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Strong Local Economy : Featured Stories

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Chris Ferguson

Owners, chamber join forces to keep Corridor businesses healthy

Michelle Bruch Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Nobody expected Central Corridor light-rail construction to be easy on the small businesses along the route. But now that the challenges of access and parking are hitting, business owners, the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations are working to keep the Corridor as customer-friendly as possible.
2375 University, at Raymond

The South Saint Anthony Park Creative Enterprise Zone

Dan Heilman Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Where Raymond Avenue meets University, artists and innovators have been living and working for decades, lured by cheap rents and a friendly, funky vibe. What will happen to them as light rail comes through, bringing construction disruption now--and an unpredictable development pattern later? The newly formed South Saint Anthony Park Creative Enterprise Zone aims to keep the neighborhood weird--and welcoming.
LOHAS Green Globe

Editor's Pick: The Minneapolis LOHAS Forum

Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 11, 2011
LOHAS means "Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability"--people concerned with health, the environment, social justice, and personal growth who buy $290 billion worth of goods and services in support of these ideals. The first regional LOHAS conference kicks off tomorrow at the U of M, for merchants, marketers, and others who want to reach these consumers.
The Pedal Pub on the Move

The bar-meets-bike business called pedalpub is on a roll

Lori Storm Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Al Boyce and Eric Olson's fleet of human-powered saloons are wheeling their way through the Twin Cities again as the weather warms up. And their business is hot too, with booming local bookings and a Chicago branch launched.
Faheem Uddin Khan of Little India

The immigrant soul of Central Avenue: A slide show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The stretch of Minneapolis' Central Avenue Northeast that runs from around 18th Avenue to a little past Lowry is a colorful collage of immigrant businesses: Hispanic, Arab, Afghan, Indian, Southeast Asian. Bill Kelley's images capture a neighborhood that feels both faraway and very close to home.
David Frank

For David Frank, Minneapolis' new transit-development director, the goal is to give people choices

Jeremy Stratton Wednesday, March 16, 2011
"We need to grow, meaning more people have to live here to support all the good things we all want," says David Frank, Minneapolis' first-ever Director of Transit Development, in a conversation with The Line's Jeremy Stratton. For Frank, who came here from Minneapolis' friendly rival Portland, that means giving people more choices, and that means making wise plans around the places where we've already committed resources, like our light-rail lines. The biggest challenge? Finding the money.
Banners Iidentifying the cultural corridor

American Indian Cultural Corridor: New art, new enterprise on Franklin Avenue

Dan Heilman Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Franklin Avenue east of Hiawatha in Minneapolis used to be best known for bars and blight. Today, though, the area is blooming with Native enterprise as an American Indian Cultural Corridor takes shape. Culture and art are major drivers of the neighborhood's renaissance--an art gallery is one of the anchors, and there are new tribal and company offices and apartments too--and plans call for a brand-new mixed-use building and a Native-owned hotel. The biggest change, though, is a new sense of cohesion and pride at street level.
Jay & John @ Jack's

The Commons: Minneapolis author Jay Walljasper on seeking the common good beyond left and right

Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The commons is a concept that you may be hearing a lot more about in the coming months and years. According to urbanist and journalist Jay Walljasper, who's just published a new book on the subject, the commons is everything we share--from public parks to ideas, urban gathering spaces to the internet, jokes and games to the oceans. And "commons-based solutions" to our political and social problems look past the I-me-mine of the privatized perspective toward the common good, in everything from small neighborhood improvements to social policy. Walljasper sees commons-based thinking as a way past many of our current left-right dilemmas--and he thinks the Twin Cities have a head start in that direction.
Figure Skater Downtown St. Paul

A new poll showcases the things we love about our towns--but can we keep them?

Holly Dolezalek Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A survey by the Knight Foundation and Gallup found that cities do better economically when the people in them want to stay in them.It also found that Twin Citians are held here by many things, including our arts and cultural amenities, our parks and recreational advantages, and our improving transit picture. With a new year has come a new political climate, and fiscal challenges continue at all levels of government. What does this mean for our likelihood of holding on to the things that keep people loving the Cities? Holly Dolezalek asked some experts.
animal train

Making the Holidazzle parade happen--the people behind downtown's lit-up holiday tradition

Susan Klemond Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Captain Hook is all lit up and the Joe Maurer snowman is spinning. The Holidazzle parade is nearly two decades old--a holiday tradition born of the urge to get people to experience downtown Minneapolis during the holiday season. It's impossible to miss the bright lights and music--but the people who make the parade happen aren't always as visible. From the folks who fit the fanciful costumes to the people who keep the floats on pace to the light-bedecked performers themselves, a bevy of workers and volunteers labor to make the magic seem effortless.
The shops @ Selby and Snelling

On a once-stodgy Saint Paul corner, boutiques blossom

Dan Heilman Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Time was when the northwest corner of Snelling and Selby was a meat-and-potatoes kind of locale: A sporting-goods store was there, and a shoe shop and a day-labor place. Then along came developer Ed Conley, who remade two buildings on the corner. The result: one of the city's plus chic shopping destinations, home to a designer handbag shop, hip vintage wear, lingerie, couture, and more. It's a peaceful, colorful touch of European-style savoir-vivre at one of the capital city's busiest intersections.
Josh Klauck of the Angry Catfish

In bike-culture cafes, java meets pedal power--and art

Molly Priesmeyer Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Twin Cities' newest bike cafe, Angry Catfish Bicycles and Coffee, joins two predecessors, One on One Bicycle Studio and Cars R Coffins Coffee Bar/Cykel Garage in catering to the caffeination needs, and gear lust, of serious bike riders. These coffee house/bike shop/art gallery hybrids are celebrations of two-wheel culture in a town that's getting prouder and prouder of it.
Conny's Cone

Down Dale: Images of a city street

Bill Kelley Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Our photographer, Bill Kelley, took a leisurely trip from Maryland Avenue to Selby Avenue on Dale Street, making images of the many faces of this great old Saint Paul street: the well-loved neighborhood institution called Conny's Creamy Cone, a place to get Cambodian DVDs, the ambitious new Frogtown Square development, Big Daddy's Barbecue--and a gigantic sunflower too. Join him on one of the city's most diverse and soulful thoroughfares.
Groupo Rival at El Nuevo Laredo

El Nuevo Rodeo: The restaurant/dance club with something for everybody in the Latino community

Alyssa Ford Wednesday, October 20, 2010
El Nuevo Rodeo is a a large, cheerful Mexican restaurant on Lake Street. It's also a gigantic, pretty sensational dance club upstairs, drawing huge crowds to hear the biggest names in Latin music, from Mexican banda and norte�o groups to pop and salsa superstars. For co-founder and owner Maya Santamaria, a music promoter who used to be an anthropologist, it's also a cultural and community center for the whole local Latino population--straight and gay--and a symbol of Latino entrepreneurship and enterprise in the Cities.
John Foley of Level

John Foley's 4Front festival: turning our towns into world centers of creativity

Chris Steller Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Like it or not, the Twin Cities are competing with major metropolises around the world--we're talking Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, and the like--to attract creative, innovative, entrepreneurial people who can live anywhere. That's the message of adman John Foley, whose brand-new nonprofit, 4Front, aims to raise awareness of this high-stakes situation by creating a yearly festival that's part competition, part showcase of Twin Cities innovation. The goal: to lure the best and brightest worldwide to our towns.
191 Articles | Page: | Show All
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