Putting Metro Transit Under the Microscope
A dedicated rider and longtime chronicler of mass transit, Ian Gaida screams into the void about route and service improvements he’d like to see from Metro Transit.
Category: Maps
What the FRA Long-Distance Study Could Mean for Minnesota
Amtrak is having a moment, though it may be hard yet to see the results. A new study may provide clues about what’s to come.
Mapping Minneapolis’ Post-2040 Plan Duplexes and Triplexes
A geographic visualization of new duplexes and triplexes since the Minneapolis 2040 Plan passed shows what can work — or not — with local regulatory policy.
17 Mental Maps of St. Paul
Our perceptions of a city are formed through “mental maps” we create — and those shift depending on the travel mode we use.
Book Club: The Cartographers
Join Elissa Shufman and Ian R Buck for a discussion of the novel The Cartographers, a mystery that has us pondering what a map is and how it gives us power.
Lessons From a Bike Ride Across Minnesota (the Long Way)
A day-by-day travelogue of a cross-Minnesota bike tour, with trail recommendations, navigation tips, and other intel for the bike-tour-curious.
Dog Nearly Bites Man and Converted Churches on Dayton’s Bluff
September 27, 2021 Downtown, Lowertown, Dayton’s Bluff 20.1 miles The route map of my September 27, 2021 ride. The map is zoomable. A sunny late September day with the temperature in the mid-70s is a day to ride. And so I was winding my way east on Kellogg Boulevard Downtown toward Dayton’s Bluff. At the […]
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, […]
Map Monday: Minneapolis/Saint Paul Without the River Border
I wrote once before about Peter Gorman’s work, Barely Maps, which was inspired by a cross-country circumnavigating bike ride. I finally got a copy of the book and enjoyed it. Here’s his minimalist map of Minneapolis/Saint Paul, about which Gorman writes: “If you zoom in a few miles south of the headwaters of the Mississippi, […]
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 […]