streets.mn

• History
• Land Use
• Urban Design

Embracing Ruins as Historic Preservation

For the most part, these sites are hidden behind railroads, below river bluffs, or at the end of gated dirt roads. We tend to either ignore or look at them as failures, awaiting either a visionary creative reuse or the wrecking ball.

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• Climate
• Links
• Planning
• Safety

National Links: The Future of Billboards

Every day at The Overhead Wire, we collect news about cities and send the links to our email list. At the end of the week we take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the D.C. region. […]

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• Governance
• Justice
• Planning
• Politics

Lies in City Planning

In April, Minneapois Public Works released the results of a survey showing strong community support for reopening 38th & Chicago to vehicle traffic. Just one problem: it wasn’t true.

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Density Does Not Have to Equal More Driving (and Less Parking)

I know a woman who lives on Hague Avenue in St. Paul, within two blocks of the frenetic intersection of Selby and Snelling. She parks her car in the driveway that runs alongside her house, by the “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here” sign in the front yard. I asked her recently if she minded […]

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Life on Foot in our Ninth Largest City

I spent much of this spring exploring the system of bike lanes and trails that South Minneapolis has to offer, as well as the state and county lands here in Sherburne County. Both are relatively new to me despite being a lifelong Minnesota resident. I spent my childhood in Becker, which meant our family made many […]

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The Paradox of the Placemaking Consultant

A few weeks ago, I attended one of those big civic dinners that take place annually in every city across the country. It was fun! The mayor, all the council members, the business community, key city staff, the planning commission (including me), philanthropic foundation heads, and lots of Saint Paul’s architects, developers, artists gathered in […]

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