Featured Stories

A Line or Two: Dena Alspach Comes Aboard

Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 01, 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 hearty welcome to our new publisher, Dena Alspach--a digital futurist with a vision of where publishing is headed.

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

A Line or Two: A Fabulous Mural's Fate

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 25, 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 sublimely glittery Peace House mural is headed for destruction--and a kind of resurrection.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Reuse / Rebuild

Phillips

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 Line or Two: SubText's Mysterious Literary Mural

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 18, 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 wild chalkboard mural full of literary allusions enlivens the SubText bookstore's subterranean Saint Paul space.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship

Summit - University

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

The Big Picture 13: Jennifer Kane on the Hard Lessons of Social Media

Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Every organization that wants to make a buck wants a social-media presence. But do you have any idea what the Facebook fan page, the Twitter feed, the Foursquare ID really imply for your business? Pioneer social-media onsultant Jennifer Kane knows, and she compares it to parenthood.

Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship

A Line or Two: Find the Food Trucks

Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 27, 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: Online tools for zeroing in on mobile eats.

Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy

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

Rock The Garden: A Slide Show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Last Saturday afternoon, the big green field next to the Walker Art Center--where the Guthrie Theatre once stood--morphed into the city's biggest open-air music venue for Rock the Garden 2012. Bill Kelley's images capture the indie-energy.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Nightlife

Downtown

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