The Sunday Summary is a quick guide to stories and features on streets.mn in the previous week.
Regular features this week include the new Charts of the Day with three charts on three days illustrating work trip mode share information starting with Minnesota, zooming in to the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area and then Minneapolis. Focusing by mode rather than area: transit ridership by route. The Voter Guide has been featuring Hennepin County District 3 candidates’ written responses; now it goes live on March 6 with the streets.mn Candidate Forum (co-sponsored by Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability with more on the Facebook event page)
History: “They know they are undesirable as neighbors” closes out African American History Month with a sobering glimpse of Minneapolis’ history of segregation and NIMBY issues in the 1920s after segregation laws had been struck down. Lord Gordon-Gordon is a snapshot of Minnesota in the days of robber barons, stock manipulation, and a shameless charlatan in the battle for the Erie Railroad.
Highlighting transportation modes:
- Bikes: Does Climate decide the strength of our biking community? Not by itself, but as part of the interactions of safety (and perceived safety) geography, and psychology. The 30 days of biking video announces the opening of registration for the 5th annual event where participants pledge to ride every day in April whether around the block or regular commuting.
- Feet: The Art of walkability leaves the Twin Cities (and winter) for Washington DC’s Eastern Market neighborhood to consider what makes people say “yes” to “would you want to take a walk there” and “would you want to live there?”
- Sleds: Winter fun with Sledding at Columbia Golf Course with great (free) sledding plus snacks to buy for a winter activity to take advantage of all the winter.
Big stories of the week
A few weeks ago, Save Dinkytown’s Public Realm appeared on streets.mn which critiqued the proposed Doran hotel/mixed use project. This week Latest Dinkytown Vote Leaves a Bad Taste in My Mouth gives a well-documented and very detailed account of the City Council vote against demolition of one of three buildings, stated rationales (and some interrogation of relevance of stated reasons to what is required) and the steps which lead to it; extensive comments discuss the process and problems with historic designation.
St Paul Bike Plan: Good Enough? critiques the plan, responds to St Paul Crafts an 8 to 80 Bike Plan from February 11, 2014 and provides some specific suggestions for improvement plus lots of debate in the comments.
Finally, as the Unsession (which is also a bonding session) got underway at the State Capitol this past week, a look at the transportation coalition MoveMN’s proposal for a “dedicated and sustainable transportation package that funds roads and highways, transit, bike and pedestrian systems” in MoveMN is a Litmus Test for Pragmatism.