Here today, via streets.mn alumnus Nick Magrino’s Twitter, is the most important chart I’ve ever seen. Take a look, and then I’ll take a stab at explaining it: So what we have here is a three-dimensional chart that lays out the dominant affective trajectories of parking logic. Starting at the origin point, you can see […]
In 2016, Acme Comedy Co was the subject of the most high-profile movement to save a parking lot in recent Minneapolis history. If the owner of an adjacent parking lot was allowed to turn it into apartments, Acme’s owner predicted he would be forced to move his business out of Minneapolis to a parking-rich suburb. […]
A friend, who happens to be a Saint Catherine’s alum, told me a tale about the not too distant past. The city of Saint Paul was looking to run Prior Avenue straight through Saint Kate’s campus. Things like that take time and as soon as the nuns at the school heard the city’s plan they worked […]
When controversy happens….when tempers flare….we read the comments, so you don’t have to. On Sunday, as teased on Twitter by our own @streetsmn account, the Star Tribune posted an article It’s not your imagination — parking is disappearing in Minneapolis. The subhead and picture on the article gave a taste of what was to come, with a […]
A year or so ago, I was invited to a “greet your local legislator” gathering at the Minnesota State Capitol. A casual, brown-bag affair over a weekday noon hour, it seemed designed to draw working types from my politically progressive district. Surprising, then, that the otherwise detailed instructions included parking information only. Not a word […]
A little more than a year ago, I was inspired to create what has been called “the definitive three-part [film] series about the people and culture of Saint Paul.” But the deep concerns about car storage that I explored in that series aren’t unique to Saint Paul. During the most recent meeting of the Minneapolis City Planning […]
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Saint Paul has a weak tax base. Compared to every sizable city in the state, a huge portion of Saint Paul’s city land is occupied, not by taxpaying residents or companies, but by state and county governments, colleges and universities, and non-profit institutions. For this reason, so the logic goes, […]
As previously mentioned, the current city plan for bike lanes on 38th Street is to allow parking in the bike lane from 6 am to noon in two spots near local businesses. While I wasn’t personally there to witness it, I’m told that Council member Andrew Johnson described this new plan as a “compromise” at […]
Minneapolis has a Complete Streets policy. The city website describes one of the key elements of this policy thus: “Establishment of a modal priority framework to inform City transportation related decision making that prioritizes people as they walk, bicycle, and take transit over people when they drive.” The concept it pretty simple. When we’re deciding […]
On April 15, the group “Citizens for Roads Asphalt and Parking” (C.R.A.P.) is participating in a “National Park-in” to protest the lack of free parking in American Cities. Protest participants will drive to downtowns across the country and park their cars in metered spaces or parking lots without paying. Some may even park in the […]