Featured Stories

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

Videoline: The Muslim Experience in Minnesota

Islamic Resource Group of Minnesota Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Muslim Minnesotans range from immigrants to American-born men and women with Mideastern, African, or Asian ancestry to converts with a "Lake Wobegon" background. This film, produced by the Islamic Resource Group of Minnesota, puts very human and very recognizable faces on Minnesota's diverse and growing Muslim community.

Arts and Culture, diversity, Regionalism

Verdict: The "Buy Local" Campaign Helped Central Corridor Businesses Stay Healthy

Dan Heilman Wednesday, February 01, 2012

An aggressive, and unconventional, marketing campaign to keep people coming to Central Corridor businesses during light rail construction in 2011 appears to have paid off in less business decline than expected--and a mood of cautious optimism about the future.

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

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

2011: The year of "coopetition"

Jon Spayde Wednesday, December 21, 2011

"Coopetition"--cooperation among competitors or potential competitors--was a force to be reckoned with in the Twin Cities during 2011. Our politics may be gridlocked in partisanship, but the smartest entrepreneurs and civic officials locally are embracing a wider vision than the zero-sum game.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy, Regionalism

RangerOnCall: a high-tech tour of the mighty Mississippi

Anna Pratt Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Did you know that there's a National Park right in the middle of the Twin Cities metro? It's long and narrow, and it's called the Mississippi River. The National Park Service and its local ally, the Mississippi River Fund, want you to know more about our stretch of the river. Get your cell phones, tablets, and laptops out.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technology, Energy, Regionalism, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

The Big Picture 7: "The Achievement Gap is an Equity Gap"

Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A conversation with Julia Freeman and Hillary Rodgers of the Organizing Apprenticeship Program. Through its Education Equity Organizing Collaborative, the OAP has entered into a pathbreaking partnership with the State of Minnesota. Its goal: close the widely publicized "achievement gap" by making sure equal treatment of all students is state policy.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, diversity, Regionalism

Seward

The Big Picture 6: Peter Musty on our neighborhoods and ourselves

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 20, 2011

For urban designer Peter Musty, who's collaborating on plans for the Loring neighborhood in Minneapolis and the Ford site in St, Paul, walkable, transit-focused neighborhoods are non-negotiable. We need them for our health and prosperity--and to help our culture calm down.

Affordable Housing, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, Regionalism, Reuse / Rebuild, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Riverfront/Mill District, Downtown, Longfellow, Highland Park, Downtown/Lowertown, Northeast

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.

Central Corridor, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Regionalism, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development

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

As the snow melts, the metro area gets ready for its most bike-friendly spring yet

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, March 30, 2011

In the past year or so, the Twin Cities have solidified their reputation as one of the bike-friendliest metropolitan areas in America. And we're not resting on our laurels. An expanded bike-share program, a brand-new online bike-rental business, new trails and connections, a new bike/coffee shop combo in the works, and more--they all point to a great spring for the human-powered-transport set.

Creative Leadership, Regionalism

North Side, Downtown, Phillips, Lake Street, Midway, Warehouse/North Loop, Powderhorn

The Big Picture 2: A conversation with Lars Leafblad on Minnesota's search for a new identity

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Lars Leafblad, a principal in the Minneapolis executive search firm KeyStone Search, was dubbed "the most networked man in the Twin Cities" by Minnesota Business magazine last year. In the second of our Big Picture conversations about the future of our city and state, Leafblad acknowledges that we're good at cooperation and connection--but adds that we need a compelling new image of what we want to be and where we want to go.

Cooperation/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technology, Regionalism

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Life Sciences, Regionalism, Strong Local Economy

Downtown

The green question mark: State researchers are trying to define just what a green job is

Holly Dolezalek Wednesday, September 22, 2010

There's a lot of excitement about "green jobs" and their potential to put America back to work. But defining what a green job actually is can be difficult, say some clued-in researchers in the state Department of Employment and Economic Development whose efforts have helped put Minnesota is in the forefront of the infant science of green-labor-market studies. A few real-world trends: there are many shades of green in the job market, the total number of certifiably green jobs in the state isn't large yet, and yet the potential for green-job growth is real.

Energy, Green Jobs, Regionalism

Downtown/Lowertown

Can Minnesota be another Silicon Valley? Techies meet at MinneBar conference to mull it over

Holly Dolezalek Wednesday, June 02, 2010

What can we do to do leverage the abundant high-tech talent in Minnesota into more startups? At the MinneBar 2010 conference, geeks and investors gathered to grapple with that question--among others--and to assess the state of the tech biz in the Gopher State. The verdict: More risk-taking, more mentoring, more connectivity are needed here--but everybody can keep their cabins.

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

Regionalism : Featured Stories