Everyone needs to pee. This is an observation so obvious that it shouldn’t need to be stated. Yet it seems it’s not an observation that has made its way into our urban planning. It’s really a simple equation. People need to pee – no public bathrooms = peeing in public (or worse). Much of the […]
On Thursday afternoon, October 6, people gathered at the corner of Kellogg and Jackson to see a glimpse of the first dedicated off-street bike path in downtown St. Paul. Bike advocates, city officials, and even two Twin Cities Marathon runners originally from Florida just passing by joined in the fun and excitement. They saw the Nice […]
Every day at The Direct Transfer 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. […]
Via the Washington Post, here’s a fun map of Minneapolis showing the percentage change in average home prices in Minneapolis (and other cities too). The map supports the basic “return to the city” argument, about how more people are moving into the urban core. Here’s the 15-year trend: The article looks at a few […]
Here’s an important chart for you, showing something that the City Observatory cooked up called the “storefront index.” It measures the number of “customer-facing businesses” along city streets. Here’s the ranking [in absolute, not per capita, terms]: It looks like Minneapolis is punching a bit below its weight, though that might be accounted for by the […]
Here’s a chart from the initial results of the downtown Saint Paul parking study, which was released to the public this week. It’s the total amount of parking in downtown Saint Paul, on- and off-street spaces. Short version: there is a lot of parking in downtown Saint Paul. Most of it is in ramps and […]
I challenge you, the next time you are strolling Main Street, Anywhere, to look for art. Not just the obvious, as in art created as art. But art that weaves itself into the streetscape, into the fabric that defines a downtown. Notice the colors, the textures, the fonts, the shapes—all those details that we often […]
Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I got the chance to attend the 20th Great River Gathering (GRG) about ten days ago. The GRG is Saint Paul’s annual civic booster dinner and mingle-fest, put on by the Riverfront Corporation. (Fun fact: the GRG used to be called the Millard Fillmore dinner, which is a […]