Dear streets.mn loyal readers, Last year, I worked on a grocery index that included local Minneapolis-St. Paul grocery stores and common staples. For the next index, it’s time to ask for your input on what stores and what staples you value. Since the last grocery index, I have learned that Instacart has a mark-up on […]
I’m sitting in a cafe, sipping a cup of tea and enjoying the tastiest crème brulee I’ve ever had. Or maybe I just think it’s the tastiest. It could be the atmosphere, the tropical flowers in bloom, the sound of trickling water from the fountain, or that intoxicating euphoria that comes with being surrounded by […]
Let’s grow more food in our neighborhoods. Victory Gardens provided about a third of the vegetables grown in the US during WWII and I appreciate the food I get from my yard. I think even more important is the community-building that grows in urban gardens. I wrote previously about my own cherry tree and I have a […]
Due to an increase in demand, Al’s Breakfast is downsizing to a smaller nearby location. It will move from just north of the Espresso Royale, to the gap just south of that same cafe, adjacent to the China Express. Council Member Frey praised the new slender building. Critics suggested he was “fat-shaming” the existing Diner.
One of the best things about my neighborhood is how often something “interesting” happens. Bagpipers practice in a parking lot. Tourists try to use a Nice Ride. A couple carries a full-size dining room table down the sidewalk. Zombies careen onto the bus. Rock cairns collapse when a bird lands – as designed. I benefit so much from […]
While not technically about land use and transportation, this chart does reflect market demand for cast iron. (Via Very Small Array.)
Re-designing our cities to support local food production and healthy living has been a very popular topic of late, happening against a backdrop of grassroots efforts to create networks of growing, distribution and consumption. It is interesting to watch this process unfold, seeing how farmers, advocates, and urban design professionals are envisioning and (sometimes) working […]
This is a reblog from last year, this time, it is all still true. For the 12 days before and including Labor Day, Minnesotans reconvene at the State Fair. It is traditional and embedded in the culture. It matters here, unlike the fairs in other states I have lived (Maryland, Georgia, California). It is reportedly […]
The farmer’s market: Among the oldest forms of direct-to-consumer sales, these truly urban agoras bring the rural to the city, and exist all around the world in some form or another. They bridge the gap between city and country with commerce, and thus, it was inevitable we at streets.mn would ask readers where their favorite […]
The iconic suburban lawn may be losing popularity. Oh, sure. Restrictive covenants still exist, and the guy who uses his leaf blower to vacuum up the lawn mulch wearing nothing but a Speedo at 9 at night in July still wanders, white hairy chest on display, in many communities. But as suburbanites face slowed development […]