Featured Stories

Dayton's Bluff and Swede Hollow in the 19th Century

A Line or Two: Hikes and History

Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 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: A web site that makes hiking through our towns an exercise in historical imagination.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Regionalism

Dayton's Bluff, Downtown, West Seventh

A Line or Two: Artful Science, and Vice-Versa

Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 04, 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:The Science Museum of Minnesota kicks off its 2012 Beaker and Brush discussion series--a chance to explore the still-mysterious zone where science and art intersect.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy

Downtown/Lowertown

A Conversation with Katie Eggers: Chronicling the New Twin Cities with a Global Eye

Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 28, 2012

German-born Katharina (Katie) Eggers has studied politics in Paris, taught in Thailand, and worked as a UN-EU liaison in Brussels. Now this young, internationally connected overachiever is preparing to launch a print magazine that will highlight the Twin Cities' connections to the nation and the world. And she has some pointed things to say about what it's like to be a newcomer in our towns.

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

A Line or Two: Tell Us About Your Microneighborhood

Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 28, 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: Do you live in, or know about, a great microneighborhood in Minneapolis or Saint Paul? A block, an alley, a corner where people come together regularly to have fun and share their lives? Tell us about it.

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

Southwest

Hennepin's History and Hennepin's Future

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Native American trail, gaudy entertainment district, forge of gay consciousness, showcase of the arts: Minneapolis' Hennepin Avenue has been all of these and more. Recently, historians, urbanists, and the public gathered to explore the avenue's colorful history as part of the city's initiative to shape its future.

Affordable Housing, Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Nightlife, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Downtown

A Line or Two: Spanish Steps

Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 14, 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 visit from an old friend, a lunch on Mears Park, and a film about an ancient pilgrim route produce a Spanish-accented take on Twin Cities cosmopolitanism.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy

Summit Hill and Crocus Hill

Klecko and Vanessa Hyenne of the St. Paul Bread Club

A Line or Two: The Poets, Saint Agnes, and the Bread Club

Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 07, 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, I note the unusual Facebook alert I received the other day: In Saint Paul on Saturday, March 10, there's going to be a poetry reading in a wholesale bakery.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy

Downtown/Lowertown

Got Ideas? The Minnesota Idea Open Wants Them

Holly Dolezalek Wednesday, March 07, 2012

This concept-contest, with a deadline later this month, not only rewards great ideas for a better Minnesota--it helps make them happen. This year's theme: connecting across cultures and faiths as the state becomes less white, less Lutheran, less Lake Wobegon.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy

Thinking big--and delicious--at 38th and Chicago

Anna Pratt Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A far-seeing developer and an innovative culinary artist are turning a hard-luck Minneapolis intersection around with present and future projects that are "artisan, local, sustainable."

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

Powderhorn

A Line or Two: Carlyle Brown's Double Premiere

Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 29, 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: Carlyle Brown's American Family opens at Saint Paul's Park Square Theatre in mid-March. It's the nationally acclaimed, locally based playwright's first attempt to explore the black experience through a white central character. And it will also mark Brown's first appearance onstage at Park Square.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, diversity

Downtown/Lowertown

Gordon Bellaver, co-owner of Bull Run Roasting Co

Serious Java: The Twin Cities' new generation of artisan coffee shops

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A handful of local coffee shops are redefining the coffee experience as an art form. From sourcing to roasting, grinding to "latte art," their watchword is quality. If you're looking for quick joe to grab and go, you may need to adjust your expectations upward.

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

Phillips, Union Park, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Longfellow, Highland Park, Calhoun - Isles, Powderhorn

A Line or Two: A Hypercreative Omaha Idea for Minneapolis/St. Paul

Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 22, 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 look at an innovative art-and-ideas center in Omaha that we just might want to emulate.

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

"Our house is catching up with us"--a creative family's ever-evolving Saint Paul home

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, February 08, 2012

He's an architect in a hot firm who also builds model rockets and raises African desert tortoises. She's a psychologist. artist, and author. Their Merriam Park house is as vibrant and unconventional as they are. But getting it built required convincing the neighborhood that they weren't "the enemy."

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design

Union Park

A Line or Two: Five from my top-ten list

Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 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: the first five of my Top Ten Reasons to Visit (and Love) the Twin Cities. It's a list of offbeat but worthy places and happenings that you might miss if you only visit our big-ticket attractions.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Shopping

Phillips, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Warehouse/North Loop

Revisiting the Central Corridor's Funky Treasures: A SLide Show

Bill Kelley, Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 01, 2012

In one magical zone in the Twin Cities, there's a loon made of junk, a chimney covered in shattered glass and ceramic shards, and a place to buy tarantulas. It's called the Central Corridor. Here's a second look at what photographer Bill Kelley and managing editor Jon Spayde picked out last year as they traveled down University Avenue and Washington Avenue, seeking out their favorite offbeat, oddball, one-of-a-kind things.

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

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