Now more than ever, it’s great to see the Crystal Court open again
To those starved for urbanism, the voices echoing through the massive atrium sound like music.
Bill Lindeke
Bill Lindeke is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Geography, Environment and Society. He is the author of multiple books on Twin Cities culture and history, most recently St. Paul: an Urban Biography. Follow Bill on Twitter: @BillLindeke.
On St. Paul’s Minnehaha Avenue, the best time to plant a tree is three years earlier
Almost 100 ash trees were cut down along the street this spring, part of the city’s triage triggered by the emerald ash borer. A neighborhood group is fundraising to speed up the trees’ replacement.
Metro Transit’s ‘Better Bus’ changes add up to a big improvement
So far, the Better Bus team has taken three core city routes and eliminated dozens of stops from each, boosting reliability and speed.
Parking lots to patios: the best pandemic trend
Personally, I think more and longer-season patios are a great idea for Minnesotans (who love to humblebrag about surviving winter). I hope the parking-to-patio tradeoff becomes a permanent fixture of our city.
Wildflower plaza helps integrate Minneapolis Convention Center with its surroundings
Today, walking out the Convention Center doors, you’ll find rows of butterfly milkweed, pale purple coneflower, anise hyssop, Eastern bee balm, California poppy, and wild lupine.
The Hamline-Midway library needs to change — but should it be demolished?
Over the last year, competing groups of library advocates have waged a low-key fight over the future of the small brick building.
Widening homeownership gap in Twin Cities is focus of new report
Despite the overall wealth of the metro area, there’s no starker sign of its segregation of opportunity than the wide gulf between Black and white homeownership rates, the largest in the nation.
Pedestrians beware: Vehicle-design trends mean greater danger
The higher design of SUVs and trucks, in particular, poses a massive problem for pedestrian safety.
Protecting newborns: Regions Hospital is training parents in correct car-seat use
To be honest, the first time you fit a squirming newborn’s arm through the strap of a Graco Snugride Snug-lock 35 is a little nerve-wracking.
Sign of a ‘real city’: In praise of the corner store
Hands down, St. Paul’s best corner store is Tim and Tom’s Speedy Market in St. Anthony Park, the only Twin Cities corner shop that competes with a great New York deli.
A worrisome housing trend: non-local investment firms buying Minnesota properties
It’s an increasing trend pitting financial firms against people’s homes in cities across the country. If left unchecked, institutionalized housing threatens to become a modern-day feudalism.
First steps: Both Minneapolis and St. Paul consider parking reforms
For too long, parking has been the tail that wags the dog when it comes to urban design.
Free idea: St. Paul should use some of its relief money for city broadband
There are a lot of options for how to leverage the funding, and it could do wonders for digital equity in St. Paul’s poorest communities.
Three takeaways from St. Paul’s most recent — and very long — housing spat
Let’s look at the big picture of what the Lexington Parkway development mess tells us about St. Paul’s housing problem.
Diverging visions: What’s next for St. Paul’s Grand Avenue?
A developer wants to transform the former Pier 1 Imports store into a chain restaurant and national bank branch. Nearby, the long-time owner of Dixie’s Restaurant wants to build a mixed-use project with 79 apartments atop commercial space on an acre lot.
Mickey’s and Al’s: What’s happening with the Twin Cities’ two most iconic diners?
While you’re perched on a stool, the intimate atmosphere at Mickey’s Diner and Al’s Breakfast adds flavor to your meal that transcends any spice rack. But you can be sure that tiny diners will be the last businesses to open back up after a pandemic.
Groundbreaking low-carbon geothermal project might emerge in Prospect Park
Dubbed the Towerside district, the triangle of land along the BNSF rail yard between the Surly Brewery, the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis’ Prospect Park neighborhood might soon be one of the most energy efficient communities in the state.
How might COVID-19 affect regional ‘park and ride’ policy?
As jobs become flexible, many longstanding assumptions about how to plan for urban transportation could be in trouble.
Ford vs. Hillcrest: Two big St. Paul projects illustrate east-west inequality
Two large parcels of land opened up for redevelopment around the same time, on opposite corners of the city. Their different fates tell us a lot about the economic imbalance across St. Paul.
Minneapolis should keep Public Works in the spotlight
A look at the Robin Hutcheson era as she moves on to a job in the Biden administration.
