Support this Blog -- Subscribe for Summertime Tours

[An alley in the Mediterranean Alleyway district.]

Hello sidewalk fans.

I wanted to make a plug to support this blog via my Patreon page. I'm planning some summertime adventures. In addition to the regular psychogeographic bike rides and walking tours, free and open to the public, I am planning a few more exclusive trips. These will be limited in size, and will involve a small fee to cover costs.

For example, one of them involves exploring Saint Paul's new "Mediterranean Alleyway District" (as I have begun calling it in my mind). I'm working on planning right now, but we'd be walking around a mile or two exploring unique alleys and eating amazing hummus and/or baba ganoush along the way.

The other tour concept is something I'm calling the "Obscure Museums" series. Groups necessary limited in size will go on bike rides to explore and discover a few unique and/or overlooked "museums" (broadly defined) around Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

I've begun planning both of these first tours, and for logistical reasons, both will be limited in size. as always, Patreon subscribers will advance notice and a first crack at it.

Meanwhile, I have a few moire dive bar tours (walking and biking) in mind, along with a some less beer-oriented bike tours for the summer and fall.

Check out my Patreon page and consider signing up if you'd like to support this work.

Thanks! It means a lot to me.

[Tour theme spoiler!]

Donate to Help Create Safer Streets in Saint Paul

[tl;dr: Please give to the Maryland Avenue safe streets sign fund to make sure the "field test" works well for everyone in the neighborhood.]

[Elizabeth, Shelby, Channy & Kunlek, killed by unsafe streets.]

Last week, I wrote on streets.mn about how I believe the Maryland Avenue field test is the most important street safety opportunity to come to Saint Paul in a generation. Depending on how the "test" goes, the city and county may finally begin re-thinking and re-prioritizing space on its most dangerous streets, the deadly 4-lane county arterials that run through all parts of Saint Paul regardless of their impacts to safety or quality of life.

This has been a central issue for me for many years, and I even made these streets the focus of my TEDxMinneapolis talk last August, where I told the story of Elizabeth Durham (among others), who was tragically killed by a car driver on Maryland Avenue because of dangerous and misguided street design.

This week, after years of organizing and conversation, Ramsey County is finally going to try out a 4-3 road diet that would slow down speeds on this important street. The new design and allow people to cross from one side to the other without taking their life into their hands. You might as well call it the "Durham Memorial Street Test", because the one-mile stretch of Maryland runs from Greenbrier, where the fatal crash occurred, all the way to Johnson Parkway to the east.

[The test design for Maryland Avenue, on Saint Paul's East Side..]

As of today the test is up. The rest is up to the drivers and community members in Saint Paul's East Side.

It's a big moment!

[Please give today. Let's hit the goal!]

You can help make sure it works out by funding the Maryland Avenue street design sign project that my friend Eric Saathoff has put together. Eric lives over on the East Side and, along with a group of dogged neighbors, has helped organize a "kickstarter" to fund the signs.

If you care about safe streets in Saint Paul, please give a few dollars to this effort.

Let's make sure that Elizabeth's Durham's death was not in vain, and that the deadly "whip-around" never happens again on Maryland Avenue. Let's make sure that this "field test" goes well, and that we can change our deadly Saint Paul streets once and for all, for the next generations of kids.

[See also my Minnpost article on crosswalk safety stings on Maryland Avenue, my pointed rant against these deadly road designs, and my cautiously optimistic explanation of the "field test."]

 

[Saathoff and East Side community members trying raising awareness of pedestrian safety at Maryland and Greenbrier, the month *before* Durham was killed.]

11th Bloggaversary Post

[The 11th floor of the Saint Paul City Hall.]

The blog turned 11 years old last week, one of my favorite numbers. I want to thank everyone for continuing to read and support the blog!


Where to Find my Work

I put most of the content closest to my heart here on the site, including photos of my sidewalk meandering, links to things I've been reading, occasional essays, lists, maps, or urban miscellany.  (This is not to mention fortnightly re-capulets of a certain print-only local newspaper.)

Over the last year, it's been about 190 separate posts, about 3.5 per week. That's a pretty high average for for this blog, though still off the record-setting pace from a few years ago.

Part of the reason is that I've been writing elsewhere. It's been over a year since I finished my PhD, and I've been spending more time on writing both here and in various other publications These days you can find my work in the following places:

• At Minnpost, the weekly Cityscape column, aimed at reporting on various slices through the often-unconsidered urban landscape

• At streets.mn, semi-weekly policy-focused essays, plus more regular maps and charts that catch my eye

• Also at streets.mn, a rebooted podcast, almost weekly conversations with interesting people working on urban policy

• In the Park Bugle, occasional community news reporting, about one story a month

• In actually corporeal paper, six (6) self-published Guide Books available for purchase online, covering semi-historical "tours" of places of local interest in Minneapolis and Saint Paul

So I guess that's a lot of ways to keep up with my Twin Cities urban geography work. I'm hoping to focus this winter on publishing my bicycle planning research before it becomes too out-of-date. So, fair warning, the pace of my other writing might fall off for a few months.

Walking and Biking Tours

[A Saint Paul tour with the Minnesota History Center.]

In addition to the writing, I've offered a lot of walking and biking tours over the last year, including ten (10) free-to-the-public tours of everything from Coney Dogs to parking lots to secret lakes to dive bars of every stripe. That's almost one per month, and I aim to continue that pace, beginning this Thursday on the East Side.

(A great way to stay in the loop with these events is to "like" my Facebook page.)

Plus I've landed a few real tour guide gigs, including a series of "river history history and high bridge power plant" tours with the Minnesota History Center, a downtown Minneapolis skyway tour with the Hennepin History Museum, a history tour of the West Side Flats with the West Side Community Organization, a couple bus tours for the local chapter of the Road Scholar program, and a Northfield sidewalk tour with Carleton College. If anyone would be interested in connecting for future walking or bicycling tours, let me know! I really enjoy it.

(I also gave a talk at the TEDxMinneapolis event earlier this year, which was a lot of work. The video should be available online any day now.)

Stay tuned for more walking and exploring opportunities. Once winter comes, I'm planning a Saint Paul skyway tour, dive bar walking tours of the West Side and Frogtown, and maybe some surprises.

[My other Ted talk was held here.]

Support my Work

[The Patreon Page.]

Out of necessity, I've been spending some time this year figuring out how to translate my interests and passions into an actual career. That kind of alchemy involves asking for money, or coming up with other ways to transform sidewalks into gold.

For example, I've sold over fifty Saint Paul flags, which is a great way to support my work, connect with history, and celebrate the capital city at the same time. You can order a small 2' x 3' flag today at a new low price, and I'll bike it over to your mailbox later this week.

At the urging of some smart friends, I also launched a "Patreon page" back in July. Patreon is a system where you can sign up to be a "patron" of people (often artists) who are trying to do creative work. Amazingly, over the last few months (with far-too-minimal prompting) twenty people (20) have signed up to be a patron! Believe it or not, the monthly financial and moral support really means a lot to me. If you are comfortable with this kind of thing and have the means, please consider it.

Or you can also simply drop a few bucks into the Paypal tip jar. Thank you kindly.

Also, a big thank you for eleven years of attention. To my mind, the blog is better than ever, though some of the writing could use a bit more work.

Yrs,
Bill

New and Improved Twin City Sidewalks Store

[Button in the sidebar.]

I have upgraded the “store” using Big Cartel, which seems like a pretty slick way to sell stuff online without many fees. Now you can actually click on a button and buy the different guide booklets and (eventually) flags, maps, and photo books.

Right now, though, only booklets. I have five different guides for sale currently: #2, Noteworthy Dive Bars of South Minneapolis, #3 Noteworthy Dive Bars of the Midway, #4 Noteworthy Dive Bars of Old Fort Road; #5, Noteworthy Parking Lots of Minneapolis; and #6, Noteworthy Dive Bars of Outer Northeast.


(#1, Noteworthy Bowling Alleys of Minneapolis and Saint Paul is currently out of print.)

Check it out. Feel free to buy one or seventeen of these fine products.

[Store link is here.]

Introducing a New Way to Support this Blog

That's right. For every order of mozzarella sticks at a Twin Cities Applebee's location, I will be receiving .5 cents of the profit!

So do your part and get down to your local Applebee's today.

Just kidding...

Actually I'm launching a Patreon page for Twin City Sidewalks to help support my work doing writing, blogging, and tours of our urban landscape.

As you might have noticed, I've been writing this blog for a long time. Over 10 years actually, for a grand total of 1,625 posts of varying quality. For example, here are some of "The Best Blog Posts of 2015", or you can check out my "10 Year Bloggaversary Post" for some background on how this blog got started and where I'm at now with it.

The point is, though, that barring that one time I found $100 while walking along Lyndale Avenue, I haven't made any money off of it. And that's fine.A lot of great things have come my way via friends and colleagues that I've met through the blog. Absolutely!

But it's still a challenge to pay the bills, and I could use support from people who enjoy or appreciate what I do here.

Thus...

Become a Patreon "Patron"

[The page looks like this.]

Following the suggestion of a few of my most trusted friends, I've spent some time setting up a  Patreon account. By becoming one of my "patrons", you make sure that I can keep making this blog.

Here's what I'm promising:

• To keep producing 4-5 posts per week of new content
• To offer a new biking or walking tour every month or two
• To write a new Tour Guide Booklet at the rate of one every month or so

The little bit of money you can spare will make a big difference in my everyday life. And as is the Patreon way, I have added a few little perks for people who become patrons at different levels

at least $5 / month ... Advance notice of every bicycling or walking tour by postcard.

at least $10 / month ... Free copy of every new Tour Guide booklet delivered via postal mail directly after they are written.

at least $20 / month ... One private tour per year of your choosing, for a group of up to 12. These can be custom designed or a repeat of one of the previous tours I have done in the past.

Those are nice, but the real reason to be a Patreon patron is to keep supporting my writing and blogging work here on the site. I'd love to keep doing this forever, and I keep having tons of ideas. You'd think after ten years of blogging about sidewalks, I'd start to run out of sidewalk-related stuff to say.

But no. Such is the beauty of sidewalks.

Thanks for reading this!

Two New Booklets Now Available! Parking Lots of Minneapolis and Dive Bars of Old Fort Road

I have started transforming my quasi-popular "tours" into actual physical booklets. Yes, these are corporeal objects, to have and to hold, filled with words and photos of varying quality. If used correctly, they can guide you through some of the Twin Cities' finest off-the-beaten sidewalks.

The first three booklets are still available for purchase. In fact, they've gone into a second printing.

These are:

#1 - Noteworthy Bowling Alleys of Minneapolis and Saint Paul
#2 - Noteworthy Dive Bars of South Minneapolis
#3 - Noteworthy Dive Bars of the Midway
 

[You can still order them! Read about them here.]

In addition to those three, I've completed the two more booklets. Each is 36 pages, black-and-white images, maps, and text, and a cover featuring full-color art.

These two new ones are exciting for me with subjects that lie close to my heart.


Tour Guide #4 -- Noteworthy Dive Bars of Old Fort Road

This is another "dive bar" booklet, featuring the highlights from the 2013 Old Fort Road dive bar tour. That was a while ago, but luckily on West 7th Street, nothing much changes. (OK, so Joe and Stan's has been remodeled...)

Inside you'll find photos, descriptions, factoids, and maps about five of the West 7th Street neighborhood's finest dive bars.

These include: Skinner's, The Spot, Skarda's, Joe and Stan's, and Keenan's.

Here is an excerpt:

The Spot Bar

I am told that the Spot Bar dates back to 1885, which means that the Spot Bar is in a long-running battle with Christensen’s Big V’s, Neumann’s, and Joe and Stan’s for claim to the title of “oldest running bar in Saint Paul.” I’m told that Big V’s keeps a room upstairs with historical paraphernalia just to defend their title. (Difficult to imagine.) And I know the Neumann’s claims an older origin story, though since they are technically in the city of North Saint Paul, they seem to be disqualified. That leaves the Spot with a pretty good claim on the title. 

The first time I went to the Spot Bar, I sat down next to an older somewhat toothless man whose nose was stuck in that day’s Pioneer Press. He was reading the headlines, mumbling softly, and whenever the lightbulb would strike him, he’d start talking to whoever was around about the crazy things he’d found. “Boy, have you heard this one?” Then he’d read the story and say something prosaic bu toothlessly biting. We chatted about the Minneapolis Police Department’s latest semi-self-quasi-homicide with surprise and disdain.

Like all Fort Road dives, The Spot has had a series of names (though the clientele has remained largely untouched). For a while it was owned by a man named Baar, and bore the awkward moniker “Baar’s Bar.” Nobody seems to know quite when it became “The Spot.” During the 30s they served “soft drinks.” You can only imagine...

The most famous barkeep was a man named Michael O’Toole. There is an old painting of the bar from the O’Toole days that sits above the bar. (For reference, its folk art quality reminds me of the old Otter Bar mural on Northeast Central Avenue, or crude also disappeared mural at the Town Hall Brewery.) I was once sitting at the Spot Bar and asked my neighbor about the odd painting, which well captures an atmosphere of rough edges and fellowship. “That’s form the 70s” the bartender told me, “one of our our regulars was the painter.” Then he added, “Frank there, is in the painting, and he’s sitting right next to you.” I turned and looked and there was the man from the picture, same mustache thirty five years later. Same barstool.

[Read much more in the full booklet.]

[An old press clipping on the wall of the Spot.]

Tour Guide #5 -- Noteworthy Parking Lots of Minneapolis

This one is based on my "parking lots" tour from Spring 2015, and features an original drawing by bleak landscape specialist Ken Avidor.

Inside you'll find a few thoughts on the odd intersection of parking lots and Minneapolis, diving into the murky history of the city's obsession with parking lots. Then there's a map, and a description of five of my favorite Minneapolis parking lots.

These include: the Lake Street K-Mart, the Minneapolis Club parking ramp (featured in the movie Fargo), the parking lot at the former Nicollet Hotel site (next to old Gateway Park), the Nye's Polonaise Room parking lot (soon to be an apartment building), and the one-of-a-kind Northeast Bank Parking Lot Park.

Here's an excerpt:

Northeast Bank Parking Lot Park

The strangest parking lot in Minneapolis is surely the Northeast Bank Parking Lot Park, located on the corner of Broadway and Main Street NE, close to the bridge and in the shadow of the old Grain Belt (Minnesota Brewing) building that rises like a fairy tale castle on the edge of the river. Here you’ll find a plain yet elegant bank building that dates to the early 1960s. But next to the bank is the strangest sight in all of Twin Cities parking: a parking lot full of curves, trees, berms, and landscaping.

This is the parking lot park, the brainchild of post-war bank president and parking lot visionary Walter Rasmussen. He grew up in Pelican Rapids and quickly moved to Northeast Minneapolis where, like many of the neighbors on this industrial working-class area, he got involved with labor and began at the bottom. A foundry, a tour in the Navy, a grocery-and-waffle store, real estate, and insurance. Eventually he put himself through school, moved to Edina, and bought the local bank, then located on 13th Avenue (where Dangerous Man brewery is located today).

The new building was built in 1962, but the parking lot was but a gleam in Walter’s eye, and remained so for another decade. By the early 1970s, the capital and the vision was ready to meet reality.

[Read much more in the full booklet.]

[The parking lot park in Spring.]

I daresay, these are both excellent little booklets.

And all for the low low price:

• $7 each OR three for $20
• (reasonable!)

You can order them via the Paypal link (simply donate the right amount and add mailing instructions as a comment) or by check (send to Bill Lindeke, 148 West George Street #7, Saint Paul MN 55107).

These will soon available in a few bookstores, if all goes well. And stay tuned because Tour Guide #6 (Noteworthy Dive Bars of Outer Northeast) is coming soon.

TC Sidewalks Booklets Now Available!

[Thumb not included.]

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

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

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

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

They are:

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

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

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

Booklet #2: Noteworthy Dive Bars of South Minneapolis

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

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

Booklet #3: Noteworthy Dive Bars of the Midway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BONUS:

Two new booklets now available!

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

Help Me Replace My STOLEN Equipment -- thanks

Hi there. I'm dumb.

For some naive reason, while getting a coney dog last night, I left my pannier on my bike outside in the West 7th Street neighborhood. It had my computer cords, keyboard, phone charger, a mouse, a bike tool, and (most tragically) my podcast microphone with a SIM card full of interviews.

(Two interviews that I hadn't backed up: one with Ward 7 City Council candidate Jane Prince about the East Side of Saint Paul, and the other with Institute for Local Self-Reliance researcher Olivia LaVeccia about "dark stores" and how big box retail evades local government taxes.)

I'm asking for your help to replace my equipment. I've been doing a podcast for streets.mn for a few years now, and have produced, taped, and edited almost 90 episodes.

These are conversations that range from rarely covered local politicians to advocates to entrepreneurs to public artists to local authors to urban nerd bloggers to academics describing their research. One of my favorite things about these chats is that we discuss important topics that almost never see the light of day.

Anyway, I've done this pro bono, and now that I have to replace my equipment, I'd like to ask for your help.

If you can spare a few dollars to help me get the podcast and my technology up and running again, I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to raise enough to get some new and better equipment.

You can donate via Paypal here: [regular link]

Thanks! I'd like to get the podcast up and running ASAP. I have a few ideas for future guests, and time's a wasting. I really appreciate your help.

-Bill

PS. Anyone chipping in will get a handmade artisanal thank you postcard, naturally.

[Kinda where it happened. Best Coney deal in town.]

September Postcard Post

I made some new hand-made justapositional postcards last night, and want to send them to you.

Here are five of them.

For any donation of $5 or more, you will receive:

• One hand-made vintage-y juxtapositional postcard (featuring news clippings from either the late-80s to early 90-s and/or old textbooks and/or Twin Cities' news media from the early 2000s).
• One amusing message describing some bit of the Twin Cities' urban landscape.

That's not bad. Plus you'll help me feed my cat!

It's just a fun way to fundraise a bit for this blog, which is otherwise sadly unrenumerative. Thanks a lot for your support!

Here are some (only five) of the most recent batch:

December Panhandling Post

Hello. I have finally mailed all the postcards from my last fundraising/panhandling post. Basically, I am trying to raise a bit of funds for this blog by selling my handcrafted artisanal postcard collage pieces.

For any donation of $5 or more, you too can receive one of these fine, priceless, and unique arrangments of epistolary communication. Please consider purchasing one for yourself or someone you might love or hate (and know the address of). They make great Christmas gifts.

Who am I kidding? They make terrible Christmas gifts.

But regardless, you should click on the 'paypal donate' button and give $5 and receive one for yourself. I will contain a small narrative of something sidewalk related that you can treasure and keep for all time.

Thanks so far go out to:

Reuben in Minneapolis

Suzanne in Oakland

Steve in Arden Hills

Jinwen in Boston

Bradley in Minneapolis
Carl in Saint Paul

Here are the postcards that I have sent out.

Thanks so much. Wouldn't you like one? Who knows what it might say?

Please consider purchasing one for yourself. I really appreciate it!