Sunday Summary - September 2, 2018

Tomorrow is Labor Day, the end of the State Fair and the traditional end of summer. It’s not too late for you to get to the State Fair and consider Bill Lindeke’s Seven Urbanism Lessons from the Minnesota State Fair on location, where “There’s a lot that urban designers and decision makers can learn from the fairgrounds, and here are seven “fair points” that I’ve gleaned over the years” (including if the destination is desirable, the parking doesn’t matter). Or, think about getting to the Fair with Tim Brackett in A Day in the Life of a Car-Free State Fair Employee from the Suburbs details a well-planned trip from home to day job to the Fair and home including 16 miles (1 hour, 12 minutes) of biking and 25.3 miles (1 hour, 23 minutes) of busing plus some rain, too.

Getting Places

Dana DeMaster lists 20 Random Thoughts About Dockless Bike and Scooter Share from “scooters are fun” to the real point “I hope that people understand that this is new and is still figuring itself out and don’t condemn it outright. Dockless bike share (and scooters!) are promising, but there are some kinks to be evened out.”

In Northfield, people have asked “Are you sure that road is for 2-way traffic?” after downtown’s main street was reconstructed. Betsey Buckheit provides a comparison of new and old showing the perception of skinniness was intentional and “that it really is wide enough for 2-way traffic, is wonderful for walking, and does not change the bike situation a great deal (which is not perfect).”

Adam Miller tells Metro Transit Don’t Take the Bus Away from stopping at 48th and Chicago as the Route 5 if joined by the D Line saying, “There are two competing legitimate concerns here, reflected in the initial Metro Transit draft plan. On the one hand, this stop is closer than ideal to the 46th Street, which will slow service a bit. On the other hand, this corner has two banks, a clinic, several stores, a spa, a coffee shop, a liquor store, a bike shop and several places to eat, among other businesses. Basically, there are lots of reasons why people want and need to get to this corner, which means lots of reason for the bus to actually stop there.”

Samatar Crossing Now Open for Engagement reports Paul Jahn. Samatar Crossing, named for Hussein Samatar, a local Somali civic and business leader who died in 2013, “is now open, a bike/ped path bridging the Cedar/Riverside and Downtown East neighborhoods together. This alone is a nice step forward to engage with each other’s neighbors.” The path itself is the former 5th Street bridge which provides a wide bike path with separate walking space, pedestrian lighting, planned public art and a NiceRide station.

Samatar Crossing from Cedar/Riverside

Housing

A Renter’s Bill Of Rights Should Attack Landlord Power argues Nic Raymond. Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia convened a community discussion around a Renter’s Bill of Rights for Minneapolis. Attended by Minneapolis Council President Lisa Bender and Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison who presented some proposals from the City perspective, “the policies discussed by tenants went far beyond the initial slate that CMs Ellison and Bender had proposed; rent control, strict regulation around how and when property owners can evict residents, public control and oversight of how background checks work, and municipal tracking of how and if landlords have repaired their property.”