Minneapolis’ streetcar rendering.

These days, you can just about pick any streetcorner in Minneapolis, throw a rock, and hit a Mayoral Forum. There are forums on beer, on placemaking, on architecture, on housing… (and those are just the ones that vaguely interest me).

But that’s not stopping Streets.mn from helping to organize a forum of its own.

In two weeks, on Tuesday October 15th at 7:00 pm, we’re joining with the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, our friends at UrbanMSP, and a few University of Minnesota groups (including the Interdisciplinary Transportation Student Organization and the Minnesota Urban Studies Students Association) to host a forum of our own. And this time, it’ll be focused (like the radar gun of a cop perched at the speed trap on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge) on one issue: the Future of Transportation. [CUE DRAMATIC MUSIC, VISUAL EFFECTS].

What will Minneapolis’ transportation priorities be in five years? Ten years? The next mayor will play a big role in answering that question, and that’s why this forum might be important.

Mayoral candidates confirmed so far include (in reverse alphabetical order): Stephanie Woodruff, Cam Winton, Betsy Hodges, Bob Fine, and Dan Cohen.

This is perhaps a good time to ask you, the readers of Streets.mn, what you’re looking for in a mayoral forum. What kinds of questions are best? What format is most interesting to you? On what issues would you like clear answers?

Leave questions and answers in the comments! Mark your calendars. RSVP on Facebook.

PRESS RELEASE – UPCOMING MPLS MAYORAL FORUM ON TRANSPORTATION

There will be a Mayoral Forum on the Future of Transportation in Minneapolis at 7:00pm on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the Cowles Auditorium at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. The event is sponsored by the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, Streets.mn, Interdisciplinary Transportation Student Organization, Minnesota Urban Studies Student Association, UrbanMSP, and the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability.

The topic of the forum is the future of transportation in Minneapolis. The next mayor will play a key role in the future of our city, and transportation will be a vitally important issue. What will the next mayor’s positions be on supporting all modes of transportation? How can we accelerate transit ridership? How can we move Minneapolis toward sustainable active lifestyles?

We hope the event will give the mayoral candidates a chance to get their views on the table. Four years from now, how will they have made it easier to move around Minneapolis?

We hope you can attend and make your voice heard about the future of transportation in Minneapolis.The forum will be moderated by Paula Pentel, coordinator of the Urban Studies Program at the University of Minnesota.

You can submit your questions for the forum via websites of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, Streets.mn, UrbanMSP, or Facebook.

For more information, please contact Scott Shaffer (shaffscott@gmail.com) or Chris Iverson (ivers427@umn.edu).

The Lake Street K-Mart awaits your response.