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. […]
I had the wonderful opportunity to give a summary of the changes to the comp plan to a gathering of Neighbors for More Neighbors recently. Here’s what I said: The second draft of the comp plan is out. A “wide spectrum” of comments were received, and our comments were heard. I’d like to give a […]
This is the second in a series of posts addressing the arguments against Minneapolis’s Draft Comprehensive Plan; the first is here. It Doesn’t Achieve “Affordability” I’m not an economist, or an affordable housing expert. So I want to start with a link to this post by Atrios, who is (or, at least, has been) an […]
The draft of Saint Paul’s comprehensive plan has been released. It is not as exciting as Minneapolis, or as ambitious as Red Wing’s. Deep within lies the above slide, noting ‘significant public views’. I had doubts so I went and looked myself. Cap Wigington’s iconic water tower is there, but to get an […]
Artists in disguise inhabiting an abandoned factory in the creative enterprise zone An old factory on the Minneapolis St. Paul border has forgone its 20th century widgets for much different wares. Today coffee roasts, beer brews, drills grind, and golf clubs putt. The building’s new tenants embody the potential of creative enterprise and inspire the […]
By the next Sunday Summary, the annual picnic will be over and I can summarize what you missed. Wouldn’t it be more fun to join us at The streets.mn Summer Picnic is July 15! (and the short, informal meeting with the board beforehand) than just read about it later? A short holiday week means a smaller haul of […]
This question is implied or encroached upon in nearly every modern planning conversation, but is not as often discussed directly. I think we should acknowledge it and talk about it openly. I will discuss this question in the context of the model city planners refer to as “bottom-up” city planning, give an example and then briefly […]
During the recession, the City of Anoka bought up properties, prepared the land, and quietly waited for the market to come back. Fast forward to 2017, and Anoka is booming. The City has many features that make it a development destination. Residents are served by the Northstar Commuter rail line and Highway 10 provides east […]
Depending on how many urbanists make up your social media circles, you might have seen a bit of shade being thrown towards a recent article written for Ohio Business Magazine, Creating Healthy Cities. The website hosting the article offers a comments section, but it appears to be a black hole through which no dissent survives. Luckily, […]
The recent hubbub around operations on a decade old runway at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport (MSP), operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), have unearthed a few interesting nuggets. I’m not really an airport or airplane operations buff. I mostly just appreciate that we have a fairly nice airport that I use relatively infrequently (though […]