Almost eight and half years ago I pulled my low resolution point and shoot camera out of my pocket to document a car crash scene at the intersection of East 26th Street and 1st Avenue South in Minneapolis. No need to worry–there was no blood at the scene (at least none that was picked up by the low res camera). I had easily heard the crash while sitting at my desk at my then office which had a large window overlooking the intersection a block away at 26th Street and Stevens Avenue.
I ended up including plenty of commentary on the state of the streets in this part of the Whittier neighborhood. I talked to myself (the camera) about what I was seeing. The video ends with a nice conversation with some passers by about the state of things we found ourselves in on that day in March 2006. I happened to visit this same neighborhood to have lunch with an old friend a couple of days before this posting. I arrived early to have the chance to walk the area and I discovered that the streets are not notably different from the day I recorded this video although there are some signs of change and some hope for improvement with the City of Minneapolis currently engaged in a planning process for a redesign of 26th and 28th Streets.
Grab yourself something to drink and a comfy seat and spend eight and a half minutes viewing this unedited look at what East 26th Street was like in March 2006 and dream with me about how it could become much better.