Updated November 6, 2014* Many veterans have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan with permanent, disabling wounds. Many suffer head traumas from concussions or fractured skulls when vehicles they’re traveling in are blown up by Improvised Explosive Devices. Pedestrians and Cyclists in Saint Paul are also seeing combat type head traumas—like Sowinta Kay, age 20, who was […]
When I draw cartoons about imaginary bicycles, I try to make the designs believable and think about how they might actually be constructed. In this first example, the projector bike would be pretty complicated to build, perhaps impossible, but the other three designs wouldn’t be that hard and they might produce bikes that would be […]
In January this year, when the Draft Saint Paul Bikeways Plan was released to the public, people in the media called to ask me what I thought of the plan and why I thought Minneapolis was so far ahead of Saint Paul when it came to bicycle infrastructure. I couldn’t comment on the plan because […]
The wave of new “Complete Streets” laws require cities to develop “Complete Streets Plans” and new street design manuals. Street design manuals are like smart phone contracts or software download agreements. They tend to be so mind-numbingly boring and full of technical jargon that, rather than read them, we just click “agree.” Later on, we […]
The Minnesota Department of Public Transportation has released a draft of its new five-year Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/safetyplan/pdf/2014_SHSP_060914.pdf I encourage people to read the plan and comment on it. The public only has until July 8 to make comments. Comments should be sent to [email protected] Below are my own comments. They’re super wonky […]
Next Saturday, June 21, from 1-4pm, Neighborhoods First, a community group in Saint Paul’s Merriam Park, will be hosting an event on the corner of Summit Avenue and Syndicate Street. The event is titled “Imagine an Ayd Mill Linear Park.” There will be speakers, music, food and exhibits. It will be an opportunity for community […]
I predict the Packers will win, prompting the biggest riot the city has ever seen! No, seriously, I support hosting the 2018 Super Bowl in Minnesota. After all, we need to start paying off our billion-dollar, publicly financed stadium that was supposed to be paid for with non-existent gaming revenues. Looking at the behavior of […]
Interstate 35E played a major role in destroying downtown Saint Paul. Along with Interstate 94 and Hwy 52, it forms a series of concrete trenches and highway interchanges that pin downtown against the Mississippi River and cut it off from its neighborhoods. In addition to destroying downtown, Interstate 35E creates a huge, north-south chasm […]
For those of you who live or work in Saint Paul, there are three days left to submit comments on the Draft Saint Paul Bikeways Plan. After Wednesday, April 30, no more comments will be recorded and city staff will begin the process of creating the final plan. If you haven’t read or looked at […]
Politics in America are split along urban versus suburban/exurban lines. Urban areas are likely to be more “liberal” when it comes to issues of public transportation, the environment, education, gun control, race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. A glance at presidential election maps by county confirms this and numerous studies correlate voting patterns to population […]