The first autumnal sort of days have arrived, leaves are beginning to turn and summer starting to end; our writers must be out enjoying the last bit of it this week. Or maybe we were too busy getting together to converse and consider Questions and Results from streets.mn Trivia #2. Test your knowledge, but writing for streets.mn does not require passing this (or any other) test and we welcome new writers who are interested in expanding the conversation, not just getting it right.
Transit here and there
When We Walk In Fields Of Gold takes us to the proposed Metro Transit Gold Line as the eastern segment of the Gateway Bus Rapid Transit system will be known connecting Saint Paul with Woodbury. The station by station tour is a not very flattering look at the proposed line including the (very low) WalkScore of each station along with a photo and aerial view of the location. The real action is in the many comments where METRO transit staff working on the Gold Line (and the Orange Line, too) provide some inside perspective along with some thoughtful discussion of regionalism, transit-oriented development, and on-the ground perspective.
Free Low-Frequency Transit Idea: Rider Simplicity > Cost reports from Norway to show us some great features of Norwegian transit which make riding it easier as well as using some recent changes there to highlight how some things used to be even better like the difference easy to read/memorize schedules can make.
Norwegian transit schedule before “improvements”
Other ideas to think about
What would make I-94 better? | MPR links to the conversation from August 22 on Minnesota Public Radio news hosted by Tom Weber with MnDOT I-94 Project Manager Brian Isaacson and our own Bill Lindeke as MnDOT begins planning for improvements to the highway. The audio is interesting for hearing a very receptive, thoughtful MnDOT person, as well the perennially perceptive Bill Lindeke consider big ideas like capping the highway, induced demand and adding bike capacity; the comments continue thinking big, plus add some local knowledge about where particular improvements are needed.
NIEBNA, Old St. Anthony, CenHen: An Exercise to Name a Nameless Place tells us about this area of Minneapolis which is hot, hot, hot including some history, new developments, and the problem of finding a catchy name for the area like Uptown, Dinkytown, and other iconic Twin Cities neighborhoods. Commenters seem to prefer Old Saint Anthony to the proposed CenHen, but many other possibilities are tossed into the mix.
Main Street – Thunder Bay, Ontario takes the Main Street series international by crossing the border into Canada to give us some history of the place (and its name) as well as taking us around the somewhat desolate city.
CenHen? Hennepin Avenue NE, ca 1935. Source: northeastminneapolis.com
Audiovisual department
Audio: streets.mn writer Bill Lindeke was part of a discussion on MPR about What would make I-94 better? | MPR (see some extended summary above).
Video: The Death of a Downtown | The St Paul Paid Parking Menace is a satirical movie trailer by streets.mn founder and frequent contributor Nate Hood responding to Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s proposal to charge motorists to park their cars on the streets of downtown Saint Paul (or anticipating the backlash which occurs whenever parking is “threatened”).
Charts: Commuting by Automobile since 1960, Percent of US Who Spend Time with Neighbors,Emotional-Affective Trajectory of Public Engagement and The Demography of Cycling Deaths.
Comic: The Adventures of Roadkill Bill: Part 2 of Vincent Van Gogh in America.
By next week’s Summary, the Minnesota State Fair will be underway and we’ll be able to see Labor Day and Back-to-School up ahead. Make those back to school resolutions to join or write for streets.mn in the new school year and have a great week!