[This is part of streets.mn’s “transpo convo” series, which aims to be an oral history of getting around the Twin Cities, one person at a time.] Kristen is a health care employee who cares deeply about community health and fitness. She wants to set a good example for her family. She has a bicycle trailer […]
The following is in response to a column that appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week. — Dear Joe, You called me out. I have three children (ages 1, 3, and 5), I drive a mini-van (red 2010 Toyota Sienna) and I’d love to make the call on bike lanes. But you probably […]
Proposals to get St. Paul up to a higher standard of multi-modal joy abound. One key proposal is the City of St. Paul Bike Plan. It is a comprehensive approach to closing gaps in city bikeways and bikeability to allow more people to choose a bicycle over other modes of transport. As I’ve ranted, raved […]
How can a new school introduce itself to a community? Folwell Performing Arts Magnet School in south Minneapolis is using principals of placemaking and robust community engagement to create and install a 2,000 sq. ft. public mural to say “hello” to their neighborhood. Folwell, located at the border of the Corcoran and Standish neighborhoods (20th Ave S […]
The free-range kids movement has been seeing a lot of press lately, both pro and con. Some say that giving kids freedom is great. Others suggest that not every freedom-giving parent shows great judgment and is foisting responsibility to other adults in complex situations – and while it takes a village, there are reasons the […]
The new high school in Alexandria, MN was highlighted as a model of innovation in a piece by Jenna Ross in Sunday’s StarTribune. This $73.2 million high school, recently heralded “the Googleplex of Schools” by technology magazine Fast Company, reflects a broader shift in education and is already becoming a template. Students have given more […]
Protected bicycle lanes were installed on the Plymouth Avenue bridge while it was undergoing repairs in 2013. Since that time the bridge has seen an 81% increase in bicycle traffic; quite the increase indeed. How are we to interpret this? On the one hand it is obviously a success in that riders clearly have chosen […]
Feeling like you’re ready for some green to return to the Minnesota outdoors? Me too. Let this very brief promo video I made for the Minneapolis Saint Paul regional parks system whet your appetite and imagination. Summer is coming.
The last in the series of four videos from the Knight Foundation featuring Gil Penalosa and his thoughts on public spaces as an essential piece to creating livable cities.
Here’s a very inspirational clip from a TV documentary film about a group of children in Amsterdam organizing to create a car-free play street in their neighborhood. More info here. Can you imagine children doing this in a Minnesota city or town?