If you were out driving in Minneapolis a week ago Friday, you may have had to wait one or two extra light cycles as hundreds of bicycles rolled through the intersection in a huge pack. Who were they, and where were they going? Were they really running red lights? One passerby asked the group, “What are you riding for?” to which someone shouted, “Biking!” In brief, that answer suffices. It would have been hard to summarize in a quip that the bicyclists were a pack of like-minded people who just had crammed into a bike shop for a chance to talk with one of their favorite YouTubers about, yes, bi ..read more

Upcoming Events Friday, April 12th: We’re proud to be co-hosting Ray Delahanty, aka CityNerd, for a meet and greet/bike ride event at Venture Bikes in Minneapolis! More information to follow next week, so save the date and keep your eyes peeled on Streets.mn! Saturday, April 27th, 10 a.m.: Take a ride on transit with other Streets.mn enthusiasts…and Lesley Kandaras, Metro Transit’s General Manager! Starting point to be announced, but it will be somewhere in downtown St. Paul, and we’ll be riding the 62/68. Saturday, May 11th: Join us in Rochester for our first Greater Minnesota contributors wo ..read more

Upcoming Events Friday, April 12th: We’re proud to be co-hosting Ray Delahanty, aka CityNerd, for a meet and greet/bike ride event at Venture Bikes in Minneapolis! More information to follow next week, so save the date and keep your eyes peeled on Streets.mn! Saturday, April 27th, 10 a.m.: Take a ride on transit with other Streets.mn enthusiasts…and Lesley Kandaras, Metro Transit’s General Manager! Starting point to be announced, but it will be somewhere in downtown St. Paul, and we’ll be riding the 62/68. Saturday, May 11th: Join us in Rochester for our first Greater Minnesota contributors wo ..read more

Every day, The Overhead Wire collects news about cities and sends the links to their email list. At the end of the week they take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to Streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the D.C. region. They are national and international links, sometimes entertaining or absurd but often useful. Drive-throughs great for chains, bad for cities: Half of Americans use a drive-through at least once a week, according to the National Restaurant Association, and the pandemic has increased how much ..read more

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in the March 2024 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger and is reprinted with permission. Want to highlight your own favorite bike shop? Email editor@streets.mn. When I heard people talk about bikes, I used to think of fun commutes or quick after-work rides that provide short bursts of freedom on an otherwise humdrum day. I never thought about big adventures or using bikes as a form of inclusion before. Bill Findling, the owner of Watt Cycleworks in southeast Minneapolis, changed that. Established in November 2022, on 54th Street and 43rd Avenue,&nbs ..read more

Early in the pandemic, Bemidji offered to pay teleworkers to move there. Let’s take a trip up north to find out how it went! Links 218 Relocate Similar program in Tulsa Paul Bunyan Communications Attributions Our theme song is Tanz den Dobberstein, and our interstitial song is Puck’s Blues. Both tracks used by permission of their creator, Erik Brandt. Find out more about his band, The Urban Hillbilly Quartet, on their website. This episode was hosted and edited by Ian R Buck, and transcribed by Sherry Johnson. We’re always looking to feature new voices on the show, so if you have ideas ..read more

The St. Paul City Council will hear a staff report and public comment this Wednesday, April 17 about the city’s Bicycle Plan, an extensive update from 2015. The meeting, which starts at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall in downtown St. Paul, likely will echo the public testimony and rousing support that the St. Paul Planning Commission heard in early February. But opponents will turn out, too, as they have for other bike initiatives that threaten parking and reset roadways to consider the needs of cyclists and pedestrians. Among highlights of the updated plan: Public Works will consider multimodal trans ..read more

Every day, The Overhead Wire collects news about cities and sends the links to their email list. At the end of the week they take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to Streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the D.C. region. These are national and international links, entertaining, absurd or even useful. Death of small cars in America: Smaller cars have continued to disappear from dealer showrooms around the US, replaced by larger SUVs and trucks. What happened to the “compact” car? Joe Ligo argues that low inter ..read more

August 20, 2023 14.1 miles Macalester-Groveland, West End On this ride, prepare to be captivated as we pause to admire St. Paul’s favorite bovine, delve into the odd streets in Victoria Park, and embark on a sensational tour of a one-time brewery-turned-apartment complex which includes an exclusive conversation with two talented resident artists. Rosie is ready for the beach. Rosie the cow stands watch at the corner of Randolph Avenue and Warwick Street without exception in a way that only the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can outdo. Of course, she is always properly attired for t ..read more

Editor’s note: Walk the Talk is Streets.mn’s carefully curated, highly partisan collection of both serious and fun-loving events, community meetings and opportunities for engagement that we think will interest our readers. Email your ideas to Hawken Habig, one of our daily editors, at hawkenhabig@gmail.com. East Grand Avenue Overlay District Project — Hearing on Friday, April 12, 8:30 a.m. The City of St. Paul is planning to enact zoning reforms along East Grand Avenue in accordance with the city’s priorities laid out in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The proposal seeks ..read more