Category: Infrastructure

Fountain Cascade
Fig. 1. “Fountain Cascade, near St. Paul,” stereoscopic view by W. H. Illingworth, circa 1875. This likely depicts the feature that gave Cascade Creek and Cascade Street their names. At the upper left, an outcrop of Platteville Limestone is visible. Photo courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

“An Eruption of Springs”: The Diverting Story of Cascade Creek

• September 7, 2022

Cascade Creek was named after a waterfall in the W 7th St neighborhood of St. Paul. The stream was most famously associated with Ayd Mill.

Northern Lights Express
Northern Lights Express

Local View: Arguments against proposed NLX train are ‘insincere’

• June 23, 2022

Also, across the U.S. and around the world, the public and private sectors are investing billions in building and/or expanding passenger-train networks. Passenger trains are bringing their communities, especially transit-underserved communities, numerous benefits. These include the development of businesses in and around stations, which attracts and retains young professionals, many of whom prefer public transit to private automobiles. This all reduces regional economic disparities.

Excavators at the site of a demolished building.

National Links: No More Demolition

• June 14, 2022

For half a century cities like St. Louis felt that demolition was the best way to solve urban ills tied to out-migration and decay. But according to Tony Nipert, this can result in another type of displacement through neglect. And solutions that include rehabilitation only result in more demolition 10 years later if actions aren’t taken to get people into those homes. Other solutions are needed to revitalize neighborhoods in cities.

Summer 2022 Highway News Roundup

• June 13, 2022

Google Maps Silliness Minnesota has about a hundred legally named highways and bridges, written into law in Minnesota Statute § 161.14. Some of the early ones like the Viking Trail and the Sioux Trail were possibly intended to mark motoring touring routes. But overwhelmingly the highways are named in memory of local politicians, veterans or […]