Volunteer Spotlight: Pat Thompson
Alicia Valenti • September 4, 2020 Meet Pat Thompson, one of the many stellar volunteers who keeps streets.mn moving.
Category: Nature
Alicia Valenti • September 4, 2020 
Urban Eagles; Year 2
This is a follow-up to my March 20, 2019 post, “The New Neighbors,” about the pair of bald eagles that moved into a big cottonwood tree two doors down from me in the middle of my south Minneapolis neighborhood. They actually have a street address. Last year, the eagles built a nest, although it looked […]
Revisiting Stepping Up MN: A Virtual Cleanup (April 2020)
Much has changed since initiating Stepping Up MN, a virtual cleanup launched at the end of April to mobilize eager volunteers for community betterment. COVID-19 had us cloistered and adhering pretty religiously to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines against viral transmission. Litter accumulated in the streets, with city workers reassigned or […]
Living In The City Does Not Mean Being Disconnected From Nature!
During this era of isolation due to COVID-19, I’ve found myself walking, biking, and generally spending more time outside. I’ve had a lot of time to notice the natural world more than I used to and I’ve been able to experience the landscape and soundscape of my yard and neighborhood with a more profound appreciation. […]
Tenants’ Rights and Environmental Justice: In Pursuit of the Same Goal
My longtime home and beloved Silver City is beginning to change. Though St. Paul has often been maligned as “old-timey” by some of the more unsavory residents across the river in Minneapolis, I am proud to have seen St. Paul take tangible steps into the future by passage of the massively important Climate Action & […]
In Honor of Earth Day 50, Stepping Up is Easy: A Virtual Cleanup
What day is it? It’s hard to know anymore, in the face of the pandemic response and seemingly austere regimen. Did you know that this week marks the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebration? It officially began with the coordination of a nationwide environmental forum by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson, in response […]
Earth Day Birth Day
On the first Earth Day, I was 10 years old. I don’t think I knew it had been declared Earth Day because I wasn’t even reading the newspaper yet. I was nearing the end of fifth grade, a pivotal year in my life when I began to form an anti-authoritarian attitude because I had what […]
What Good Are Climate Goals If They Aren’t Considered When Real Decisions Are Made?
What good are climate goals if they’re not considered when real decisions are made in our cities? It’s a recurring question heard in posts on streets.mn that soon will be addressed at the Saint Paul City Council’s March 4 meeting when it considers the appeal of a proposed development at 2495 Kasota Ave. The Council […]
Join the streets.mn Climate Committee!
Are you ready to respond to our climate emergency? Are you interested in what this means for land use and transportation in particular? Join streets.mn’s newest committee this coming Sunday afternoon, January 26th, from 3:00-5:00 at CoCreatz on the Green Line. We’ll be talking about the ways streets.mn intersects with climate breakdown and how we […]
To Decarbonize Transportation, MnDOT Needs To Challenge Itself To Reduce VMT
Just this past week, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) released a report entitled “Pathways to Decarbonizing Transportation” that models various ways for the state to achieve its climate goals. These goals were set in the Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA) that was passed in 2007 and signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty (!!!). Minnesota aimed […]