Featured Stories

Franklin Avenue Road Diet: A "Real World Urban Design Experiment"

Bill Lindeke Wednesday, October 24, 2012

From Bill Lindeke's always-worthwhile street-level urban design blog, Twin City Sidewalks: Want to make an experiment to see if reducing the number of lanes of traffic makes street life more vital? Then go to Chicago and Franklin avenues in Minneapolis, where you can compare two street-treatments and decide for yourself.

Design, Transportation

Phillips

VideoLine: Saint Paul Sunset

Ben Stone Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The capital city glows like a jewel box in this time-lapse video, which takes in the Mississippi and the downtown skyline.

Arts and Culture, Transportation

Downtown/Lowertown

Christine Baeumler with her Tamarack Bog Installation at MCAD

Growing new art ideas along the Central Corridor

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Far from simply decorating the light-rail route, Saint Paul's Central Corridor Public Art Plan is redefining art in the public sphere.

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

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

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

A Line or Two: Okay, I'll Bike!

Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 09, 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: National Bike Month, with its galaxy of two-wheel events and promotions, has the potential to get me out from behind the computer.

Coordination/Collaboration, Sustainability, Transportation

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

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

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

The Bike Boom by the Numbers

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Thanks to Bike Walk Twin Cities' intrepid bicycle and pedestrian observers, says urbanist Jay Walljasper, we now have a good idea just how big a deal two-wheeled transit is in our towns. And would you believe Minneapolis is in the top ten of walkable cities nationwide?

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Transportation

Winter? Schminter! Here's How to Keep on Biking

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, January 25, 2012

You can keep two-wheeling all winter long if you take a few simple precautions. Jay Walljasper, a veteran winter biker (and bike advocate) shows the way.

Sustainability, Transportation

Behind the Bicycle Boom

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Most of us in the Twin Cities are aware that we've become a great town for bicycling in recent years, but urbanist and author Jay Walljasper--an avid biker for decades--has been digging into the trend to find out the what and the why behind it. In this adaptation of an article he wrote for Bikes Belong, he fills in the story and gives us some impressive facts about the sheer scale and promise of our new two-wheel era.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, diversity, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability, Transportation

Riverfront/Mill District, Phillips, University, Macalester - Groveland, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Lake Street, Southwest, North Side, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Seward, Nokomis, Longfellow, Calhoun - Isles, Powderhorn, Warehouse/North Loop, Northeast

Videoline: Celebrating the Midtown Greenway

Streetfilms Wednesday, October 19, 2011

To accompany Jay Walljasper's take on bike policy and bike culture in the Twin Cities, here's a video by Streetfilms that shows just how valuable one of the crown jewels in our bikeway system is--the Midtown Greenway, running more or less parallel to Lake Street from Chowen Avenue to the Mississippi River.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability, Transportation

Riverfront/Mill District, Phillips, University, Macalester - Groveland, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Lake Street, Southwest, North Side, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Seward, Nokomis, Longfellow, Calhoun - Isles, Powderhorn, Warehouse/North Loop, Northeast

What's Working in Cities: Placemaking

Michelle Bruch Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The second in our series about good urban ideas around the country focuses on the placemaking concept--the increasingly popular proposition that the best city spaces are built from the ground up rather than planned from the top down--by asking users and stakeholders what they really want.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, Transportation

Kerrik Wessel wants to plug your car into the sun

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Inspired by his kids' toy building set, he designed a colorful modular carport that incorporates solar panels--and may soon become nothing but solar panels. Is this how we'll recharge the electric vehicles of the future?

Design, Emerging Technology, Energy, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Sustainability, Transportation

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