Janelle Nivens is touring each of the 81 Minneapolis neighborhoods, photographing and blogging the sights along the way.
The inspiration for her mission came on a cold March morning. "I parked a mile away from my brunch destination,
Maria's Caf�,
and walked along Franklin Avenue, marveling at all I would have missed
if I hadn't gotten out of my car and walked around," she states on her
blog.
For example, when she happened by
Ventura Village,
which was unfamiliar to her, a quick Internet search turned up many
more neighborhoods that she'd never heard of. As an enthusiastic urban
hiker, "I decided that visiting each was a good goal," she says.
At first she relied on friends to show her around. But soon other informal tour guides, who caught wind of her blog,
Minneapolis81.com, via Twitter, Facebook, and other word-of-mouth means, volunteered to help out. Her calendar filled up fast.
In
her tours so far, she's come across everything from a tree that's
strewn with toys in Linden Hills to a shoe-filled chimney in Fulton. A
McKinley-area park on the North Side impressed her, as did neighborhood's CSA
Garden. However, she was struck by the area's lack of
access to restaurants and grocery stores, which creates what she describes as a "food
desert."
Occasionally she spots construction projects that she
wonders about, or historical buildings, for which she tries to get the
backstory. "Fact-finding is a fun part of it," she says.
She's
also become acquainted with numerous local artists, small business
owners, and many others who help make the neighborhoods thrive, she says.
Ultimately, through her blog, she hopes to introduce people to
new neighborhoods. "I'd like to show how much it's opened my eyes to
what they have to offer," she says, adding that it's also a good way to
sharpen her photography skills.
Above all though, the project makes it so that "every night and weekend it's like a vacation in my own city," she says.
Source: Janelle Nivens, photographer, Minneapolis81.com
Writer: Anna Pratt