Superbowl Sunday is finally here. streets.mn writers had much to say about the stadium in its development phase, now’s the time to see how it works for a huge event. You could have been watching other sports, too, including cross country skiing on Nicollet Mall. Or, just take a quick walk up Nicollet with Matty Lang’s Nicollet Hyperlapse. While you’re waiting for the game to start or actively looking for something besides the football hoopla, read the week on streets.mn.
But first, Welcome Five New Board Members to streets.mn. The board is always eager to hear your feedback and we’ll be looking for volunteers to help us with different parts of the organization’s work, so stay tuned.
2018 streets.mn board
Bicycles, both fun and deadly serious
Bike Lanes and Racial Equity by new writer David Muench Huebert highlights the recent hit and run killing of a Saint Paul restaurant employee to begin a post about Minneapolis’ 26th/28th Street bike lanes: “perhaps Minneapolis’ most noticeable project in reducing fatalities among bicyclists since it published its report on how to improve bicycle safety in 2013. I had the opportunity to throw my hat into the discourse on 26th and 28th streets when the anger over the new bike lanes was at a particularly heated moment. I opine now as I opined then: the best reason for the bike lanes’ existence is to keep people from being killed.”
Remnants of Stonebridge is another bike ride through places and history from Wolfie Browender. This one looks at what’s left of the once large and opulent estate in Saint Paul, the former home of industrial magnate Oliver Crosby, inventor and co-founder of American Hoist and Derrick. Ride through the Mac-Groveland neighborhood and see what historic photos of what used to be there, stories of the inhabitants and what’s there now.
Biking Like a Kid Again is sparked by new writer Gene Tierney’s watching a bike race and remembering a favorite childhood bike: “So, one day I stopped at a bike store and bought a used bike, something I hadn’t had in several decades. Today that used bike represents my primary mode of transportation. Oh, I still have a car, a 10-year-old minivan, but I prefer to bike it if I can. The world is different on a bike. It’s a different scale. You see things you don’t see in a car. So today I push back the geographic and experiential boundaries of my world, on my bike, and I’m glad to be back.”
A fountain and the surrounding grounds. Circa 1930. Photo courtesy MNHS and Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Other good reads
Gentrification and Preservation of East Town Through Google Maps documents Paul Jahn’s walk through and around East Town “to learn more about the places, businesses, and areas where gentrification meets preservation, and will historic preservation of Elliot Park contribute to gentrification?” The post includes links from Google maps, photos of the neighborhood, and some discussion of what’s there and what might not be as Elliot Park changes.
Walk-Up Windows and Great Urban Places takes us to walkable places near and far. Sam Newberg highlights walk-up windows as a symptom of wonderfully walkable urban places from London to Valparaiso, Chile to Minnesota: “So next time you see a walk-up window, remember, you just might be in a great urban place. Go ahead and buy the cup of coffee. Or ice cream. Or waffle.”
But first, coffee in London
Quick looks, good links, and fast walks
Fast walk: Nicollet Hyperlapse is another Matty Lang video taking us up Nicollet Mall (and giving us a look at places Bill Lindeke mentioned recently, too.)
Map: Map Monday: US States by Migration Patterns identifies states by whether their migration pattern is insular, origin, cosmopolitan, or destination. Check the post to find out where Minnesota falls.
More links: National Links: Infrastructure Plans and a Graphic Designer Needed is the weekly roundup of links from around the country via The Direct Transfer.
