Category: Politics

Assessing the Legacy of Minneapolis’s Progressive Urbanist City Council

The 2021 general election is over. All across the country it was a deeply divisive and angry campaign and the results reflected that dismal process. In Minneapolis, it was no different. It was a bad time to be earnest about the future. The cynics won in a rout. Among the losses were four councilmembers, Cam […]

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry with his daughter Frida and wife Sarah

At Open Streets, we asked candidates for Minneapolis Mayor about transit and public safety

With arguably the most decisive Minneapolis election in our lifetime rapidly approaching on Nov. 2, I went to Open Streets Minnehaha this past weekend on a mission to ask mayoral candidates questions submitted by streets.mn contributors.  I got the three main contenders: incumbent Jacob Frey, former state representative Kate Knuth, and organizer Sheila Nezhad. I […]

The Bleak State of Local Journalism in 2020

It breaks my heart to see Minneapolis CityPages, The East Bay Express, The Bay Monthly and dozens of other alternative newspapers and magazines around the country go out of business. It has resulted in hundreds, perhaps thousands of unemployed freelance writers, editors, cartoonists, artists and journalists. Many factors led to this moment but, more than […]

Cedar Lake, an area represented by CIDNA

Not Enough Community Input at Cedar-Isles-Dean Neighborhood Association

Over a decade of living in Minneapolis, I have found that a good way to hear many local government officials is to attend my local neighborhood association’s annual meeting. This is especially true during this time of pandemic and social unrest. The local association presents a roster of candidates to run for its board positions, […]

Hennepin County District 6 Candidate Questionnaire

With the help of Move Minnesota and the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, streets.mn has sent out a transportation and land use questionnaire to candidates running for Hennepin County Board. With a $2.5 annual budget, the County Board is the most important government body that most people don’t know anything about. The upcoming […]

Hennepin County District 5 Candidate Questionnaire

With the help of Move Minnesota and the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, streets.mn has sent out a transportation and land use questionnaire to candidates running for Hennepin County Board. With a $2.5 annual budget, the County Board is the most important government body that most people don’t know anything about. The upcoming […]

Hennepin County District 1 Candidate Questionnaire

With the help of Move Minnesota and the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, streets.mn has sent out a transportation and land use questionnaire to candidates running for Hennepin County Board. With a $2.5 annual budget, the County Board is the most important government body that most people don’t know anything about. The upcoming […]

Metro Blue Line Light Rail Transit Mall Of America

$129 Million Spent on Botched Blue Line Extension, Equivalent to Three Completed C Lines

Yesterday, we received the dismal news that the promised route for the Bottineau Blue Line light rail extension was only a dream, and that dream is now officially scuttled. What is more troubling is that $129 million in local, county, metro, and state funds were spent on engineering and planning the project when rail company […]