couple. They were looking for Periscope, the ad agency, at 10th and Washington. Obliging, I agreed [...]
Archive | Uncategorized RSS feed for this section
The Pros and Cons of Saberurbanism
I have been a baseball fan all my life. I went to my first Twins game at Met Stadium when I was less than a year old (or so I am told), and saw them win the ’91 World Series from the upper deck of the Metrodome. I’ve been following the sabermetric revolution since 2001, [...]
Clarifying the Minneapolis Event Rate Meter Parking Debacle
Reading about Pat Borzi’s MinnPost article about the on-street parking system ($15 to park on street for Vikings game? Minneapolis smart meters raise rates for big events) hit me right at home. I read this as a raging left-winged Michael Moore fan might watch an O’reilly Factor broadcast – exasperated, frustrated, and wanting to throw [...]
2035 Predictions for Washington Avenue Offer Precision Without Accuracy
Yesterday, Brendon Slotterback (my colleague here on Streets.mn) tweeted something that caught my brain. It was about the plans for Washington Avenue through downtown Minneapolis: The comment was a reaction to a debate taking place online this week (in admittedly small circles) about the recently released Hennepin County study on over traffic projections and alternatives [...]
We Must Build More Transit and Better Urbanism
Kate Wolford’s Star Tribune commentary calling for more transit was spot on. Our peer cities (Denver, Portland, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, hell, even St. Louis!) are ahead of us in terms of built rail miles, lines and stations. We must do more than catch up to remain an attractive metro area for all. Rail miles, [...]
Podcast #33 – Minneapolis Ward 4 with City Council Candidate Kris Brogan
The podcast this week is another in our string of city council candidates, a conversation with Kris Brogan, who is running for city council in minneapolis’s Ward 4. The fourth ward covers the top of north Minneapolis, along the northern border of the city before it turns into robbinsdale and Brooklyn Center. Kris Brogan was [...]
“Downtown is For People” Fifty-five Years Later
I discovered Jane Jacobs rather late. It was 2003 a few years after college. Due to insufficient funds, I’d recently moved home from New York City, into my mother’s basement back in Saint Paul, and was spending much of my time reading books. The way I remember it, I was reading through a book of [...]
Podcast #32 – Talking Walking with Members of the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee
The podcast this week is a conversation with two members of the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Scott Engel and Peter Janelle. The Pedestrian Advisory Committee, or PAC, is one of the city’s citizen committees, and the PAC advises city staff and elected officials on how to improve walking in the city. Scott, Peter, I sat [...]
Podcast #31 – Minneapolis Ward 13 with City Council Candidate Linea Palmisano
The podcast this week is another in our string of city council candidates interviews, a conversation with Linea Palmisano, who is running for City Council in Minneapolis’s Ward 13. Ward 13 is made up of the neighborhoods in the South West corner of the city, on the far side of Lake Harriet to the Richfield [...]
Bikes and Businesses Must Unite
Like the Streets.mn Voter Guide, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition has posted answers to bicycling related questions posed to city council and mayoral candidates. Question six asks “when would you vote against or overrule a BAC recommendation?” I read those responses carefully, and as expected, most candidates didn’t really take that one on or provide a [...]
Subscribe/Connect
Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates.
-
Minnesota Vikings Stadium Needs Better Urban Design
-
Washington Avenue proposed layouts are posted
-
Why I’m proud to be “offended” by the judgemental map of Minneapolis
-
No Parking and De-Signing Streets
-
SPUD
-
Where’s my bus (arrival sign)?
-
Minnehaha Avenue: Why stop at better?
-
Hooray, Hooray: Velodrome Race Season Starts Today!
-
Pets on Trains Act of 2013: A Solution in Search of a Problem
-
Demand Good Urbanism in Downtown East
-
Froggie: Your woonerf idea has a better chance of working h...
-
Evan: It feels to me like they've been promising a more...
-
Brendon Slotterback: Marq2 serves "urban" express buses, as well as s...
-
brad: Reminds me of Summit Ave near Macalester, but with...
-
Andrew: It frustrates me to no end that even the LRT signs...
From the network
- Let’s Get the Urban Details Right in Downtown East: On our way to the ceremony unveiling the plan for the five-block Star Tribune property in Downtown East, my son Shaw and I got off the train at the Downtown East/Metrodome station and I was asked dir...
- Minnesota Vikings Stadium FAIL – We need better urban design: The architecture of the Minnesota Vikings Stadium: take it or leave it? Personally, I think it looks like a cross between a laser jet printer, a drunk Frank Gehry and something out of 2001: A Space Od...
- Friday News Digest: Yesterday was the "graduation" of six year old Stella from kindergarten, another milestone in a life that is proceeding way too quickly. We're getting ready for a summer schedule here and I am looking...
- Pedestrians prohibited on streets.mn: Today on streets.mn I examine Bloomington’s latest bungle. Bloomington is the suburb I lived in the longest, it has some really nice topography for the Twin Cities that great parks like Hyland,...
- 2012 Nice Ride flows revisited: For the last two years, I’ve mapped the flows of the Nice Ride bikes. I’ve always been slightly dissatisfied with the results, since bikes were obviously shown taking routes that any san...
- Check out our annual report: 2012 was certainly a busy and exciting year for Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition volunteers and partners. To learn more about what we've been up to, check out our 2012 annual report. A BIG thanks to...
- Crossroads | A Minnesota transportation research blog: The University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies and MnDOT have a Blog! Crossroads | A Minnesota transportation research blog "Crossroads is a collaborative effort between MnDOT Re...
- Bikeway Functional Class: I’ve been reading a lot of bike plans lately, and there seems to be a pretty wide variety of frameworks used by agencies to categorize bikeways. In particular, I’m intrigued by the variet...
- David Harvey on CIty Monopolies and the Art of Rent: David Harvey is wise and usually has interesting things to say. I'm no Marxist but I agree with many of the things he brings up in this interview with Spiegel. I agree with this especially:SPIEGEL ONL...
- Twin City Street Musicians #11: [Guitar. T station, Somerville MA.] [Chinese instrument. Harvard Square, Cambridge MA.][Bass and guitar, West Bank Campus, Minneapolis.] [Guitar. Santa Monica Pier.] [Guitar. Lyndale Avenue, Minneapol...
- MN Blog Cabin Roundup, 5/24: The case against Majority Leader Tom Bakkfrom mnpACT! Progressive Political Blog by Dave Mindeman…quite frankly, the whole problem centers around 1 person — Majority Leader Tom Bakk. This session...
- What is the Constituency of a Local Land-Use Decision?: cross-posted at Streets.mn In the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, a local entrepreneur put together a proposal to develop a surface parking lot into a 5-story condo building with retail s...
