Featured Stories

Art and Business Connect at a "Pop-Up Think Tank"

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy

Downtown

Ivey Awards Founder Scott Mayer: Let's Make the Most of Our Theater Power

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 24, 2013

In a Q and A with The Line, marketer and theater maven Mayer asks: with nearly eighty professional theater companies in town, why don't we do more to promote theater as an attraction that sets the Twin Cities apart?

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

Croissants from (clockwise from left) Patisserie 46, Rustica, Trung Nam, and Chez Arnaud

The Line's Great Twin Cities Croissant Taste-Off

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Croissant-loving editor compares four of the finest products of local artisanship.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Shopping

Southwest, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Summit Hill and Crocus Hill, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown

The Twin Cities' Openness Problem

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, July 17, 2013

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

2013 Cat Video Festival to welcome celebricats

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Nightlife

Midway, Downtown

We're tweaking our new home page--watch for a relaunch on July 17

Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 10, 2013

We're putting the finishing touches on our new home page, which is livelier and brighter. The Line will be back with new features and news on July 17. Watch for urban bees, local theater booster Scott Mayer, and more.

Judy Gerdts and Becky Masterman of the Bee Squad atop the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Hive Minds: Urban Beekeeping in High Places

Meleah Maynard Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The rooftops of some prestigious locations are buzzing as local institutions hop aboard the global urban beekeeping bandwagon. The idea is to play a role in restoring declining bee populations, with the help of the U of M and some intrepid honey-oriented entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Life Sciences, Sustainability

University, Downtown, Powderhorn

Secret City: A Slide Show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, June 26, 2013

On Saturday night, lensman Bill Kelley braved the threat of another downpour to take some lively shots of Secret City, Minneapolis' answer to the Northern Spark alfresco arts festival, which was based solely in St Paul this year. Check out his images of Aztec dance, djs, fire performance, sound art, and a huge inflatable civic mood ring called MIMMI.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Nightlife

Downtown

A Line or Two: BRT and Me

Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 26, 2013

With Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) a possible future option for areas of Minneapolis and Saint Paul where light rail isn't feasible, I decided to take ride on Apple Valley's newly opened BRT route (the Red Line) to check it out. And why not? I'd already checked into a suburban hotel after the power went out at home.

Design, Regionalism, Transit Oriented Development

These entrepreneurs chose the Green Line

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, June 19, 2013

It's been an article of faith since Central Corridor light rail (Green Line) construction began that, despite all the disruption and traffic chaos of the building stage, the line would eventually become a magnet for local entrepreneurs. That scenario appears to be playing out; here are three entrepreneurial ventures that were lured to the line by light rail's promise.

Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Strong Local Economy, Transportation

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

A New York Street Happening--photo by Ethan Kent

The Top Five Tips for Creating Great Urban Places

Project for Public Spaces Wednesday, June 19, 2013

"If urban planning is musical composition, then placemaking is improvisational street performance." Five tested tips for doing the much-talked-about, rarely defined, improvisational, street-level, people-oriented form of urban design that's rapidly replacing the old top-down paradigm in the Twin Cities and across the country.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design

A Line or Two: Beer U

Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 19, 2013

This week: a heads-up about a July class in the University of Minnesota's extension division that will fill you in on the local craft beer revolution--it's origins, its economics, its varied business models, and more. Requirements include the actual consumption of product.

Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Strong Local Economy

University, West Seventh, Northeast

Regina Vong's family business

Dan Heilman Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The young entrepreneur's Royal Bangkok Restaurant is just one of the Vong family businesses at 315 University Avenue--a building that enshrines the enterprise and hope of a clan whose patriarch fled Cambodia in the wake of the Khmer Rouge.

Central Corridor, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy

Thomas - Dale/Frogtown

The Board onstage. From left, Molly Chase, Nels Lennes, Jill Bernard, and Butch Roy

Minnesota's funniest nonprofit board

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, June 12, 2013

If you're on the board of directors of HUGE Theater in Minneapolis, you have to improvise. That is, you have to actually go onstage and do improv in a three-evening run that is also an official series of board meetings.

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

Uptown/Lyn Lake

A Line or Two: A Nighttime Labyrinth, a Pop-Up Festival

Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Your editor helps run a meditative labyrinth-walking project amid the cheerful madness of the Northern Spark one-night, all-night arts festival--and points out another cool artfest that's ongoing.

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

Downtown/Lowertown