Over a decade of living in Minneapolis, I have found that a good way to hear many local government officials is to attend my local neighborhood association’s annual meeting. This is especially true during this time of pandemic and social unrest. The local association presents a roster of candidates to run for its board positions, […]
Imagine yourself waking up on a Sunday morning, pouring yourself a cup of hot coffee and snuggling under a blanket on your favorite chair, your four-legged friend curled up sleeping by your feet. Outside your window is a collage of fall colors: maroon, gold and green hues, and you’re vaguely aware of the hum of […]
Undoing failed zoning by basing new rules on the development that occurred under that failed zoning is a cycle doomed to repeat past failures. If you want to get the diversity of buildings we used to have, you have to work back from what you want.
I still remember the first time I looked at a city zoning code, in a planning class at the Humphrey School. I both recommend it and, at the same time, would not wish the experience on anyone. City codes are interminable documents written in technical legalese. They go into painstaking detail about things like how […]
Summary: Modern Streetcar will not work in Riverview Corridor On December 14, 2017, the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC, governing body) of the Riverview Corridor project (RC) adopted its Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). See Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) Final Report LPA 02.2018 and Riverview Corridor Pre-Project Development Study, Final, Feb 2018. One of the provisions of […]
This image shows a mostly undeveloped parking lot, occupying a full block of prime real estate in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Why does this lot remain underdeveloped? The owner of the land could increase their income drastically if they developed the land to its fullest potential. Additionally, the city as a whole would gain […]
Your friendly Saint Paul Crank here. It’s time for some late summer cartoon shout-outs. This first one goes out to the organizers of the Minnesota State Fair Crop Art competition. If not for the pandemic, you would have been able to see this piece hanging in the horticulture building with all the other excellent seed-art […]
Yesterday, we received the dismal news that the promised route for the Bottineau Blue Line light rail extension was only a dream, and that dream is now officially scuttled. What is more troubling is that $129 million in local, county, metro, and state funds were spent on engineering and planning the project when rail company […]
Metro Transit staff have penned an open letter to Metropolitan Council leadership demanding action in response to the killing of George Floyd and the series of subsequent protests. The letter, which was signed by 198 current and former Metro Transit employees and sent on June 26, points out that both its riders and its operators […]
In my recent streets.mn article, “Want Equitable Cities? We’ll Need More Women in Transportation Planning,” I argued that women’s under-representation in transportation planning and policy making leads to the creation of urban spaces that fail to meet the needs of girls and women. I ended the article with a bold question: What would cities look […]