Dubiousask

 [Boston, MA.]  [West 7th Street, Saint Paul.]  [North Saint Paul.]  [Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis.]  [Selby Avenue, Saint Paul.]  [Rondo, Saint Paul.]  [Grand Avenue, Saint Paul.] [Western Avenue, Saint Paul.]

[WTH is a "parkade"?] If you leave the bubble of Minnesota, you quickly come to realize that not everyone calls a multi-story building where empty cars are parked by the same name. Sure, these grey concrete buildings are a ubiquitous part of our landscape. And yes, here in Minnesota, these things are called "parking ramps." But not so elsewhere in these United States. In fact, much like the great "pop / soda / coke" divide or the Minnesotan "duck duck grey duck" exception, one quickly finds that the term "parking ramp" is rather unique to the Upper Midwest and that elsewhere in the United States people will park their cars on second stories in other kinds of buildings! Let me break it down for you, using Google Trends maps. The first key point is that the term "parking ramp" is a geographically specific regionalism... Minnesota is the center of the "parking ramp", and once you leave the state, the term starts to di...

One of my pet peeves is a loud food truck . I love public space, sidewalks, parks, eating on benches, and street life, so I also love food trucks. That's why it's so frustrating when you are near one with a loud generator, where the guttural cranking sound of a diesel motor drowns out everything within a 50' radius and turns the food truck-proximate sidewalks, parks, or patios into a setting that resembles a metal stamping factory.  Years ago, visiting Portland, Oregon, I was struck by the food truck plazas that seemed to have grown like moss in every parking lot. They were quiet havens, places where you could whisper and enjoy the sounds of birds, small pop-up plazas where the food trucks seemed at home. It was wonderfully organic and made for great public space. [Pete McGough-Pose.] And yet, even now in Minnesota, it's rare to see a food truck using electricity. That's why when I saw one the other day at Saint Paul's Bang Brewing , I had to stop and chat with...

[West Broadway in Robbinsdale.] Here's a transcript from an interview with Susan Henderson of Placemakers, taken from the wonderful Talking Headways podcast put together by Jeff Wood. Henderson's firm did some work on the Bottineau station area planning and she mentions it in the podcast. Here are the locally relevant highlights: We have a fascinating [project] going on right now� Right now we have this amazing process in Hennepin County which is where Minneapolis is. They�re extnenidng their blue light rail northwest, there's an FTA grant, and the county is the fiscal agent for four municipalities.   [My] contract is for doing the form-based codes. They�re not even all form-based. There�s some early stage interventions.   One problem we�ve discovered has to do with capacity both at the staff level and politically. What are people actually able to do? And if we are doing our professional duty, then we�re crafting a code that fits the capacity to ensure successful i...

 [Looks like Seattle, WA.] [West 7th, Saint Paul.]    [Loring Park, Minneapolis.] [Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis.] [ Location forgotten. Looks like Franklin Avenue or something . North Loop, Minneapolis.] [Niagara Falls, ON.] [Longfellow, Minneapolis.] [State Fair.]

 Please do not park in front of the driveway [Yard. Minnehaha Avenue,  Minneapolis.] Sorry, at a wedding Back tomorrow [Chalk board. Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis.] Dog Walker For Hire ###-#### [Pole. Location forgotten.] We'll Help Move You [Truck. Rondo, Saint Paul.]  RED GREEN TOMATEOS FUND RASER [Yard. North End, Saint Paul.]  WELCOME [Window. West Saint Paul.]  Please leave the Walk Open [Yard. Location forgotten.] China Jidezhen Ceramics Exhibition [Fence. Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis.]

It's raining today all day long, so I'm moving the Saint Clair Avenue Factory Tour to a week from Tuesday. :( I've only ever delayed one tour before, the Bowling Alley Bike Ride . That was four years ago, so this is a rare event. Hope to see you on Tuesday!

I'm excited to announce my first book talk , a reading of my new book Minneapolis-Saint Paul: Then and Now ,  part of the "History Revealed" series in partnership with the Ramsey County Historical Society. It'll take place at one of my favorite places in Roseville (well, it's in the top 20 anyway), the Roseville Library! In case you're wondering, they do have a coffee drive-thru. While Roseville is not in the book, that's OK because I'll be sharing a bunch of photos that did NOT make the cut, and one of those might be of Roseville. I'll also be taking about my favorite photos that are in the book, about putting it together, what I learned about looking at old photographs, and what I think are the most interesting and revealing of the images in my new book (now available in bulk at Costco). I do have a lot to say on this topic! I'll also be on hand to sell and sign copies of the book to anyone who wants, so come on down to the Roseville Library ...

[The cat helping me with the latest Villager re-cap.] [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. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also:  Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager .] Headline: City considers eliminating fines for all overdue library materials Author: Jane McClure Short short version: Mayor Carter is floating the idea of getting rid of overdue fines at libraries. [Seems fine to me. Getting kids to read more is a no-brainer and the people that use libraries -- i.e. mostly poor people -- really do not need more fines in their lives.] 34% of the library cards at the Rondo library are unusable due to fines. [I would sure loved to have fines removed at the UMN library when I was in...

What do chocolate candies, awnings, barber poles, decorate church pews, leather, satchels, organ pipes, and beer have in common? For one thing, they are all very cool. This is an awesome list of items. But even more than that, they are all made on Saint Clair Avenue, an otherwise unremarkable commercial mixed-use street in Saint Paul, Minnesota! It's kind of hard to believe that Saint Clair Avenue is peppered by manufacturing, but it's true. Next Thursday, I'll be leading a bike ride from one end of Saint Clair to the other, stopping at eight (8) signifiant spots where things are made, and sharing a brief history of these hidden factories.  The ride will begin at Regina's Fine Candies, where you are welcome to purchase and consume at chocolate, and end at Bad Weather Brewing, which is not technically on Saint Clair but is close enough for jazz, and where they absolutely do manufacture another fine product that you are welcome to consume. Along the way, we'll be biki...

Following up on my appearance on the CBC last year to discuss urbanist reactions to Winnipeg, I was on the CBC again yesterday to discuss the pros and cons of skyways and tunnels in downtowns. There is a big debate going on right now about the key intersection in downtown Winnipeg, Portage and Main, and whether or not to re-introduce crosswalks and pedestrian access at the corner. For people who want to bring back street life at the intersection, it doesn't appear to be going very well. Here's an excerpt from the latest story on it , with poll results: "The data shows Winnipeggers really don't like this idea of opening Portage and Main to pedestrians. There is no demographic � not young people, not downtowners, not downtown residents � who want to open the intersection," said Mary Agnes Welch, a senior researcher for Winnipeg-based Probe.    "There is broad and deep, intense dislike for this idea." Anyway, I appeared on the CBC radio news to explain abou...

 [East Lake, Minneapolis.]  [Niagara Falls, ON.]  [Detroit, MI.]  [Detroit, MI.]  [Lansing, MI.]  [Troy, NY.]  [Williamstown, MA.] [Boston, MA.]

 [Boston, MA.]  [Boston, MA.]  [Location forgotten.]   [Location forgotten.]  [Manitowoc, WI.]  [Troy, NY.]  [Boston, MA.] [Boston, MA.]