Making the suburbs, especially outer ring suburbs, walkable will require a significant shift in how we treat pedestrians in terms of infrastructure investment and in terms of interacting with them while driving. However, there is an easy way to make the suburbs more walkable without requiring significant investment: simply adding a sidewalk connecting streets and […]
So, it’s time for a streets.mn walk again and this time I’m in Rochester walking with my niece, Danielle as we went through a couple Rochester Destination Medical Center (DMC) sub-districts. Very short story – it’s where I grew up, studied piano, worked at a Shopko, rented in a 4-plex with a buddy, trekked the pedestrian […]
Hands-down my favorite part of downtown Minneapolis this past summer was the pianos on Nicollet Avenue. Not necessarily a new idea, to be sure, but I was struck by the talent of seemingly random players and the joy it gave passers-by. Any given morning on my walk from the train to the office I’d pass […]
If you are interested in Twin Cities history, one of the more amusing things this year was the parallel development in Minneapolis and Saint Paul of dockless bike sharing systems. Dockless bikes are a big leap forward in bike sharing technology — the use of which is something that tech blogger Kottke recently compared to bluetooth […]
The curbside has long been overlooked and is playing a growing role in our increasingly multimodal society. It was a main topic of conversation when I attended the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Conference in Los Angeles earlier this month. During one of the sessions, the Parking Manager of Pasadena, CA, Jon Hamblen, […]
When Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons (RRFBs) started appearing in Bloomington and Edina I thought they would be a huge improvement for pedestrian safety, but having used them numerous times I’ve realized they’re a compromise on safety and neither motorists or pedestrians are the winners. RRFBs are a safety device used at crosswalks in which a […]
A list of thoughts as random as the bikes strewn about my neighborhood. The scooters are super fun. Like SUPER. I was a menace the first time I tried a scooter. Seriously dangerous. Had to bail three times before I figured out the brakes. Bicyclists in Saint Paul’s bike lane said cuss words at me. […]
Tradition is a hallmark of the Great Minnesota Get-Together. For a Greater Minnesota transplant, it’s now more wine samples than Machinery Hill.
Over the years people in Minneapolis and Saint Paul have dubbed several dubious landmarks “Bridge to Nowhere” and “Skyway to Nowhere.” As fashionable nicknames and features of the cityscape, they come and go. But one such landmark has quietly persisted for decades: Minneapolis’s Crosswalk to Nowhere. You find it at the intersection of Main […]
When controversy happens… when tempers flare… we read the comments, so you don’t have to. Perhaps you have heard about the scooters? They are everywhere! Which means free marketing for scooter companies in the form of articles in all media! We decided to read the comments on multiple articles and rate each article’s comments section on […]