It was a moment that forever shaped the way I think about street reconstructions. A mom speaking at a public meeting, holding her child, asking the city’s public works department for a street with sidewalk space to push a stroller. Even more than that, she wanted a street designed with aspiration for the future – […]
A glance at the map shows larger spaces between the streets in the northern part of Lowry Hill than in the grid-like southern portion I previously walked. This difference relates to the topography but also to the land uses: large institutions and mansions fit large spaces. I began at the intersection of Lyndale and Groveland Avenues […]
The Lowry Hill neighborhood is named for the “devil’s backbone” ridge that runs through it, approximately on the dividing line between my two walks. Thomas Lowry and his 19th-century peers lived on the north side of the hill, whereas this first walk concentrated on the more grid-like area to the south, largely developed in the […]
What is an apartment building? It can be a place to hang your hat. It can also be a community. The general perception is that apartments are temporary places to live; training wheels for home-ownership. But for many it’s not training wheels: it’s a home. Apartments are often the first step in independence for young […]
Screaming to the end of July this week and getting closer to the start of early voting in local elections on September 22. To help advance election conversations, we have another addition to the streets.mn Voter Guide – Saint Paul Mayoral Candidate Melvin Carter -The streets.mn Voter Guide questionnaire for Saint Paul mayoral candidates was developed in […]
At the Lowry Hill Ice Cream Social a couple weeks ago, my neighbors asked me what I think about the Peris development proposal by The John and Denise Graves Foundation for affordable youth housing. It’s tucked on an awkward, oddly shaped parcel between Colfax and Hennepin Avenue, right where the freeway exit dumps drivers out […]
I gave this presentation to the Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association (LHNA) Annual Meeting in May 2014. Several people requested that it be made available to the general public, so I have created this brief overview for Streets.MN in anticipation of a Hennepin-Lyndale Reconstruction Project Open House Monday August 4th, 2014 at 6:30 PM at the Walker Art Center. Special […]