Featured Stories

The Real-World Impacts of Creative Placemaking in MSP

Sheila Regan Wednesday, September 10, 2014

NEA, ArtPlace and others have poured millions of dollars toward creative placemaking projects in the Twin Cities in recent years. What are the street-level results of those investments?

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Transportation

University, Lake Street, North Side, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Seward, Longfellow, Powderhorn

Urban Organics produce at the Lund's Penfield, courtesy Urban Organics

Urban Farm to Urban Table: Growing and Sourcing Hyper-Local Food in the Twin Cities

Brian Martucci Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The Twin Cities is emerging as a hotbed of innovative agricultural activity. An ambitious group of producers and retailers aims to redefine what it means to be local, and give retaurants and consumers more control over what they eat and drink.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Shopping, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Riverfront/Mill District, Midway, Downtown, Lake Street, Southwest, Seward, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Northeast

10 Local Apps for Mobilizing Summer in the Cities

Dan Heilman Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Summer in Minneapolis-St. Paul is all about getting out and about. Here are 10 homegrown apps to help you make the most of your summer in the cities.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Transportation

Riverfront/Mill District, Central Avenue, Downtown, Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake, West Seventh, Longfellow, Downtown/Lowertown, Warehouse/North Loop, Northeast

Food trucks line Mears Park in St. Paul, courtesy Visit St. Paul

Moveable Feasts: MSP's Food Truck Boom Inspires Appetites, Community, Culinary Startups

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, June 04, 2014

What turns a pint at the local microbrewery into a feast? Transforms ho-hum lunch hours into culinary adventures? Generates curbside communities? Tests an entrepreneur's appetite for a new business? Twin Cities food trucks!

Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Shopping

Central Avenue, Downtown, Saint Anthony Park, Lake Street, Southwest, Downtown/Lowertown, Warehouse/North Loop

Revelers do the brew at Dangerous Man, courtesy Dangerous Man Brewing

Twin Cities Brew Boom Taps Into Placemaking, Entrepreneurship, Neighborhood Synergies

Brian Martucci Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Since the passage of the Surly Bill 2012, craft-beer entrepreneurs have rapidly opened breweries with taprooms in neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul. All are doing their part to turn neighborhoods into top-of-mind destinations.

Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development

Central Avenue, Midway, Saint Anthony Park, Lake Street, Southwest, Downtown/Lowertown, Warehouse/North Loop, Northeast

Marking alleys, courtesy Andy Sturdevant

Alley Activation: Pathways to Urban Revitalization

Eric Peterson Wednesday, April 23, 2014

From Seattle to Washington D.C., alleys are being reinvented as people-friendly spaces. Often perceived as dirty and dangerous, alleys are moving beyond garbage and garages to become havens for pedestrians, public art and small business.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration

Central Avenue, Phillips, University, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Lake Street, Southwest, North Side, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Seward, Nokomis, Longfellow, Calhoun - Isles, Powderhorn

Heidi Skoog, maker of Serious Jam, Courtesy Kern Nickerson

Cooking Up Entrepreneurship in Twin Cities Incubator Kitchens

Anne Jin Soo Preston Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Incubator or community kitchens have been gaining momentum in the Twin Cities, bringing together food entrepreneurs, ingredients, and innovation.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Shopping, Strong Local Economy

Como Park, Phillips, Midway, Lake Street, North Side, Seward, Powderhorn

Ten Thousand Things in "The Music Man," photo by Paula Keller

Ten Thousand Things: Connecting with Communities Through Imaginative Theater

Carl Atiya Swanson Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Minneapolis theater company Ten Thousand Things builds connections both radical and backed by tradition by telling stories for intimate and often non-traditional audiences, with the lights up and minimal staging, using the power of communal imagination.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Talent Dividend

University, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Lake Street, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Powderhorn

Freewheel's Winter Expo--Courtesy Freewheel

Getting in Gear: Local Innovations--From Knobbies to Pogies to Rims--for Winter Biking

Brian Martucci Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The burgeoning winter-biking scene wouldn’t be possible without the bike designers, entrepreneurs, co-ops, fests, expos, zines, and coffee shops that give the community its innovative edge and vitality.

Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability, Transportation

Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake

Preserve and Protect: How Minneapolis' Somali Immigrants Are Keeping Their Artistic Traditions Alive

Alexandra N. Katz Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Arts and Culture, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Shopping

Lake Street

Coworking for Fashionistas: Two designers open "Showroom"

Anna Pratt Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Jen Chilstrom and Kimberly Jurek have just opened (May 1) a new kind of fashion boutique. The Showroom is a combination retail shop/workshop/coworking space where local designers can come, work, exhibit, share ideas, and grow creatively.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Strong Local Economy

Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Longfellow

Coffee with your Tattoos? Tattoos with Your Coffee? A Slide Show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Shops that pair high-end coffee with edgy, adrenaline-boosting activities are becoming a Twin Cities hallmark. We've got coffee and motorcycles (Bob's Java Hut), coffee and serious biking (Angry Catfish), and now coffee and that artistic test of pain-endurance called getting serious tattoos.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy

Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake

A Line or Two: Of Cold Ramen and Rice Balls

Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 08, 2012

In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a lunchtime celebration of local Japanese food.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Strong Local Economy

Riverfront/Mill District, University, Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Downtown/Lowertown, Summit Hill and Crocus Hill, Warehouse/North Loop

VideoLine: A Slightly Frantic Google Street View Tour of Minneapolis

eluko79 Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Capturing hundreds of sequential Street View images from Google Maps using ScreenHunter software, then stitching them together and time-lapsing them in Windows Movie Maker, the peripatetic highway videographer who goes by the YouTube handle eluko79 has created a real-but-virtual photographic journey into the heart of the city.

Riverfront/Mill District, Downtown, Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Calhoun - Isles

Bruce Corrie Talks with Jon Spayde - Bill Kelley

The Big Picture 9: Bruce Corrie on the power of "ethnic capital"

Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Often, says Concordia University economist and biz-school dean Bruce Corrie, our minority and immigrant communities are seen solely through the "problem" lens. Their struggles are real, but their contributions to our prosperity and potential for growth are greater than most majority Minnesotans realize. And Corrie's got the figures to prove it.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education, Strong Local Economy, Talent Dividend