The Streets.MN Rundown
What’s happening around the Twin Cities and Minnesota … Bipartisan support for I-94 Expansion between Maple Grove & St. Cloud [Star Tribune] You know what we need? More lanes on I-94 to St. Cloud. “Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, backed by a bipartisan cohort of about three dozen lawmakers, local elected officials and business folks, … Read more
In defense of “Kicking the can down the road”
“When a town can’t grow out, it must grow up.” I wrote this on the Strong Towns Blog about the inner-ring suburb of Roseville. This line was supposed to be taken literally and figuratively – as in, the city must literally grow upward (density) and “grow up” by shedding our past development history and accepting … Read more
Give to the MAX. Donate some Cash (to Strong Towns)
I support (and occasionally write) for Strong Towns. It’s a great organization with great objectives. They’re having a fundraising drive right now; and if you’ve got some extra time and money, please go over and donate a few bucks (no matter how small that might be). If your not familiar with the organization, here’s a … Read more
More bikes, healthier cities (and advocating with statistics)
The Star Tribune ran an article recently regarding the benefits of biking more (“More bikes, healthier cities“): If half of all short trips during the summer months were done on two wheels instead of four, the Twin Cities would prevent nearly 300 deaths each year and save $57 million in medical costs, according to a … Read more
Why new buildings typically ignore the street
The River Crossing Apartments in St. Paul are pretty good. It’s probably St. Paul’s largest project in recent memory; and it’s an infill project, dense, nicely landscaped, moderately well designed, connected to transit and near the great biking and walking paths along the Mississippi River. It can be a little bland, but all-in-all, it ain’t … Read more
Connecting the Dots …
I wonder if parents in Eagan were reading the Strong Towns blog last week? KSTP reported yesterday that they were contacted by concerned parents in Eagan about pedestrian safety at a local school [Walk Score: 29]. [NOTE: I can't embed this video, so you'll have to make due with this: http://www.kstp.com/article/12303/?vid=2948385&v=1] It’s like we’re starting to connect … Read more
The Long Walk to School
Woodbury has a problem. Kids don’t walk to school. In the hubbub, no one notices what’s missing – the dying practice of walking to school. Of 620 students at Bailey, not one walks – not even those who live one block away. Managers of a 6-year-old federal program think they know why. Children don’t walk to … Read more
Back from Vacation: Thoughts on Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island is one of those places where you drive 500 miles one-way to ditch your car for a week. To those unfamiliar, Mackinac Island is a small mass of land with a small town surrounded by Lake Huron. In some ways, it’s like a lot of small, touristy places in the Upper Midwest – … Read more
In Defense of the Minneapolis Bike Coordinator
The day after Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak vetoed a City Council effort to prevent 10 firefighter layoffs, the city sent out a new job posting: a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. [Star Tribune, 8/24/11] This was the lead paragraph in a recent Star Tribune article [Despite fiscal woes, Minneapolis aims to hire bike coordinator]. The “comments” … Read more
Speed Limit for Bikes?
Mississippi River Blvd in St. Paul is one of those places where people will drive 10 miles for the specific purpose of running three. I’m lucky enough to live right by it, and have the luxury of using the bike and running paths regularly, but it wasn’t until recent that my eyes caught glimpse of … Read more
