Among Giants: A Brief Hydrological History of the Upper Midwest
"The Mississippi River and its valley dominate the physical geography of the Twin Cities. It — along with the aptly named Minnesota River, its largest Minnesota tributary, and the Red River, which drains northwestern Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas on its slow course toward Hudson Bay — offers a window into the thousands of years of sometimes violent geological change"
https://streets.mn/2024/12/20/among-giants-a-brief-hydrological-history-of-the-upper-midwest/
Minnesota: The Colorful Rock Garden of Kindness on Cumberland Street
"A very neat, unpretentious home at 1462 Cumberland Street stood out because of its tidiness and three signs posted in front. Attached to a wooden walkway, the signs invite passersby to help themselves to an intricately decorated rock or two from the Kindness Rock Garden. The rocks are painted with inspirational phrases and animals, flowers, insects and more."
Road diets are good for business and quality of life
"These plans are a smart investment in the city’s future, providing streets that better reflect its assets and strengths. Rather than chasing the phantom of suburban traffic flows and free parking, Minneapolis’ economic future depends on walkable streets and quality public space."
Despite the debate, road diets are good for business, quality of life
Minnesota: Interesting discussion of issues on Brainerd's Willow Street
"It was once Brainerd’s premier boulevard until it was turned into a highway, creating a sugar-high of growth on the edge of town but ultimately stagnating that whole portion of the city. Since the highway bypassed the city over two decades ago, that stagnation has turned to atrophy."
Strong Towns looks into it.
$20 Million Broke This Street. $2 Million Can Begin To Fix It.
Minnesota: NorthStar line ridership down
"This month marked the 15th year of the commuter rail service between Minneapolis and Big Lake. But ridership numbers haven’t rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, and a St. Cloud connection is uncertain."
The NorthStar route runs roughly parallel to Voyageur Highway. It would be interesting to know how much money they've put into that highway in the last 15 years as opposed to the commuter line.
What is Northstar rail’s fate? Likely more of the same, for now
Unexpectedly high demand crashes Minnesota's ebike rebate website at launch
"Even with more than a year to prepare, we crashed a government website. And a little point of pride — policymakers, think about what's happening here. That's how incredibly popular this program is," said Michael Wojcik, executive director of Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, a nonprofit that helped get the rebate legislation passed last year."
#Minnesota #ebike
Fewer than 80 Minnesota e-bike rebate applications went through before system crashed
The Great American Rail-Trail
"A grand scheme of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to build a continuous, off-road multi-use trail from the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to the Pacific Ocean in Washington State — a trail across the entire United States."
This article is more about connecting #Minnesota to the trail, but it's pretty interesting.
https://streets.mn/2024/02/12/the-great-american-rail-trail/
Hey #Minnesota ? Your weather is down here in my back yard, drunk. I'm gonna need you to come get it.