At streets.mn we focus on Minneapolis and Minnesota. We praise what is praise-worthy and condemn what is condemnable. We feel we do it for our own community. And of course we do.
But what we do in Minneapolis and St. Paul is important not just for residents of Minneapolis or St. Paul, rather it matters for residents of the world. You my fellow Minneapolitans (and St. Paulites perhaps), and those in the surrounding environs are residents of communities that should aim to serve as a role model for the rest of the US, and the world, about how cities should function. We are perfecting the Twin Cities not simply for our own benefit, but for that of humanity.
If we fail, people will look to Portland, or Europe, instead. Surely we can do better.*
* We should not merely compare ourselves to today’s best, we should seek that others compare themselves to us and be found wanting. For if they are weighed and not found wanting, we are insufficiently better.