Just as obituaries were being written for Southwest Light Rail, a recent piece on NPR about the stubbornly high cost of international air travel caught my ear. Earlier reports blamed the airlines for being locked into higher-priced fuel contracts and therefore being unable to reap the benefits of more recent lower fuel prices. However, this piece included a snippet from […]
The moon is red and you’re dancin’ real slow Twenty-nine miles left to go The chain monkeys help you with your load You’re rollin’ over to the lowside of the road –Lowside of the Road, Tom Waits [dropcap]M[/dropcap]innesotans, which side are you on? Left, right or just “the lowside”? If you believe the results of a recent […]
Part 1 in a series on pedestrian laws and practices across jurisdictions. To help with the discussion, please take this short survey. Results will be shared in Part 2. I don’t recall if he was more Eric Estrada or Barney Fife as he peered from his patrol car, but he told us we’d been riding on the wrong side […]
Pedestrian laws and practices vary somewhat from country to country. To help prepare for an upcoming article on this, please take this short survey. Thanks!
Interim survey results released today by the Minneapolis Park Board regarding repair of West River Parkway show that 65% of respondents use the parkway for bicycling. Concerns remain that the board hasn’t found a way to keep the bike trail on the 100 yard section open during this summer and fall’s construction. A mudslide closed […]
That which does not kill you… can now be put out with your recycling. In what’s being called a natural step toward “zero landfill living,” Hennepin County launched an innovative program last month to collect residents’ unneeded pills and redistribute them through a network of “med pantries.” Residents with a valid prescription can pick up […]
A lot of magic can happen in nine months: A woman can create life. A child can pass through puberty (well, sort of). A Vikings team can win a Super Bowl. But to make West River Parkway safe again for traffic? Unfortunately it will take well over a year. It wasn’t originally supposed to be so. […]
Today’s map shows Minneapolis neighborhoods by their overall health — defined not only as the health of its residents, but also of the neighborhood’s environment, economy, schools, social institutions, housing, transportation, and safety. (View detailed rankings here and search by address here.) The map was created using data from the Healthy Communities Assessment Tool (HCAT), which was launched […]
Walkable communities usually include some small stores. But the economies of scale work against corner grocers, which require long hours for their owners.