Welcome to December! Thank you to those who attended the streets.mn fundraiser this past week (and those who donated). Although the event is past, you can read a few posts about why supporting streets.mn is still a good idea from Bill Lindeke, Nicole Mardell, and Janne Flisrand. Supporting streets.mn helps us bring you fine content like this:
Walk, listen and ride
“Did you know that you there are 23 bridges in Minneapolis and Saint Paul that allow you to walk or roll across the Mississippi River? This October, I spent a weekend walking across 19 of them and am in love with this way of experiencing the river and our twin cities,” says Janelle Nivens about her latest walk (see others here) in Walking the Bridges of the Mississippi River. Lots of pictures and links to more information about each of the 19 bridges Janelle traversed on her 2-day, 27 mile walk.
Or, perhaps you’d like to walk in London and other English places with Sam Newberg as he was Drinking My Way Around England last year. This post is less about the walking than Janelle’s, and much more about the pubs, their valuable role as “third places,” and the beer consumed within.
Bill Lindeke’s latest Podcast #93: Visiting Minneapolis’ Lost Skid Row with James Eli Shiffer in a conversation with the Star Tribune writer “about his recent book the King of Skid Row: John Bacich and the Twilight Years of Old Minneapolis. The book is an in-depth account of Shiffer’s research into the old Gateway area of downtown Minneapolis, centered on the documentation from an old bar-keeper in the area named John Bacich.”
Rochester native Daniel Choma reports on that city’s recent discussions about permitting UBER to operate in Rochester. Rochester, MN : A Question of UBER importance provides links to much of the news coverage, both sides of the issue, and concludes, “It’s my opinion that Rochester’s city council should allow Uber to come to town. Although I do believe a continued steady investment into bike infrastructure and public transit is necessary in order to fulfill what the DMC plan is attempting, I think Uber will fill a critical stop gap as those infrastructure improvements are being made.”
Macalester student perspectives
Two more posts from Macalester students in the Bicycling the Urban Landscape course this week: Valerie Hallberg’s Calling All Artists: Midtown Greenway In Need of Art compares the Greenway to the Dequindre Cut in Detroit which is “known among pedestrians and bicyclists alike in the Metro Detroit area for its public art and commissioned graffiti, which work to bring local and often unseen art into the eyes of a public that has historically misunderstood it.” She proposes “the Midtown Greenway would benefit greatly from a push for installations by local Minnesotan artists who use the greenway already, and especially from artists whose work would further encourage local communities across the corridor to engage with the Greenway.”
Dylan Edwards-Gaherty makes the case for bells on bikes in Saved By The Bell. In addition to the safety factor, “There really aren’t any good arguments for not having a bell on your bike. If you want them to be big and colorful, they can be. If you would prefer something small and black, or bare steel or copper, or the color of your bike, they exist. If you want something that will sit up on your handlebars and in sight, there are bells that will work for you. Maybe you would prefer not to take up a lot of space on your handlebars. You can find minimalist bells that take up almost no space and add almost no weight to your bike. There are bells that are out of sight, out of mind, and yet still within reach when the moment necessitates them. There are, quite literally, bells for everybody.”
Commissioned graffiti on the Dequindre Cut, Source: www.bbandm.wordpress.com
Quick looks
Map: Map Monday: Minneapolis Racial Covenants in 1951 is from Historyapolis and their work on the history of racism in the Twin Cities (we’ve featured a few other posts from/about Historyapolis, too).
Links: National Links: Urban Mind Control, Driving Revolutions, and More! is the latest batch of carefully curated links from The Direct Transfer.
And that’s the week on streets.mn – thanks again to our fundraiser sponsors and attendees – we really couldn’t do it without you. We also like to hear from readers and turn readers into writers. Have a great week!