Navigation

Archive | Health

What Can Walkers Learn From Winter Cyclists?

By on February 5, 2019 in Health, Pedestrians, Safety, Walking

I live in a privileged St. Paul neighborhood with professional cyclists — men and women of varying ages who commute by bicycle all year round, including during the recent polar vortex. Their financial investment, beyond the cost of the bicycles themselves, includes heavy gloves, facemasks, hard-bottomed boots, helmets and goggles, lights and reflectors, and reflective […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading 21

Sustainable To-Go Packaging: Still a Push in St. Paul

By on January 28, 2019 in Advocacy, Announcements, Economics, Environment, Health

Streets.mn readers care about the environment, right? That’s why we’re counting on you to care about the push for sustainable to-go packaging at restaurants and eateries in St. Paul. St. Paul City Council members are warming up to the idea of updating the city’s ordinance to require sustainable to-go packaging, with an implementation period of […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading 2

30 Days of Winter Biking: January 2019

By on December 27, 2018 in Bicycling, Experiments, Health, Streets

January 2018, I decided to try a self-challenge of biking 30 days in the month. I was aiming for 31 but was out of town for 3 days and couldn’t find a bicycle on that middle day. Still, I biked over 400 miles, lost 8 pounds, and gained a new sense of appreciation of winter […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

Map Monday: Twin Cities Metro by Life Expectancy

By on December 17, 2018 in Health, Maps, Race

Check out this new mapping project from Quartz, showing the average life expectancy for every zip code in the US. [You can search any city in the state or the country using the map!] The differences in life expectancy are striking, and nowhere more so than right in Saint Paul. The Quartz team found that […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

Sustainable Saint Paul?

By on October 25, 2018 in Advocacy, Development, Environment, Health, Minneapolis vs. St. Paul, Public Policy

Once upon a time, sometime in 1989, the city of Saint Paul drafted a sustainable take-out container ordinance. It wasn’t called that, as the terms “sustainable” and “sustainability” weren’t widely used yet.  It was written to help achieve city, county and state recycling and waste reduction goals through increasing the types of take out containers […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

What is the Cost/Value of a Calorie?

By on September 5, 2018 in Economics, Health

We spend more for healthcare per person than any other country. By a significant amount. Some of this extra cost is in better healthcare facilities, more personnel, higher pay that attracts better caregivers, and other things. These increase costs, but not by much. The biggest chunk, 50-70% of our total healthcare costs, is that we […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

In 1923, You Could Buy Pedestrian Insurance for 75 Cents

By on August 21, 2018 in Bicycling, Cars, Health, History, Media, Safety, Streets, Walking

If you subscribed to the Minneapolis Daily Star in 1923, you could get a year’s worth of pedestrian insurance for an extra 75 cents.   The add-on deal was just what it sounds like: insurance coverage for injuries (including fatal injuries) you might incur while walking across the street. The offer, through the North American Accident […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

Streets Without Trees are Dangerous

By on July 25, 2018 in Environment, Health

With more cities developing Vision Zero initiatives to eliminate road traffic fatalities, more people are seeing the way streets that are designed as a life-and-death issue. That entails seeing things that used to look fairly benign – a 13′ lane width, for example – as hazardous. We should start seeing the absence of mature street […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

Electric-assist Bicycle Owners Share Their Story, Adventures

By on June 15, 2018 in Bicycling, Health, Transportation

The first time I rode an electric-assist bicycle (ebike) was around 15 years ago.  My workplace, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, actually had ebikes as part of their vehicle fleet.  Our work site is a mile away from downtown Saint Paul and a little over a mile away from the Capitol, and many people have […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading

Minneapolis 2040: Tree Edition

By on May 21, 2018 in 2040 Minneapolis Comprehensive Plan, Environment, Health, Placemaking, Public Realm

Minneapolis residents may be wondering who is digging holes in their neighborhoods and dropping little trees in them. It’s the Forestry Division of the Minneapolis Park Board. Trees are great for the environment. They’re good for public health. They can calm car traffic. Maybe they reduce crime? They definitely make streets vastly more pleasant places […]

Streets.mn is a non-profit and is volunteer run. We rely on your support to keep the servers running. If you value what you read, please consider becoming a member.

Continue Reading