I came across this news story last week about a public works proposal in Brooklyn Park, a northern suburb of Minneapolis (and future host to the end of a planned light rail line). As far as things go, this proposal is a pretty mundane function of local government: reconstructing a few 30+ year old streets, replacing some […]
Road construction season in Minnesota is winding down and, as a result, many of the orange signs that are seasonal visitors to our urban landscape will soon be warehoused away. If you’re a slab of concrete in Minneapolis with the purpose of providing space for people to walk, this may give you some breathing room. […]
I was up in Brainerd this weekend, visiting my sister. I’ve been up there several times since she bought a house just south of downtown a year and a half ago. Brainerd has a nice, walkable downtown. It has wide sidewalks, trees and benches, and active storefronts. Compared to the neighboring Baxter strip, it’s a breath […]
Sunday’s Open Streets on East Lake Street was the biggest ever. (Or so I hear; I wasn’t there, I was off doing this.) A while back I was interviewing an East Lake business owner for a story I was working on, and a neighborhood organizer came up to the table to chat. We ended up talking about […]
According to a recent article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the reconstruction of Robert Street in West St. Paul is bumping up against some cost overruns. Says newly elected Mayor Dave Meisinger: “So the numbers are increasing and increasing and increasing,” said Meisinger, who was elected in November after campaigning against the ballooning cost […]
Why does the pedestrian need to lower themselves to the level of the road? The road should instead rise to meet the pedestrian.
In downtown Saint Paul, there is a station on the Green Line light rail (LRT) called “Central“. This station is very useful! There’s a skyway connection, and it allows core office workers and casual activity users access to the Metro system. Parked diagonally across a city block, there was always going to be some awkwardness. […]
An urbanist is never truly on vacation — not when comparing land use and public transit with practices back home becomes a reflexive part of the day.
“Fatal crash ‘never should have happened‘”. That headline, on the front page of the Minnesota section of the Star Tribune on June 1st, referred to a fatal crash that occurred a year ago in rural Rock County, when a driver in a pickup truck, going 55 miles an hour, looked down at his cell phone to make […]
Last Friday I wrote about walking in Saint Paul with a focus on safety. Today, I want to share some thoughts on the pleasures and benefits of walking as I have experienced it. I’ll also talk briefly about how a Saint Paul Pedestrian Plan might help get more people walking. Until recently, most of my explorations have been […]