twin city sidewalks: 2024

2024-11-22

Support Your Local Refuge

[Hard Times Café on Riverside Avenue, open until midnight.]

Since the dire presidential election, I’ve made a new habit of stopping into the Hard Times Café in the mornings whenever I have time. It’s close to my office on the West Bank and it’s a spot that means a lot to me, one of the few remaining pillars of the West Bank counter-culture.

Of course the crusty punk co-op café has radical politics, which are needed now more than ever, but it’s also the fact that I’ve been going there for twenty years. I remember hanging out there (for example) in 2004 during the Iraq War protest and George W. Bush re-election years. The days after the election, walking into the place, ordering a $1 cup of strong coffee in a brown mug, and singing into the country or metal music is the only real balm I’ve found.

It’s too easy post-COVID to retreat into our domesticity, to focus on our families and turtle up in our homes. With a three-year-old, I find that especially appealing. But we also need to get out and keep our community centers thriving, whatever they might be. Seek out the places in the city that mean a lot to you, and keep them alive.

2024-10-18

Art Gallery Blab about Bars with Andy Sturdevant and Mary Gibney this Sunday

[A Mary Gibney painting from the Are You With Me? show.]

I was privileged to be invited to give a talk at brilliant local painter Mary Gibney's art opening this Sunday. She's a longtime West Bank denizen and gumbo chef who has a great eye for local culture and a paintbrush to match. She graciously invited my Closing Time co-author, Andy Sturdevant, and I to come chat about bar history this weekend at the Rosalux Gallery in South Minneapolis.

We'll likely go from 1:30 - 2:30, come down if you can! I can promise great art and above-average conversation.

[link is here]

2024-10-11

19th Bloggaversary Post

[Dumb coffee delivery robot on an East Bank sidewalk.]

I started this blog 19 years ago yesterday, and I'm still plugging away about once a week. Writing regularly about the city on my own platform is still the best career move I've made. Even though the blog itself hasn't rewarded me with direct income, pretty much everything I do professionally these days stemmed from it. I'm pretty grateful to have this legacy and trove of information available at my fingertips.

Of course, things online are different in 2024 than they were in 2005. Nobody blogs any more (or do they?), the Highland Villager is online now (or is it?), and there are lots of local news sources on the internet in ways that just weren't true back then.

One of the best things about having been doing this so long is that you start to really get a sense for long-term trends and storylines. Take for example the CVS store on the corner of Snelling and University. I wrote about it during the construction, criticizing the design of the building and the use of land. Little did I know than that 19 years later I would still be writing about it, now an abandoned post-apocalyptic chain retail carcass draining the life from the Hamline-Midway commercial corridor. It's this kind of perspective that forms the root of wisdom.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I've slowed down a lot here since acquiring a full-time job and a real-life child, but it's still something I dearly enjoy.

2024-10-04

Twin City Lampposts #31

[Downtown, Minneapolis.]

[Boston, MA.]

[Kansas City, MO.]

[Denver, CO.]

[Denver, CO]

[Denver, CO.]

2024-09-20

Signs of the Times #189

"SPECIAL"

CHOPPED CHEESE Roll

WITH

FRENCH

FRIES

[Sandwich board. New York City.]

COME INSIDE

TO FILE YOUR

TAXES

<- <-

[Garbage cans. New York City.]

Passive lawn:

No pets or

actie sports.

[Fence. New York City.]

Do you have a package?

please please please please please

Ring the

Doorbell

[Door. New York City.]

If lost, please

###

[Lamppost. New York City.]

Pls STAY

OFF GRASS

Trying to grow

Flowers

Thanks!

[Tree. St. Paul.]

CLOSED

DUE TO FIRE IN BUILDING

will reopen when aloud

phone not working now!

will update messages as we

go along

SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE!

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON!

[Door. Hamline-Midway, St. Paul.]

Closed

Due to

Fire

(For Now)

[Window. Hamline-Midway, St. Paul.]

Were you aware that

420 Summit dumps chlorniated

pool water into 380

Ramsey parking lot (storm drain) since

1981?

#boycott U Club of St. Paul

Hold them accountable

[Whiteboard. Cathedral Hill, St. Paul.]

2024-08-23

How Much Parking Would the Minnesota State Fair Need if Most People Drove There

[State Fair aerial with ten new parking ramps.]

The Minnesota State Fair kicked off yesterday Thursday in St. Paul/Falcon Heights. I wonder if the local media will cover it? In case they don’t, here’s a thought experiment.

It came to me when I was on Como Avenue the other day staring at the poor schmuck directing traffic in and out of the parking lot for a state fair preview event, and thinking about the following question: What would the Minnesota State Fair look like if it had the same “mode share” as downtown Minneapolis?

Most people don’t drive to the fair, because there’s nowhere to park and the traffic is insane. But if they did, how much parking you’d we need?

Here’s the back of the napkin math:

The state fair all-time attendance record is 270,426, not counting the farm animals.

The downtown Minneapolis 2019 mode share is 40% single-occupancy vehicles and 28% in multi-person private vehicles. (The rest use transit, bike, or walk.)

Based on that rather generous ratio, how much parking would you need to accommodate the state fair

40% single-occupancy drivers equates to 108,105 parking spaces

Plus 28% of that (divided by 2 people in each car) is another 30,287 parking spaces

That gives us a rough total of 130,292 cars to park. Let’s be generous and assume that each space turns over once a day, so we can divide that in half to around 65,000. For comparison, when combined, the two seven-story Mall of America parking ramps hold about 12,000 cars.

By my napkin calculation, the State Fair thus would need around five times the parking that exists at the Mall of America. Here’s my very lazy rendition of that, at scale.

In other words, take the bus or bike to the fair!

[Glorious!]

2024-08-16

Twin City Doorways #70

[Lake Street, Minneapolis.]

[Location forgotten.]

[University Avenue, Saint Paul.]

[Kansas City.]

[Denver, CO.]

[Location forgotten.]

[Denver, CO.]

[Pepin, WI.]

[South Minneapolis.]

[Northeast Minneapolis.]

2024-06-17

Four Guide Booklets Now Back in Print

Good news! I have finally gotten off my ass, updated and reprinted four long out-of-print booklets from my Guide Booklet series. They are:

Noteworthy Dive Bars of Old Fort Road (now featuring Bay Street Burger Dive)
Lesser Known Parks of Northwestern St. Paul
Public Staircases of St. Paul (with Walnut Stairs update)
and Coney Dogs of Greater St. Paul (now featuring the Bar + Cart footlong)

They all feature local artwork by various artists, as well as illustrations and information about their respective subject matter. You can purchase them right now at my Twin City Sidewalks Store, hot off the presses. Enjoy, and look for new reprints and some brand new booklets in the coming weeks.

But wait... there's more. I also have in stock, after many years, my Minneapolis-St. Paul: Then and Now photo book, which I will sign and send to you! It makes a great addition to any coffee table or bathroom.