A half-century after the big bike boom: a retrospective
Despite some troubling data around safety and vehicle trends, good things happening are on the ground and with new technology.
Cityscape
Cityscape focuses on urban life in our metro area. Topics range from urban design and architecture to transportation, highways, traffic, transit, walking and biking. Cityscape also examines important urban issues — such as real estate development, education, crime, poverty and family life — as well as the arts, sports and entertainment in our community.
Despite the legal chum, increasing density in Minneapolis remains very good for the environment
The cynical Minneapolis 2040 lawsuit, filed following the 12-1 passage of Minneapolis’ most recent comprehensive plan, fits with a national trend of anti-urban activists abusing what ought to be useful environmental laws.
First grantee of St. Paul’s Inheritance Fund gets down payment, and a small measure of justice
The program mitigates one of the city’s most notorious decisions: the routing of the central I-94 freeway through the then-thriving Rondo neighborhood, home to the vast majority of St. Paul’s African Americans.
Changes to the charming and challenged Como Pavilion should involve a closer connection to the lake
Figuring out how to make the Como Park Pavilion into a more successful public space has long been a priority of St. Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen.
As cities like St. Paul consider bans on public marijuana smoking, all smoke should be regulated equally
A St. Paul proposal would ban smoking of any kind in any city park, covering everything from cigars on the golf course to vapes at the skate park.
Changes to Open Streets show need for ongoing funding, as well as a shift in priorities for transportation advocates
This week’s brouhaha over the end of the arrangement between Our Streets Minneapolis and the city’s Public Works department brings a long-standing funding problem to a head.
Downtowns, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, turning to TIF to reverse fortunes post-COVID
As companies empty out office buildings, cities might have to throw around more money to make downtowns more adaptable.
Lesser-known Districts of Minneapolis, or, where to find clusters of karaoke, ramen and closed Canada-themed bars
Now that I’ve sketched out a “patio district” on St. Paul’s Selby Avenue, let’s dive a little deeper into exploring parts of town that, for one reason or another, have accumulated more than their fair share of a certain type of shop.
No, rethinking I-94 is not ‘too ambitious’
Historical scrutiny about the effects of urban freeways on communities, combined with the urgent need for climate action, makes the question of “too much ambition” posed in a recent Star Tribune editorial sound silly.
Minneapolis Park Patrol enforces antiquated parkway cyclist rule: ‘Get in single file!’
If any Minneapolis streets should allow cyclists to “take the lane” and calm traffic, 20-mph recreational parkways running through the nation’s leading park system are the place.
With a climate crisis and a housing crisis, why is Minneapolis regulating building material aesthetics?
While it’s true that some types of texture and massing look “cheaper” than others, there are legitimate questions about whether or not newer building materials are more climate friendly and affordable than other materials.
St. Paul’s ambitious new bike plan has a few holes to fill
One open question, raised by long-time bike advocates, centers on the tradeoff between expensive, high-quality bike infrastructure that takes a long time to build, and more compromised, cheaper projects that might happen more quickly.
Keeping the Stone Arch Bridge open should be mandatory for downtown Minneapolis, and other bridge observations
Why close a car-free bridge when the crimes in question involve cars? Also, let’s celebrate St. Paul’s High Bridge while calling out that the Hennepin Avenue bridge is the Chrysler PT Cruiser of bridges.
Is the Twin Cities urban heat island to blame for this summer’s lack of rain?
Or, why is it dry in my garden?
In praise of walk-up windows, an emerging trend in the Twin Cities
If done right, the walk-up window experience can be mildly revolutionary, forging light public connections that we desperately need.
Seven transportation policy changes of the 2023 Minnesota legislative session you might have missed
The big-ticket items justifiably got a lot of attention, but with all the action happening before the late-May session deadline, it was easy to overlook some smaller changes tucked into the 268-page transportation omnibus bill.
Remove buses from Nicollet Mall. Downtown Minneapolis depends on it.
It might be time to rethink a decision that was made 55 years ago and take buses off of the city’s odd “transit mall.”
The future of St. Paul’s riverfront begins with Shepard Road
Downtown St. Paul is not famed for its riverfront. For 70 years, the banks of the river have been dominated by railroad tracks and a wide concrete highway. The only walking path is a narrow trench that feels uncomfortably close to fast traffic, if you can even access it.
With opposing sides dug in, rent stabilization seemingly headed to an impasse in Minneapolis
This week, the City Council moved forward with a strict rent control policy. But with an election looming in the fall, and no sign of flexibility from Mayor Jacob Frey, there’s little chance for passage.
South St. Paul schoolkids petition to save a marker of their city’s meatpacking history
Nobody argues that the brick gates are inherently valuable, but it’s easy to see how their symbolic importance carries weight. That’s exactly what schoolteacher Mark Westphal has been saying for a year, teaching 12-year-olds about their city’s history by examining a pair of otherwise-mundane towers.
