Twin City Doorways #21

 [Northfield.]

 [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]

 [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]

 [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]

 [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]

 [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]

[Downtown East, Minneapolis.]

[Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]

Twin City Shop Windows #11

[West 7th Street, Saint Paul.]

[Downtown, Saint Paul.]

[Location forgotten.]

[North Loop, Minneapolis.]

 [North Loop, Minneapolis.]

[Warehouse District, Minneapolis.]

 [Location forgotten.]

[Grand Avenue, Saint Paul.]

Is the Highland Villager Accountable for its Misleading Anti-Bike Lane Advertisement?

[Cleveland Avenue as it is today, next to the University of St. Thomas.]

The short short answer is “no.”

The only slightly less short answer is “no, but they probably should be a bit more so, kinda.”

And here’s the long answer…

The Cleveland Saga

The debate over the Cleveland Avenue bike lane, like the Highland Parkway and Jefferson bike projects before it, was not an easy one. I’ve written about it a few different places and, thanks to my (volunteer, appointed) position on the Planning Commission, have had a first hand seat at the table during a long and intense community conversation with a whole cross-section of stakeholders.  

Basically, though increasing bike infrastructure has been a city goal for many many years, Saint Paul passed its first ever bike plan only last summer. The plan promised a more comprehensive and thorough process for striping bike lanes and, in my opinion, was a great first step toward realizing some of the great potential in the city to increase sustainable and active transportation. The plan passed the Council unanimously.

At the time, Cleveland Avenue was on the plan, but Council Member Tolbert expressed some reservations about including it. Then this summer, just before the County re-surfaced the road, there was a vote to delay the bike lane until more process could be done.

As a result, the city put together a 12-member task force and (as a Planning Commissioner and Transportation Committee chair) I became one of the members. We met about a half-dozen times to make a recommendation for a north-south bike route route in the area, and the meetings were very intense. In particular, there was one well-attended public meeting, and throughout the year, many people expressed their opinions over the year in person or online. Then in the winter, the committee voted to approve the original bike lane plan 8-4, along with some "parking mitigation" from the city to retain some convenient parking for businesses along the street.

This spring, the final plan with $200K worth of additional and tweaked parking was finally approved, along with plans for bike lanes to the North, where the County will be resurfacing the rest of the road this summer. The most recent City Council meeting, just two weeks ago, finally settled the matter.

Meanwhile, in the latest Highland Villager, this ad appeared yesterday.

[The ad in this fortnight's Villager.]

The Case of the Misleading Ad

The biggest problem with the ad is that, because of the way it’s arranged, it gives the impression that all the businesses listed authored or endorsed the message. It lists 33 businesses, pretty much everything within a few blocks of the street, many of which (Rihm Trucking, Regina's Candies) have their own private parking lots.

In fact, they’re not on board. For example, in an online exchange with the “Taste of Love” bakery, the bakery owner claims no knowledge of the ad. The same goes for Choo Choo Bob’s. I’ll let you know if any others were involved, but my suspicion is that they had nothing to do with the ad.

(In fact, if I were a business owner, I'd be trying hard to move past this divisive debate. You don't want to send the perception that it's difficult to park, nor do you want to alienate anyone with strong opinions on either side. The message businesses should be focusing on is: "parking will be changing, here's where the convenient new spots are located." Vituperative doomsaying is precisely the wrong message for small businesses!)

The other factual problem with the ad is its reductive portrayal of the public process. The ad describes the citizen advisory committee process thus: “The petition caused the City council to feign citizen participation in the decision by organizing a meeting at St. Catherine University last fall for those concerned. At this meeting, citizens were only allowed to pen, not vocalize, their preference for Prior or Cleveland for a north/south route.” He then goes on to list the results.

The problem is that the actual results were far more nuanced. Here’s a sample page:

[One of 53 pages.]

Like much public process, it’s difficult to reduce things to black-and-white, especially when discussing trade-offs between safety and convenience, and the potential benefit of a yet-unrealized project. During the process, I was most frustrated by the misinformation spread about things like lane widths, safety studies, parking occupancy, and mitigation strategies.

But though many people might have had their minds made up beforehand, I think the entire committee took their obligation seriously. I came into the task force process with an open mind, though I am someone who usually prioritizes safety over convenient driving. I know for a fact that a few committee members did not have their minds made up beforehand, and some maintained an open mind until the very end. At the final meeting where the committee voted 8-4 to support the bike lane proposal, the result was a genuine surprise to me.

[The author of the ad.]

Finally, I don't understand why the ad singles out Council President Stark. The proposed bike lane had the support of both area council members, a 5-2 majority of the City Council, appeared on the city's unanimously adopted bike plan, and was supported by a broad coalition that included pedestrian, public health, safety, and neighborhood livability advocates of all stripes.

In addition, Stark was on the record as supporting the bike lane before last November's election, while his opponent opposed the plan (and was visibly campaigning at the aforementioned public meeting and elsewhere). Then Stark won by over twenty points, suggesting that he has the support of the Ward 4 voters as well.

The rest of Bushard’s ad is some first-rate parking barking, if a bit odd with its reported refrain about “the convenience of a FEW bicyclists.” I predict that this will one of the most used bike lanes in the city, connecting a key neighborhood nodes with Saint Paul’s two largest colleges and the light rail. That’s why I voted for it, and precisely the reason that it gained so much support from the task force, including both the University of Saint Thomas and the University of Saint Catherine.

Not everyone is expected to like the outcome, of course, and Robert Bushard is entitled both to his opinion, his right to free speech, and to spend his $1,100 how ever he pleases. (He really should buy a nice bike with the money instead!)

The funny thing is that at the final final Cleveland public hearing, he wasn’t even the most ridiculous testifier. But while technically factual, his advertisement remains both divisive and misleading.

[December's joint resolution by Council Members Stark and Tolbert supporting bike lanes.]

Accountability for Advertisements

The Villager, like any paper, does not have explicit editorial control over its advertisements. They’re not directly responsible for writing them, and in theory, anyone with the right amount of money should be able to purchase advertising there.

But is that the whole story?

I reached out to David Brauer, a former reporter who penned journalism beat at Minnpost for years. (Disclaimer: I’ve written a weekly column for Minnpost for the past year-and-a-half.)

David is the perfect guy to talk to because he’s the one that interviewed me about my “Villager re-blogging” when I began back in 2009.
 
I asked Brauer if the Villager had any responsibility for its advertisements, or if getting a statements to appear there was simply a matter of writing a check. Here’s what he said.

Legally, unless there is something false (and it appears not, it’s all opinion), a newspaper is blameless except in court of public opinion. If the businesses complain, that's probably the best weapon against the Highland Villager’s pocketbook. And of course letters to the editor. 

It’s misleading, yes, and the newspaper passed on right to reject. But the only response is more speech.

One on hand, the latest ad is just an advertisement, bought and paid for by one man who didn’t get his way on one issue.

To me, though, it’s frustrating to see the Villager print the ad without editing it to not appear misleading about whether the businesses endorsed the statements. I would have hoped that the Villager would display some accountability for what appears in its pages and have framed the ad so that it didn’t appear to misrepresent the positions of the community and its business owners.

And ideally, the Villager might not print it at all, in that it does little but throw gasoline on already-existing divisions without much attention to either facts or political reality.

In other words, it’s like like Trump campaign.

Wishing for Understanding

["Headwinds and Tailwinds" by Ken Avidor.]

When I first began “re-blogging the Highland Villager,” it was because I enjoyed reading it. It was and is the largest and most thorough community newspaper in town and, at the time, I was only frustrated that I couldn’t share the critical information it provided with others online.

But over the years, as I’ve become more and more involved and knowledgeable about Saint Paul’s development and planning debates, the paper has been increasingly letting me down.

As someone who both reads and writes for community newspapers, it’s depressing to see one that has become so slanted in defense of backwards parking policy. The parking meter insert flier, headline framing, and editorial position on the parking meters were a classic example, and this week’s misleading advertisement is another.

I’ve tried for years to understand how some people can get so upset over walking a little farther to get to their car or plugging a meter to park in front of a store. Is it a generational thing? Is it tied up in the psychology of driving?

At any rate, I had a front-row during the entire Cleveland bike lane saga. If this is the ending, at least it's memorable. It reminds me of a bad movie where the death scene goes on forever in the most ridiculous way.

In fact, I just watched two full montages of noteworthy death scenes from such films. If forced to pick one, I'd have to say that, if this Villager ad is final throes of the anti-Cleveland bike lane movement, it's most like the death from Kareteci Kiz (turkish for Karate Girl).

Only with more yelling.




[For more reading, see No Need to Pit Safe Streets Against Local Businesses, Cleveland Avenue Shows St. Paul's Need for Parking Creativity, Cleveland Avenue Bike Lanes, and Jefferson Crashes Rekindle Bicycle Boulevard Debate.]  

Update:

An example of a business fighting confusion caused by the misleading ad from Kopplin's Coffee Facebook page:

TC Sidewalks Booklets Now Available!

[Thumb not included.]

For some time now, I've been intending to write printed matter, a way to take some of the work I've been doing for years on this blog and make it a bit more corporeal. It's a way to share my perspective and writing with new audiences, and also support the blog a bit. (Note: There are few things less lucrative than blogging.)

So I finally have some good news! I've turned my somewhat popular "TC Sidewalks tours" into booklets that you can read, flip through, neglect, or share. They make excellent coasters, portable fans on hot days, and can also be used to learn and guide yourself around different neighborhoods and along less than usual paths.

Technically, I call them "psychogeographic tour guides," and they're intended to offer atypical ways of moving along the sidewalks of the Twin Cities. Roughly speaking, I define psychogeography as the study of how geography intersects with subjectivity, perception, memory, and place, to put a little map onto the complex relationship between the city and its people.

That's the idea anyway! You can see for yourself, as the first three booklets are now available for purchase.

They are:

Booklet #1: Noteworthy Bowling Alleys of Minneapolis and Saint Paul

An often factual 32-page booklet featuring an introduction to the cultural and architectural importance of bowling alleys, some bowling alley history, a somewhat useful map, black-and-white photos, and descriptions and anecdata about seven (7) current or former bowling alleys or bowling supply shops in the Twin Cities: the Bryant-Lake Bowl, Midway Pro-Bowl, Town Hall Lanes, Lowry-Central Bowling Supply (defunct), Ran-Ham Lanes, and Memory Lanes.

Information found within is based on research done before, during, and after the Bowling Alley Bike Tour in June of 2014.

Booklet #2: Noteworthy Dive Bars of South Minneapolis

A mostly factual 36-page booklet featuring an introduction to dive bars, a history of the libation landscape of South Minneapolis (defined as between Franklin Avenue and the city's Southern border, not including the Wedge/Uptown), a somewhat useful map, black-and-white photos, and descriptions and tidbits about seven (7) dive bars: the Driftwood Char Bar, the Country Bar (defunct), the Hexagon, the Schooner, the Rail Station, the Cedar Inn, and the Sunrise Inn.

Information found within is based on research done before, during, and after the Dive Bars of South Minneapolis bike tour in October of 2013.

Booklet #3: Noteworthy Dive Bars of the Midway

An over-half-accurate 32-page booklet featuring an introduction to dive bars, a brief history of booze in the Midway, a small but informative map, black-and-white photos, and descriptions and trivia about five (5) current or former dive bars: the Dubliner, Tracks, Christensen's Big V's, Hot Rods, and the Trend Bar.

Information found within is based on research done before, during, and after the Dive Bars of the Green Line walking tour in February of 2015.

Each booklet features a unique full-color cover illustration by a local Twin Cities artist!

Except for that, everything else was personally created by me.

If you'd like to read some above-average writing, learn about new places, or have a portable guide to half-baked local history, these are just the ticket. It's a great way to support this blog, and also they're a fair value.

They're $7 each, or $20 for (all) three of them.

You can purchase them by mailing me a check (148 West George Street, Apartment #7, Saint Paul MN 55107) or through Paypal.

Paypal instructions: Simply donate the appropriate dollar amount and specify which ones, and how many, you would like. I will reply with an email to confirm your address

Thanks for your support! A lot of work went into these booklets. But if they prove popular, I will make more of them, one for each of the previous tours.

BONUS:

Two new booklets now available!

#4 - Noteworthy Dive Bars of Old Fort Road
#5 - Noteworthy Parking Lots of Minneapolis

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #96

Danny rides his bike to Bushwood...

[Skip to 3:25.]

... in the opening credits of Harold Ramis' (1980) comedy classic, Caddyshack.

Walking Tour of Downtown Minneapolis Skyways with the Hennepin History Museum

If you missed last month's skyway tour, you have another chance to see the sights of downtown Minneapolis' most unique feature. Together with the wonderful Hennepin History Museum, I'll be leading another tour through the skyways to talk about the origin and evolution of downtown skyways, some of the notable (and less-than-notable) architecture.

Skyway history is something of an obsession of mine, and we'll be walking around downtown through all the different types of skyway environments, everything from parking ramps to retrofit corridors to parking ramps to all kinds of atria.

[Facebook invite here.]

What: Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour with the Hennepin History Museum
When: April 16th at 1pm (tour will last approximately 90 minutes)
Where: Meet at the IDS Center, prepare for a roughly 2 mile indoor/outdoor walk
Who: Space is limited
How much: $12


Some of the things we'll be seeing include:

• The place where the idea was hatched (c. 1956)
• The site of the first skyway (c. 1962)
• The oldest existing skyway (c. 1963)
• The longest skyway (c. 1970s?)
• The skyway through the jail (will research)
• The most beautiful skyway (c. 1988, arguably)

This will be the 4th time I've led a tour of the downtown skyway system and each time it's a bit different. I'm excited to share the tour with a new audience, especially people who are interested in how the skyway relates to the history of downtown Minneapolis.

Hope to see you there! Space is limited, so buy tickets sooner rather than later.

[Pictures from previous tour follow.]

*** Sidewalk Weekend! ***

Sidewalk Rating: Nice

To attract customers, the sellers of waffles exploited the pre-eminent premodern marketing tool: the human voice. Among the various cris de Paris announcing goods and services on offer in the city, the oublieur made himself known by incessantly singing, "Chaudes oublees, renforcies," (Hot Oublies, stuffed oublies!) or else "La joie! la joie! voila des oublies!" (Joy! Joy! Here are oublies!). Hearing the street vendors cry, diners would invite him into the house in order to have oublies made fresh and hot, on the spot.

[Adam Kumler, on the history of the street waffle (oublie in French)]

[Opening the garage doors for the first time at Saint Paul's Bad Weather Brewing.]

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After the event, New York City's livable streets advocacy elite partied the rest of the night away in the 9th Avenue protected bike lane while ensconced the anonymity of the Hummer's lavish interior:

"Do you know who I am!?!," an intoxicated Sadikh-Khan was heard to scream at one point after an angry cyclist pounded on the Hummer's hood.  "I built this bike lane!"

[this]

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