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 […]
Podcast #117: Saint Paul’s Ward 4 with Mitra Jalali Nelson
Welcome to the streets.mn podcast. Today I’m bringing you episode 117: Saint Paul’s Ward 4 with Mitra Jalali Nelson. This is another in my interviews with political candidates for local public office. Longtime listeners of this podcast will remember, for example, five years ago when I interviewed people running in Minneapolis and Saint Paul for […]
The Story of Saint Paul’s Selby Avenue Tunnel
As Saint Paul’s population grew in the late 19th Century, people began moving out of the city’s core and into residential areas adjacent to downtown. The Selby Avenue streetcar line was built in 1888 to provide people with transportation from their homes on top of the hill to the offices, factories, and shops downtown, and to […]
Chart of the Day: Perceptions of Electric Shared Scooters by Income, Gender
The other day, the Wedge Live online periodical tweeted out this amusing chart showing technology adoption rates: It was funny and made me chuckle, but then a week or so later I saw a report from a consulting group that offered a literal version of the same kind of data: The report was a […]
National Links: Small Town Texas Revival
Every day at The Overhead Wire we collect news about cities and send the links to our email list. At the end of the week we take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the DC region. […]
Two Perspectives On The Housing Crisis: Affordable Housing vs Housing Affordability
The battlefield of the urban housing crisis is a confusing place to find oneself these days. At a time when American politics are as starkly divided as they have been in a century, housing politics do not fit comfortably into the familiar right-left narrative. Among a variety of constituencies, from older homeowning liberals to younger […]
Sunday Summary – July 29, 2018
Did you miss the streets.mn picnic yesterday? Too bad! We had a lot of fun at Lake Monster Brewing. Our Events Committee did a fabulous job and there will be other chances to get together before next summer – take a look at our calendar to know what we’re planning (or help plan, too, by […]
35W Closures: A Few Ideas
Normally, when there’s a big epic road closure (15 miles of 35W!) I read the comments. But I already did for one major closure this summer, and based on rules of comment sections, odds are 100% that the same comments are being made, and they’re going to be talking about bikers sucking within 30 comments. […]
Ten Thoughts on Minneapolis 2040
I’m no expert on the Minneapolis 2040 planning goals but I feel like I’ve been paying attention. I’ve read news stories, blog posts, NextDoor comments, attended community meetings and discussed this topic with friends and neighbors. Here are a few observations based on those experiences: 1. The vast majority of people opposed to the upzoning […]
Everyone Loves Ice Cream: A Case for Land Co Ops
I think a wild blind spot at StreetsMN is the idea that there are only two possibilities for residential property development. A) Private ownership by young growing Single Family with golden retriever and infinite sums of cash to refinish the cool old house. B) Private ownership by profit driven private developer. Considering the golden retriever […]
Walking All the Streets of Western Harrison
The Harrison neighborhood in Minneapolis’s Near North community is shown with light blue tint in the route map. My route for the first day started at the intersection of Glenwood and Morgan Avenues (point A) and ended three blocks north of there at Olson Memorial Highway and Morgan Avenue (point B). How could I end […]
Saint Louis Park Still Getting it Backwards at Beltway and Cedar Lake
I was disappointed to hear that a friend of mine got a bicycle ticket the other day in Saint Louis Park. The $62 ticket was given by an officer for not stopping at a stop sign at a very problematic intersection, where the Cedar Lake bike trail and Beltway Boulevard intersect right near Steel Toe […]
I Was Radicalized By Minneapolis 2040
I have a suggestion for anyone doubting the cataclysmic effects Minneapolis 2040 would have on Southwest Minneapolis. Drive down Bryant Avenue from 50th to Lake Street and have a look around. What you see might just open your eyes, change your tune, and flip your port-o-hammock. I was driving down Bryant Avenue the other day […]
Reminder: streets.mn Annual Summer Picnic this Saturday
This is a reminder to stop by our Annual Summer Picnic this Saturday at Lake Monster Brewing in St. Paul. This is a family-friendly event and all are welcome! Here are the final details: Schedule: 2:00 pm – Open Meeting with the Board of streets.mn 3:00 pm – Social time 3:30 pm – 5:00 […]
Streets Without Trees are Dangerous
With more cities developing Vision Zero initiatives to eliminate road traffic fatalities, more people are seeing the way streets that are designed as a life-and-death issue. That entails seeing things that used to look fairly benign – a 13′ lane width, for example – as hazardous. We should start seeing the absence of mature street […]
Chart of the Day: Key Transportation Statistics, US vs. Peer Countries
Here’s a handy chart that shows how the USA ranks a set of against other peer countries like Canada, Japan, Australia and a bunch in Europe. Red is the color the chart uses to denote its “worst” ranking. Voila: Some of the data is newer, some is older. Not much to add about this one. […]
Arguments Against Minneapolis’s Draft Comprehensive Plan, Addressed (Part III)
Phew! The public comment phase of the exhaustively publicized, discussed, and public-feedback-solicited 2040 Minneapolis Comprehensive Plan is over. I don’t know about you, but I am incredibly aware of the existence of this planning process and of my opportunities and methods for learning what the draft plan contains, and for offering my feedback! However, the planning […]
Chart of the Day: Share of New Homes with Central Air Conditioning, 1970 – Present
An evergreen chart here from the New York Times about a seasonal (in Minnesota anyway) amenity that has radically transformed our cities and homes for the better and for the worse. Here is the chart showing the trend in the Midwest and other regions of the US: I grew up in a house with central […]
Planning Plazas for Safe Protest
Since the 2016 elections, I have followed the news chronicling the latest demonstrations and protests on a wide range of issues — including immigration, inequality, and women’s rights — and felt inspired by the people who are no longer content with waiting for someone else to make change happen. At the same time, I am […]
Map Monday: Parking per Acre in Des Moines
It is true that Des Moines it not in Minnesota. And yet there is a new study out from the Research Institute for Housing in America (or RIHA) about the density and type of parking in five US cities, the closest being Des Moines, IA (metro population 634K, 270 miles south of Saint Paul). In […]