Featured Stories

Chris Coleman's Saint Paul: A City with a Scene

Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Saint Paul's music-loving mayor wants a city with a scene--a dynamic downtown with the special energy that only art and music provide. Last Thursday he shared some successes, some hopes, and some rock-concert memories with The Line.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development

Downtown/Lowertown

John Spayde speaking with Dane Smith and Maureen Ramirez

The Big Picture: Dane Smith and Maureen Ramirez on justice, jobs, and education

Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The president and the research/policy director of the local think tank Growth and Justice are "business-oriented progressives." In the face of dogma to the contrary, they dare to assert that there's an unbreakable link between economic fairness and economic growth. And they're bringing that spirit to the most compelling economic issue of all: jobs.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, diversity, Higher Education, Philanthropy, Strong Local Economy, Talent Dividend

Saint Anthony Park

Minnesota Fringe 2012: A Slide Show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Our yearly onstage carnival of the odd, the eloquent, the poignant, and the perverse is over for 2012. Bill Kelley was in the audience at the Rarig Center and Intermedia Arts to record six of the 163 shows that took the Fringe stages between August 2 and 12. From a raucous burlesque version of a classic TV sketch to Chinese dance to a surreal Dust Bowl fable, here are images of performance at its edgiest.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Nightlife

University, Calhoun - Isles

Wokie Weah (center) with YouthPrise interns Tyler Hamblin and Erica Deanes

After-School Specials: Innovative Programs Engage Kids Before They Go Home

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, August 08, 2012

With a new school year approaching, we take a look at three unique programs that show how Minnesota has become a "thought leader" in developing--and funding--positive alternatives for youth.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, diversity, Green Jobs, Philanthropy, Talent Dividend

University, North Side, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown

A Buffered (but not protected) bike lane on First Avenue in Minneapolis

The Green Lane Project: Making Cities Safer for Bikes

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, August 08, 2012

It's a different "greening" of the urban landscape: highly visible bike lanes, often protected from other traffic. Is it the next step in making America a leader in 21st-century transportation?

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Sustainability

Nate Eklund asks: Where are the great-workplace rankings for our schools?

Nate Eklund Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Minneapolis-based educational consultant Nate Eklund sheds some fresh light on our public-education challenges by suggesting that if we make schools great places to work, they stand a better chance of becoming great places to learn.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership

Joel Coen directs Richard Kind in A Serious Man

Wanted: More Minnesota-Made Movies

Michelle Bruch Wednesday, July 25, 2012

How are Minnesota and the Twin Cities doing as film production centers and locations? There have been some major disappointments recently, but new moves give us reason to hope we can lure Hollywood back.

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

Rondo Days Grand Parade and Festival: A Slide Show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It's Saint Paul's--and Minnesota's--biggest celebration of African American life, commemorating the Rondo neighborhood, which was largely bulldozed away to make room for Interstate 94 in the 1960s. This year, lensman Bill Kelley followed all the festivities.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, diversity, Entrepreneurship

Summit - University

The Broadband Challenge

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, July 18, 2012

What can the Twin Cities learn from other communities' success with municipal broadband? For one thing, that "bright cable" has a bright future. For another, that every city's situation is different.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Emerging Technology, High Technology, Regionalism, Strong Local Economy

A virtual tour of the new Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The massive renovation of the Minnesota Orchestra's home is far from over, but that doesn't mean we can't tour the completed Orchestra Hall digitally.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Design

Downtown

A Dream called Three Ring Gardens

Susan Klemond Wednesday, July 11, 2012

On some long-vacant land behind their Central Corridor high school, a group of students and their supporters envision a multi-use greenspace that would be a focal point for the neighborhood--and could be unique in the nation.

Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Reuse / Rebuild

Summit - University

Issue Media Update: The City as a Startup

Tracy Certo Wednesday, July 11, 2012

"The ingredients for a successful startup and a successful city are remarkably similar," wrote Jon Bischke, a guest blogger on TechCrunch. A group of urban leaders recently met in Cincinnati to explore the implications of that statement--and came up with a cluster of surprising ideas for urban vitality.

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

A Line or Two: 48-Hour Films at the Crooked Pint

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 11, 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: Watch the local entries in the 48-Hour Film Project--and quaff a microbrew or two.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife

Riverfront/Mill District

Farmers' Market confidential

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The debut of a new market in Minneapolis' Linden Hills neighborhood underlines the exciting upsides--and a few lesser-known downsides--of the farmers' market boom.

Coordination/Collaboration, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Southwest

A Line or Two: Irrigate!

Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 20, 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: Get to know Irrigate, our public-spirited and art-fueled Central Corridor placemaking project.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Design, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Midway, Saint Anthony Park, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Summit - University