With “a little bit of everything for everyone,” Mattocks Park spans a neighborhood block, nestled snugly between rows of family homes in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood. Housing a large green space with shaded seating, two gated tennis courts, a half-court basketball court, baseball diamond, and playground with a separate “tot-lot,” the park provides a space that […]
Imagine you are strolling down the sidewalk on the busy, urban road of University Avenue in St. Paul, MN. The Green Line train dings to announce its arrival at the Fairview Station as cars fly by and construction vehicles clunk and hum across the street. City life is abuzz all around you. You spot a […]
-Editor’s note: streets.mn is once again presenting essays on Twin Cities’ public space from students at Macalester College. Read through all the essays from this and previous years here. Como Regional Park is a vast, multifaceted 441-acre park that serves as the centerfold of St. Paul’s vibrant Como Park neighborhood. It is the most heavily […]
Seeing a neighborhood via bike, with a camera, conveys a true sense of place.
In a few weeks, the Robert Piram Regional Trail will officially open between Saint Paul and South Saint Paul. Here’s why it just might be the Twin Cities cycling community’s new favorite trail.
One of the things that I discovered when I moved into my apartment was that the tennis courts across the street were a bit loud. People drove from other parts of the city to use them and would play tennis until sundown. So from my apartment, I could hear the sound of a tennis ball […]
Some weeks ago, Hennepin County Commissioner Mike Opat and a team of architects unveiled a bold and expensive new idea for Minneapolis’ Mississippi riverfront. The plan received a warm reception from Chamber of Commerce and Editorial Board types, but a more lukewarm response among the two groups of people whose opinions I most often seek: […]
In October, I took the bus out to Afton State Park, which is located on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border due east of the Twin Cities. But wait, you might think. That’s impossible. There’s no bus service out that way. The nearest Metro Transit route is the 294, which goes to Stillwater and only runs during rush […]
September 2, 2019 Downtown, Payne-Phalen, Railroad Island, Dayton’s Bluff 20.5 Miles In all my rides around Saint Paul, I’d never seen a dinosaur, nor had I ever expected to. That’s why the tyrannosaurus gazing out from a building on Pine Street on the edge of Payne-Phalen caused me to lock up the brakes on my […]
Theodore Wirth Park, the largest park managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, is home to what MPRB superintendent Mary Merrill has described as a world class facility that serves as the jumping off point for year-round outdoor activities. However, these activities – which include snow tubing, cross country skiing, mountain and fat tire […]