The “Donut”, with sprinkles: taking stock of the Star Tribune’s recent homage to suburbia
Discussing the consequences of suburban migration and responding to a recently-published Star Tribune article.
Category: Demographics
Tapping the Power of Place to Keep Us All Healthy (Republished)
Folks in disadvantaged neighborhoods lead less healthy lives, due to freeways, lack of food options and other measures beyond their control.
Considering a ‘Donut Theory’ of Development in Minnesota
Minnesota’s suburban “donut” has devoured resources, jobs and hospitals — deepening decline in both rural towns and inner-city neighborhoods.
Aunties of Active Mobility Roll On: Rose and Laura
The second “Aunties of Active Mobility” stars both a relative newbie (Rose, now an instructor) and seasoned veteran (Laura, of cargo bike fame).
The Revival of Black Town Centers
Many centers of Black commerce and entrepreneurialism were damaged or destroyed. But a number have made a comeback throughout the U.S.
National Links: Phoenix’s Ancient Watery Secret
The desert city of Phoenix, Arizona is home to 180 miles of canals, supplying much needed water in a region plagued with scarcity. Yet the canals are not without precedent: the Hohokam people, who once inhabited the area, constructed hundreds of miles of canals to supply tens of thousands of acres of farmland, hundreds of years before Phoenix rose from the ashes of the civilization.
It’s Not Equitable to Protect Cars on Summit Avenue
A recent editorial argued that bike advocates left out the marginalized in their advocacy for new bike infrastructure on Summit Avenue. What if we applied that analysis to cars?
Observations from the 2020 Bicycle and Pedestrian Traffic Count
It was sunny and not quite 60 degrees when I unfolded my camp chair at the northwest corner of Energy Park Drive and the U of M Transitway on the edge of Saint Paul to count people walking or bicycling on a Thursday afternoon in September. I placed the chair right next to the beg […]
Take the September 2020 Reader Survey
Much has happened in the year 2020, and this survey is designed to capture how COVID-19 has affected our reader community. This survey will also take snapshot of our reader community demographics to help the volunteers at Streets.mn reach a wider audience and bring on more diverse voices. The survey only takes a few minutes […]
Designing Cities for Women: Lessons from Barcelona’s ‘Feminist City’
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 […]