On Sunday my children and I were meeting friends at Minnehaha Park and then planned to stop for ice cream and some book shopping in Highland Village. It is only a nine mile round trip and parking at Minnehaha Park is difficult so we decided to ride our bicycles. My six-year old rode on the […]
It is true that Des Moines it not in Minnesota. And yet there is a new study out from the Research Institute for Housing in America (or RIHA) about the density and type of parking in five US cities, the closest being Des Moines, IA (metro population 634K, 270 miles south of Saint Paul). In […]
What is the cost, both human and financial, of devoting so much valuable urban land to cars — be it streets or parking?
After years of administering a complex and largely self-policed permit parking system, Saint Paul hired a consultant to do a study of the topic and might be making a few changes. And yet, it seems to me that these policy changes are too little and probably won’t make much difference to anyone to help achieve […]
For more than a year, Ramsey County has been conducting a study to determine the best plan for the future of Rice Street–or, as Ramsey County highway engineers like to call it, Ramsey County Highway 49. We’ve had meetings, meetings, and still more meetings. At every turn the divides in the neighborhood seem to get […]
Minneapolis needs more homes. That idea is one of the core tenets of the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. For a number of reasons (demographic, economic, cultural, etc.), more people are, and soon will be, living in the city. We need enough homes for everyone who is choosing to live here, or we’ll continue to see […]
Rarely do we acknowledge the sure way to disrupt the density/driving equation — by putting fewer cars on the road.
Road salt eats away at concrete in multi-story parking garages in a process known as “Spalling”. Salt accelerates the rate at which water gets into cracks, causing the concrete to pull away from its Rebar reinforcement. This is what happened to the River Center parking garage in downtown Saint Paul. A section of the garage […]
When controversy happens… when tempers flare… we read the comments, so you don’t have to. Having spent the last day reading all the streets.mn article comments (as my job as Head Moderator in Chief), I could not get enough so I headed over to the Star Tribune is Op Ed version. Like I don’t have enough […]
Where Will I Park? Parking is a major concern for people who drive. This concern has shaped how cities have been designed within the past few decades. This concern is tied to a very irrational mindset that leads to unnecessary anxiety and paranoia, which has damaged our cities. Parking Can Be Bad Due To Limited […]