In Minnesota, we have Spring-like weather with highs in the 50s and 60s making it more pleasant to take a walk around our streets (although climate change worries lurk when muddy dog season starts in February). Thank you to those who responded to the board’s call for volunteers to serve on the streets.mn board; the board will be considering new members very soon. Even though the deadline for submitting an application for current board vacancies has passed, streets.mn is 100% volunteer and welcomes volunteers for the board for future slots, depends on volunteer writers and editors for content, and asks for your support by joining us as a member (or all of the above).
Rethinking priorities
MnDOT’s Smith Avenue Bridge Project has Andy Singer concerned because it “is an important bike route for getting to and from the west side of Saint Paul. Right now, conditions on it are terrible. Bike lanes or “bikeable shoulders” only exist on the bridge itself. At either end there is nothing but high-speed motor vehicle traffic.” MnDOT’s plans do not include helping people on bikes get onto or off the bridge or make needed connections, but Andy sketches some of them which would make a big difference (and help further the St. It’s not too late to add your input on a MnDOT survey on the project website and the post also gives contact information for MnDOT planners. Commenters add a bit more context on the project and the limitations planners face.
Walker Angell sets Priorities For Our Critical Ribbons Of Right Of Way by using the metaphor of a ribbon for our street corridors which connect our places: “Getting from one place to another requires these unique ribbons of land…Parking, loading and unloading, and other things do not require these unique ribbons of land. Parking can be placed anywhere in just about any size or shape of land…As with all such limited resources we must prioritize how we use our transportation ribbons. Top priority should be given to what these ribbons are intended for and what requires them—transportation. Secondarily, once our priorities are met, other desirable uses like parking or sidewalk cafés should be considered.” In the post, Walker also tackles the “bikes vs. parking” arguments, brings good examples from Europe, and stresses how planning for walking and biking does not have to be anti-driving.
Simple Urbanism – Inspiration and Aspiration is Sam Newberg’s followup after his critique of Harriet’s Inn. The inspiration is the Linden Hills neighborhood commercial area for “a visual preference survey of sorts. A review of the urbanism we love. We like the retail and food options in Linden Hills, but we love its urban form. How do we better emulate this?” “This” is the human-scale delight of many narrow (25-30′) storefronts (with doors and windows), streets trees, places to sit, and more plus a call for regulations to help make more “urban villages” like this one.
What an Adorable Little Bench!
More Minneapolis walks
Max Hailperin is walking all 87 Minneapolis neighborhoods in alphabetical order. streets.mn is posting accounts of one or two of these walks each week. This week, we are in the B’s with B is for Bancroft, where Bread was Bought and continuing on to Eastern Bancroft with another lively round-up of buildings, details best appreciated at walking speed, and history.
Garage (on 39th Street East) for 3856 5th Avenue South
Bike stories
Winter Biking Goes to the Dogs reports on a panel discussion for International Winter Bike To Work Day (February 10) for state agencies in Lafayette Park, Saint Paul. Melissa Wenzel moderated on the discussion intended to inspire winter bike commuting including Merv the dog who commutes via bike (trailer) with owner Crystal Sursley of the Lowertown Bike Shop. This post is aart inspiration, part encouragement and part practical tips for getting out on your bike (with your canine companion!) in the winter.
Biking Mama: An Interview with Sarah Tschida (and daughter Willa) by Lindsey Wallace of Biking in Mpls. The interview covers how Sarah got started as a bike commuter, her work with the Minneapolis Bike Coalition, biking with her baby daughter, encouraging parenting by bike and barriers to biking. Like the preceding post, here’s a lot of encouragement to get people on bikes in daily life.
Merv the dog and Deb the state employee
Quick look
More links from the Direct Transfer: National Links: Tunnels, Air Trains, and Skyscrapers