The nasal vowels, the multifunctional but monosyllabic ya’s and sure’s, the rs so deep they threaten to suck in the entire sentence… I love Minnesota accents. We’re not supposed to be ironic on the I Love series, and I’m not even going to try to defend its aesthetic merit. But whenever I return to the [...]
Tag Archives | culture
Pedestrians prohibited north of the light rail station
Most metro area cities content themselves with ignoring pedestrians. A couple of cities have taken the unusual step of at least paying lip service to the idea that bipedal transportation should be safe, convenient, and comfortable. Bloomington, on the other hand, is trying to make a name for itself by actively discouraging pedestrians from using [...]
Crosswalk Creeps: An educational filmstrip
This is Edward G. Robinson; I’ve been torn from my eternal slumber to warn you about a dangerous new wave of degeratism sweeping across this country. But first, some rules: No talking during the filmstrip. No sleeping during the filmstrip. If you have to go to the bathroom, be sure to get some ice for [...]
What the Trader Joe’s proposal says about us
The events that unfolded during the Uptown Trader Joe’s debate tell us a lot about ourselves. It uniquely touched on many facets of Minneapolis life, and interestingly enough, these were cultural mêlées as much as they were land use battles. Trader Joe’s wants a liquor store. Wine and beer are essential to its business model. [...]
More Kids’ Bike Rodeos = More Adults on Bikes
Want to see more adults on bikes? Encourage communities to hold more kids’ bike rodeos. And it’s not just about “raising little cyclists,” although indoctrinating educating them young as to handling skills and traffic navigation is a lovely contributor to the goal of putting more adults on bikes in 10-20 years. I’m talking about right [...]
Departing Barmi, next stop San Rafael
For better or for worse, children are the future, and that’s why it’s important to get them started thinking about cities now. Just like many children are unaware that meat comes from animals, many children are unaware that suburbs come from cities, or that many cities were once suburbs, or of numerous other urban paradoxes [...]
The End of Golf Course Urbanism?
[The 12th Hole on Edina's Braemar Golf Course.] It was a seemingly trivial bit of news last month. The Star Tribune had a short article on the closing down of a new golf course in the exurban town of Independence, Minnesota (population 3,622). The closing of the high-end golf course joins a list of [...]
Three surprising things about Automobility
The recent debate over the ban on cell phones in cars points to the intractable pull that automobiles have on our everyday lives. On this site, and in urbanism cirlces more generally, the car is (justifiably) the target of a lot of criticism. As we think about how to redesign cities, and what we can [...]
Getting to Know the Neighborhood: An Update on Venture North Bike Walk Center
I recently stopped by Venture North Bike Walk Center to chat with them about their first few weeks as a fully functioning bike-walk center and what they have in the plans for 2012. Venture North Bike Walk Center opened in North Minneapolis in 2011 right before Thanksgiving and offers a full range of services and [...]
Cars v. Phones: There’s no such thing as a good driver
Our relationships with our cars are intensely personal. All the time spent driving our cars affects our personalities, our opinions, and our identities. Eventually, our car becomes a key part of who we are. This deep attachment is one reason why behavior surrounding cell phone use in cars is so paradoxical. Even though they know its [...]
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No Parking and De-Signing Streets
From the network
- 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...
- 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...
- Amazon sales tax is imminent: The Deets Tom Webb at the Pioneer Press reported that the Minnesota is reaching the end of an era when it comes to sales tax collection for online purchases. It was a good run,...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
