Yes it would be refreshing if Democrats in the Twin Cities actually defended Minneapolis and St. Paul as good places to live. Even better if they actually funded transit and made it easier to build more housing. Instead they cut transit and try to pass rent control. Wild stuff.

But I am told by Democrats in the Twin cities that we are a car culture and there's just no other way so we have to make it easy for people to drive.

The "culture war" is about culture, and the central fissure here is that there are millions of Americans who hold social and cultural values that are broadly unpopular, and those people are going to continue to exist in the public sphere and influence it, regardless of what policy papers we issue.

Also, Democrats in Minneapolis and St. Paul could choose to go car free. But they don't.

really thinking about this tweet as i’ve been struggling to breathe through nausea for the last 5 hours

So Downtown Wednesdays is one of the big ideas for revitalizing Nicollet Mall? This could be a parody. These people are clueless. There's a DJ, surly tent, a few knick knack vendors, whatever is going on in that orange van, and a thick smog from the wild fires. This is so bleak man.

Republicans have three quagmires: -Iran -ICE -Tariffs/Inflation

And blue cities should have robust programs to help rural folks escape their hostile communities. But Democrats in blue cities are anti-growth and don't build enough housing to give people a choice. Seriously, blue city Democrats give away so much political power because they are selfish.

Downtown Minneapolis gets a Healthy ranking

Definitely should visit Hennepin Ave reconstruction and E Line. Then downtown St. Paul (good/bad/opportunity) Then University Ave corridor for TOD.

Biggest failure of capitalism in my lifetime has been how the socialist car salesmen grifter convinced a bunch of billionaire climate philanthropists in California that his shitty cars would solve climate change, picked their pockets for his first few billion, then converted those into junk bonds.

My boyfriend is taking the METRO Orange Line for the first time today, after transferring from the elegant and oh-so-frequent B Line. Let us toast visionaries like @stinamo.bsky.social and @metrotransitmn.bsky.social for transforming Twin Cities transit so beautifully over the last decade.

Why is "time" the premium variable over safety? 30 minutes peacefully sitting in a bus reading is not the same as 11 minutes driving in a car trying not to get into a horrific accident that kills your entire family.

We need more people in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Density unlocks all the magic. It's too bad Democrats don't want more people and do everything possible to make our cities unaffordable car dependent nighrmares with small pockets of utopia.

A lot of America’s problems would be solved if we went into every low-population-density red state, picked a promising metro area and threw money at creating jobs and housing and neat restaurants and fun activities there

🚨 🚨 🚨 Special episode ahead of Thursday's Minneapolis City Council vote on whether to fix Lyndale Ave: "Pedicab Phil's Pothole Adventure" with my guests Pedicab Phil and Brian Mitchell.

I think I spotted the legend @brianmitchl.com in the thumbnail!

May and June were pleasant, but July and August and probably September will be brutal.

Death of the American Auto Industry thread by Bill. Maybe Democrats and progressives will wake up one day to this giant right wing scam. It's too bad they aren't called Trump Cars, then maybe Democrats would turn against them.

Yeah, they don't believe there are people who simply don't want to drive. you can't fix this psychology. It's going to take generations to eradicate carbrain. We live in the worst possible time for transit. Just a total disaster on every front.

One family of four lost three members. The parents and 16 year old. The 18 year old has life-threatening injuries. they were killed when an 80 year old driver crossed the center lane. She was killed as well. I have not idea how anyone gets into a car to drive when this happens daily.

Hey look, the same problem affecting Saint Paul and Minneapolis (our inability to address traffic violence, say, by immediately striping a 4-3 conversion on Hamline Ave.) happens in Toronto, where some people have become "catatonic and accepting."

Eating raw vegetables always feels like a bit of a gamble. It's probably that bagged gross stuff anyway. No changes. If the parasite wants to tango, then my gut is ready. We survived eating rotten fish from a bodega on 34th & 9th in the mid-2010s.

Because the C-suite doesn't believe climate change is happening?

Climate hell week is here. Good time to thank all the car owners who are totally incapable of breaking their car dependency addiction. And especially progressive car owners who lecture us on every other policy issue but view car ownership as necessary. You are responsible for this. Yes, you.

Someone who received a speeding ticket is more of a danger to society than someone whose only infraction was being undocumented.

The OP and the comments are a cesspool of violent driver cope and apologia, only, leftistly.

Do cars count as "technology" in this framing? Or is this all about phones and software?

Propaganda works, the modern American advertising industry was born from the wartime propaganda industry. The auto-industry knows it works and is willing to spend more than nearly every other industry to keep people thinking that car-centrism is inevitable, good, and desirable.

One of the things @modacitylife.com talks about in this pod is the benefits *for children* of being able to build a spatial map in their heads by moving through space on a bike, rather than than just: get in a car, see a blur in the windshield, get out in different place.

the wedge live band of all saxophonists is called george and the michaels and they played the sax part of “careless whisper” under a bridge by the mississippi river after we biked here

Seriously, you have to be so spiritually dead inside to not understand why having more of this makes a city far more pleasant than more cars.

700+ comments on the Strib Instagram reel about Lyndale bike lane. The comments are dispiriting. I literally read one from a progressive artist I follow arguing that people should just use the bike lane on Bryant. I wonder if these progressives understand their transit views are the same as MAGA?

you can live in a Costco

Incredible. Just ask them all about Trump and that's the documentary.

The solution is, fuck the car and oil industries, and let people live where they want to live. That will slash oil use substantially more than solar panels ever will. open.substack.com/pub/mateosfo...

ecargo bikes are great for enabling more trips, unmentioned in this article is political will to use concrete and enforcement (license suspension, car seizure) to stop drivers killing cyclists. Car dependence is policy, car dominance is the option for drivers to use violence instead of slowing down

What if Russia has a new bioweapon powered by AI?

we are a deeply damaged society. There's just really not much hope for the United States at this point.

I don't understand the desire for more space. When I go out for a long walk and then look at my Strava map, it looks like I barely covered any territory. But it feels far when I am walking.

carbrains in thought: "oh, it's just an accident. nothing you can do about it. we just have to deal with it. it doesn't happen more than once a day. trying to fix it will just make things worse."

Way too hot outside. Do not like, do not like.

Are they going to build anything

The massive premium that most Americans pay as a result of car dependency really needs to be a bigger part of the affordability conversation.

Um why is it controversial to live in a high rise building? WTF. Is this leftist NIMBY thing? I know some buildings are crappy but the one I live in now is mostly great. I like being up higher.

I love Duluth's 1st Street. It's full of old holes in the wall. This would make it even better! www.startribune.com/duluth-downt...

What I find amusing is that opinion columnists, call them journalists if you want, don't seem to understand that they are just attention grifters like any other creators. They have convinced themselves they are honorable because they work at legacy media. Boomer message for a boomer audience

They don't seem to understand. The goal should be to make it impossible to drive in Minneapolis.

The few times I have been taken out to the woodshed on here have been when I directly said nobody needs a car. Leftist urbanites came right for my throat. It was surreal.

I loathe the cult of the car.