Daylight savings time is here, March Madness is almost upon us (so is the NCAA Women’s Hockey Championship with Minnesota as the defending National Champs), the Strongest Towns bracket-based competition has reached the Final Four, and the traditional snow is forecast for this MN Hockey Tournament weekend. Here’s the week on streets.mn:
Continuing conversations
Bill Lindeke gives us Five Reasons to Love Saint Paul’s Ford Site Plans as part of the ongoing discussion of the redevelopment of Saint Paul’s Ford Plant site. The five reasons: (1) sustainability (“a rare chance to get land use and transportation to work seamlessly together”), (2) an opportunity to age in place (“the ’empty nester’ phenomenon is exactly why the demand for low-car, walkable, maintenance-lite housing is skyrocketing. That’s exactly the kind of housing this plan puts at the center”), (3) transit potential (“If we want low-traffic development, we can make it here” with the transit connection possibilities), (4) water (“This project is the most groundbreaking example of a stormwater-centered development in Minnesota history”), and (5) tax relief (“If we want to keep taxes in Saint Paul reasonable, we need to build density, especially along transit corridors”).
Mike Sonn responds to a recent post with Neighborhood Character is Not Just the Built Environment saying “Character discussions usually focus around a changing of the built environment, whether that is upzoning or bike lanes, but I’d like to take a slightly different look. What if the underlying feelings or attachment has more to do with a nostalgia, not to a particular instance of the built environment, for a hypothetical sense of ‘ethical traits’?” but urges us to move beyond this to find common ground so “we can begin to find community in a shared goal to increase human connections.”
Ford Plan overview
Important perspectives
Shared Streets for All Ages is another post by Tank’s Ghostwriter who takes us on a walk with Tank to illustrate some of the ways older adults may see the streets differently. Focusing on bikes on sidewalks, TG asks for thoughtful attention, so “If you’re biking on the sidewalk, be considerate, not just in the Golden Rule way that makes your behavior acceptable to some other You, but in a way that doesn’t make more vulnerable people feel scared and powerless.”
There's no shade for about 20 min here. Instead of blvd, 5 parking spaces. Brutal for Tank today. pic.twitter.com/aYpA6KKwTq
— Tank (@capandcane) June 11, 2016
Regular features
Keep walking with Max Hailperin as he covers all 87 Minneapolis neighborhoods in alphabetical order; this week see Western Bryant, Bryn Mawr, Day 1 and Bryn Mawr, Day 2: Finishing Area 2, or, Two Maps, Both Wrong. Plus, more links from the Direct Transfer: National Links: Eminent Domain, Cafe Urbanism, and Company Towns.
Seward Co-Op Friendship Store
Listen and learn
Zach Ellsworth has compiled an annotated list of the Top 7 Urban Planning Podcasts (Other than streets.mn) from Strong Towns to the Kunstlercast (and “the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl”) with placemaking, transit, and more in between. Don’t forget to check out the streets.mn podcast, too.
And that’s the week on streets.mn. As always, join us by writing, becoming a member, or volunteering and have a great week.
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