After a friend first told me about the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC) a few years ago, it took another two or three gentle suggestions before I was willing to seriously consider applying. Despite being car-free by choice and a Minneapolitan for my entire adult life, I saw myself as neither a pedestrian nor someone […]
I have structured my life so I can live without a car. That choice may seem impossible, and, at times, it is impractical. Like any counter-cultural behavior, it initially requires effort to adjust. I can attest, however, that car-free living is a healthful, fiscally responsible and even joyful pursuit in later middle age. When I […]
When I was in law school, I lived in a furnished apartment two blocks from school. Basically all I owned was my clothes, a desktop computer, some CDs and my textbooks. I definitely owned zero tools. Then I graduated and moved to a fancier apartment (the deck of a swimming pool is a great place to […]
While it is very cool to have a car, a disadvantage of owning a car might be the fact that you will have to drive a lot and in occasions when you don’t want to. A friend of mine in college recently bought his own car and since the news inevitably spread, many people started […]
I’m not sure if my living situation qualifies as “outstate” as much as it feels like it sometime. There is a barn on my property, along with a grain silo. Two of our neighbors have horse pastures, and agricultural is still a large part of the community. But I live in Becker, located in Sherburne County. It is […]
Last fall, my wife and I decided to move away from our downtown condo and bought a house in South Minneapolis. This was kind of a big deal for me, as I always viewed being able to walk to work as an important part of my physical and psychological well-being. Indeed, I bought a condo downtown […]
Like many Americans, I work in a traditional office. This means I commute to work every day. I also have kids. My oldest goes to daycare in downtown Minneapolis and I have drop-off and pick-up duty. Unlike the prototypical American I do not own a car, although I have access to ride share vehicles and borrow […]
I’ve just returned from a trip abroad (Scotland & Ireland) and am having familiar thoughts: why do other countries seem to get things about urban design that America just doesn’t? Okay, so looking around a bit while on vacation isn’t exactly a scientific way to evaluate the relatively quality of urban planning, but it’s not […]
I spent much of this spring exploring the system of bike lanes and trails that South Minneapolis has to offer, as well as the state and county lands here in Sherburne County. Both are relatively new to me despite being a lifelong Minnesota resident. I spent my childhood in Becker, which meant our family made many […]
The exact intersection of the Phillips, Seward, and Cedar-Riverside neighborhoods is at the center of this photograph: We all know the story. These neighborhoods were sacrificed for the convenience of newly minted suburbanites. It’s weird how vigorously the government reshaped our patterns of living in the era of urban freeway building, and how timidly it now approaches […]
