National Links: Colorado Transportation Changes Course
California’s potential mega-flood, how Stuttgart launched the beginnings of an urban forest just before World War II and more news about our Big Blue Marble.
Category: Culture
Honoring and Celebrating Philando, Seven Years On
A Falcon Heights police officer killed Philando Castile in July 2016. Less than two months later, friends, family and former classmates honored his life.
Rondo in Stories: A Little Free Library Walking Tour
The culture of a neighborhood is often discernible through a tour of its Little Free Libraries. So it is with Rondo in St. Paul.
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?
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.
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 […]