The Rite and Wrong of Driving
Contributor and transportation leader Mary Morse Marti responds to Ross Douthat’s recent column in the New York Times about driving, asking: Is it really a rite of passage?
Category: Culture
No Use for a Name: The Untold Story of Alley Identity and Utility in Minneapolis’ Palace Court
(The photograph above, showing the Metropolitan Opera House and Palace Court, was taken by C.J. Hubbard in 1914, Minnesota Historical Society) Historical and contemporary Minneapolis is not particularly known for its public alleys. They have served a more discreet role in the lives of Minneapolitans, unsung for getting private vehicles off city streets. Of course, […]
National Links: Urbanization and Climate Change
New research out of China shows that the mass urbanization of the country led by rural migration could be beneficial on the road to zero emissions.
Some Mental Health Cartoons
Last week, I went to see my Cycologist. I told him I was depressed about all the climate change induced flooding in Australia. He suggested that humans would develop new ways to adapt. I told him that I was also depressed by the lack of color on winter streets and the fact that everyone in […]
2022 Bikeable Community Workshops
Help communities in Minnesota become more bike friendly through Bikeable Community Workshops. Learn ways to advocate for biking in your community in 2022.
Car Culture Is Getting Even Worse
I wrote an article a few years ago for my blog that I rediscovered the other day. It turns out, nothing ever changes because I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the same asinine dynamics of driving in America. For example, “fake engine noise,” which was kind of new five or six years ago, is […]
Hennepin Avenue: A Parable of Road Design in America
It’s possible you’ve heard this joke before: A motorist, a pedestrian, and a bicyclist are sitting at a table that has a dozen cookies on it. The motorist grabs 11 of the cookies and when the other two are reaching for what they each assumed was their cookie, the motorist exclaims: “Watch out! The bicyclist […]
Celebrating the 1-year Anniversary of the streets.mn Climate Committee
On December 29, 2019, seven people met at Dual Citizen Brewery in St. Paul, and there we created the streets.mn Climate Emergency Committee. We had a few in-person writing meet-ups before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, and even though none of us could anticipate the events that followed throughout the year of 2020, we maintained […]
20th Annual Bicycle Film Festival Seeks to Diversify Cycling Culture in Minnesota
The Bicycle Film Festival, a virtual event for 2021, is running at places around the USA now. The local edition for Minnesota is Feb 26 – March 7, 2021 and is being promoted by Bike Alliance of Minnesota and Our Streets Minneapolis. The program features short films and a panel discussion dedicated to folks in […]
The Bleak State of Local Journalism in 2020
It breaks my heart to see Minneapolis CityPages, The East Bay Express, The Bay Monthly and dozens of other alternative newspapers and magazines around the country go out of business. It has resulted in hundreds, perhaps thousands of unemployed freelance writers, editors, cartoonists, artists and journalists. Many factors led to this moment but, more than […]