twin city sidewalks

Leaked! A Rejected First Draft of the University of Minnesota's Subtle Anti-Union Email Campaign

2012-01-31T16:10:00.001-06:00

You may be familiar with the fact that the graduate student workers at the University of Minnesota, myself included, are attempting to unionize (for like the 5th time or something). We recently filed union support cards from a majority of our bargaining unit with the University in a (futile) attempt to have the University recognize our union without going through the onerous and expensive election process.

Well, that didn’t happen. Instead the University of Minnesota, while being ostensibly “neutral” on the question of support for organized labor, is waging a subtle disinformation campaign.

Easier said than done! Being subtly anti-union while pretending to be neutral is actually quite tricky. It requires careful wording, a very particular posture, and lots of editing.

For example, through my sneaky contacts in the Department of Parking and Employee Condescension Services, I’ve managed to get my hands on an early draft (!) of an email sent out to all the graduate student workers on campus, attempting to dissuade them from supporting the union. Nobody else has this information, folks. It can only be found right here!

(The original email can be found here. The union's response to the misinformation is here.)

University of Minnesota Graduate Assistants:

On January 16, ~~a bunch of ungrateful trouble makers who don’t know how good they have it~~ University of Minnesota graduate assistants filed cards with the Bureau of Mediation Services beginning a process by which all current graduate assistants will decide whether or not to become members of the United Auto Workers of America who build cars, with their hands, in factories. Like, in factories. Cars. Big boxy unreliable cars! You may remember the city of Detroit? Those were burly men with mustaches who built cars in giant belching factories, which is about as far from the pleasant tunneled confines of this halcyon university as you can get. While we were asked to recognize the union without a vote ~~which caused us to laugh so hard that milk came out our nose for a second~~, we support ~~“the election process”~~ the election process, which is ~~required~~ provided by law and allows all graduate assistants an opportunity to ~~be arm twisted and frightened into freaking out about the idea of auto workers~~ vote. It is important that each of you ~~individually, without consulting any of your so-called friends,~~ participate in this election because those who vote will determine the outcome for everyone in the group. You are free to vote ~~against~~ for or against union representation, ~~especially if you~~ regardless of whether or not you signed a card. However, if elected, all graduate assistants will become members of the United Auto Workers of America who make cars with their hands in giant factories in Detroit where there aren’t any jobs and the crime rate is super high and people die and its basically a ghetto which is what Minneapolis will become if you vote for the union, and all will be required to ~~sell your soul~~ pay union dues.

It is critical that you ~~listen to your Gopher representative from University Relations and the official Director of Parking and Employee Compensation~~ stay informed as we move through this process. The state's Bureau of Mediation Services will determine the list of eligible voters as well as the details of the election. We will ~~tell you to vote against the union~~ communicate this information to you as soon as it becomes available. We also will continue to update our online frequently asked questions as needed. If you have questions or concerns at any time during this process, please email ohr@umn.edu.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this stupid waste of time that is dragging down our important research activities and forcing us to hire expensive lawyers to destroy hopes and dreams instead of becoming the top 3 public research university in the world important election. ~~Resistance is futile. Go Gophers!~~

Patti Dion 
Director of Employee Relations and ~~Condescension~~ Compensation

PS: It's worth pointing out that the UAW represents more graduate student workers in the US than any other union, including grad workers at the Universities of Washington and California.

Signs of the Times #48

2012-01-31T13:09:00.000-06:00

CAT

[Pole. Stadium Village, Minneapolis.]

CREATIVITY NEEDED COME IN

[Window. University of Minnesota campus, Minneapolis.]

HOLA

[Sidewalk. Location forgotten.]

WORKING

BELOW

[Mysterious dirt thing. University of Minnesota campus, Minneapolis.]

PLEASE

USE

MALL

ENTRANCE

[Door. Downtown, Minneapolis.]

COLOR

$39.99

[Pole. Lake Street, Minneapolis.]

SORRY We're

Closed for the day

Due to am Emergency!

[Door. Midtown, Minneapolis.]

NAILS

LASH

EYE

BROW

[Plastic board. Midtown, Minneapolis.]

99¢ Wigs

[Window. Midtown, Minneapolis.]

... 90 days

imprisonment for theft

or tampering with

Signs of Safety Signs

SIGNS SAVE LIVES

[Metal gate thing. University Avenue, Minneapolis/St Paul border.]

Sidewalk Poem #19

2012-01-30T14:54:00.000-06:00

[A Save the Met poem from the old stadium fight against the Metrodome, two or three stadium fights ago.]

Reading the Highland Villager #54

2012-01-30T14:48:00.002-06:00

[The Villager stops cold winter drafts.]

Headline: Riverfront land use plan flows swiftlytoward final resolution
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The master plan for StPaul's riverfront, called "The Great River Passage" [for somereason?], is done and open to comment by the neighborhood groups. Includesquote from neighborhood people who'd like more time to peruse the plan.Includes some details of plan: "nature-based recreation" that include"public-private partnerships", and a development proposal for the[drop dead beautiful] abandoned red brick power plant. [The article uses theword "natural" or "nature" only three times! Remarkable restraint. -Ed.] Includes times/places for public meetings.

Headline: Size matters in early debate over statebonding bill; DFLers argue for a larger bill as way to create jobs andstimulate economy
Reporter: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: Report on bonding billdebate, w/ quote from [what seems like all of the] St Paul legislators aboutneed for more investment.

Headline: City's first pitch to Legislature: a newdowntown ballpark
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on the proposed newSaints stadium in lowertown, emphasizing its inclusion in Governor Dayton’sbonding bill. Includes Saints’ version of the details of proposal: rendering,cost, “jobs” generated, and economic benefits (#10/yr in lowertown). Articlealso includes other St Paul city council priorities from their recent “legislativeagenda”: legislative redistricting that might shrink St Paul’s seats, money for Como park, public television, the Watergate Marina, flood mitigation, and the children’smuseum.

Headline: Ramsey County sets its agenda for newlegislative session.
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on the similaragenda only at the county level. Specifics include: lane expansion and newinterchanges along 694, money for industrial cleanup.

Headline: District councils will share the pain offederal block grant cuts
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on how cuts offederal funding for cities will trickle down to the district councils.

Headline: McDonald’s in Highland to be rebuilt
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on how theMcDonald's on W 7^th St is going to be razed and the rebuilt. [The newbuilding will be “the exact same size” as the old one, with very similar drive thru and parking lot moat design. –Ed.] Includes details about thePlanning Commission’s zoning committee, which wants better landscaping.Includes details such as existence of McDonalds’ USA executive “Roy Crouston”,who helps franchise owners design their buildings. Includes the following quoteabout Crouston: “He noted that most cities have requiremnts for minimumparking, not maximum.” Includesdrawing of site plan.

Headline: Local residents seek amendments to planfor Griggs Street bike blvd
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on the publichearing before the city council about the proposed bike boulevard on GriggsStreet, which would have small roundabouts to calm traffic to create a bikeboulevard. Article focuses on neighbor reactions and quote, people confusedabout why the boulevard is being built. [People including my dad and step-mom,who live a block from Griggs, and were among the testifiers opposed to the bikeboulevard. Yes. Yes, they were. –Ed.] Example of a public comment: “I’m luckyif I see one bike go by each week … I can’t understand why this is being done.”Article includes some explanation from council members CM Stark and Brendmoenabout usefulness of bike boulevards, and in the final paragraph, some costsfigures including detail about federal funding stream. [NOTE: the proposalpassed after they removed only one of the roundabouts, the one on Dayton,because of pressure from CM Carter. The roundabout next to my parents house ISgoing to be built. They won’t mind. –Ed.]

Headline: Nothing more than window dressing
Reporter: Michael Mischke

Short short version: Editorial about recent newcity sign ordinance claiming that it won’t really have any effects because 1)there are so many “special sign districts”, 2) the inspectors won’t enforce therules because they don’t like or are too busy, and 3) the existing signs aregrandfathered in, which has let to an avalanche of signage being placed inwindows before the new rules take effect. [Actually, I find myself, for thefirst time, agreeing with Mr. Mischke. –Ed.]

Headline: SHA, law firm appeal parking variance forCupcake on Grand
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on the long longsaga of the Cupcake cupcake store and [delicious] bakery [which is trying toopen a new store in a old failed clothing boutique on Grand Avenue]. The localdistrict council is pissed about the parking variance [which allowed the bakeryNOT to build seven new parking spots off the street]. The board of zoningappeals (BZA) recently granted the bakery a variance.

Headline: Emily Program drops plans to run eatingprogram in old Bush Home
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on the end of anattempt to re-use an old children’s home building for a eating disorder clinic.The Article includes quote from the clinic and the developer about too manyrestrictions, points to the role of the St Paul planning Commission, whichwanted “conditions” on their “non-conforming” use limiting the number of bedsand kinds of activites that could occur in the building. Includes quotes fromSPPC folks saying that neighborsshould not have to negotiate with a non-conforming [its in an area zonedresidential] institution.

Headline: Mpls. To reopen Howe School in 2013;Growign district will spend $45 million to refurbish 3 buildlings
Reporter: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: Article on the elementaryschool at 37^th Street and 43^rd Avenue, which will beremodeled. Includes photo of the school from 1927.

Headline: Discussions continue over plans for PizzaLuce parking
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Update on the debate overthe construction of more parking spaces for the Selby Avenue Pizza Luce,focusing on a recent district council committee meting and public hearing.(There will be another meting Tuesday 1/31 at 6:00 at the western districtpolice station.) The issue is headed to the city council, and involves thesetback rules for building parking lots. Article includes a quizzical quotefrom the local neighborhood group leader, who doesn’t understand why theconstruction of off-street parking is seen as a bad thing. [It’s like the exactopposite story from the earlier Cupcake article. It seems like you’re parked ifyou do, and you’re parked if you don’t. It seems like you’re up a dead-endalley without a spot to turnaround. It seems like you’re out of the on-streetfrying pan, and into the off-street fire. –Ed.]

Headline: Catering company seeks to open in CasaVieja spot on W. 7^th; Renovation plans include offering music, barand restaurant on main floor
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: A caterer called “completebeverage service” is trying to open a new bar / club in at a spot on West 7^thStreet [that used to house what I can only assume was a Mexican restaurant?]. The district council is OKwith it. The name of the restaurant “has not yet been announced.” [I hope its a better name than "complete beverage service." -Ed.]

For your consideration: The LOL Horn

2012-01-27T15:07:00.001-06:00

[A "conversation" in Beirut.]

I was out at the Bryant Lake Bowl last night, talking about transportation and society with some friends (as per usual). What we ended up discussing was the way that cars force you to interact with each other. My friend was saying how completely normal people, who are very nice and non-rude and genteel and civil, can turn into absolute solipsistic maniacs when they get behind the wheel of the car. (I’m not going to name any names, Andy, so your secret driver identity is safe with me.)

The point my friend was making was that the ‘honk’ of the horn has almost ZERO syntactical content. It's almost entirely meaningless, and only conveys something like danger/urgency. It’s a blaring nasal mechanical bleat, and other than giving someone the finger or yelling noiselessly in your isolated cockpit, its the only form of communication you have. The honk of a horn can mean anything from “Fuck you!” to “Please speed up” to “The light is green, please proceed at the next available opportunity" to "You just cut me off, and you better be late for a wedding or something" to “Hey, you’re an attractive female!”

Being in a car, at least if you’re not dangerously talking on your cell phone, means that you are reduced to the most duck-like form of communication possible, to a single solitary noise that could mean almost anything positive and negative. When you stop to think about it, a bunch of people stuck on a freeway is perhaps the lowest possible common denominator for our society, at least in terms of interactive communication.

But then someone asked, what if you could replace the ‘honking of the horn’ with something like an emoticon? What if, instead of your horn saying ‘beeeeeep’, it could say “LOL" or "OMG!”

Close your eyes for a second and imagine a freeway full of cars stuck in traffic, only instead of leaning on their horns, the cars were going “LOL” to each other! OMG, that might be great.

Update: Actually, no, it would still be dumb.

Signs of the Times #47

2012-01-26T12:09:00.000-06:00

BEWARE OF

SHUTTLE

[Fence. Cathedral Hill, St Paul.]

Private

Violators

Will Be Towed

[Sandwich board. Cathedral Hill, St Paul.]

THIS IS

NOT A

DESIGNATED

SWIMMING

AREA

[Lakeshore. Near New Hope.]

-->

VOTE

HERE

[Wooden board on steps. University of Minnesota campus, Minneapolis.]

OLD ARIZONA

PARKING

OLD ARIZONA

[Fence. "Nicollet Avenue", Minneapolis.]

2+2=5

[Pole. North End, St Paul.]

MOPPET IS MISSING

LONG HAIRED

GREY CAT

NO COLLAR

Reward! Call

[Post. Como Park, St Paul.]

GLOBAL

WATER

SUPPLY

[Board on stack of tires. Warehouse District, Minneapolis.]

*Attention: lovely & loyal

customers!

Mapps will be closed from

Friday December 23rd - Sunday Jan 1st

THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING :)

[Door. Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis.]

SALE

[Above the sidewalk. Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis.]

Classic Sideawlks of the Silver Screen #56

2012-01-25T15:12:00.000-06:00

The kids play the whistling game where you bet on bumping the lamppost...

... in Jaques Tati's (1958) classic, Mon Oncle.

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #55

2012-01-25T15:09:00.000-06:00

Increasingly fewer kids get some exercise on the sidewalks of Paris ...

... in Truffaut's (1959) classic Les quatre cents coups.

Sidewalk Mailbox #4: If You Shovel It, They Will Come?

2012-01-24T13:02:00.001-06:00

[Walking to school on the "sidewalk", or mountain climbing?]

All too occasionally on this insignificant sidewalk blog, I receive letters from readers with questions about important matters of the day, issues that range the entire gamut all the way from sidewalk history, to sidewalk graffiti, to types of sidewalk materials!

Needless to say, I find these queries tremendously exciting. Feedback of any kind always makes me giddy.

At the same time, I’m inevitably disappointed with my responses to these kinds of questions, for the simple reason that, to tell the truth, I don’t know very much about sidewalks! Sure, I can blather on about the joys of walking or random curiosities, and thanks to my very expensive education, I can use words with many syllables. But I know next to nothing about actual sidewalks. You might say, I lack concrete knowledge.

That said, I got a letter the other day from a frustrated citizen of a second-ring Twin Cities’ suburb [Hint: it’s in Ramsey County] who expressed frustration about the lack of shoveled sidewalks in his neighborhood.

Here’s a version what the reader wrote to his local civic code enforcer, with all nouns removed to protect the innocent: [Extra fun game: insert your local nouns and create a Madlibs sidewalk complaint!]

I am very concerned about the lack of snow removal on the part of property owners along [street name], specifically between [street name] and [name of local elementary school]. [Name of city] removes "significant snowfall" along this corridor which we greatly appreciate. It's the nuisance snow which property owners neglect to clear in a timely manner. This snow becomes compacted and glazed over with ice becoming extremely treacherous. In my opinion they are in violation of [number of city code].

My wife has walked our kids to school over the past few days and there are sections of glare ice where they had to walk like "penguins" for lack of a better description. This section is heavily used by the [name of elementary school] walk line as well.

I'm not one to nit-pick, but when this happens time and again it's ridiculous. A majority of home owners do their part which we're very grateful for, but it's the following owners which create problems time and again.

In response, the code enforcer wrote that “citizens are not required to remove snow from the sidewalk” and that “we recommend it, but its not required.” Needless to say, this didn’t please my correspondent!

Even on the best of Twin Cities’ sidewalks, winter maintenance is no easy task. For people with mobility issues – especially the young, the elderly, and the disabled – getting around in the wintertime can be a huge challenge!

[A person in a wheelchair choosing to go the wrong way on the street instead of onto the sidewalk in Minneapolis' SE Como neighborhood.]

But the issue is compounded many times over in the suburbs, which often lack sidewalks altogether. Or if they do have them, they’re almost completely pointless because they lack accessible, nearby destinations. We have an almost impossible task ahead of us lot of work to do if we want to make our suburban neighborhoods walkable, but it would seem to me that requiring snow shoveling could be some “low hanging fruit.” (As added benefits, people would get much needed exercise, boost the snow shovel supplying parts our economy, and maybe even meet their neighbors over a good round of kvetching.)

All this is to say that I turn to you, brave readers. What, if any, are the rules for shoveling sidewalks in the suburbs? Does anyone enforce them? Would it matter if they did? Is there any hope for the wintry suburban pedestrian?

Maybe the only solutions are to either learn to enjoy walking like a penguin, or else to move to Minneapolis, where they only recently enacted a new sidewalk snow shoveling law with teeth.

Sidewalk Poem #18

2012-01-23T17:03:00.003-06:00

Benediction for the Savior of Orlando

Signs and wonders: Jesus Is Lord Over Greater Orlando
snake-tagged in cadmium on a vine-grown cyclone
fence along I-4 southbound north of downtown
is a credo that subverts the conventional wisdom
that Walt Disney is the messiah and his minions the christened
stewards of this place, that the Kingdom to Come shall be Mickey's,
that the bread of our communion will be proffered by A.T.M.
and the wine quaffed without taint of sulfites
or trademark infringement, all of which is certainly true
and yet too pat, too much like shooting mice in a barrel
when there are nastier vermin to contest
and purgatories far worse than Disney's realm of immortal
simulacra suckled at the breast of Lake Buena Vista.
There is, for one, Orlando itself,
Orlando rightly considered, Orlando qua Orlando.
Nobody, anywhere, could honestly propose Orlando
as a fit model for human habitation,
city with the character of a turnpike restroom,
city with the soul of a fast-food establishment,
sanitized and corporatized, homogenous and formulaic.
Orlando is the holy land of the branded and franchised,
Orlando is the Jerusalem of commodified delight,
Orlando, Orlando, so many Orlandos
I commence to feel downright Shakespearean,
but here is no Rosalind to dignify our tale,
no Touchstone to transform its tragedy to farce,
because Orlando is the Florida I fear to conceive,
Florida ordained like the ante-chamber to that afterworld
where jackal-headed Anubis prepares his embalmer's instruments
to pump our veins with tincture of liquid sunshine
until we are reduced to somnambulant acquiescence,
a citizenry mummified within the cambric of material satiety,
within the gated stucco walls of economic segregation
and the hairy stucco arms of Armed Response security,
a people determined to rev our outboards and troll for bass
in the shadow of the form-glass temples to corporate profit
while the fill ponds grow heavy with duckweed and algae
and the golf courses burn with viridian fire
through seasons of rain and seasons of drought
and the metropolis spreads ever outward the bland picnic blankets
of its asphalt dominion, landscape drained of spontaneity and glee,
bones boiled free of communal gristle—is it any wonder
the children of this America rise up with guns
to wreak a senseless vengeance,
the very children that might have saved us,
the ones we had relied on to assemble in fellowship
and attend to councils of greater wisdom
than those to which we have given credence?
Perhaps the children were absent from school
the day these lessons were offered or perhaps
the lessons have been censored from the curriculum
or there was no curriculum or the schools
had been demolished to make room for the future,
a serial cataclysm of vinyl and asphalt,
a republic of bananas and Banana Republics,
where cars are the chosen and credit cards the elect,
where Judge Judy balances the Scales of Justice
and the anthem of our freedom is sung by Chuck E. Cheese.
Here I may testify with absolute conviction:
Chuck E. Cheese is the monstrous embodiment of a nightmare,
the bewhiskered Mephistopheles of ring toss,
the diabolical vampire of our transcendent ideals.
Every Chuck E. Cheese's erected across the mall-lands of America
is another nail in the coffin of human aspiration
and every hour spent in one takes six months off your life.
No, no, no, it's not a theme restaurant or family amusement center
but a vision of infernal despair enjoined in plastic flames,
the clownish horror of the place is unspeakable,
yet I feel that I must speak of it, for I have been
to the birthday party of Emily, turning five,
the birthday party of Max, turning eight or nine,
of Max again, of David and Doris, of Myrna and Roberto,
I can bear witness to its odors of chocolate milk and floor cleanser,
the Formica falsity of its processed cheesefood pseudo-pizza,
its banquet tables arrayed with pitchers of lurid orange soda
and the kids in the arcade room playing air hockey
and whack-a-mole and teaching one another to cheat at skiball
to win a screel of coupons to redeem for tiny, chintzy prizes,
the worst sorts of craftily packaged trash—
stringless army parachute guys, malformed monster finger puppets,
Chinese yo-yos that self-destruct at the flip of a wrist—
a rainbow-colored peepshow designed to entice the youngest among us
to invest their lives in a cycle of competitive consumption
and then the animatronic hoedown commences its banjo jangle,
the hairy rodent orchestra chirring their cymbals on stage
as the gray rat-man emerges from his curtain redolent of mildew,
the incubus, the secret sharer, Chuck E. Cheese himself,
and the baby children scream in dismay and the larger children
gag with disinterest and the parents pay no attention at all
while employees with the fear- and candy-glazed eyeballs
of medium-security inmates stutter their pre-scripted remarks
over a public address system in whose interstitial silences
one may discern the voices of the lost upraised in prayer.

We're having a great day at Chuck E. Cheese—
            Hear us, help us, grant us benison,

Pick up your food at the counter PJ—
            Comfort and guide us, lead us to salvation,

Everyone loves family fun at Chuck E.—
            Bestow the mercies of your blessing

Cheese for your safety wear shoes at all times—
            Upon our souls, we beseech Thee,

Last call for pickup PJ last call—
            Lord of our fathers, almighty God.

[Campbell McGrath.]

[Epcot Center looking like heaven.]

Al Franken is Kinda Almost Entirely Wrong on the Stillwater Bridge

2012-01-23T16:44:00.001-06:00

[This is the "ruined view" that Franken claims is the reason why this smaller bridge proposal makes no sense.]

I've been thinking for some time about the 'non-partisan' politics of development. No matter what party you belong to, everyone seems to agree that classic 20th century suburban growth economics is a good thing. Big deal (freeway) transportation projects provide jobs by putting people to work while simultaneously feeding the real estate growth machine that connects to global finance capital. Lots of political interests, on both sides of the aisle, can get behind that!

In particular, the Stillwater Bridge issue is a great example of how local political growth machines combine with union interests, development schemes, and frustration over traffic congestion to make a bad idea seem like common sense. It's crazy that an expensive, misguided, environmentally-damaging bridge to nowhere that will only encourage bad long-term investment decisions is one of the few (the only?) issues that both sides of our statewide political schism can agree about. Why is sprawl development bridging the canyonesque gap between Michele Bachmann and Al Franken?

Well, Franken appeared on MPR the other day, and the topic of the Stillwater Bridge came up. I'll allow him to explain himself:

[Comment from “Bruce on Facebook." Bruce is someone who is annoyed about the bridge not being built yet. He says “as a Democrat I can’t believe I’m coming down on the side where I agree w/ Michele Bachmann and not with Betty McCollum. Can you explain that to me?"]

Senator Franken: This isn’t really a partisan issue I don’t think. I did… I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to this project until Governor Dayton met with Michelle on the bridge and said, let’s do this. And then Amy also agreed what we should do it.

And so... I just... I know that Vice President Mondale had been against it because he’d been author of the wild and scenic rivers act, and he felt that this might open the door to violating that act because the parks service has said that this bridge would violate that.

Now there is a provision written in it where congress can instruct the secretary, in this case the sec of the interior under whose jurisdiction this bridge is because in this case it’s the parks service that runs it the area, can instruct the secretary of transportation to say ‘we’re going to build a bridge’. That’s written into the law, so its not going to be open season on this law.

I studied this very intensely, and I came to the conclusion that the footprint of the bridge that is the preferred option by the community groups that met on this, that studying this, is probably the best footprint. It goes right past the enormous NSP, or Excel, smokestack. So it doesn’t, I don’t believe, ruin the wild and scenic nature of this.

I tried to explore with MN-DOT other alternatives, the "lower and slower bridge," as sometimes the nomenclature is, and there really wasn’t a there there. There was a bridge, a "three architects bridge" that the Sierra Club put forward that hadn’t been really considered by MNDOT. I pressed on them to do that, and they … there were a couple things wrong with it, one was that it completely obstructed the view of the bluffs for anybody in Stillwater, which if you’re ruining the wild and scenic nature of the thing, that really did it for Stillwater.

And secondly, it causes as much environmental damage, and needed as much mitigation, and essentially costs the same. And we’ve been dealing with this for about 30 years, and the longer we put this off, the more any bridge that we do is gonna cost. The bridge that is there now is 80 years old, and there’s backup of traffic. It’s a lift bridge, so when a boat comes under it they have to lift that bridge and stop traffic. And its 80 years old, and we can’t go with that.

It’s also a historical preservation bridge, so we can’t tear it up. so we’ve been… I’ve made the point that this is the exception that hopefully will prove the rule. I don’t think this will put the wild and scenic rivers act under… in open season on it.

Gary Eichten: Will the bridge actually be built in our lifetime? A bridge? Any bridge?

Senator Franken: Yes, well, we’ve been trying to get it on…we tried to get it on the last omnibus package. I don’t want to… Boy, you talk omnibus package you sound like you’re really into the weeds in nomenclature of the congress, but we couldn’t get it in. But we did pass through, actually it's my committee, the energy and natural resources committee. We passed the authorization for the bridge. And the senate has passed it, I believe. Anyway we’re trying to get it into this bill and we couldn’t do it.

I actually talked to Michele on this. You know, about a month ago, while we were trying to get it into the omnibus package. And leader reed asked me to ask Michele about Speaker Boehner about it, and actually Michele and I had a great conversation. And it was a good three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, and she said, "you know what, this process, this is a good process. Whoever’s gonna be president has to go through this."

And so as much as I have problems with Michelle’s politics and her stance on certain things, I will say that her attitude to the whole caucus thing was pretty commendable.
A lot of other stuff she said, I didn’t… I disagree with.

Gary Eichten: So is that yes or no on whether or not a bridge will be built while we’re still alive?

Senator Franken: Uhh, yes. Well, that depends. You’re pretty old.

Gary Eichten: [Laughs geriatrically]

There's lots that's a bit off here, including a underestimation of the damaging environmental precedent. And that, except to talk about "the view," Franken doesn't really explain himself when he claims that the alternative "lower and slower" bridge concepts are flawed.

It's only hearsay, but I've heard from people who've talked with folks at MN-DOT who have admitted that there is in fact a "there there" when it comes to bridge alternatives for the Stillwater Bridge. In fact, as Chuck has pointed out repeatedly, the Stillwater Bridge is an "old economy project that won't die." It's based on assumptions about suburban growth that are ridiculously out of date, and meanwhile, the current traffic across the bridge is incredibly low for a project that would be the costliest bridge in state history.

Meanwhile, it represents a serious mis-allocation of resources. In an era of budget cuts at every level, we need to focus on maintaining existing infrastructure, not building more of it (for its own sake). The current bridge proposal would connect a distant suburban small town with a bunch of Wisconsin farm fields for the cost of $700M. The MN-DOT bridge project as planned would inevitably lead to a tremendous amount of exurban development in the wrong places, in distant Wisconsin. It's an idea that only makes sense if you believe that $2 gas is right around the corner.

Al Franken should know that that's isn't going to happen. He's devoted his life to satirizing political folly. If he can't see this project for the bad idea that it is, nobody can.

[Ex-candidate Bachmann promising $2 gas, streets paved with gold.]

Update: This just in. The Senate has officially passed the bill. Via MPR:

The bill, sponsored by DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, passed the Senate with no debate under a procedure known as unanimous consent that is used for legislation considered uncontroversial.

The legislation grants an exemption to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act that protects the St. Croix. The bill authorizes a four-lane replacement bridge south of Stillwater near the town of Oak Park Heights.

[...]

One of the possible holdups in the House is the opposition of DFL Reps. Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison, who argue the cost of the project is excessive and say a smaller bridge would suffice.

"We need to find a common sense compromise because a $700 million bridge across the St. Croix River is bad fiscal policy, bad transportation policy, and bad environmental policy," said McCollum in a written statement.

I'd say that the chances of this bridge not getting built are about the same as a huge taxpayer-funded Vikings stadium not getting built. In other words, they are exceedingly slender.

* Sidewalk Weekend! *

2012-01-20T13:15:00.001-06:00

Sidewalk Rating: Cold

This has specific consequences, especially for the modes of movement and the phenomena accompanying them: humans who always move along walls, walk as continuously as possible, never sit down, and prop themselves up with their arms and lean against a wall when they stop, completely shifting their weight to the tip of an elbow or propping themselves up with one food on the curb. In the worst case, if they move too slowly or stop in the middle of the street, they fall face forward or have to be helped up or pushed along.

[Gerald Raunig.]

[Billy goats preparing to cross the Medicine Lake Art Shantys.]

*** CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LINKS! ***

*** ***

Yet while they all seem compelled to mention the helment, not one of them so much as bothered to point out whether or not Hackman was wearing a sun hat--as a fair-skinned octogenarian, the actor is at high risk for skin cancer, and going out without adequate protection from the harsh Florida sun would technically be far more foolhardy behavior.

[Fm. BSNY.]

*** ***

Rooty Toot Toot (John Hubley; 1951) by Tomsutpen

*** ***

Every afternoon he would emerge from his rented room at the Ace Hotel over on the east side by the railroad yard, and he and Friedrich Engels, another Ace resident and local curiosity, would stumble around the sidewalks of downtown engaged in heated conversation that often resulted in minor dust-ups and spitting matches. Kids used to regularly throw rocks at them.

[Fm. Zellar.]

*** ***

Sidewalk Book #3

2012-01-19T11:48:00.002-06:00

Purchased at the only extant Hmong bookstore...

... In the City by Yees Duab and Sau Nob Thoj.

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #54

2012-01-18T11:07:00.002-06:00

The fighting pauses ever so briefly...

[Click on image for clip.]

... in Alfonso Cuarón's (2006) Children of Men.

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #53

2012-01-18T11:00:00.003-06:00

Sidney Falco gets his comeuppance...

... in Alexander Mackendrick's (1957) Sweet Smell of Success.

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #52

2012-01-18T10:56:00.003-06:00

Terrance Blanchard performs a lonely jazz funeral for the Lower 9th...

... in Spike Lee's (2006) When the Levees Broke.

Reading the Highland Villager #53

2012-01-17T14:42:00.001-06:00

[The Highland Villager is impervious to cold.]

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. That's why I'm reading the Highland Villager so that you don't have to. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free.]

Total # of articles about sidewalks: 13
Total # of articles about sidewalks written by Jane McClure: 10

Headline: St. Paul goes to the extremes for Crashed Ice; Three-day competition is expected to attract tens of thousands to the city
Reporter: Frank Jossi

Short short version: Report on the aforementioned spectacle.

Headline: City to develop $62 million Penfield on its own; With the demand for high-end apartments, the risk of failure is low, supporters say
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Report on the City Council passing a financing package [i.e. borrowing lots of money, including some from a HUD loan] to built a six-story condo building, Lund's supermarket, and 328 underground parking spaces at the site of the long dormant Penfield development. [That's a lot of parking spaces, isn't it? I wonder what percentage of the $62M is devoted to parking spaces? I wonder if they really need ALL of them? -Ed.] Article includes glowing quote from the Mayor, including the words "cathartic" and "cornerstone." [Actually, the quote consists ONLY of the words "cathartic" and "cornerstone." Is Jane getting lazy? -Ed.] Article includes some debate over whether or not St Paul should be developing property without private developer involvement. [See streets.mn for more on this question.] CMs Lantry, Stark, and Carter voted against the project for precisely this reason, citing too much risk. Article includes [fishy] detail that part of the financing came from raiding a streetscape improvement fund for University Avenue.

Headline: Despite his relative youth, Tolbert appears well-suited for City Council
Reporter: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: Article on newly elected Ward 3 [Highland Park] CM Chris Tolbert, emphasizing his youth. He's 28. [OK, that's young. Even younger than CM Carter, who is my age! -Ed.] Article also emphasizes his humor, smile, humility, girlfriend, status as a sports fan, and experience in the legal professions.

Headline: City adopts new limits on window signs; Council passes new regs over objections of business, city staff
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city is now limiting signs displayed in windows to "no more than 30% of the total window area" and requiring a permit for "electronic or dynamic" signage over six square feet. Article includes debate over whether or not regulations are "onerous." CMs Harris and Bostrom voted against.

Headline: House of Hope to keep garden fence
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Update on the [heated!] debate mentioned previously about the use of a [non-über-fancy] wood fence for the garden in front of the House of Hope church on [über-fancy] Summit Avenue. The fence will be modified in accordance with "Historic Hill District guidelines," using a STAR grant. "Plans call for ... adding scalloped metal." [Ahh, scalloped metal, the balm for all wounds, the cure for all seasons... As they say, good fences make good neighbors, and scalloped metal makes good fences. -Ed.]

Headline: Cupcake gets variance to open on Grand
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Update on the [frosted!] debate mentioned previously about the [delicious and bougie] bakery/coffee shop Cupcake's attempt to open a location on Grand Avenue [in what used to be a clothes boutique.] The debate had been over wehther or not the bakery would receive a variance for the minimum off-street parkign requirements, which would have required them to construct seven new parking spaces. [Very expensive, that. Prohibitive, you might say. -Ed.] Article includes details about the debate in the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting; some wanted a requirement to lease parking spaces, and the neighborhood association was opposed. The bakery will have lots of bike racks, a wine and beer license. [Score! -Ed.]

Headline: Neighbors appeal plans for additional Pizza Luce parking lot
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on a recent plan to build an 11-space parking lot on Selby Avenue, across the street from the St Paul Pizza Luce. The "small commercial building" that was previously there was demolished last month. Neighbors, including key members of Union Park District Council, are upset. Article includes detail about a "pet dog" being killed by someone using the current Luce Parking lot. Article also includes some history over other attempts by the pizzeria to build parking lots. [Well, this debate raises lots of sticky issues! -Ed.]

Headline: HRA approves grand, development agreement for brewery
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The City Council approved a $1.5M block grant for the Schmidt brewery development.

Headline: Winter Carnival parade to travel down West 7th Street
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: From Smith Avenue to downtown, 2:00pm on Saturday January 28th.

Headline: BZA grants variance for two new signs at the Lexington
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Despite strict regulations, the planned 36" tall letter 'L's on the new Lexington [steak] restaurant signs will be allowed to exist.

Headline: Snelling-Hamline company is told to clean up others' trash
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Someone is illegally dumping trash outside a construction business on Dayton Avenue, but they have to clean it up anyway because the city isn't going to.

Headline: Business is booming for the Village-based Blooms
Reporter: Frank Jossi

Short short version: A father and son are making a go if it selling commercial real estate, bringing you such establishments as Panera Bread, Five Guys, and Roundy's.

Headline: Clause in lease may step on toes of Dancers Studio permit request
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: A dance studio in the strip mall by Cub Foods wants to start a "dance hall" for "events" with "tickets." The landlord doesn't like it.

Red Bull Gives You Crowds

2012-01-13T14:36:00.000-06:00

[Tongue contraption extending from the Catholics to the Interstate.]

I hang out around the St. Paul Cathedral a lot, and a few weeks back I noticed the strange construction occurring on Summit Avenue. I guess I didn't think much about it, but it turns out its part of this event called Red Bull Crashed Ice, a semi-crazy skating / luge race that started in Sweden and is sponsored by Red Bull.

Apparently, Red Bull's marketing approach is to have these huge crazy events set in various cities around the world. And its a great thing for cities! A year and a half ago, Red Bull brought their "Flugtag" contest to the riverfront in downtown St Paul, and I have never in my life seen such crowds in my Midwestern small city. It was great fun.

And now Red Bull is back with another huge Rube Goldberg event. I'm glad they like St. Paul so much. Maybe repeated association with Red Bull will help us re-brand our quiet town. Until this point, I've always considered St Paul to be "the city that sleeps."

Massive crowds are expected (75,000 people). And so everyone who's anyone in downtown or Cathedral Hill is talking about the Crashed Ice (Especially those in the restaurant industry.) It's quite the exceptional moment!

[Just an average day in downtown St Paul in 1935.]

For me, though, an event like this is a rare chance to glimpse what downtown life was like back when downtowns had high densities on a regular basis.

As I mentioned after the Flugtag, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and every city in America used to be able to generate crowds on a regular basis. This amount of foot traffic was semi-normal. This amount of people wanting food and drink, strolling around the city, and clustering on the Cathedral steps was not that unusual. It's one reason why so many department stores, shops, and cafés were located downtown.

If you happen to find yourself in St Paul for the Crashed Ice spectacle, pause for a moment and imagine a world with downtown density. Imagine what St. Paul would be like if the streets were filled with people. I'm not saying that downtowns were always packed and crowded. They weren't. But crowds that today seem shockingly large wouldn't have been out of the ordinary in the pre-suburbanized city. Even in a place as seemingly average as St. Paul, Minnesota.

[A large crowd gathered on the steps of the St Paul Cathedral to watch the 1938 Winter Carnival parade. Img. MNHS.]

The Top 19 Vikings Stadium Renderings of All Time

2012-01-13T02:42:00.000-06:00

#19

Pros: None.

Cons: I have no idea what is going on with this. Are those trees?

#18

Pros: Shiny.

Cons: Lacks context. Looks too complicated, as if you could cut yourself. Unclear how "it works." No people to be found.

#17

Pros: Dramatic stormy sky includes both auburn and gunmetal gray.

Cons: Devoid of human life. What are those giant white cones that look like flocks of birds? Too much yellow on the field.

#16

Pros: Recalls 16th c. Tokugawa-era armor pattern.

Cons: Over-saturated color palette. People too small. Lighting lacks complexity. Recalls insects.

#15

Pros: Wood paneling on the side of the stadium is a nice touch, adds the impression of texture.

Cons: Foreground too dark. Streetlamps insufficiently elegant. Giant glass screen too busy, unclear. Trees inaccurate for upper Midwestern climate. Stoplight without cars unrealistic.

#14

Pros: Nice use of city skyline in background as a horizon. Highly dramatic skyscape. Nice use of purple.

Cons: Purple is an ugly color. Spotlights too even. Conic sections repetitive. Giant banners look like the scene from Lord of the Rings where the orcs attack. Are those cars or turtles?

#13

Pros: Dramatic mixture of internal and external stretches perceptual categories. Backlit skyline. Semi-accurate depiction of skyscrapers. Flashes in the audience are nice touch.

Cons: Over-saturated green on field. Needs clearer definition between urban skyline and building. Too stark of contrast between field and non-field.

#12

Pros: Many humans.

Cons: Man in brown coat too prominent. Too much "ultra-realistic" detail of Vikings fans suggest actual experience of Vikings game, may lead to unpleasant memories. Stadium looks like generic corporate office park. What is that yellow thing? Is that green blob a tree? What is that white arch thing? Is it made out of glass? What is that purple stuff next to it? Is it bunting? Why bunting? Purple is an ugly color.

#11

Pros: Cathedral-esque lighting! Very dramatic, recalls the Strasbourg Cathedral.

Cons: Are they playing soccer? Strike one, two, and three! (Oops, that's baseball.) Sacked in the endzone for a safety!

#10

Pros: Focus on tailgating places social activity at the center of the frame.

Cons: Too busy! Very difficult to distinguish foreground from background. Lack of diversity in banners leads to repetitive eye strain. "Minnesota sports complex" too generic sounding, suggests bureaucracy. Purple is an ugly color. Why the red Toyota?

Pros: Color / edge style suggests watercolor. Fanciful. Light palette recalls religious depictions of heaven.

Cons: Strange placement of roof support. Unclear how building stays upright. Where are the walls? Soft lighting suggests The Rapture.

Pros: High overhead angle gives broad perspective. Pointillist style suggests French Impressionism. Nice strong geometric form. Realistic depiction of freeway infrastructure.

Cons: Horizon not level. Lack of detail is alienating. Stadium infinitesimal. Repetitive abstract lines suggest agriculture, not violent professional sports. Muted color palette.

Pros: High angle offers perspective, places stadium in context. Nice use of gradient fade.

Cons: Are those hills in the background? There are no hills in Minneapolis. Stadium is too geometric. Highly inaccurate depiction of Minneapolis. Use of LRT train too obvious, too purple.

Pros: Pencil sketch cross-hatching gives rendering a hand-made quality, suggests humanity of artist. Semi-accurate depiction of urban spatial context. High angle hides height of buildings.

Cons: Flags too large. Lack of detail. Football stadium not emphasized. Lacks depth.

Pros: Emphasis on human interaction, white landscape. Trees nicely demarcate open fields, edges. Snow drifts very finely done, with good ramping. Excellent use of scale to a vanishing point.

Cons: What stadium? Vikings fans enjoying wintertime landscape is unrealistic. Lack of detail makes it unclear what activities are taking place. Shadows too realistic, recall actual coldness of winter.

Pros: Delicate external bracing adds lightness to architecture. Semi-transparency gives illusion of depth. Trees are plentiful. Nice cirrus cloud renderings.

Cons: Strange topography gives stadium an unbalanced effect. Curvature induces queasiness. Could this building even exist?

Pros: Emphasis on oft-overlooked wetlands is daring maneuver. Nice use of balloons. Partially clipped dirigible! Realistic depiction of Vikings fan's waistlines.

Cons: What are those yellow things? Over-saturated color palette suggests mid-90s computer software. What are those yellow things? Use of jorts a bit too "realistic" for utopian fantasy. What is that purple thing? Are those seats? Purple is an ugly color.

Pros: Almost Brutalist latticework provides stark realism, gives (really quite daring) impression of being trapped, imprisoned within a Viking-filled cage. Tiny glimpse of city is a striking artistic decision suggesting possibility of freedom.

Cons: Field looks tie-dyed. Bunker connotations unhelpful. Freedom possibly illusory. Could be façade, like The Matrix.

Pros: Excellent balance between infrastructure and social activities. Symmetry between restaurant and stadium. Purple scoreboards offer strong horizontal line demarcating foreground and background. Everyone likes skating.

Cons: Unclear structures. Stadium looks like Sydney Opera House crossed with an alien spaceship. Outdoor plaza in winter unrealistic given Minnesotan tendencies to prefer indoor malls. Purple is an ugly color. Pollution along horizon?

More Ideas for Art Shantys that Rhyme

2012-01-12T20:05:00.000-06:00

[The Medicine Lake Art Shantys, an almost annual celebration of shantily-clad creation.]

Dart Shanty – A shanty where people enter and can play darts. Alternatively, a shanty shaped like a dartboard, with another mobile sort of dart-type art object on ice runners which guests can project toward the shanty’s bullseye.

Start Shanty – A space where guests can attempt to build their own shanty out of anything they happen to have on their person. Nobody finishes.

Smart Shanty – A shanty that capitalizes on mobile communications technology to create an emergent adaptive shanty network, uses self-organization and crowd sourcing to create its own art, achieves sentience, and takes over the world (lake) a la Wintermute.

Pull-Apart Shanty – A shanty made from many, many small parts. Each guest takes part of the shanty home with them until the shanty disappears.

Blart Shanty – This makes no sense. “Blart” is not a word.

Quisinart Shanty – A shanty that chops raw food materials into tiny bits when inserted into the doorway. Made from shiny chrome.

K-Mart Shanty – A shanty that somehow demolishes the Lake Street K-Mart.

Fart Shanty – Self explanatory.

[Fart Shanty prototype, on right.]

Climate as Proxy for Capital within the Minneapolis Skyway System

2012-01-12T15:11:00.000-06:00

[Woman in skyway over Nicollet Mall. Photo by author.]

Stop what you’re doing, and go right now into the Minneapolis skyway system. Then ask a passerby, “Why does Minneapolis have skyways?” I would place good odds that they would say something about the weather.

Popular narratives of the skyway system today, and many books that use Minneapolis’s extensive network as an example, begin with the premise that they were built to shelter residents from the city’s notoriously long and cold winters (see Kaufman 1985, Allen 2005, McAullife 2006, Dahl 2008). Yet when the downtown skyway system was originally conceived, concerns about the cold weather climate were nowhere to be found (Byers 1998 151).

Rather, the skyway system originally emerged from a twofold desire. First, planners in the 1940s and 50s were very concerned about managing increasingly dense pedestrian flows, and viewed skyways as a way to maximize the use of urban space for both people and automobiles (Byers 1998 154). Second, business owners were interested in maximizing their property values, and saw the skyways an opportunity to double the amount of valuable retail space in their downtown buildings (Byers 1998 159).

However, in the rapidly changing urban retail and commercial environments during the 1960s and 70s, the rationale of the skyway system shifted. The skyway system became synonymous with convenience and sheltering office workers from the weather, a rationale that masked the economic and social motivations behind skyway construction. As one Minneapolis business owner put it, “if the public thinks they need protection from the weather let them. We’ll give them what they want as long as they keep spending money” (quoted in Byers 1998 160).

As it developed over time, the Minneapolis skyway system, the largest grade-separated system in the world, has adopted a shifting series of public and private rationales. In public, city leaders and urban planners offered varying justifications for skyway development, including redevelopment, convenience, protection from harsh climates, and pedestrian safety. In private, for investors and downtown retail interests, the skyway system has been about increasing property values and the value of private capital downtown. These conflicting narratives about the utility of the skyway system point to the problematic relationship between public space and private interests in cities.

In my experience, the present shape of the skyway system creates a two-tiered city landscape in downtown Minneapolis that divides the urban population along class lines, and serves the interest of private ownership at the expense of public space within the city. As others have pointed out, the architecture of the skyway system segregates and privatizes the pedestrian flows in the downtown core through mechanisms of disaggregated control. The design of access points, surveillance, policing, and the skyway’s interior architecture all serve to include and exclude certain downtown populations in the interest of increasing the value of property.

I believe that this processes undermines (or, more literally, overpasses) the social functions of public space. Today, the mix of private and public space within the skyway system mirrors David Harvey’s description of the ‘Haussmannization’ of Paris, where design became a filter that included and excluded urban populations, fostering certain kinds of street life for a privileged few at the expense of many others (Harvey 2003, 2005).

The Accidental History of Minneapolis Skyways

[Map of skyway system in indoor skyway mall. Photo by author.]

The history of the Minneapolis skyway system as it developed over time is a complicated story, marked by conflicting rationales. The skyway system began as a privately funded investment tool, starting with one above-grade connection in 1962 that was part of a private mixed-use development (Byers 1998 156). Following its initial success, a few other building owners began to construct skyways throughout the city, in a scattered, uncoordinated and unconnected way. Not until the construction of the large, mixed-use IDS building complex did the skyway system achieve a large amount of connectivity, and become the centerpiece of the downtown retail landscape.

While this initial stage of the skyway construction was developed by private investors, they worked in collaboration with city planners, particularly developing ideals and guidelines for future city development (Byers 1998 157). But the private and separate nature of the skyway system in the 1970s meant that each private skyway had irregular hours, prompting the city to regulate the spaces in 1980, and then assume control over the increasingly large system in 1986 (Corbett et. al. 2007). By the late 1980s, in both funding mechanisms and control, the skyways had developed into a hybrid public-private space (Sagalyn 1990).

[One of the 'retrofit' skyway spaces, often the least welcoming and hardest to nagivate. Photo by author.]

Today, the contemporary skyway system in downtown Minneapolis stands in a highly problematic relationship to public space. According to Byers (1998), skyway space is marked by the two key, interlinked problems that undermine the ability of the public to gather: privatization of space, and segregation of populations. These design consequences work together to control the space within the skyways in the interests of the building owners.

[Bathroom door locked to public in indoor skyway system. Photo by author.]

First, because the skyways are actually located within downtown buildings, most of the space in the Minneapolis skyway system is technically private space. Apart from publically owned buildings like the Hennepin County Government Center or the Convention Center, all the space within the skyways is privately owned and operated. In the interest of protecting their private property, owners use a number of techniques that control the types of behaviors that take place within the skyways. These tools of privatization include explicit mechanisms – e.g. surveillance cameras, private security guards, and limited hours of operation – and more subtle design features such as the lack of ‘public’ seating space within the system.

Yet, at least since the 1980s, public dollars have been invested within the skyway system, and there has been a measure of public control over the regulations and limits to access within the space. This paradoxical situation means that, despite its private ownership, building owners cannot limit access to the space, and the city has invested public money in the creation and maintenance of public space within the skyways. This conflict between private interest and public access places building owners in an unusual relationship with traditional public institutions. For example, because property owners seek to avoid negative attention, private security guards often handle security infractions internally (Byers 1998 288). Thus, the space within skyways represents an ambiguous mix between public investment and public space, and private ownership and private control.

Second, compared with the explicit privatization of space within the skyway system, the system’s segregation of downtown populations represents a more subtle way of controlling space. By increasingly creating inclusive connections with certain populations, and exclusive difficult-to-reach connections with other populations, the skyway space segregates downtown public space according to land use. For example, the skyway system offers easy connection to both public and private parking lots, including the large city-owned parking structures near the freeway entrance to the wealthy Western Minneapolis suburbs (Byers 1998 295).

At the same time, connections to the downtown streets and sidewalks and the large transit-dependent populations are difficult to find, and are often invisible from the street. The lack of transparency between the two kinds of space makes it difficult for less-informed populations to access the space. At the same time, shifting the population of downtown office workers off the streets and sidewalks makes it easier to justify auto-oriented design features along the street (e.g. curb-cut parking ramp entrances, blank ground floor building walls).

As a whole, the way that the skyway system creates a system of ‘convenience’ for certain populations of workers and shoppers in the downtown inherently excludes different or divergent uses of public space. The system segregates populations into two distinct groups, offering dramatically different mix of public and private services for each.

[A lack of pedestrian amenities on the sidewalk underneath the Minneapolis skyways. Photo by author.]

Haussmann’s Paris and the importance of “Relational Connectivity”

[Pissarro's Avenue de l'Opera, one of Paris's "Haussmannized" boulevards.]

As an urban historian, I want to suggest that the way in which the Minneapolis skyway system privatizes and segregates the streets and sidewalks of downtown Minneapolis offers strong parallels to David Harvey’s analysis of construction of boulevards in Paris in the mid-19th century (Harvey 2005). For Harvey, the primary function of public space is political, acting as a way of connecting social groups with each other into a “public sphere.” He writes:

The character of public space counts for little or nothing unless it connects symbiotically with the organization of institutional and private spaces. It is the relational connectivity among public, quasi-public, and private spaces that counts when it comes to politics in the private sphere.

(Harvey 2005 31)

Importantly, the organization of space along the Parisian boulevards lacked any of what Harvey calls "relational connectivity," which is the multiple processes by which the public’s disparate social groups integrate and intermix. Parisian boulevards, despite being “quasi-public” and accessible to all social groups, served as cultural and class “spectacles” that both included and excluded certain populations simultaneously. By creating spaces so uniformly designed to accommodate one particular class, Haussmann excluded the Parisian poor from feeling welcome along the boulevards, thereby undermining the connective public sphere function of the Parisian streets.

As anyone who observed the OccupyMN encampment from the safe perch of the skyway system can attest [see illustration at end of article], the analogy between Harvey’s boulevards and Minneapolis’s skyway system is striking, particularly surrounding the exclusionary practices employed in both urban landscapes. Like Paris, the skyway system is ostensibly open to the public, and offers an alternate climate-controlled ‘sidewalk’ through which any citizen can pass. Yet, also like the boulevards, the spatial characteristics of the skyway system serve to exclude many types of activity and, thus, many social groups and classes. For example, because each building’s interior is designed to maximize its own retail revenue, very few spaces are designed for leisure or relaxation. When walking through the skyway system, it is very difficult not to keep moving. The difficulty of strolling, sitting, standing, or stopping inherently excludes certain groups, particularly the poor and the elderly. Similarly, the ease of skyway access to certain populations (e.g. suburban commuters, office workers) lies in stark contrast to the hidden access points to the street (Byers 1998 317).

The similarities between Paris and Minneapolis stem not from parallel planning values, but rather from similar relationships between the private interest and the public good. As in Paris, the Minneapolis system places individual property owners at the center of planning design decisions. By instituting a system whereby each private building attempts to maximize its own revenue (viz. every other building), the end result of the skyway system’s overall design inevitably separates and privatizes spatial publics in the interests of making a profit. Despite the “democratic” processes operating in contemporary US cities, the Minneapolis system creates a speculative, consumerist environment that operates at least as effectively as Harvey’s Parisian boulevards.

Returning to the Street

Following the desire to maximize the value of downtown capital, the public rationale for the downtown skyway system has shifted from pedestrian safety to redevelopment to climate control. This shift points to how planning principles and the value of public space often seems to change over time, while the interests of capital and private property rights remain constant. Today the emphasis of much of downtown redevelopment efforts has shifted away from the development of a separate, autonomous downtown office core toward a more diverse and exciting cultivation of mixed-use environments

For example, in 2001, under new ownership, the long-running downtown newspaper changed its name officially from The Skyway News to The Downtown Journal (Minnesota Premier Publications 2009). Coming on the heels of the many downtown developments that had taken place outside of the skyway system (e.g. the North Loop and Guthrie condominiums, the Warehouse District’s clubs), the move marked a shift in tone for the ‘redevelopment’ efforts of downtown Minneapolis. No longer were the exclusive and private spaces of the skyway at the center of downtown life. Instead, the city’s narrative emphasis turned towards a broader future that included larger and more diverse social groups. The name change points to the limits of private and quasi-public space’s ability to serve as a public sphere.

The disaggregated historical causality of the Minneapolis skyway system illustrates the effect that the relationship between public good and private interest can have on urban public space. Despite a mix of public and private motives, various actors operating within the city’s social environment created a system that excludes and segregates social groups according to class, behavior, and appearance. At the same time, the actual public spaces of Minneapolis have suffered tremendously because of the segregation of space according to class. After a recent visit by a highly esteemed group of European urban planners and architects, Danish planning guru Jan Gehl said “I feel sorry for Minneapolis,” specifically recommending that the city tear down its skyways. The planning group argued that:

The skyways lend a defensive, pessimistic air to the downtown core when, in reality, they are needed for only a few weeks of the year. "They suck the public life out of the city," he said.
(Berg 2007)

Indeed, as a visit to a the sidewalks outside the short-skirted Warehouse District clubs in January will reveal, skyways are not required for climatic reasons at all. In contrast, the climate serves as a public proxy for capital, standing in for the impulse to maximize private property at the expense of the relational connectivity of the public sphere.

[Protestors in the OccupyMN encampment, with a skyway in the background. Photo by author.]

Bibliography

Allen, R. C. (2005) "Beyond begging; Businesses: Claim sidewalks." Minneapolis. Star Tribune. Metro (Editorial). May 7, 2005

Berg, S. (2007) "Urban designers critique Minneapolis and offer this idea: Tear down all those horrible skyways." Minneapolis. MinnPost. Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007.

Byers, J. D. (1998) Breaking the ground plane: the evolution of grade-separated cities in North America. PhD Thesis. University of Minnesota Department of Geography. pp. 342.

Corbett, M.J.; Xie, F; Levinson, D. (2007) "Evolution of the second-story city: modeling the growth of the Minneapolis skyway network." Working paper: University of Minnesota Department of Civil Engineering. pp. 28.

Dahl, E. (2008) "Coat tales; We wandered the skyways of downtown Minneapolis in search of stylish, well-matched winter coats." Minneapolis. Star Tribune. Metro (Vita.MN). January 24, 2008

Harvey, D. (2005) The political economy of public space. In, Low, S. and Smith, N. (eds.) The Politics of Public Space. New York: Routeledge.

Harvey, D. (2003) Paris: capital of modernity. New York: Routledge.

McAuliffe, B. (2006). "DECEMBERRRRRRRR; Condo helps, but winter still brings chills; Today is
the first day of `meteorological winter,' and for some, an urban lifestyle helps them deal with it on their own terms." Minneapolis. Star Tribune. Metro (4B). December 1, 2006

Minnesota Premier Publications (2009). "About us." March 10, 2009 http://www.downtownjournal.com/index.php?publication=mpp&section=42

Sagalyn, L. (1990) "Explaining the improbable: local redevelopment in the wake of federal cutbacks." Journal of the American Planning Association. 56 (4). 429 – 432.

Twin Cities Soapbox Denziens #1

2012-01-12T14:22:00.000-06:00

[Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis.]

[First Avenue, Minneapolis.]

[Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis.]

[Northrup Mall, Minneapolis.]

[Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis.]

[Northrup Mall, Minneapolis.]

Ideas for Art Shantys that Rhyme

2012-01-12T14:16:00.000-06:00

[The Medicine Lake Art Shanties, an almost annual ritual of creative shanty construction.]

Scanty Shanty – The least possible shanty, made from the least possible material. This shanty barely even exists.

Aunty Shanty – All five of my aunts take turns sitting in a shanty.

Panty Shanty – Girls-only shanty. They trade panties with each other or something.

Decanty Shanty – Shanty with fine spirits in crystal containers. Guests drink booze.

Jimmy Durante Shanty – Shanty containing the personal effects of the late Jimmy Durante. Could be shaped like a giant schnozz.

Shanty Shanty – Sing sea shanties in a shanty. This has obviously already been considered and/or done.

[Then, it hit me. An actual good idea…]

Ranty Shanty – A shanty shaped like a soap box, only with some sort of ladder on the outside (or inside, if preferable).

Entering the shanty, you find a little display about the great ‘speakers corners’ of history (e.g. Hyde Park, Union Square), and some information about famous public / grassroots orators.

Then, the best part: there is a box of some kind, and a paper you can fill out that says, “Suggest a rant. (Be specific.) What irritates you the most?” Then there is a spot for more details, questions like “What is it about your rant suggestion that is the single worst thing? What else is really horrid? (Please be specific.) How does your rant suggestion lead to the downfall of civilization? (Be specific.)” Etc. etc.

Then, the shanty is staffed with the trained volunteer ranters, and every 15 minutes or so one of the volunteer ranters chooses one of the better suggestions, climbs to the top of the shanty, and delivers a tip-top rant on that topic, with lots of fire and brimstone and gesticulation and oratory. Hamming it up is encouraged. Theatrical individuals are involved. Improvisation occurs. Details are fudged or fabricated. The ranter stands atop the Ranty Shanty and yells like Ahab into the cold winter wind, addressing his or her grievances to the horizon. Onlookers look on. This proves to be immensely popular.

As an added bonus, interested participants can attempt to deliver their own rants, addressing a boisterous crowd as if on the Apollo Theater mainstage. Democracy in action, on a giant soapbox on a lake.

It all proves to be immensely therapeutic.

And cold. Also cold.

[Rough schematic of Ranty Shanty. Note: Not to Scale.]

Twin City Yarnbombing #1

2012-01-11T16:22:00.001-06:00

[University of Minnesota campus, Minneapolis.]

[Selby Avenue, St Paul.]

[Hamline Avenue, St Paul.]

[University of Minnesota campus, Minneapolis.]

Twin City Doorways #6

2012-01-11T16:14:00.000-06:00

[Hamline Avenue, St Paul.]

[Thomas Avenue, St Paul.]

[4th Street, Minneapolis.]

[East 7th Street, St Paul.]

[Syndicate Street, St Paul.]

Twin City Message Boards #4

2012-01-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

[Highland Park, St Paul.]

[Snelling / Midway, St Paul.]

[Alma, Wisconsin.]

[St Anthony Park, St Paul.]

[Cedar Riverside, Minneapolis.]

[Cedar Lake, Minneapolis.]

[Frogtown / Hmongtown, St Paul.]

[Location forgotten.]

The Year in Twin City Sidewalks: My 2011 "Heavy Eleven" Report

2012-01-10T15:31:00.000-06:00

I'm a little late. You're supposed to do posts like this in the down-time leading up to New Year's. Oh well. Nobody ever side that sidewalks were the fastest way to get around.

I was lucky enough to be invited onto the Salon Saloon: 2011 Show a few weeks back, and it was a blast. Andy, Colin, and Shanai had 5 guests who'd appeared during the past year come back and share their ten or so 'best' and 'worst' from the past year. Together, we were... The Heavy 100.

Here are mine:

#11) The biggest loss to St Paul: The Closing of Porky's

Despite my dislike of the 'drive-in' as a concept, Porky's was a special case. It was a very early, kitschy-beautiful example of the drive-in diner. It typified everything that Venturi et al described in Learning from Las Vegas, the classic "decorated shed," complete with the best neon sign in the Twin Cities.

On top of that, it was the heart of University Avenue's hot rod culture, which even though I don't understand or participate in, I could appreciate from a distance. At least here you had folks with cars who weren't constantly driving them, but had stopped them, gotten out of them, and stood around in the city talking with other human beings with their face. Street life of any kind is rare enough in St Paul. It's too bad to see it go.

Finally, I liked how it added an interesting element of diversity, of strange juxtapositions. Porky's was located directly next to a large old-folks home, which I always found amusing.

I wrote about this when it happened. Lots of folks blamed the LRT construction for Porky's closing, but it seemed in retrospect to be more about the owner just wanting to get out of the business. It's too bad. It would have been really interesting to see how Porky's adapted to the new light-rail street. (It probably woulda been a lot like a diner I visited in Seattle one time, which eventually transformed into a pedestrian-centered walk-up locale.)

#10) The biggest loss to Minneapolis: Ruth Adams' passing

I told my "Ruth Adams story" on stage at the Bryant Lake Bowl, and this is probably the biggest loss to the City of Lakes over the past year. Nye's Polonaise easily boasts the most sheer character in the Twin Cities. While it will carry on even despite the loss of its actual characters, Ruth Adams was a treasure.

Sure, she wasn't a paragon of health. (What's the opposite of paragon?) But she lived for playing every weekend on the world's tinyest stage, in front of the world's crappiest dance floor, with the World's Most Dangerous Polka Band. I like to think that playing at Nye's was the main thing keeping her going.

She led a life filled with joy and polka, and everyone loved her. If they can say that about me when I'm gone, I'll be pleased.

[Ruth Adams rapping.]

#9) The most humiliating urban planning moment: The closing of the Block E Applebee's

As I've written before, Block E is a classic planning fiasco, a bad idea made worse over time. As such, it's part of a long line of such bad ideas that mark the city of of Minneapolis like warts. And like the proverbial dead horse kick, Block E proved incapable of keeping even the world's most generic ubiquitous restaurant in business.

The Block E Applebee's was the exact opposite of Nye's Polonaise Room. Now there's nothing alive in Block E save for The Shout House (shudder) and (somehow) the Mrs Fields' cookies-bigger-than-your-head establishment. Someday downtown folks will figure out that cities can't compete with the suburbs by replicating them, but need to create unique, locally-owned, walkable places. Keiran's Pub is a good start.

Meanwhile, Block E sits on Hennepin Avenue like a hippopotamus at a dog show.

#8) The least interesting political non-event: Tim Pawlenty's disappearance from everyone’s consciousness

For most of my Twin Cities' life, ever since he took over as a House leader during the Ventura administration, Tim Pawlenty has pretty much been in charge of the State of Minnesota. He did a lot of terrible things. But, mostly, he spent that time calculating in the most Machiavellian way, exactly how to use his current position to craft an image perfect for higher office. And it seemed to be working, at least if you're a Republican. He made it almost to Vice-President during the McCain campaign, and was one of the "candidates" jumping out of the clown car this year.

Then, he wasn't. Tim who? Paw-something...?

It's amazing that so calculating and careful a politician could so completely fail. But he did.

#7) The most forgotten important political event: Minnesota State Government shutdown

I don't know if you remember, but the continual annual state budget deficits finally got caught up in the gears of broken politics during the middle of the summer. Pawlenty's 'no new taxes' party somehow took control of the state legislature, while an aging "classic liberal" failed Senator somehow won the Governor's office.

(He won by the slimmest of marigins, by the way. If Emmer had managed a few more votes, we'd have had a political summer very similar to the one over in Madison, WI.)

I fear that this summer's shutdown wasn't an anomaly. This kind of political 'blue screen of death' is going to happen more and more, as both parties struggle with a changing economy and a lack of resources. Failures at larger scales will force cities and counties into all kinds of budgetary contortions. (See, for example, the next item on the list.) Expect more of this in the future!

[A sign of the times.]

#6) The Stupidest local Minneapolis "bike-lash" moment: Bike/Ped cood'r v. firefighter fight at city hall

"Bikelash" is a term that refers to the "backlash" against the "bicycle." This, too, is likely to increase in the future, as bikes become more popular, gas prices rise, and cities struggle to maintain existing road infrastructure.

Minneapolis is pretty good for bikes, so this bikelash moment was a bit surprising. The city firefighters, facing cuts, singled out the new "bicycle coordinator" position as a classic example of government waste. And the Star Tribune backed them up, penning a short-sighted column against the need for such a position within Public Works.

Well, especially in times of economic hardship, Public Works desperately needs to focus more attention on non-motorized transportation. Unfortuantely, most transportation engineers aren't really trained in how to build anything that isn't solely designed for the automobile. Thankfully, the City Council didn't take the bait, and the city recently announced their new hire.

#5) The stupidest local St Paul "bike-lash" moment: the appearing, disappearing, re-appearing bike sharrows of the Jefferson Bike boulevard

Meanwhile, over in St Paul, things didn't go as smoothly. Bike v. car politics came to a head in the most car-centric part of the city, as the city (with support from Federal dollars devoted to non-motorized transportation) sort-of kind-of attempted to build a bicycle boulevard through Highland Park.

It didn't go so well. Even the first, most basic part of the project -- the painting of "sharrows" -- turned into a political football, as ex-CM Pat Harris objected to the expense and waste of the triangular paint. He demanded that Public Works NOT paint sharrows along his part of the route, and got his way. Except that someone in the painting department didn't get the memo in time, the sharrows got put down on the street, and then someone had to go BACK over the street and 'un-paint' them, covering them up with some sort of black substance.

Well, there was a delicious moment of schadenfreude when the final black substance disappeared, and the sharrows re-emerged to embrace the sunlight, declaring that this was indeed a "bicycle friendly" street (even though nobody really notices them or cares that they exist).

#4) The worst boondoggle: The Block E casino / Vikings stadium

This is obviously still going on. I wrote about this extensively, but for a time there was an attempt (which I found quite admirable in its magnificent foolishness) to link the Vikings stadium to a Block E casino downtown.

Both are epically bad ideas. It's fitting that they wanted to be friends. Enough said.

[Ha!]

#3) The best new trend: Lyndale Avenue Open Streets

I loved this event this summer. It took a huge amount of arm twisting, meeting attending, and good luck to make this happen. Many business owners, bureaucrats, and politicians were very wary of doing an event like this.

But Minneapolis proved to have enough mental flexibility to try something new, and it worked beautifully. Now every neighborhood wants one. Look for more Open Streets to come.

[Even though nobody played hopscotch while I was watching, this was terrific.]

#2) The best new time unit: "The Kardashian"

72 days. Happy Kardashi-versary Manny and Mark! You just got married, but you can already celebrate.

Meanwhile, to Aunt Peg and Uncle Bob up in Edmonton, Happy 522th Kardashiversary!

[Um. Yeah. That happened.]

#1) The most intriguing but enigmatic political event: The Occupy Movement

Who knows what it meant? Who knows where it will take us? All I know is that it is sometimes interesting, sometimes not, and its important that we start talking about politics, public space, income equality, and the financialization of our economy. I don't see anyone else doing that, and I don't see anyone else hanging out at 8pm in Government Center Plaza.

Let's hope that someone, somewhere keeps occupying something in Minneapolis and St Paul.

[Who knows what this is? But it's interesting.]

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #51

2012-01-09T15:51:00.002-06:00

Sergeant Joe Carter almost forgets that he lives with Connie Milligan...

... in George Stevens' (1943) classic, The More The Merrier.

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #50

2012-01-09T15:49:00.000-06:00

Police Inspector Harry Callahan stops a two-eleven in progress on the sidewalks of San Fransisco...

... in Don Siegel's (1971) Dirty Harry.

If this website is a sidewalk, Streets.mn is a city

2012-01-09T15:22:00.001-06:00

[We're working on the logo.]

More is different. Easily the best thing about having this website is how its helped me meet so many smart, interesting, and engaged people in the Twin Cities urbanism and arts communities. For example, a while back I was included in a discussion about collaborating on a new website that would aggregate, collect, and intersect a bunch of the folks writing and working about the Twin Cities. The idea was to start something similar to Greater Greater Washington or StreetsBlog, something larger than the perspective of a single wonky walker.

Thanks to the hard working folks at Community Design Group, we were able to use the foundation and template of Twin Cities Streets for People to kick start a new site, branded Streets.mn. (By the way, ".mn" stands for Mongolia.)

Well, after many hours of work and a few long meetings, Streets.mn has officially launched in 2012. I'm helping out with it, contributing some of my less personal, more professional ideas, and helping start discussions about transportation, land use, architecture and urbanism. The great thing is that we'll have a diversity of perspectives, (kinda sorta, seeing as well all agree about the importance of strong, good cities,) which means that it'll be a place for debate. See for example the recent back and forth on the pros and cons of skyways.

Not only is Streets.mn a good idea, but the process has helped me to realize how much amazing writing is going on in the Twin Cities. I am not exaggerating when I say that the collection of writers contributing to Streets.mn is a staggering pool of talent. Unlike Groucho, I feel lucky to be included in such a group.

Reading the Highland Villager #52

2012-01-04T11:54:00.000-06:00

[The Villager sits on a St Paul stoop.]

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. That's why I'm reading the Highland Villager so that you don't have to. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free.]

Total # of articles about sidewalks: 13
Total # of articles about sidewalks written by Jane McClure: 11

Headline: City bids tearful farewell to Ford and its workers; last of 6 million vehicles rolled off the line Dec. 16
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Bit on the closing of the Ford plant. Not much new. Article emphasizes history of plant, difficulty of demolishing & cleaning up the site for re-use. There were 800 workers there, but only 125 of the remaining workers are "full status" UAW members (and thus eligible for full layoff benefits).

Headline: City Council trims tax levy increase to 4.98 percent; excess TIF moeny allows for smaller tax increase, additional city services
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Some unexpected TIF money leftover from some un-specified TIF pot will allow a smaller than expected increase in property taxes for the city. Instead of 6.5%, the increase will be 4.98%. That's still less than the 5.5% that the mayor wanted.

Headline: City Council adopts two-pronged program for improving snowplowing; smaller plows and new procedures aim to clear the streets curb to curb
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city will be using "salt brine" more often. This is applied BEFORE snow falls. The city will tow more cars. The city will keep snow off of new University Avenue sidewalks. The city will buy six smaller and more nimble snowplows, and three "other vehicles." These smaller plows will be better able to plow things like bike lanes. Last winter snowplows got stuck in culs-de-sac. The average St Paul snowplow weights 36,000 lbs and is 18 years old. [Yikes! Time for a New Years resolution diet. -Ed.]

Headline: Solar fight flares up on river road
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Two people living on Summit Avenue want to install solar panels on land they thought was theirs but was actually owned by the city. There was a meeting about it. [Oopsies!]

Headline: Ramsey County Board approves leaner budget for 2012; County levy to rise by 1.7$, school levy to increase by 3.6%
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The county is making cuts to its budget.

Headline: Financially troubled USPS proposes closing Mendota P.O. after 158 years
Reporter: Bill Stieger

Short short version: The tiny post office in the tiny [and very historic] town of Mendota may close. [As long as they don't close the VFW, I'm good. -Ed.]

Headline: City Council will miss Ward 3 rep Harris' fiscal expertise
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Haiographic bit on now-ex-CM Harris (Highland Park). Includes details like: he has an older brother named Mike who held the seat before him, he "wants to spend more time with his family," he owns Elvis memorabilia, he is "a great guy." [Also, he hates bike sharrows. -Ed.]

Headline: Long-debated UST liquor license request advances to City Council
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article begins w/ provocative query, "when is a beer tent not a beer tent." Article is about how the political NIMBY football that is the University of St Thomas's application for an outdoor liquor license will be up for a vote. Article includes this great exchange about the intricacies of beer tents: "Westemeter said there was one tent at homecoming by the beer garden area. 'It housed gambling,' she said. 'It was bingo,' Hennes shot back." [This reads like a Christopher Guest movie. -Ed.]

Headline: Attucks-Brooks fined for violations again.
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The [tiny, cute, ex-Rondo Avenue, now-I-94-proximate] VFW hall on Concordia Avenue didn't have proper insurance and had a DJ playing without a license. It is one of the only African-American VFWs in the Upper Midwest. It has "a checkered past," including when someone was murdered outside of it in 2008. [Holy shit. Crack down on them! Good thing the government never bulldozed St Paul's main Black neighborhood and replaced it with a huge, polluting freeway or anything. -Ed.]

Headline: Car wash makes a splash on its return to West 7th Street
Reporter: Dave Page

Short short version: Soapy Joe's Car Wash is open!

Headline: Time runs out on Milton Mall's request for a sign variance
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: There is a fight over who can have signs on or near the building that houses the new Anthropologie store. Salut Bar Americain and Park Dental are having trouble getting signs placed on the building. [Good thing we replaced the locally-owned coffee shop & other businesses with a giant über-yuppie bougie chain retailer with $500 "authentic" skirts. -Ed.]

Headline: Cretin-Derham outlines its plan to upgrade south field
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The field on the South side of Cretin-Derham Hall [the huge Joe Mauer-themed catholic school] will get new artificial turf, lights, etc. Some neighbors don't like all this sports business.

Headline: Advisory group to review Victoria Park design
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: An "advisory design committee" of the [I DON'T KNOW!] will look at plans for the ex-fuel tank site near Victoria Park on West 7th Street. CM Thune is concerned that it will prove politically divisive.

Signs of the Times #46

2012-01-03T19:44:00.000-06:00

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Remember, as long as

everyone does everything the

government tells them to do,

everything will be ok.

There is no need for concern.

Thank You

[Pole. Como Avenue, Minneapolis.]

NO DRINKS

ALLOWED ON

THE STOOP

[Window. Lake Street, Minneapolis.]

Due to family vacation

We will be closed

from Wed 12-##-11 to

##-##-##, & we will be

open again. Thanks.

[Door. Como Avenue, Minneapolis.]

Something

New

Coming

Soon

[Window. Como Avenue, St Paul.]

"We Sell Boxes"

[Wall. Selby Avenue, St Paul.]

It's D-lecious

It's

SUNSHINE PIZZA

-It's 100% real ingredients

-No spray cheese real cows.

-Every thursday its movie night at sunshine pizza

-It's at selby AVE

-It has many foods (Look at menu in the pizza.)
-Look for Sunshine Pizza

-You can by Tie-die t-shirts (look at employees
-Home made tie-die t-shirts

-YUM

-Satisfied costumers many of them

[Sign continues on the pizza.]

[Window. Selby Avenue, St Paul.]

HELP US CONTINUE TO KEEP PROVIDING

WIFI FOR EVERYBODY!!

ABSOLUTELY NO DOWNLOADING OF ANY

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL ONTO

YOUR COMPUTER

WE WILL LOSE OUR INTERNET SERVICE!!

THANK YOU

[Door. Selby Avenue, St Paul.]

Prairie Wildflowers

and

Prairie Grasses

[Yard. Grand Avenue, St Paul.]

LOST

Little boys

pet bunny

Black Lopeared bunny

Call ###-###-####

[Pole. Frogtown, St Paul.]

IF YOU CAN

FIT IT IN

THE DOOR

WE CAN

DO IT

[Window. Charles Avenue, St Paul.]

* Sidewalk Yearend! *

2012-01-01T15:11:00.002-06:00

Sidewalk Rating: Best Year Ever!

We could also compare the risk of other activities of which we have some intuitive "risk perception". What's the risk of dying per million hours of exposure to a wide range of activities? According to Failure Associates, a professional risk assessment firm, the numbers look like this:
Skydiving     128.71
General Flying     15.58
Motorcycling     8.80
Scuba Diving     1.98
Swimming    1.07
Snowmobiling        .88
Motoring        .47
Water skiing        .28
Bicycling        .26
Airline Flying        .15
Hunting        .08

[From De Clarke's website.]

[A lightup santa in a tree along Grand Avenue.]

*** CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LINKS! ***

*** ***

In truth, most bicyclists are just getting to and from work or looking for healthy exercise that burns no fossil fuel, poses few risks for other travelers and inflicts practically no wear and tear on public roadways. They pay the same property taxes as drivers for local streets. Most have cars, too. Demographically, they look like America with a mix of rich and poor, young and old, male and female, white and minority.

[Fm. MN2020.]

*** ***

Merry Sidewalk Christmas; Twin Cities Shop Windows #2

2011-12-23T12:20:00.000-06:00

[Santa spotted through a shopwindow. Marshall Avenue, St Paul.]

A Rough Guide to Christmas Lights in the City

2011-12-21T14:16:00.000-06:00

High rise lights – These are often the simplest, smallest, hardest to spot, and usuallly the most boring. It involves draping a string of lights on your balcony because that’s the only place visible to the outside world, who has to squint up from a vantage point 100 feet below. These lights are purely symbolic. They say, “Look, I’m trying!” Other than that, they have no real aesthetic value.

[If you look closely, you can see a string of lights in the center of the picture.]

Working class urban lights – These are my favorite. These are the little decorations and lighting efforts that exist in the close-knit sidewalk proximate neighborhoods in older parts of the city. These homes, sitting as they do at a nice balance point between density and private property, allow for the most intimate encounter with the lights themselves. Often it is fences or tiny yards that are filled with lights awkwardly strung up, or dim faded plastic Nutcrackers. Other features of these kinds of lights are great variety and idiosyncratic placement.

[Classic old school lights from St Paul's North End.]

[Another North End example. You can reach out and touch these candy canes from the sidewalk.]

Upper class urban lights – These are also the most boring, in nicer ritzier neighborhoods of the city. Often what you’ll get here is a single huge pine tree festooned with perfect lights equally interspersed at 4.6 foot conic intervals, fake candles placed tastefully in windows, or a single evergreen wreath on a door with white lights embedded inside. These lights look like they came out of a Home and Garden catalog, lack personality, and serve primarily to increase property values.

[St Paul's Summit Avenue: very fancy!]

Inner ring suburb lights – This is where you find the truly manic light decorations, Christmas light extravaganzas of mind-blowing ridiculousness. Something about these smaller suburban homes in aging neighborhoods combined with boomer consumerism at the right time to create the classic Clark Griswold / Homer Simpson scenario: roofs entirely covered, blinking plastic sleighs, music blaring out over a neon-lit fake snowy landscape. Here you have the ideal yard / sidewalk / income ratio, and it leads to terrible greatness.

[This example I found on the internet from South St Paul.]

Second ring suburb lights – This is similar to the above only the yards have grown, the sidewalks have disappeared, and the plastic crap is a bit less crappy, all of which are changes for the worse. You basically have to drive around in your car for long distances to hoping to come across someone who bought the Lowe’s #2 décor package. People, some of whom are in high school, rent limos expressly for this purpose. (Or else you get crazy stuff like this. Who cares which city this is located?)

[Oy vey.]

Exurban lights – Can you even see them from here? Why bother.

[Lights in a church steeple in Minneapolis' Marcy-Holmes.]

Note to Minnesota Vikings: Parking Lots aren't Cities

2011-12-20T15:05:00.000-06:00

[Hey, let's eat food from off our cars!]

I kinda understand tailgating, I suppose. It's like a picnic, only instead of being in a park under a tree on a blanket in the grass, you're in a parking lot eating out of your trunk on a crappy lawn chair surrounded by tailpipe fumes, and the only way to make it enjoyable is to drink yourself into a stupor. It's got to be some kind of lowpoint for American culture, and that's saying something!

But tailgating is a "time honored" "tradition" and is somehow sacrosanct in places like State College Pennsylvania, Arlington Texas, and elite educational institutions such as Boise State and The University of Southern Mississippi.

The Vikings released a sketch of their proposed Arden Hills urban experience that makes it look like a scene from downtown Brooklyn, as un-stadium-like as possible.

[Team pitchman rendering of the "stadium" emphasizing urban qualities.]

Creating an urban image of the proposed Vikings stadium is a bit like trying to take a flattering photograph of Garrison Keillor, which is only possible from a camera POV 7.4 feet in the air, from an right side 24 degree angle if Garrison is leaning slightly forward and you have a slight chiaroscuro effect. All other photos make Garrison look like a demented slovenly troll.

The same is true for the Vikings Stadium, which will be the state's most expensive mall surrounded by a parking lot at the end of an on-ramp on a superfund site in the middle of nowhere. The phrase lipstick on a pig comes to mind, only here its more like putting lipstick on one of those concrete dinosaur statues at the cheese mart next to the freeway in Janesville, Wisconsin.

The proposed Vikings stadium site will be about as urban as a fake Wal-Mart facade. It'll make Main Street Maple Grove feel like downtown Boston. You'll be in the world's largest parking lot drinking yourself into a stupor, and noone will ever know if you're doing it because of the soul-sucking environment or because of the team lost to the Detroit Lions again.

[Actually accurate rendering of the proposed stadium.]

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #49

2011-12-19T10:32:00.002-06:00

Popeye abandons his bell and loses his Santa hat...

... in William Friedkin's (1971) The French Connection.

Signs of the Times #45

2011-12-19T10:24:00.001-06:00

The parking meter

machine is not

working

[Windshield. Downtown, Minneapolis.]

1879

[Wall. Downtown, Minneapolis.]

I'RISH YOU

HAPPY

HOLIDAYS

[Yard. Lexington Parkway, St Paul.]

Defeat the

Marriage

Amendment

[Brick round thing. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.]

Progress Sale

Date = % off

Up to 75% off!

Last day Dec 2#

[Window. St Anthony Park, St Paul.]

Let's go

MEXICO

to be a

VOLUNTEER!

[Person. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.]

famously

fresh

[Parking lot. Como Avenue, St Paul.]

MINNESOTA

VARNISHES

[Wall thing. Downtown, Minneapolis.]

WE HAVE

STUDDED

TIRES

[Window. Stadium Village, Minneapolis.]

Pamper yourself with a relaxing

[Window. Downtown, St Paul.]

Minneapolis bike count shows disparities in cycling infrastructure

2011-12-16T14:41:00.000-06:00

There is a lot of good news about Twin Cities cycling today, as the latest bike/walk counts were released. Twin Cities' cycling reached an all time high after a few years of sagging numbers. Overall counts were up 22% from last year, and up 7% from the previous 2008 record. That's unequivocal good news.

Some of the fine grained geographic detail is interesting, too. Counts at the Franklin Avenue bridge are way up following the bike-friendly redesign. (Lake Street Bridge and the Cedar Lake Trail counts are up significantly as well.)

[These kids: the main reason for increased Minneapolis cycling rates.]

But by far the most meaningful increase in cycling took place around the University of Minnesota. (This was in spite of the University's reluctance to meaningfully support cycling.) All around the University cycling counts have increased, particularly at the (highly dangerous) 15th Avenue SE bike lane.

(By contrast, differences in 2011 v. 2008 cycling counts at the Martin Sabo Bridge are negligible.)

The fact that greatest total number of cyclists are in Dinkytown should come as a surprise, because when compared to the quality of bike infrastructure elsewhere in the city, the bike routes around campus are very poorly designed.

Minneapolis' best quality bike lanes and trails in Minneapolis are in South Minneapolis: along the river, along the creek, along the Greenway, and beginning this year, along bike boulevards sprinkled through the city. Millions of dollars have been spent over the years improving these trails and making cycling safer for cyclists in Minneapolis' less student-laden residential neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, decent cycling routes are almost impossible to find near the University of Minnesota. The very narrow and congested 15th Avenue bike lane, the most highly trafficked bike route in the city, is very dangerous. It was only (marginally) improved after this summer's tragic fatality. The bike lanes along University Avenue and 4th Street SE are similarly dangerous designs, located on the wrong side of high-speed one way streets without parking. Nobody seems to be talking about the need to improve them.

[Until very recently, this is what the most heavily used bike route in Minneapolis looked like.]

There are a lot of reasons why increasing the quality of cycling infrastructure at the University of Minnesota is difficult. But as we look at these latest bike counts, we need to ask ourselves why resources aren't focused on the areas around the University? Is an Uptown gent riding a carbon fiber more important than an undergraduate on a Huffy? The Sabo Bridge cost $3 million, but a more heavily trafficked route through Dinkytown remains a death trap.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be spending money and paying attention to improving cycling all through the city. But at the same time, we need to focus on where cyclists actually are riding, on where cyclist density already exists.

The University of Minnesota is the epicenter of bicycles in Minneapolis. There's a lot of work to be done to improve safety and comfort for its riders.

[Don't get me wrong, I like this bridge.]

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #48

2011-12-14T16:16:00.001-06:00

George Bailey discovers the jazz-laden sidewalks of Pottersville...

... in Frank Capra's (1946) It's a Wonderful Life.

Reading the Highland Villager #51

2011-12-14T16:05:00.000-06:00

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. That's why I'm reading the Highland Villager so that you don't have to. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free.]

Total # of articles about sidewalks: 15
Total # of articles about sidewalks written by Jane McClure: 13

Headline: Property tax bills see double-digit increases despite lower home value
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Report on the increase in tax levys for St Paul.

Headline: City golf courses are no longer hitting the green; St Paul’s municipal links are likely to record 10th straight year of losses
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on how city owned golf courses lose money each year, and have been doing so for a decade now. Some context about how this is a problem for city owned golf courses all thought e state because of a decline in golf’s popularity. Article mentions bad economy, and how people are busier, as reasons for the decline in golf’s popularity with the proletariat. Also a mention of the possibility of Minneapolis closing the Fort Snelling course. The city has requested $100K for a study of what to do with their golf courses.

Headline: Golf course groundskeepers struggled with a full year of challenging weather
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: It rained a lot during the last year. Then it was dry.

Headline: Host of city fee increases add $73.75 to typical homeowners’ annual costs
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: In addition to a higher property tax levy, there has been an increase in fees such as “right of way maintenance” and “water charges.”

Headline: Irritation of airport noise spreads eastward over South Minneapolis
Reporter: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: More airplanes have been heard near South Minneapolis because of flight path changes after a near collision in fall 2010. Runway 30R is the culprit. There will be meetings to talk about the problem.

Headline: Wellington drops appeal of condition on Bush Home site
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Report on efforts to construct an eating disorder clinic near the Crocus Hill area of St Paul. The developer appealed a Planning Commission (SPPC) restriction on the uses of the property, then withdrew it because it wasn’t as restrictive as they originally thought. The SPPC granted permits for extra street parking spaces, some non-conforming uses for institutional purposes. The developer was concerned because the use permits were so restrictive. Article also mentions vague resident concerns.

Headline: One lawsuit settled, another pending for light-rail project; While MPR’s challenge is dismissed, NAACP and coplaintiffs are still awaiting federal ruling
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Report on the dismissal last month of the lawsuit against the light rail project (i.e. Met Council) by MPR (i.e. Minnesota Public Radio) over noise and vibration mitigation. Plus, report on the pending situation with the NAACP & Rondo community lawsuit which is basically about gentrification along the street. Details history of the second lawsuit, how a judge ordered further study of economic impacts last year. Article includes reference: “MPR officials expressed disappointment.” [I am trying not to revel in my schadenfreude. –Ed.]

Headline: University Avenue is mostly returned to four lanes of traffic
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: University Avenue is mostly returned to four lanes of traffic west of Hamline. Sort of, mostly.

Headline: Turning the corner: Conley creates hip commercial strip at Selby-Snelling avenues
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: Article on the owner of the building that houses [the tschotchke shop that I won't set foot in] Patina on the Northwest corner of Snelling and Selby Avenues. The property owner is named Ed Conley. Quote about how the alleys contain a “spash of pizzaz.” [Little known fact: Har Mar Superstar once “lived” in the apartment in that building. –Ed.] Article includes history of the “Legacy Rose” building, including the fact that it once contained a movie theater. Conley received a St Paul Heritage Preservation Award for his makeover of the building. [Now if only they could figure out a way to make Snelling Avenue into a liveable street. Imagine what these kinds of old historic buildings would be like if traffic moved at a reasonable speed, if you could cross the street without feeling like you were taking your life into your hands, if the sidewalks were more than five feet wide… -Ed.]

Headline: BZA hears Cupcake’s request for Grand parking variance
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The Cupcake café’s attempt to open a new Grand Avenue location requires a parking variance for seven off-street spaces, and the Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled to consider giving them this month [two days ago]. Neither the city nor the local neighborhood group like this idea. [What happened? –Ed.]

Headline: St Thomas’ request for liquor license gets another hearing
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: In part of a long, ongoing saga and negotiation between the University and the neighborhood, the St Paul City Council “legislative hearing officer” heard a request [a week ago] for the liquor license from the University. [What happened? –Ed.]

Headline: HUD awards $7.3 million for Episcopal Homes’ expansion
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The old folks home where Porky’s used to be got a grant from the Feds to build 50 more units along University Avenue.

Headline: HPC approves 2nd of 3 permits for Schmidt Brewery renovation
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The re-use and development of the Schmidt Brewery site is getting the OK from the Heritage Preservation Commission so far. The most recent vote was unanimous. There are still some details to be finalized, including “the placement of new windows on some building facades, new entrances, a loading dock area, and an addition.” Article includes brief history of the brewery complex.

Headline: BZA allows McGovern’s to enclose patio without additional parking
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The Irish pub on West 7th Street can “erect a seasonal patio enclosure” without building a bunch of new off-street parking spaces. [Again, we see the problematic way that minimum parking requirements pose problems for businesses. Paging Donald Shoup. –Ed.]

Headline: New GABA director is no stranger to shopping on avenue
Reporter: Bob Gilbert

Short short version: Glowing hagiographic article on the new director of the Grand Avenue Business Association, Sue Evens. Article includes details about her cat’s vet, the website relaunch, and her recent wedding.

St Paul's Post-Fordist Future

2011-12-13T11:55:00.000-06:00

[The large footprint of the St Paul Ford Plant.]

St Paul’s Ford plant (along Ford Parkway between the Ford bridge and the Ford dam) is finally shutting down for good this week after a prolonged twilight run of Ranger pickups. The closing of the plant marks the end of a 80+ year run of the site near the hydro dam on the Mississippi being used for industrial automobile manufacturing.

The closing of an auto plant in the Midwest is hardly a new story. It’s been going on for 50 years. According to urban historian Thomas Sugrue, the big American auto companies started moving jobs out of Michigan as early as 1953 because of desire to avoid high labor costs, to exercise more control over production processes, and to get closer to emerging markets in the sunbelt and overseas.

So, it might seem like another closing auto plant is no big deal. But it’s worth remembering how central industrial manufacturing used to be in the landscape of American cities. These factories were huge! Ford’s largest and most famous factory, the River Rouge plant in Dearborn, was a gigantic complex that took up over two square miles, had 100 miles of railroad track, and at its peak during the war employed over 100,000 workers. For comparison, that’s roughly the size of the University of Minnesota campus, with far higher density. To get a sense of what Detroit was like during its heyday in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, you’d have to picture multiple U of MN campuses all through the city, replacing the throngs of undergraduate students with shift changes of tired workers, replacing all the stacks of books with smokestacks belching coal.

[The Ford Rouge plant in near Detroit, which employed nearly 100K workers at its peak.]

[The U of MN Minneapolis, nearly the same size as the Rouge, with about as many students & employees.]

The St Paul Ford plant is nowhere near as large as that, and has for some time been rather quietly coexisting in the very residential Highland Park neighborhood along the river in St Paul. There aren’t huge numbers of truck workers pouring out of the plant at all times of the day and night, and while there are some clean-up costs from the decades of manufacturing pollution, the factory hasn’t really had a big impact on its neighborhood, instead leading a quiet, pleasant life surrounded by trees and river bluffs.

I wonder about the future of industrial land uses in the Twin Cities, particularly as the denser corridors along the old rail tracks become more desirable locations for increasing residential density. Minneapolis’ riverfront, Northeast Minneapolis, and St Paul’s University Avenue are good examples of where industry and residential activity rub shoulders. How long will plants like the Rock-Tenn facility want to remain in St Paul if residential density keeps increasing in the area? Will fights like the Pelham Boulevard situation become more common, as competing visions for the future of the area come into conflict with each other?

On one hand, if industry were to keep leaving the city, we would be losing the kinds of efficiencies associated with mixed uses and density, with convenient access to electricity and waste heat, with convenient access to jobs. On the other hand, as anyone who remembers the old St Paul Gopher Ethanol plant will attest, living in close proximity to industry is not always pleasant. We’ll have to see what our Post-Fordist future holds.

[The tunnels in the bluffs underneath the St Paul Ford Plant, originally used to mine window glass.]

* Sidewalk Weekend! *

2011-12-09T16:34:00.001-06:00

Sidewalk Rating: Icy

Dear Concept Of Phenomenology In Architecture As Developed ByThe Norwegian Theorist Christian Norberg-Schulz,
My boyfriend is an avidbicyclist who rides his bike to and from work every day. Despite my directpleadings for him to purchase a bike helmet, he has so far refused to wear one.He claims they look silly and are unnecessary if you're a good cyclist. How canI convince him to practice proper bike safety without him feeling like I'm"cramping his style"?
—Concerned in Cleveland

Dear Concerned,
Architecture (insofar asarchitecture is an art) should contain within it the potential for therevelation of that which is unknown. Changes in our physical environment,particularly in the structure of our cities following the Second World War,have resulted in a loss of a sense of place, as well as a subsequent"empty space" within our perceived experience of our world. This canonly be remedied by a renewed sense of human settlements as urbanfoci, and of the role of architect asdesigner of meaningful sub-places where man can simultaneously experienceindividuality and belonging. A building is not merely a building but a sharedspatial experience—a locality—that embodies and shapes the values of itsenvironment and of culture as a whole. This is not merely a matter of identityin the sense of the development of local characteristics, but also of equalityin fostering opportunity to play a part in a greater context. The livedexperience of building materials and their sensory properties is, of course,paramount to achieving this understanding.

[Fm The Onion.]

[A tree leans out over the sidewalks of Wall Street in Lowertown, St Paul.]

*** CLICK IMAGES FOR LINKS ***

*** ***

The hidden benefits of the US Postal Service

2011-12-07T14:58:00.001-06:00

[The post office in St Paul's St Anthony Park neighborhood.]

Recent discussions about reducing the US Postal Service have mainly taken place around issues of cost and delivery. For example, officials are discussing reducing service delivery to cut costs.

What's missing from the conversation, though, are people thinking about the role the US postal service, post offices, and letter carriers have in their neighborhoods. Many smaller post offices are true neighborhood hubs, serving as central spots in smaller commercial nodes. They are places where people can go to get passports made, to collect tax forms, or to mail packages. These smaller offices do a great deal to create neighborhood identity and to serve to increase walkability in their neighborhoods.

A great example of this is the post office in St Paul's St Anthony Park neighborhood. Despite being one of the ugliest most utilitarian post office designs in my living memory, this little office fits in really well with the surrounding building stock, and symbolically serves as the heart of the small commercial node in this area surrounding it.

In small towns, too, post offices are very important meeting places.

This is not to mention the fact that letter carriers are important links in their neighborhoods. Delivering mail every day, letter carriers are wonderful "eyes on the street", walking down every sidewalk in every city in America on a daily basis.

While we discuss the future of the US postal service, it's important to keep in mind how they function to create walkable, urban spaces in communities everywhere. Any discussion of the benefits of the US postal system that relies only on a spartan cost-benefit analysis is likely missing out on all the intangible benefits of the network of buildings and offices that provide a meaningful connection between the federal government, your local sidewalk, and your mailbox.

[Seeing the post office is comforting, like your favorite blanket.]

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #47

2011-12-02T15:15:00.001-06:00

Phillip Marlowe finds a willing recruit for some sidewalk surveillance...

[Click on image for clip.]

... in Howard Hawks' (1946) The Big Sleep.

Announcing the Winner of the U of MN Safety Campaign Motto Contest

2011-12-01T16:21:00.001-06:00

After seemingly endless series of heated debates, much biting of nails and gnashing of teeth, the results are in for the 2011 Goldy T. Gopher Vehicular Bike-Slaughter Award for Best Fake Motto Generation.

And the winner, with a total of 10 votes: Andrew! aka S.O.T.A., who came up with the following suggestion...

[The new campaign motto in action.]

He will receive the coveted and highly flammable Goldy T. Gopher Motor Mania award, which should keep him warm during these cold winter nights.

[The coveted Goldy trophy, fit for mantles or fires.]

twin city sidewalks

Leaked! A Rejected First Draft of the University of Minnesota's Subtle Anti-Union Email Campaign

Signs of the Times #48

Sidewalk Poem #19

Reading the Highland Villager #54

For your consideration: The LOL Horn

Signs of the Times #47

Classic Sideawlks of the Silver Screen #56

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #55

Sidewalk Mailbox #4: If You Shovel It, They Will Come?

Sidewalk Poem #18

Al Franken is Kinda Almost Entirely Wrong on the Stillwater Bridge

*** Sidewalk Weekend! ***

Sidewalk Book #3

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #54

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #53

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #52

Reading the Highland Villager #53

Red Bull Gives You Crowds

The Top 19 Vikings Stadium Renderings of All Time

More Ideas for Art Shantys that Rhyme

Climate as Proxy for Capital within the Minneapolis Skyway System

Twin Cities Soapbox Denziens #1

Ideas for Art Shantys that Rhyme

Twin City Yarnbombing #1

Twin City Doorways #6

Twin City Message Boards #4

The Year in Twin City Sidewalks: My 2011 "Heavy Eleven" Report

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #51

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #50

If this website is a sidewalk, Streets.mn is a city

Reading the Highland Villager #52

Signs of the Times #46

*** Sidewalk Yearend! ***

Merry Sidewalk Christmas; Twin Cities Shop Windows #2

A Rough Guide to Christmas Lights in the City

Note to Minnesota Vikings: Parking Lots aren't Cities

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #49

Signs of the Times #45

Minneapolis bike count shows disparities in cycling infrastructure

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #48

Reading the Highland Villager #51

St Paul's Post-Fordist Future

*** Sidewalk Weekend! ***

The hidden benefits of the US Postal Service

Classic Sidewalks of the Silver Screen #47

Announcing the Winner of the U of MN Safety Campaign Motto Contest

* Sidewalk Weekend! *

* Sidewalk Yearend! *

* Sidewalk Weekend! *