Nominations are still open for land use and transportation highlights (or lowlights) of the last year to fill up the bracket in  streets.m(ad)n(ess) – Call for Nominations.  If you don’t want to participate in any bracket-inspired activities, you could always check out our new writers page and think about writing for us instead.  Streets.mn’s is dedicated to expanding the conversation about land use and transportation issues in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota; how you can contribute?

Big stories this week

The Barriers to Small Scale Infill Development starts with one recently renovated single family house in a Minneapolis neighborhood where small apartment buildings and neighborhood-scale increases in density could or should be desirable and asks why these smaller infill projects don’t happen.  As the comment winner of the week with 60 comments (as of this writing), commenters continue the conversation with detailed discussion of property rights, density, zoning, costs, and more. Anyone interested in neighborhoods, density and factors affecting what can or does get built should read this one.

The Market and the Math to Make Passenger Rail Work considers in detail the trains, routes, and costs to make a case for including passenger rail in transportation system improvements. Commenters dive into reviewing the math, considering alternatives and carrying on a robust conversation about rail.

Getting to the Green Line and Beyond: Access for All follows up on last week’s Seen Through the Lens of a Wheelchair User by responding to comments to that post with an additional post.  Questions were asked about snow removal, disfunctional elevators at transit stations, and places where additional work is needed.  Photos compare good accessibility features (well marked crosswalks, effective ramps, etc.) with places where improvement is still required.  Both posts highlight the Making Strides: 2014 Accessibility Survey  about first/last mile accessibility to the Green Line.

 

Travels near and far

My Favorite Place in New York City takes us to New York City and a very human scale tour starting from a certain brownstone stoop in Brooklyn to other thoughtfully observed places and spaces.  Closer to home, Summer Sites in St. Anthony takes us on another bike tour of Saint Paul, this one from August 2014 visiting Saint Anthony Park through Merriam Park to Mac-Groveland (others in the series are here).

Audio visual department

• Video: De Pijp, Amsterdam 1972 is a clip from a TV documentary film about children in Amsterdam organizing to create a car-free play street in their neighborhood. Bikeable City is the third in a series of videos from the Knight Foundation about how Copenhagen reinvented itself as a great city for cycling (Changing Culture and Pedestrians First are the first two).

• Maps and charts: Map Monday: Accessibility to Jobs by Transit 7-9 am in Twin Cities from the University of Minnesota Accessibility Observatory which deals with “accessibility-based transportation system evaluation.”  Chart of the Day: Downtown Saint Paul Parking Utilization is another chart from the Saint Paul Downtown Parking Management Strategy (with more promised).

• Photos: Friday Photo: It’s Time to Restore Cedar Avenue includes maps as well as “scenery” to advocate for realigning Cedar Avenue to reconnect neighborhoods.  Every Sidewalk Tells a Story illustrates some stories about sidewalks (or lack of sidewalks).

• Graphic novel, installment 2: Bicyclopolis: Episode Two, Cycling Into the Future. continues the story begun last week with the Velochronitron.

• Signals: All About Pedestrian Signals continues the detailed look at traffic signals with part 4 of a series.  Part (This is part 4 of an ongoing series on traffic signals. Traffic Signal Trivia reviewed vehicle signals in general, All About Left Turns zoomed in on left turn signals and Flashing Yellow Arrow and the Yellow Trap looked even closer at a particular signal.

It has been an amazingly warm week in Minnesota and the quickest transition from snow and winter to pleasantly walkable, bikeable spring I can remember. Don’t just sit there, get out and have a great week!