"Because of the time period freeways were being built, metropolitan areas with more influence in the 40s, 50s and 60s ended up getting the funding and had the ability to make these highways all over. Minneapolis is a great example of this."

"In Fairfield, Alabama, converting street lanes to trail space on Vinesville Road was also deemed “hostile” to cars, and “counter to DOT’s priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Anne Mavity: How to Get Housing in All Corners: https://streets.mn/2025/09/22/anne-mavity-how-to-get-housing-in-all-corners/ An interview with Anne Mavity, from the Minnesota Housing Partnership, republished from the Minnesota Women's Press

Certainly there are other options that could be considered, one would think.

"A new study analyzing over 7,400 relocations across 1,600 U.S. cities supports what many city planners and public health officials have suspected for years: Walkable cities encourage people to be more active." news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

Any anecdotes from folks recently looking for a new apartment? How has the search gone for you?

"Parking regulations affect our lives and communities in many, often mysterious ways. These impacts are often overlooked, resulting in bad policies. It's time to apply urban planning magic: fewer driveways and better managed public parking."

"A packed subway car, for example, is not just a mode of travel but a shared social space. An argument around bike lanes is not just about concrete and asphalt, but about who has the right to use the street."

Fun to write a feature on my hometown! 🚴‍♀️

"...site might accommodate other uses, such as a parking ramp connected to a North Loop transit shuttle as well as a wellness and fitness facility." www.startribune.com/star-tribune...

My take on things in the neighborhood? "The Midway's retail crisis isn't just about vacancy — it's about suburban design choking transit-accessible land with parking lots and car-oriented stores." Thanks @streets.mn for publishing! streets.mn/2025/09/18/w...

Why the Midway’s Suburban Design Is Killing Its Commercial Future: https://streets.mn/2025/09/18/why-the-midways-suburban-design-is-killing-its-commercial-future/ The Midway's retail crisis isn't just about vacancy — it's about suburban design choking transit-accessible land with parking lots an...

"All of this matters because Lyndale Avenue is ground zero for south Minneapolis transportation advocacy thanks to a few high profile fatal crashes. Over the last decade, it’s been home to more protest and pressure than any other Minneapolis street." www.minnpost.com/cityscape/20...

"Tenant unions aren’t new, but community organizers say that they are seeing more and more tenants in the Twin Cities wanting to organize, and that many of these demands come from low-income tenants of color and immigrant families." sahanjournal.com/housing/tena...

Newsletter: From Lyndale to Rochester – Safer Streets on the Line: https://streets.mn/2025/09/17/newsletter-september-17-2025/ In this issue of the Streets.mn newsletter: why a shared-use path is wrong for Lyndale, Rochester's 11th Ave bike lanes, the latest walk the talk events, and more!

"A coming upgrade of Highway 22, the scenic alternative to U.S. 169 from St. Peter to Mankato, will include a protected bike trail that connects to the Sakatah Trail. As with the Summit and Cleveland Avenue projects in the Twin Cities, loss of trees has become a point of contention..."

The replacement Sherburne County bus will only be successful if it's a one seat ride all the way between St. Cloud and Minneapolis or any stop in between.

CLIC scored this project abysmally low, literally half of the next-lowest scored capital project this year. If we can't at least pump the brakes on such a stinker project I don't know what this committee is for

Probably not a done deal yet! What do you think?

One of the favorite moments of the Twin Cities Bike Tour for our staff was a volunteer showing up with homemade bracelets. A great reminder that our bike rides are inherently community events. They bring people together and create lasting bonds. Thank you all!

Hmmm. Do you agree with Bill? 🤔

It's Transit to Work Day in Minneapolis! Here's my transit commute hack: I take whichever Route 18 shows up first (northbound or southbound it doesn't matter) and use it to connect to an Orange Line BRT station at either Lake or 46th. And I speed into downtown from there.

Two-Day Bike Fest Replaces Beloved ‘River Ramble’: https://streets.mn/2025/09/17/mankato-replaces-ramble-with-two-day-bike-fest/ After losing their beloved annual ride, organizers in Mankato aim to raise spirits with a new weekend-long festival that promotes all manner of cycling.

"Frequent breakdowns of the station’s two elevators and its turned-off escalators leave people who use wheelchairs, canes and walkers without access to the train, he said in the lawsuit filed earlier this year in U.S. District Court." www.startribune.com/minneapolis-...

REMINDER: Tomorrow is Transit to Work Day in Minneapolis! If you can, join me on transit tomorrow and please share a selfie or other photos from your commute. Then, on the way home, stop by The Commons for a celebration (inc. snacks) that the City is co-hosting with @moveminneapolis.bsky.social:

Reminder!

Why not a bus all the way to St. Cloud? 🤔

National Links: Light Rail Extension Making New Waves: https://streets.mn/2025/09/16/national-links-light-rain-extension-making-new-waves/ Light rails across Seattle, mosquito-borne disease tracking, delays in state funding impact Philadelphia subway service and more.

Review coming soon? 🤔😆

Come celebrate 10 years of Car-Free MSP with us this Wednesday, Sept. 17, 4–6 p.m. at The Commons! We'll have transit tours, scooter and e-bike demos, activities, snacks, swag, and lots more + don't forget about the Car-Free MSP Employer Challenge and Car-Free MSP pledge. Links in thread below ⬇️

"Between 2013 and 2023, road deaths in the U.S. increased by nearly 25 percent. Pedestrian traffic fatalities rose by a whopping 56 percent between 2013 and 2022, per the International Transport Forum’s 2024 Annual Road Safety Report."

How To Research Candidates With Naomi Kritzer: https://streets.mn/2025/09/15/how-to-research-candidates-with-naomi-kritzer/ Naomi Kritzer compiles comprehensive collections of information about candidates in Twin Cities races. Come find out how it started, her process, and advice for voters!

“Transit in Minneapolis is getting faster and more reliable,” Schieferdecker said. “We want to raise the profile and awareness of transit, and encourage people to try or rediscover it.” www.startribune.com/city-leaders...

Today was a fantastic day even though I barely got any sleep. The Twin Cities Bike Tour was terrific, and as @eriknoonan.bsky.social said on the ride home with our small group, definitely a core memory. 💚

What a fun time today at the @bikemn.bsky.social Twin Cities Bike Tour! So many fun people & rode some new-to-me trails. Between the 41 miles of the ride + the trip there and home, I was going to be about 10 miles short of a metric century, so I tacked some extra on at the end to hit that mark 😜

🥳Join us today at Arbeiter Brewing for the Official Twin Cities Bike Tour Afterparty 📍3038 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis ⌚We'll be there from 2 to 4 p.m. 🚲 And there will be plenty of extra bike racks in the parking area.

DON'T PANIC. Online registration has closed but you can still show up day of and register for the Twin Cities Bike Tour! We'll see you Sunday morning at Wabun Park! More info about the ride can be found at bikemn.org/tcbt #metrowide #rideforacause #tcbt

What do you think about giving more parkway space for bike/ped?

"In canvasing for Livable Lyndale, we heard that people want to be able to bike to destinations on the corridor. Hennepin County proposing a shared-use path over just a sidewalk supports this." "A Shared-Use Path is Not Right for Lyndale Avenue South" streets.mn/2025/09/08/a...

"By framing urban transportation as a social construct, Fan and her co-authors call for a shift toward understanding transportation as a socio-political force that structures inequalities, reinforces or challenges power, and shapes urban life."

"Mayor Jacob Frey wants to move the buses to nearby streets and rethink Nicollet as some new kind of urban space. The idea has received mixed reactions (some bus riders took the city to court) and hasn’t so far moved forward." www.startribune.com/roper-nicoll...

Counterpoint: downtown is already a playground. For a city of our size, we have so much. Theaters. Orchestra. Sports venues. Music venues. Bars. Restaurants. Breweries. And even some retail (mostly north loop).

This is a great point!

We’ve tried “playground downtown” for at least three decades. It‘s built on the whims of suburbanites who get spooked every time the downtown establishment shit-talks downtown to get more cops. Again, no pushback because of the bended-knee format. bsky.app/profile/stre...

"If the goal is to truly pedestrianize Nicollet Mall, we should have more permanent seating, more clean public restrooms (apart from the few now that take insider knowledge to find), drinking fountains, landscaping and built green space." streets.mn/2025/01/29/n...

"What we are looking to the future to see is: Downtown will be more of a playground. It’ll be more of an entertainment district. We need to make sure that it’s not just a place where people are coming into work at 8 a.m. and leaving at 5:30 p.m." www.startribune.com/downtown-min...

Beyond Traffic: Transportation as a Social Construct: https://streets.mn/2025/09/12/beyond-traffic-transportation-as-a-social-construct/ Researchers propose a three-tier framework—individual, community, systemic—to reframe urban transport as a social construct influencing equity, culture, power,...

“Yingling Fan, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, said Midway’s orientation around cars, despite good transit connections, is holding it back.”

I wish drivers would stop making my neighborhood so unsafe. Urban highways (35W is just out of the frame here) were a mistake. 35th/36th are so dangerous because drivers are still in or preparing for highway driving. Even though they’re driving through a dense neighborhood.

This classic @streets.mn post by @chrissteller.bsky.social about how many projects in Minneapolis are like this ... streets.mn/2018/06/13/p...