A recent Streets.mn piece attempts to make the case that Minneapolis policies, including but not limited to the draft Comprehensive Plan, are part of a broader war on cars, driven by the “privilege” of people who cannot or choose not to drive. I feel like I have a responsibility to respond, because I’ve worked for transportation […]
In the conversations leading up to the City Council vote today on the 3rd Ave S redesign, it seems we’ve gotten focused on the wrong questions. The most important question isn’t “will the downtown businesses agree to replace greening by a large enough percentage?” It also isn’t “but how do downtown business owners feel about this?” The […]
On February 3rd, the Minneapolis City Council’s Transportation and Public Works committee received a very important, somewhat disturbing report from Professor Gary Johnson in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Forest Resources. The most striking finding: boulevard trees near recent sidewalk replacement work are more than twice as likely to fail. The report is based on extensive […]
The conservation conversation hasn’t gotten off to a good start. As one of the people who has worked to craft the proposed conservation district ordinance, here’s my take. The wrong frames “Urbanist vs. NIMBY” and “high density vs. low density” are the wrong frames for this discussion, just as “bicyclists vs. firefighters” was the wrong frame […]