Editor’s note: Walk the Talk is Streets.mn’s carefully curated, highly partisan collection of both serious and fun-loving events, community meetings and opportunities for engagement that we think will interest our readers. Email your ideas to Hawken Habig, one of our daily editors, at [email protected].
Nicollet Open Streets — Saturday, September 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Although not hosted as it was in previous years, the Open Streets series is still underway thanks to the support of various local associations and organizations. Nicollet Open Streets — organized by the Lyndale Neighborhood Association in association with the City of Minneapolis — will take place on Saturday, September 28. Featuring an array of artists, vendors and activities, the event will take place on Nicollet Avenue between 31st and 46th streets; the corridor is closed to car traffic for the day.
Additionally: A few blocks farther north, the city continues apace with its redevelopment of the former Kmart site, which severed the Nicollet Avenue corridor. The city is currently developing the New Nicollet project to reopen the corridor, and will host an open house for the project on Thursday, September 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Abyssinia Cultural Center, to showcase concept plans and engage with community members. More info here!
Livable Lyndale Rally — Saturday, September 28, 5 p.m.
Hennepin County is expected to release its design alternatives for the 2026 reconstruction of Lyndale Avenue South within the next couple of months. Given the corridor’s importance for transit, active transportation and community space, it is imperative to advocate for a design distinct from its modern car-oriented iteration. As such, the team at Move Minnesota (“Putting People First”) has organized around the Livable Lyndale campaign. Move Minnesota will be hosting a rally on the evening of Saturday, September 28 in support of Livable Lyndale. Get more info and RSVP here!
Network Now Update — Community Meetings Through October
Metro Transit — the Twin Cities’ regional transit operator — recently released the first public draft of its Network Now plan, which seeks to implement a number of overhauls that will reflect emerging post-pandemic travel trends. Among the updates are an expansion of micro transit, a frequency boost to 10-minute headways for several routes, a reorientation of suburban service toward a handful of Key Express routes and a formal verdict on some routes suspended since 2020. Metro Transit is seeking to engage with the public through both a comment form and several community meetings over the month of October:
- Tuesday, October 1, 5:30 p.m. at the Hopkins Pavilion
- Monday, October, 5:30 p.m. virtually over Microsoft Teams
- Tuesday, October 8, 11 a.m. at the Minneapolis Central Library
- Thursday, October 10, 5:30 p.m. at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, St. Paul
- Monday, October 21, 5:30 at the Sun Ray Library, St. Paul
- Tuesday, October 29, 5 p.m. at the Heywood Office Chambers (official public hearing), Minneapolis
- Thursday, November 7, 5:30 p.m. virtually over Microsoft Teams
A detailed listing of times and locations may also be found here.
Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival — September 19-21
Starting today! The Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival is an opportunity to explore the dozens of murals and public art installations across the Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ) in St. Paul’s South Saint Anthony Park neighborhood. The official festival is three days long:
- Thursday evening will kick off the festival with the Chroma Zone Artist Panel at Urban Growler, a woman-owned establishment.
- Friday evening features live painting with OWNS THE BATTLE, an Indigenous Makers market, a mural walking tour and a free community meal.
- Saturday afternoon offers more walking tours, which coincide with Blocktoberfest at Dual Citizen.
If you can’t make any of the events, don’t worry! You can still check out the CEZ’s murals and businesses at any time using the self-guided tour.
Pack, Pedal & Pick (We Bike Rochester Membership Ride) — Saturday, September 21, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Despite what the 80-degree weather across much of Minnesota may suggest, autumn is nearly afoot, which means that the obligatory apple-picking session is fast approaching! For those in the southeast quadrant of the state, We Bike Rochester and BikeMN have you covered. On the morning of September 21, We Bike Rochester — a bike advocacy and community-building organization in Rochester, and a chapter of the statewide Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota — will host a family-friendly, 7.5-mile ride north along the Douglas State Trail to Northwoods Orchard, for apple-picking and other festivities. Participants will gather starting at 8:45 a.m. at White Oaks Park and depart at 9; registration is free for kids and $10 for everyone else. Of course, you are welcome to join as a member (or donate) during registration. Learn more about the event and register here.