…that fantastic moment when you wake up on a beautiful Sunday morning and remember that you promised Betsey you’d write this week’s Sunday Summary and forgot. Without further ado, here’s last week on streets.mn:
Events:
Everyone is invited to a series of Jane’s Walks in St. Paul, inspired by the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs, who fought against freeways cutting through neighborhoods and for walkable communities where people know and watch out for each other. Check out the post for the first walks in the 2018 series, taking place today, Sunday!
Because it is already Sunday, you missed Train Day at Union Depot. Pictures from the event appeared on the streets.mn Twitter account, which is always a good source of extra links, pictures and the occasional sass about drive-throughs. Train Day featured vintage and modern operating equipment, including A Line and intercity buses, as well as informative displays about transit development, games for kids and more. This happens every year, so look for it again next May.
Vintage! pic.twitter.com/hw6e11tAam
— streets.mn 🕊️♥️⚖️ (@StreetsMN) May 5, 2018
Development:
We kicked off the week with another look at the Minneapolis Comprehensive plan. In Future: Minneapolis 2040, John Edwards asks if we giving the people of 2040 the chance at a transportation system that moves significantly more people in ways other than private automobiles?
Adam Miller argues to Bring Back Streetcar Living, arguing that streetcars promoted a kind of density that encouraged access to transit routes, with walkable and bikeable retail options. The new plan is really the original plan.
In A New Look for Minnehaha Academy, Serafina Scheel shares how Minnehaha Academy has shared their rebuild plan after last year’s tragic explosion, and the neighborhood resistance to modernizing buildings and facilities due to height and parking.
But it’s not all Twin Cities this week! Mankato is featured in Matthias Leyrer’s post When Was The Last Time You Were In Mankato? While conceding there are plenty of problems in Mankato, he takes the time to tell us about some of the things going right in Mankato’s development boom.
Bicycling:
Dana DeMaster writes a delightful and useful post, A Five Step Guide to Having “The Talk.” Dana offers five easy steps to having a successful Talk about Biking and Walking.
How to Bike To Work: A Beginner’s Guide by Ian Young gives everyone actionable tips to use for Bike to Work Day 2018 (May 18!) and every day. As our Twitter account suggested after having read Ian’s tips:
This would be a great weekend to figure out a bikable route to work and ride it as a trial.
Just sayin'.
— streets.mn 🕊️♥️⚖️ (@StreetsMN) May 4, 2018
Dangerous Intersections:
Meanwhile, as you plan to bike to work, avoid the intersection of Hennepin and Lagoon, if you can. Dangerous Intersection: Hennepin & Lagoon is another post by way of the Our Streets Mpls blog (this one written by Cundy Christian) about dangerous intersections for people walking. The described turn behavior is no good for pedestrians or bikers.
Our Streets Mpls also brought us Clark Goldenrod’s review of another dangerous intersection, this one at Lake and Bloomington. We are getting the feeling that much of Lake isn’t the best for pedestrians.
You’re also invited to submit your dangerous intersection story.
Quick looks, more links, long walks:
Charts: This week’s charts offered a peek at national bikeshare growth since 2010, and a look at the loss of duplex/triplex/fourplex homes in Minneapolis since 1990.
Maps: Our map this week was a look at US States by Renter Friendliness. Leading the way? Vermont.
Links: More links from around the country from The Overhead Wire with Homelessness, Smart Streets and More!
Walk: Max Hailperin continues his journeys through Minneapolis with Walking All the Streets In Ericsson (Day 2), exploring 42nd Street, Minnehaha Parkway and the lovely Minnehaha Creek.