The Cities Category Archive: Suburbs
Free museum pass program to end
Posted at 6:00 AM on May 12, 2012
by Jon Collins
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Filed under: Arts , Education, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
(The Museum Adventure Pass display at the East Lake library in Minneapolis.)
One patron wrote about her experience at the Hennepin History Museum's historic shoe exhibit. Another wrote that she planned a Russian-themed outing around a visit to the Museum of Russian Art, stopping first at Moscow on the Hill restaurant in St. Paul.
Those are only two stories of free visits to local museums and cultural centers posted by library patrons on the Museum Adventure Pass website. But after six years of distributing free passes to local museums at about 100 libraries in the Twin Cities metro area, the Museum Adventure Pass program is ending as of Labor Day.
Sally Lederer is the community relations manager for the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA), which runs the program.
"We wanted the program to be a way to introduce library users to all these great programs in the state," Lederer said. "Fortunately for us, we have these generous cultural organizations that were willing to do this."
Lederer said many of the organizations didn't have an issue with the lack of revenue they earned from the program, but that others were hit hard by the recession. When the program started, 24 organizations took part. This year only 17 were participating.
A lot of money is at stake. In the last quarter of 2011, the program handed out 14,000 sets of free passes to the Minnesota Zoo. That's 28,000 admissions. Without the pass, an adult ticket to the zoo costs $25.75.
Hennepin History Museum Executive Director Jada Hansen said the program has been "phenomenal" for small organizations like hers.
"I know opinion really varies from small museum to large museum, but as a small institution, it literally doubled our attendance," Hansen said. "It's really improved our visibility, and now we have some people that will continue to come back."
The good news is that MELSA is working on a new program that will help library patrons explore local cultural institutions. Lederer said details of the new program should be out by the time the adventure pass program ends.
"Sometimes you get into the mode of rehashing each year the same thing you did the previous year," Lederer said. "This year we have to get a little more creative."
MnDOT releases names of St. Croix bridge project bidders
Posted at 2:55 PM on May 2, 2012
by Jessica Mador
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Filed under: Suburbs, Transportation
Here is MnDOT's list of bidders for the $676 million span to be built between St. Joseph in Wisconsin and Oak Park Heights in Minnesota. Note that URS Corp submitted bids - that's the same firm that's attracted controversy among state lawmakers and Gov. Dayton for its bid for engineering work on the proposed Southwest LRT project.
The bids are for two contracts: Final design of the new bridge, and independent peer review of the final design.
Bridge Design:
Figg Bridge Engineers, Inc.
HDR Engineering, Inc.
Parsons Transportation Group, Inc.
TY Lin International
URS Corporation
Bridge Design Peer Review:
CH2M Hill, Inc.
HNTB Corporation
Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.
Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc.
Parsons Transportation Group, Inc.
TY Lin International
URS Corporation
The bridge will be built using a design-bid-build process, meaning the design will be complete before another request for proposals goes out for builders. When construction on the new bridge is complete, the existing Stillwater Lift Bridge will be converted to a pedestrian/bike trail.
MnDOT says the proposals will be judged using a quality-based process. Officials say cost is not part of the selection. That is negotiated after the design firm is selected.
A panel composed of MnDOT and WisDOT representatives will look at firms' experience, personnel, quality management and project understanding as they award the contracts. MnDOT says it expects the contracts to be awarded by or before the end of the month.
Hennepin County weapons screening finds knives, box cutters
Posted at 9:14 AM on May 1, 2012
by Madeleine Baran
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Filed under: Courts, Crime, Suburbs
Here's what didn't make it into Hennepin County court facilities last week:
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office released the photo to show the results of its first week of weapons screening at court facilities in Brooklyn Park, Edina, and Minnetonka.
Hennepin County installed weapons screening equipment and began screening for weapons at the three locations on April 23.
The Sheriff's Office "had urged the added safety measure due to violent incidents and threats that have occurred statewide and nationwide in courthouses," according to a news release.
The enhanced screening comes four months after a shooting at the Cook County courthouse that left three people injured.
State's first BRT system still waiting to roll
Posted at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2012
by Dan Olson
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Filed under: Suburbs, Transportation
Startup of the Cedar Avenue BRT (bus rapid transit) line has been pushed from November to May of next year.
Dakota county regional rail authority chair Will Branning and others got the news yesterday.
Transit station design and some right of way questions remain to be resolved.
It's been a long wait for Branning, former Apple Valley mayor, former Dakota county commissioner and now regional rail authority chair who's been a principal cheerleader for the project.
The wait goes back to the early 1980's.
Branning remembers the late Carolyn Rodriquez, a state lawmaker whose district included Dakota county, came to him and said in so many words, "What about transit?"
Thirty years later, the sixteen-mile long, $225 million Cedar Avenue bus rapid transit line from Lakeville to the Mall of America is close to, but not quite at the starting line. When (if?) it opens next year, it'll be the state's first BRT service.
Place an asterisk by that last statement.
A BRT-like system exists between the University of Minnesota Minneapolis east bank and St. Paul campus on a dedicated, meaning separate from other vehicles, roadway.
Then, of course, there are the express bus lines. These are the BRT-like services that make long runs with limited or no intermediate stops. However, they all share the road with other vehicles and encounter the same congestion.
BRT fans point to the dedicated lane for the buses and preferential treatment at stop lights as big advantages.
The delay in starting the Cedar Avenue service, the funding questions facing BRT on 35W and other routes, puts frowns on the faces of transit fans. BRT, a popular transit option elsewhere in the world and in a small but growing number of American cities, remains in the slow lane here in the Twin Cities.
St. Croix bridge meeting attracts attention from potential bidders
Posted at 4:34 PM on April 4, 2012
by Jessica Mador
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs, Transportation
Looks like so many people showed up at MnDOT's pre-proposal meeting on the St. Croix River Crossing project Tuesday in Oakdale that officials had to add another sign-in sheet.
Many big players from the construction, design and contractor world attended the meeting. The deadline for proposals is about a month away. MnDOT officials say the names of proposers won't be made public until after that 30-day period is up. Stay tuned for announcements about upcoming MnDOT open houses scheduled for Oak Park Heights and Stillwater over the next four or five weeks.
Southwest metro residents debate SWLRT project
Posted at 11:29 AM on March 22, 2012
by Jessica Mador
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Suburbs, Transportation
A light rail train pulls into the Target Field station as a commuter walks by in February 2012. This station is planned to connect with the Southwest Corridor LRT, which will connect downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie. (Alex Kolyer for MPR)
As state lawmakers debate whether to fund the proposed Southwest light rail line in this year's bonding bill, people who live near the line are doing some debating of their own.
The $1.25 billion LRT line, one of Gov. Mark Dayton's top priorities, would run between Eden Prairie and downtown Minneapolis, where it would connect to other mass transit. For more on the politics of this LRT line, read my story that aired on Thursday's Morning Edition.
42-year-old Hopkins resident Judie Schumacher is against the LRT. She lives near the proposed route but plans to continue taking her express bus to her job with Wells Fargo in downtown Minneapolis. Schumacher prefers the bus because it's fast and convenient.
"I hop on an express bus and it's instantly on the freeway. You get right downtown super fast and it drops me off a couple of blocks from my building, versus the light rail," said Schumacher.
In contrast, the light rail line would make multiple stops between her Hopkins home and downtown Minneapolis.
Schumacher describes herself as a big proponent of public transportation. She grew up taking the bus and said she'd rather see the state invest in more flexible bus lines in the metro than light rail.
"I like the idea of choice but a billion and a half dollars to construct it, not even thinking about all of the money people are spending now analyzing it and researching it and doing the impact studies," said Schumacher. "The plan is so expensive. I very much like public funding of mass transit but I just don't think that this light rail going out to Eden Prairie makes a lot of sense."
43-year-old Jeff Zammas supports the Southwest Corridor LRT. He lives with his wife and young son near where the line would run through St. Louis Park. His wife takes the bus to her job in downtown Minneapolis now, but he says they'd take light rail downtown as a family.
"I think just having another option is good. It's just one less stress, you know, having to find a place to park, sitting in traffic," said Zammas. "We've gone downtown before and it seems like you hit every light and then you're trying to find parking or you can get into the parking lot, but then after the event you're just sitting in the parking lot."
Zammas said he supports building more mass transit, especially as gas prices rise.
"A few summers ago when it was four dollars a gallon a lot of people stopped driving their cars and traded in their big SUVs, so it'll happen again where it's going to go up - maybe not as drastically or as quickly, but I think the sooner you build stuff and have those options, the cheaper it's going to be," said Zammas. "If we wait until next year or the year after, it'll be more expensive. So, if we are going to do it we should probably just start moving forward with it."
Met Council officials say the Southwest Corridor LRT needs $25 million dollars in state bonding money to move forward. Besides the state's total $125 million share, the rest of the line's cost will come from these sources -
*Federal government (50 percent)
*Hennepin County (10 percent)
*Counties Transit Improvement Board's five-county sales tax (30 percent).
House and Senate Republicans say they need more information before they'll commit state funding to the project.
Minnesota Nice, explained.
Posted at 3:10 PM on March 15, 2012
by Laura Yuen
(23 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
Cathy Schaefer of Minneapolis, left, chats with Rayane Alamuddin of Minneapolis during a gathering of "League of Extraordinary Women." Schaefer said she started the group as a way to meet people in Minnesota after she moved here more than two years ago. (Photo by Jeff Thompson)
I've been digging out from all the responses we've received from our series exploring Minnesota's polite reservedness toward newcomers.
One lengthy email came from Roger McKnight, a retired professor from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. McKnight, who taught Scandinavian studies, was disappointed we did not explain the roots of our state's perceived standoffishness.
In a nutshell, the state's settlers from northern or central Europe -- primarily Germany and Scandinavia -- had a profound impact on how the social culture here developed, McKnight contends.
"The traditional culture of Norway/Sweden was for centuries based on the concept of One People, One Language, One Religion," McKnight writes. "Swedes' lifelong friends were chosen from among people they went to school with and their kinship group. An individual made friends slowly, but they were friends for life --- in the true sense of the term 'for life.'"
Anyone who has lived in Scandinavia, as McKnight did for years, knows that "it's somewhat hard to get an 'in' there," he said. But once the friendship is established, "all barriers to communication break down and there results a torrent of friendship, expressions of sincerity, and even personal confidences."
Ylwa Eklund Falk and Fredrik Eklund, who moved here from Sweden last year, pray at Eagle Brook Church in Lino Lakes. (Photo by Alex Kolyer)
The lovely young Swedish couple I met in the second part of my series, Ylwa Eklund Falk and Fredrik Eklund, also pointed out this cultural nuance. Falk once heard one of her countrymen compare Swedish stoicism to American friendliness with a clever fruit analogy.
"Americans are like peaches. They have this nice, soft outer shell that's easy to penetrate. And there's a tight, hard core that's hard to get underneath," she told me. "Swedes are kind of like oranges. It's a thick, hard peel at first, but there's a big soft mushy inside."
In other words, once you get to know a Swede, "we tend to be very open about our lives," Falk said. "With Americans, it's easy to get to know them, but hard to make American friends."
This interesting mix of fierce loyalty and initial aloofness apparently applies to Germans, too. That's according to my colleague Alex Friedrich, son of a German immigrant. Alex lived in his father's home country for five years, and says the people there tend to be more reserved.
"No one moved. Everyone already had their friends already," he said. "They see friendship as a sort of investment, and they consider Americans shallow people who say 'LOVE YOU!' and then flake out when you need them. No need to bother with us unless we prove our worth."
But the Germans -- and Minnesotans -- will lend a hand when it counts, Friedrich said. Not because they're warm and loving, but because it's the right thing to do.
"After growing up in California, I've come to appreciate that way of thinking," he said. "My home state is really flaky."
Moreover, Professor McKnight explains, there's something in Scandinavian culture called the Law of Jante, a proverbial concept that values understatedness over backslapping. Tell me if his description sounds familiar:
"Not making a fuss of oneself, not boasting in public, not thinking a person is better than anyone else," he says. "It says in the ten commandments: Don't think you are better than us; don't think you can stand out from us. In short, conform and don't make a commotion of yourself."
So there you have it.
Many, like McKnight, applaud Minnesotans for their sincerity.
But judging from the barrage of responses and social-media chatter our series generated, a lot of transplants to the state are having trouble moving their relationships from "acquaintance" to "friend for life." Some have even emailed us asking for advice on where to meet people.
Here's hoping when they do find friends, they'll be rewarded with that big, soft mushy inside.
Minnesota rated the least affordable state for housing in the Midwest
Posted at 4:30 PM on March 14, 2012
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
A new national report shows someone earning minimum wage would have to work 86 hours a week to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in Minnesota -- that's more than two full-time jobs.
The report, Out of Reach 2012, was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based housing policy organization, the Minnesota Housing Partnership and the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless. The report provides rental affordability data for every state, metro area, and county in the country.
Of the twelve states in the Midwest, Minnesota ranked the worst for affordability for minimum wage workers. According to the report:
In order to afford the rent and utilities for a safe, modest 2-bedroom apartment in the private housing market, a Minnesota worker must earn $15.50 per hour, 40 hours a week, all year long. By contrast, the typical renter in Minnesota earns $12.17 per hour. Minimum wage pays only $7.25 per hour.
"The gap between what most renters make and the cost of housing is a problem facing the entire state," said Chip Halbach, Executive Director of Minnesota Housing Partnership. "Families are forced to move because they cannot keep up their rent payments. This kind of instability jeopardizes the future of Minnesota's children."
Numbers:
-An estimated 54% renters in Minnesota do not earn enough to afford a two-bedroom unit at the "fair market rent" where they live.
-Twin Cities metro rents are most expensive. A modest two-bedroom apartment requires a full time worker to earn $17.38 per hour year-round -- the most expensive in the state.
-The counties least affordable to renters, given the incomes they earn, are distributed throughout the both Metro and Greater Minnesota Counties. The top 5 least affordable counties with the highest estimated percent of renters unable to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment are Wadena (67% unable to afford), Carlton (62%), Winona (62%), Chisago (61%), and Ramsey (61%) Counties.
See MHP's additional Minnesota maps based on Out of Reach data here.
Upcoming open houses on Gateway Corridor
Posted at 1:55 PM on February 27, 2012
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
The Gateway Corridor Commission is holding four open houses in March and early April, seeking public input on the eight proposed alternative transit options being considered for the project. The Gateway Corridor is a proposed transitway that would run east from the Twin Cities near Interstate 94 and U.S. Highway 12 to Wisconsin.
Check out this map.
The project is part of the Metropolitan Council's 2030 Transportation Policy Plan. Alternatives under consideration include commuter rail, light rail, bus rapid transit and express bus service. The Gateway Corridor Alternatives Analysis is funded through a combination of federal funds, the Counties Transit Improvement Board, Washington and Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authorities, and the Metropolitan Council.
The public open houses will be held:
Tuesday, March 27
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Presentation at 6:30
Eastside Community Center
Harding Senior High School
1526 East 6th Street, St. Paul, MNThursday, March 29
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Presentation at 5:30
Chippewa Valley Technical College
Room 118, Health Education Center
615 W. Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire, WIWednesday April 4
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Presentation at 5:30
St. Croix County Government Center
Lower Level (enter by Sheriff's Office)
1101 Carmichael Road, Hudson, WIThursday, April 5
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Presentation at 5:30
Woodbury City Hall
Ash/Birch Room, Main Floor
8301 Valley Creek Road, Woodbury, MN
Organizers say the meetings will include a short presentation on the modes and routes of new transit, as well as the proposed station locations. The presentation will also cover ridership projections, as well as the potential economic and community impacts of the transit options. Staff will be available to answer questions, and there will be an opportunity for attendees to provide both written and verbal comments.
Gingrich protest a sign of Edina's changing politics
Posted at 1:04 PM on February 7, 2012
by Curtis Gilbert
(5 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Suburbs
A colleague of mine noted with interest that the hecklers who interrupted GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich last night were high school students from Edina.
"Why do you support discrimination against gays and lesbians all the time?" shouted Gabe Aderhold at Gingrich's Bloomington event.
Aderhold and his accomplice Isaac Rothberg, both 17, live in Edina. At first glance, the tony suburb seems an unlikely hotbed of liberal activism -- but upon closer examination, it's not as unlikely as it looks. Edina's politics are changing.
With a median household income of $79,535 (well above the statewide average of $57,243,) Edina used to be a GOP stronghold. Republicans have represented the city in the state Senate since party designation was re-instituted at the Legislature in the mid-70s.
The GOP also held Edina's two state House seats during most of that time, save for a brief, two-year period when DFLer Paul Rosenthal snagged one of them.
Rosenthal's 2008 win is a sign of the GOP's loosening grip on Edina. It can partly be attributed to the ample coattails of President Barack Obama. He won the city handily -- 55 percent to 43 percent -- against Republican John McCain. That improved on the showing of the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee. John Kerry also carried the city, but by less than 3 percentage points.
These days, Edina swings easily back and forth between the GOP and the DFL -- even splitting its vote some years.
This year, Obama shares the ballot with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the city's three GOP-held legislative seats and a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. It will be interesting to see how the vote breaks down.
Stillwater Lift Bridge to close later this year for repairs
Posted at 11:54 AM on January 31, 2012
by Jessica Mador
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Suburbs, Transportation
With a proposed replacement bridge over the St. Croix River moving forward in Washington, MnDOT is planning work on the existing span.
The Stillwater Lift Bridge will close for repairs from Sept. 10 through the end of the year. MnDOT says workers will paint and repair steel connections, electrical systems and concrete on the project, which is estimated to cost $3.6 million.
When (if?) a new river bridge goes up, the Lift Bridge will be converted into a bicycle and pedestrian facility as part of a looped trail system connecting both bridges.
Opponents of the proposed almost $700 million four-lane bridge over the St. Croix are calling for a smaller, cheaper span.
MnDOT is hosting an open house about the project from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at Stillwater City Hall.
Key Ramsey County commissioner retiring
Posted at 5:40 PM on January 10, 2012
by Tim Nelson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, St. Paul , Suburbs
Jan Parker, one of seven Ramsey County commissioners, says she's decided not to run for re-election.
The four-term commissioner from New Brighton has been a swing vote on the board, which often splits along suburban and urban or liberal and conservative lines -- although strictly speaking, it's a non-partisan position.
Most recently, she's been a fourth vote on the Vikings matters. It was her affirmation that she supported a "request for qualifications" that indicated the board's most recent stadium maneuver was going to pass.
It was an uncommon 4-3 vote on the board, a sign of sharp division among a group that often works by virtual consensus.
But Parker says stadium politics have nothing to do with her departure.
''No. Absolutely not," she said today. "The Vikings issue is just one more challenge. You know, the role of the county commission goes unnoticed most of the time. But there is always something exciting and interesting going on. And so, no, the Vikings stadium is not any part of my decision.''
Parker said personal issues played a bigger role. Her husband recently retired, and she has a new granddaughter in Milwaukee that she'd like to spend more time with.
"And 16 years is a long time for anybody to serve in any capacity," Parker says. "It's a good idea to rotate around a little bit."
Parker says she won't be endorsing any successors, but figures there will be plenty of contenders.
She represents the cities of Lauderdale, Little Canada, New Brighton, Roseville, St. Anthony and part of Mounds View. She'll serve through the end of 2011 -- and may yet have a hand in where the Vikings play during her successor's tenure.
Outpouring of support for paralyzed high school hockey player
Posted at 6:21 PM on January 5, 2012
by Minnesota Public Radio
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs
Former North Stars general manager Lou Nanne visits Jack Jablonski at Hennepin County Medical Center. Jablonski, 16, was paralyzed after being hit from behind during a junior varsity hockey game on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. He is a sophomore at Benilde-St. Margaret's School in St. Louis Park, Minn. (Photo courtesy of Christine Hill, HCMC)
By Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. - A neurosurgeon at Hennepin County Medical Center said surgery has confirmed high school hockey player Jack Jablonski has a severed spinal cord and won't walk again.
During a Benilde-St. Margaret's school junior varsity game last week, Jablonski, 16, was checked from behind and into the boards. Surgery this week repaired the bones around his spinal cord, but Dr. Walter Galicich said the procedure confirmed that the cord itself was severed and irreparable.
Jablonski does have some use of his right arm and eventually will be able to hold up his head, Galicich said.
"That little bit of biceps function is going to allow a significant amount of independence; driving a wheelchair, feeding himself, etc.," he said.
Galicich said Jablonski's family is devastated but thankful for the support they've received, mostly online.
Students at Benilde-St. Margaret's School in St. Louis Park wore white on Thursday in support of their classmate, as did students at several other schools. Benilde administrators say they've heard from people around the world. The high school's website has a page with info on donating to the family.
The lobby of Benilde-St. Margaret's School in St. Louis Park, Minn., includes a tribute this week. Students on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 wore white in support of their classmate. (MPR photo/Tom Weber)
Scott County administrator survives vote to fire him
Posted at 3:10 PM on January 3, 2012
by Curtis Gilbert
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Suburbs
After heated and at times personal debate, the Scott County Board voted not to fire County Administrator Gary Shelton today.
The 3-2 vote came after Commissioner Joe Wagner introduced a motion to terminate Shelton.
"All I've got to say, it's time for a change," Wagner said. He did not elaborate on his problems with Shelton, nor did Commissioner Dave Menden, who also voted to fire the administrator.
"There's a lot of mistrust between me and Gary and it goes way back," Menden said. "I got a list of at least 20 things at home, none that I'm going to bring up."
Just four months ago the commission voted unanimously that Shelton exceeded expectations in his annual performance evaluation, according to county Employee Relations Director Jack Kemme. That led other members of the county board to suggest today's motion was motivated by personal differences.
"Do you get to say, 'I don't like somebody, so we should fire him?'" Commissioner Jon Ulrich asked. "We're here to represent the public and work for the betterment of our county. If we've got a personal feeling, get over it."
If the board had voted to fire Shelton, he could have demanded a public hearing on the matter and formal written charges from the board. Shelton declined to comment on today's vote.
Video of the debate is available on the Scott County website.
Brooklyn Park gets Legacy funding for traveling potato farm
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 21, 2011
by Madeleine Baran
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Suburbs
What do you do when you can't convince your community to visit a historic 1900-era potato farm? You bring the potato farm to them.
That's the idea behind the city of Brooklyn Park's "traveling trunk" project. The city found out this week that they'll be receiving $7,000 in state Legacy funding to kickstart their efforts to assemble a trunk full of historical artifacts -- tools, toys, clothing, photos, and other items -- that can be delivered to schools and community groups to tell the story of life on Eidem Homestead.
The farm sits on ten acres of city-owned land. The city's website explains:
Today, the farm is like a time machine, transporting you back to the turn of the twentieth century, a time when Brooklyn Park was one of the nation's top potato growing areas. Step through our gates into a world in which a bushel of potatoes cost twenty-five cents and a pound of butter cost fifteen cents. Split logs fueled the wood burning stove, which kept the kitchen warm and was used for cooking meals and heating water. Farmers plowed the fields with a team of horses or oxen. Wives churned butter, made the family clothing and pumped the water to wash it.
Despite all this historical farm activity, it's been tough to attract visitors. The city's grant application says that school tours have declined in recent years. It adds:
According to many educators, one reason for the decline is the cost of obtaining a bus and driver for field trips. And while we have had visitors in wheelchairs, some parts of the site, such as the upstairs bedrooms and the tool shed, are not fully accessible. Also, here in Brooklyn Park, we have a large ethnically diverse population, yet, despite our best efforts, our visitor demographic does not reflect that.
The farm is also closed from December to May each year. Jon Oyanagi, Brooklyn Park's director of recreation and parks, said the year-round traveling trunk program will help the city make better use of its historical resources. Most of the grant money will go toward staff time.
Similar trunks programs are in place across the country. There are Grand Canyon trunks and Winston Churchill trunks. There's even an aquatic invasive species trunk
The city of Brooklyn Park hopes to have its trunk ready to travel by April 2012.
Photo of Eidem Homestead courtesy of the city of Brooklyn Park.
New Miss Minnesota is first Asian-American to hold title
Posted at 1:58 PM on December 5, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(5 Comments)
Filed under: Immigration, Suburbs
As far as Minnesota firsts go, this one might not have been on your radar.
The state will send an Asian-American to the Miss USA pageant next year.
Nitaya Panemalaythong, 26, of Savage was crowned Miss Minnesota last month. The office worker and Normandale College student is the first Asian-American to win the honors, according to pageant producers.
Panemalaythong, whose family is from Laos, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. In 1986, she moved to the United States as an infant. Her family lived in Minneapolis and North Carolina.
Her bio says her proudest achievement was buying a house last year. Why?
"She and her brother in law support 10 family members, living in that home," the bio says.
Panemalaythong was at first skeptical about entering the pageant, and at 26, she was the oldest contestant in the competition, the Savage Pacer reports.
(Photo courtesy of Future Productions)
Construction of Northstar's Ramsey station begins
Posted at 3:00 PM on November 15, 2011
by Laura McCallum
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Minneapolis, Suburbs, Transportation
Two years after the Northstar commuter rail line began service between Minneapolis and Big Lake, construction is getting underway on a seventh Northstar station in the northern metro suburb of Ramsey. Right now, the commuter train has stations in Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka, Coon Rapids, Fridley and the Minneapolis station at Target Field.
Officials say funding is now in place for the $13.2 million Ramsey station, which should be completed by the end of 2012. The money came from the state, the Met Council, the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB), the Anoka County Regional Rail Authority and the city of Ramsey. The Anoka County Regional Rail Authority says the station is expected to average more than 200 rides per day, adding 52,000 rides per year to the commuter rail system.
Tomorrow state, city and county officials will celebrate the completion of funding and the start of construction. An invite-only Northstar train ride will stop in Ramsey for the first time at 11:30 a.m., and the public can join the festivities for a program in the Municipal Center lobby at 11:50 a.m.
Metro parish schools consolidate
Posted at 1:11 PM on November 4, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(0 Comments)
Filed under: St. Paul , Suburbs
Last night, Father Stephen Adrian of St. Matthew's Parish on St. Paul's West Side met with parents to explain the new regional school his parish will join next fall. St. Matthew's 168 students will join with students from St. Michael's in West St. Paul.
"Schools tied to parishes, that model is not sustainable" Adrian told the crowd of roughly 90 parents assembled in the parish hall last night.
"St. Matthew's is not closing, and not merging," said Adrian. "It's becoming a partner in a regional Catholic school." Other partners include Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul, St. Michael's in West St. Paul, St. John Vianney in South St. Paul and Holy Trinity in South St. Paul. St. John Vianney will house a second regional school.
"You truly are trailblazers in this effort to bring Catholic school communities together in a collaborative effort to make better use of all the resources God has granted us," wrote Archbishop Nienstedt in a letter to parents, parishioners and alumni last week.
The school changes come a year after Nienstedt announced plans to consolidate some parishes in the 12-county Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Principal Doug Leiser said St. Matthew's is part of the first regional consolidation of parish schools and others will follow.
School leaders assured parents that transportation will be provided, as well as financial aid.
Adrian received applause from parents when he said he would fight for the lunch program. Apparently, St. Matthew's likes its lunches.
One mother asked about uniforms at the new school.
Lieser said that's the number one question he's been getting from students.
Joyce Osborne of West St. Paul is a 1977 graduate of St. Matthew's and the mother of a 7th grader who will move to the regional school. She noted that although she lives nine blocks from St. Michael's, she had chosen to send her children to St. Matthew's because of its diversity. A majority of students at St. Matthews are students of color and the Osbornes are caucasian. "We needed that. That's reality," she said.
In an interesting twist, Osborne said her German family grew up attending St. Matthew's because they weren't welcome among the Irish at St. Michael's. Generations later, the communities are joining together in their regional school.
Emails to inmates
Posted at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Livability, Suburbs
The Minnesota Department of Corrections is experimenting with a new way for friends and family to communicate with inmates in two Minnesota prisons.
During a six-month pilot project, inmates at Oak Park Heights and the Shakopee women's prison will be able to receive electronic messages sent through a vendor at less than the cost of a first-class letter.
DOC Deputy Commissioner David Crist said messages are received and printed in the prison mail room, then distributed to the offender.
"I want to stress that it's a one-way program. Emails come into the mailroom--not directly to the inmates--and the offenders then have to respond in a more traditional way: by telephone or the mail," said Crist.
Prison staff monitor snail mail for contraband like drugs and white powder that may require an emergency response. Electronic messages wouldn't carry that risk.
After six months, the department will determine whether to expand electronic messaging to the rest of Minnesota's correctional facilities.
Wilder Foundation launches caregiver campaign
Posted at 5:25 PM on October 12, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
By 2030, twenty percent of Minnesota's population will be over the age of 65. In Minnesota, more than 90 percent of all care for elders is provided by family members and close friends.
But the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation reports that more than 80 percent of family members who actively care for a loved one don't self-identify as a "caregiver." This may prevent them from accessing helpful resources. Wilder notes:
Many caregivers suffer from high levels of stress, which can impact their immune system for up to three years after their caregiving ends, thus increasing their chances of developing a chronic illness themselves. More than 40 percent of caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression. And women caregivers are more than twice as likely to live in poverty, and caregiving families have median incomes 15 percent lower than non-caregiving families.
To help this population, the Wilder Foundation is launching an awareness campaign. The new "Capacity to Care" campaign is a series of public service advertisements and a website that provides valuable resources and information for people who help care for older adults.
Venture capitalist by day, cake fairy by night
Posted at 10:22 AM on October 7, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs
And now, here's one bright outcome to a rather sobering story about being young and poor.
MPR listener Veronica Descotte was in the car when she heard my piece on the rising child poverty rate in Brooklyn Park.
Descotte listened as a choked-up Evelyn Goodman, shown above in a photo by MPR's Jeff Thompson, described the sense of guilt she carried because she couldn't afford to buy a cake or a present for her daughter's 17th birthday.
"You now what we did for her birthday? We sat in the house, and looked at the four walls. And I felt so bad," Goodman said. "It was the worst feeling ever. I had to explain it to her. She was understanding, but I could tell she was hurt. No cake, no nothing."
Descotte, a biologist by trade who works for a venture capitalist firm, said something clicked in her head when she heard Goodman utter those last four words -- "no cake, no nothing."
"If I had known, I would have driven a cake over," Descotte, 30, told me this week. "It's something so small for me to do, and it would have made a difference for them."
The Macalester College grad with a sweet tooth, pictured at left, says she's a big believer in birthdays. The demands of her day job -- reviewing business plans and choosing companies to invest in -- keep her busy. But she says she had been hankering to do something on the side that could help others. Her love for cakes grew out of her mother's kitchen in Argentina.
Descotte emailed me a few days after the story ran, asking if I could put her in touch with Goodman. She said Goodman's story inspired her to start a new nonprofit, called Cakes on Wheels -- and she wanted Goodman and her family to receive the inaugural cake.
Goodman gave me permission to share her contact information with Descotte. On Wednesday, Descotte delivered two homemade cakes: white chocolate with raspberry mousse and a marble cake with dark chocolate ganache. One was for Goodman's oldest daughter, Rakeshia, and the other was for Raneshia, who turned 12 this week.
The family wasn't home at the time, so Descotte left the cakes on their front door, "like the cake fairy," Descotte said.
When the family did come home, Goodman said her kids jumped and screamed at the sight of the confections on their doorstep.
"It just felt good. It was thoughtful that she thought of us," she said of Descotte. "We're thankful for what we got."
As for the cake fairy, Descotte said she's building on her venture capital experience and relying on business advice from people in her network as she builds her nonprofit. And she's on the lookout for other families who might be in need of birthday sweets. You can contact her through her new website or on Facebook.
(photos courtesy of Veronica Descotte)
Why only one Leaf owner in Minnesota?
Posted at 3:03 PM on October 6, 2011
by Dan Olson
(6 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, St. Paul , Suburbs
This new Nissan Leaf, an all electric-powered car, is in David Thompson's Eden Prairie driveway.
There may be one other at a Twin Cities auto dealership.
Why so few?
Nissan has apparently adopted a marketing strategy of selling the first Leafs in selected states. And Minnesota is not one of them.
How did Thompson get his?
Strictly on the up and up. He owns property in Arizona, one of the Nissan-anointed states for Leaf sales, and snared one there.
Thompson says the four-passenger (or five if the bodies are lean) Leaf retails for about $35,000.
There's a federal tax break of about $7,500 he says, and some other states, but not Minnesota, offer a tax break on electric vehicles.
There are lots of ways to slice and dice how much a driver saves by owning an electric vehicle. Thompson, a businessman not unfamiliar with numbers, says he calculates he'll save about $275 a month in gasoline costs as he uses his Leaf for sales visits around the Twin Cities. He says an electric "fill" or recharge costs about $3.
Thompson says the car's range is about 85 miles before it runs out of juice, so he has to think a bit about where, and how far, he's going. Longer road trips are not much of a possibility. And, of course, he's anticipating the car's range will drop to about 60 miles with colder weather.
So, why is Nissan so parsimonious with Leaf sales?
Thompson's theory is the company doesn't want to sell a bunch of the cars until there are more places to plug in.
In Minnesota the electric vehicle advocates are trying to address the situation. In St. Paul, for example, the city working with Xcel Energy and the Neighborhood Energy Connection, is putting 20 high-powered plug-in stations at different locations, including some parking ramps.
It'll cost electric vehicle owners anywhere from a $1 to $3, plus parking fees, to plug in and power up.
Judith Martin told us what really happened
Posted at 2:55 PM on October 5, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
The late Judith Martin, a University of Minnesota geography and urban studies professor, was one of our "go to" people when we needed help understanding Twin Cities development.
Here she is in 1998, explaining to former MPR reporter William Wilcoxen how riverfront development happened the way it did in the Twin Cities:
"If you look at a place like Minneapolis where, y'know, the first people that came here looked at those falls, and nobody said, "Parkland!" - everybody said, "Opportunity to make money!" That's what you do there. You park your flour mills and sawmills along the riverfront, and nobody thinks twice about it because it's obvious, in the context of 19th-century thinking, that this is how you build a city."
Martin, as the picture above illustrates, was a riverfront partisan, an advocate for helping people rediscover the river's many attractions beyond being a place to park mills.
Judith Martin, 63, wasn't just a favorite with Minnesota Public Radio reporters. She was respected by academic peers and students.
An excerpt from the obituary prepared by Martin's family explains why:
"Among the many classes she taught was a survey course on the geography of the Twin Cities, which hundreds of students took each year--many learning to their chagrin that understanding the cities and their region was far more complex than they expected. Martin's brusque but cheery style inspired many to get out into the city and see what they could learn from close observation of the city and the people in it. One of her favorite exercises was to assign students to ride an unfamiliar bus route and describe the ridership patterns, landscape, and social relations that they observed."
Her family says Judith Martin, a native of Chicago, died this week from complications due to a recurrence of breast cancer.
New health initiative kicks off in the suburbs
Posted at 12:19 PM on September 27, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Suburbs
Perhaps you've seen the commercials?
The mayors of Bloomington, Edina and Richfield hope to make their communities healthier by teaming up with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. They'll launch a pilot project today to promote healthy eating and active living. To kick off the initiative, the mayors and representatives from Blue Cross will take a short, noontime walk around Normandale Lake Park in Bloomington. The Blue Cross "do Groove Guy" will also be there.
Officials say the idea behind the project is preventing illnesses caused by unhealthy eating and physical inactivity -- combined, these are the second leading cause of death and disease in Minnesota.
Food for thought: two-thirds of Minnesotans are overweight or obese. Health officials say treating obesity related diseases is on track to add nearly $3.7 billion to Minnesota's annual health care costs by 2020.
Lead-based paint still poisoning Twin Cities kids
Posted at 5:30 PM on September 27, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
Melisa Illies, a lead hazard reduction worker for Hennepin county is pointing to a north Minneapolis home window from about the 1940's that is likely painted with a lead based paint and will soon be replaced.
The homeowner heard about the lead paint hazard at a community event, applied for and won a grant of about $5,500. The money will go to replace all the windows in her home.
Her two-year-old daughter has an elevated blood lead level.
The grant may be new, but worries over lead paint poisoning have been around for decades here.
St. Paul native Howard Mielke, now a Louisiana-based scientist, was a pioneer in bringing the hazard to public attention.
He'd likely be interested to know that even after all these years and the millions spent to reduce the hazard, Hennepin county officials estimate there are still a thousand kids in Hennepin county with elevated lead levels in their blood.
The heavy metal harms neurological development in children.
Until 1978 when it was banned, lead was commonly used in house paint as a pigment and to make it tougher, more opaque and washable.
Windows with aging, peeling, flaking lead-based paint are a common source of poisoning as kids playing with or near the windows get the powdery residue from the paint on their fingers that go into their mouths.
The $7 million federal grant will go to lead abatement window replacement in hundreds of homes, many of the them in Minneapolis.
Our home is our (foreclosed, lower value) castle
Posted at 8:15 PM on September 23, 2011
by Dan Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, Race, St. Paul , Suburbs
New Census (officially dubbed American Community Survey) numbers show overall Minnesota home ownership rates remain among the highest in the country, nearly 75%.
But because of the recession - people losing their jobs, foreclosures - the rate is declining and is especially sharp for minorities.
The details paint a troubling picture.
Most of the revelatory details come from Minnesota Housing officials who track the home ownership picture.
The bad news: Home values are down. Lots of homeowners are underwater with mortgages that are bigger than the value of their homes. Add to that persistent unemployment which is causing more homeowners to fall into foreclosure.
The good news: Home values are down. Borrowing rates are low and likely to remain at record lows for some time.
Minnesota Housing commissioner Mary Tingerthall boils all the numbers down to one for people thinking of buying a home.
Given everything that's happened, the average monthly payment for an average value house purchased now including principle, interest, taxes will be $900 a month less than the average monthly payment five years ago.
The worst of times. The best of times. Depending on your situation.
Twin Cities historic sites vie for Facebook votes
Posted at 3:30 PM on September 20, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
Online voting for 25 local historic sites began today on Facebook, but some eager mouse-clickers can't seem to cast their votes.
There's plenty of excitement fueling the Partners in Preservation contest. The historic sites -- which include beloved buildings, parks, churches, museums and other places -- are vying for a piece of $1 million in grants. American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced the 25 eligible places today.
Yet the voting process is confounding some would-be voters. The contest has also apologized for a "temporary glitch" that caused problems for some users.
American Express spokeswoman Caitlin Lowie says this was the first time the contest has moved its voting platform to Facebook, and the glitch was resolved within 15 minutes. The volume of traffic could have contributed to the problems, she said: "Within an hour, more than 1,000 people went to vote, which we really weren't expecting."
What can we say? Minnesotans love their history.
Glitches aside, the voting process is not intuitive. Here are some tips:
You must first "like" the Partners in Preservation page. That should pull up the voting page. If not, check to see if there is a "VOTE" tab on the left-hand menu. It should bring you to an interactive map featuring all 25 sites and their descriptions. From there, you should be able to click on a place and vote for it.
Full disclosure: MPR's Fitzgerald Theater is one of the contenders.
Voting continues until Oct. 12. The winner of the popular vote is guaranteed up to $125,000. The remainder of the $1 million in grants will be given to a number of the other sites after review by American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and an advisory committee co-chaired by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
Better late than never for foreclosed Twin Cities folks?
Posted at 6:15 PM on September 7, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
What a difference from two months ago.
That's when we reported what appeared to be a truly anemic federal response to going after the bad actors at the top in the mortgage meltdown.
State regulators and prosecutors and some local officials have been going after mortgage originators, title companies and others involved in fraudulent mortgages. And they've had some success.
But the fraud we've seen in Minnesota is a small part of the picture, compared to the risky mortgage-backed securities deals that consumed the industry at the beginning of the recession.
In the last 10 days the U. S. attorney general has launched a fusilade of lawsuits aimed at the big banks and another set at individuals.
Enough to keep armies of attorneys tied up in legal warfare for years.
Seems a safe assumption that any lawsuit settlements will come too late for the more than 100,000 Minnesotans foreclosed on since 2007.
Twin Cities transportation plot thickens
Posted at 1:54 PM on September 7, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
Suddenly, or so it seems, the Southwest Corridor light rail project surges to the fore.
The Central Corridor light rail project overcomes seasonal construction delays.
Money for all things transportation hangs in the balance.
On that last point, the question is when or if Congress will authorize transportation spending under a continuing resolution? The deadline is the end of this month.
At stake are billions for roads, bridges, buses and rail, among other projects.
(The current 169/I-494 interchange is set to be overhauled)
The continuing resolution is for spending at 2010 levels when the old transportation act expired.
Readers of The Cities who spend way too much time following transportation issues know that before he bit the electoral dust, former Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar and then-minority House transportation committee chair John Mica supported a new transportation bill.
It would have authorized spending $500 billion over the next six years - roughly double the expired bill.
There's been precious little talk of that measure since then. Even though there's a chorus building singing the praises of a big transportation infrastructure spending bill to employ people and address several decades of deferred maintenance.
OK. Moving along.
How about that Southwest Corridor project? The Federal Transit Administration permission for Southwest to enter preliminary engineering is, arguably, one of the three big steps in the life of these projects - the others being permission to enter final design and then a full funding federal grant agreement which would be about half the cost of the project. The total price tag has been hovering around $1.2 billion.
For Central Corridor, the blissful late summer weather is a bonus given the wet weather that delayed early season construction. Project officials shy away from uttering the "Ahead of Schedule" phrase but point out that CCLRT met its construction season goal back in mid July of having 20% of the project complete.
A cloud on the horizon for Central Corridor centers on the impact construction is having especially on smaller businesses. Some report their revenue has been sliced by more than half.
Yes, there's $4 million in loans and grants available to help affected businesses. But only a small portion has been used. One reason, business owners say, is getting the money is onerous because of the detailed financial disclosure required.
(Photo courtesy of MnDOT)
Where did Twin Cities sprawl go?
Posted at 3:45 PM on August 30, 2011
by Dan Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
Don't panic.
There's still plenty to go around.
However, some fun new numbers from Metropolitan Council research manager Libby Starling show the rate appears to be slowing.
"The most recent land-use data, interpreted from aerial photography conducted in spring 2010, show the region added 23,000 developed acres from 2005 to 2010, which compares in geographic size to the City of Plymouth."
Having more fun with numbers, Starling points to this:
"This is an average rate of 4,500 acres per year, compared to an average rate of 7,500 acres per year during the first half of the decade, 2000-2005. During the 1990s, the region added developed land at an average rate of 9,200 acres per year."
So, we're still sprawled out but probably the recession and slower population growth have slowed the rate.
And finally, a bit of fuel for your next happy hour or dinner party conversation:
"The seven-county geographic area is 1.9 million acres--1.78 million acres of land and 125,000 acres of open water. Thirty percent of the geographic area, or 575,000 acres, is developed as of 2010 (including residential, commercial, industrial and major highways). Twenty-two percent of the region, 411,000 acres, is devoted to residential development. Just over one million acres are agricultural and undeveloped land."
Didn't I say these numbers are fun?
Bike route site adds transit, plans to expand statewide
Posted at 8:27 AM on August 30, 2011
by Elizabeth Dunbar
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
Cyclopath, a handy bike-route website developed by faculty and students at the University of Minnesota's Computer Science and Engineering Department, is expanding statewide.
MnDOT is providing the funds for the project, which will start this fall and take about a year and a half to complete. Professor Loren Terveen says it's a big task — the Cyclopath team will have to pull data from MnDOT as well as local governments to figure out things like road type, speed limit, shoulder width and whether there are designated bike paths in the area where a user requests a route.
For now, Cyclopath has expanded its options for commuters in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area. The site now allows users to add Metro Transit buses or trains to their bike route. That option includes scheduling, so there's no need to go to the Metro Transit trip planner if you're preparing a route that involves bike and bus.
Another addition for users is the ability to share a route with a friend via e-mail, Twitter or Facebook.
An Android app was also released earlier this summer, allowing people with Android phones to have Cyclopath track their route or provide a new route given their current location.
Twin Cities bicyclists are surely taking advantage of the bike option on Google Maps, but Terveen says it isn't the same as Cyclopath.
"We have a number of benefits that they don't have," he said. "Routes can be personalized based on ratings."
Cyclopath is open content, so besides ratings, users can add edits and comments so that the routes the site spits out are constantly improving, Terveen said.
"We've done studies that show we've actually increased the quality of routes that we generate using user inputs," he said.
Cyclopath has about 2,500 registered users. During bike season, up to 20 registered users log in per day and about 100 route requests per day are processed for people who don't log in.
Sold on Somerset, without a tube
Posted at 5:26 PM on August 29, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
Why in the world wouldn't you want to live in this little western Wisconsin town?
It's nestled in the gorgeous St. Croix River valley, just a few minutes east of Stillwater.
And it has the sublimely beautiful Apple river flowing by it, which is even more attractive without the tubers who were mostly absent on the weekday I visited.
Modern day settlers have been beating a path to Somerset and towns all up and down the river valley for years, buying homes, raising kids.
And driving to jobs elsewhere.
Yep, there's work in those towns, but not enough.
One of the reasons, local boosters say, is that naughty old Stillwater lift bridge.
It's cute in a Norman Rockwell sort of way, but the 80-year-old, two lane span with a 30 mile-an-hour speed limit and weight limits that prohibit some heavy trucks is a chokepoint.
Companies in a hurry don't want their widgets tied up in a traffic jam or making a detour to one of the other three crossings over the St. Croix River at Taylors Falls, Osceola or Hudson.
That's one reason boosters of western Wisconsin economic development want a new St. Croix River bridge, and the one they want is the $633 million model - the version with all the bells and whistles including four, 65 mph freeway-style lanes of traffic and three miles on both the Minnesota and Wisconsin of new interchanges and roadway.
The opponents are saying, 'wait;' and especially the Minnesota critics are asking why their tax dollars should be subsidizing development in Wisconsin.
Watch for new and exciting episodes in this telenovela in September when members of Congress return and decide if they'll give thumbs up to the new span.
To entertain us in the meantime, here are some fun numbers from the Minnesota Department of Transportation bridge engineer Nancy Daubenberger, comparing bridge traffic over the Stillwater lift bridge, which is at about 17,900 vehicles a day (down slightly from last year), with some others:
Similar bridges (2-lane river crossings) Average Annual Daily Traffic:
inter-state bridge at Osceola = 6,300I-94 bridge at Hudson = 91,000
TH 61/Miss River in Hastings is 36,000
TH 63/Miss River in Red Wing is 11,700
TH 60/Miss River in Wabasha is 5,600
How does that rank with a big one?
Daily traffic volume over the Mississippi on the new 35W bridge in Minneapolis is 126,000 vehicles.
Volunteers rule, and do lots of unpaid work.
Posted at 2:55 PM on August 26, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Livability, Suburbs
Every week during the school year Aimee Willoz and Steve Ferris show up at a Hennepin county library and help kids with homework.
Mostly math.
Aimee works at a Hopkins library and Steve at a north Minneapolis branch.
Steve remembers one kid showing up with forty math worksheets due the next day.
The teacher handed the homework to students during the term, and the young man had completed none of them.
Steve says two hours later the work was done, ready to be handed in, and in theory, one student's academic career was, at least in math, back on track.
Aimee remembers a mom of one of the students she helped telling her how thankful she and her son were for the help.
Both Aimee and Steve report the volunteer tutoring experience repays them more richly than the couple hours a week they invest.
Hennepin county has a continuing need for volunteers and some of the work looks pretty interesting.
The world would keep spinning without volunteers.
Maybe.
But the fallout would not be pretty. Along with millions of math work sheets going uncompleted, there'd be lots of phones unanswered, countless teens not mentored, families not befriended, ex-cons left to their own wits upon release, scads of litter not picked up.
Volunteerism - some call it community service - is not without controversy. Here's a nifty NYTimes piece about planting the seed for volunteerism.
Then there's the point, 'Hey, if a job is worth doing, it's worth being paid for.'
Well, yes.
We all know of instances where (sometimes fairly well-off) organizations rely on volunteers to fill gaps when they could probably afford to pay them.
Back down at the grass roots and real people level both Aimee Willoz and Steve Ferris say they see a need for their tutoring, and on the payback front they're getting lots of personal satisfaction from helping.
Dayton puts the kibosh on smaller St. Croix bridge
Posted at 10:44 AM on August 17, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs, Transportation
There's a new episode in the long-running St. Croix bridge melodrama.
The Minnesota Environmental Partnership, a coalition, sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton urging him to take seriously the idea of a smaller bridge over the river.
And then there's a response to the letter from Dayton.
Basically, it's "nope".
Forget the smaller bridge.
"A number of options were considered before they chose the one that they chose, so there's a reason why it was selected," said Dayton's spokeswoman, Katharine Tinucci. "Certainly there are other options, but this is the closest we've come in 10 years to having it finished, and that's why we're going ahead with the current plan."
You'll recall from earlier scenes in this long-running soap opera that Dayton and MnDOT set a deadline of having a final bridge plan in place by Sept. 30.
Why the deadline?
MnDOT says there are lots of other projects in line waiting for that money, and the agency says if the bridge is a no-go, then they need to get busy on plans for them.
Here are some excerpts from the letter sent by the Minnesota Environmental Partnership:
The Lower St. Croix, a federally-protected Wild and Scenic River, is currently threatened by the proposed $690 million highway project which calls for an immense, freeway-style bridge to be built through the heart of the Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.
We ask you to reject this approach, and instead direct Mn/DOT to fully evaluate a new alternative design.A smaller, three-lane bridge ... would cross the river diagonally beginning just south of downtown. A reversible lane would enable traffic management technologies similar to those used by Mn/DOT to accommodate peak demands on I-394's MnPass lane.
The current highway expansion project will accelerate greater dependence on oil, and the loss of farms and forests.
Signatures from folks representing 30 various environmental and other interest groups are attached.
Group accuses Anoka-Hennepin of manipulating website info
Posted at 1:10 PM on August 4, 2011
by Tom Weber
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Suburbs
The latest dust-up in the Anoka-Hennepin school district is over a website the district created last month to address issues related to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) students.
That website was first publicized in an email to media on July 29, eight days after two national civil rights groups (Southern Poverty Law Center & National Center for Lesbian Rights) filed a federal lawsuit against Anoka-Hennepin over a policy they say contributes to a hostile environment for gay students.
The goal of the website, according to district officials, is to offer a place for the public to seek out information and "answer questions about actions taken by the district in the areas of training and support." The site includes links to various district policies, including the sexual orientation curriculum policy. That's the policy the lawsuit seeks to have thrown out.
This morning, a group called the Gay Equity Team accused the district of posting several "misrepresentations" and "falsified information" on that site. Their issues were outlined in a ten-page document. The Gay Equity Team is a group of families, students, staff and other community members that has spoken publicly in opposition to the neutrality policy.
One example they cite is that the Anoka LGBT site links to a transcript of a recorded message sent to staff by superintendent Dennis Carlson on Sept. 24, 2010. Carlson discusses suicides of students in the district during that call. The audio of the message varies from the transcript that's posted on the LGBT site. "Disturbingly, they have taken twisting the truth to an even lower level of deceit: documents have been manipulated to deceptively improve the district's image," reads the statement from the Gay Equity Team.
But the district refutes any claim that it's posting misleading information. Spokesman Brett Johnson said any difference between the audio recording and the text stems from the fact that Carlson often edits the final script before recording the message, and sometimes those changes don't get changed in the written version.
There's no effort to mislead the public, Johnson added. "We deal with the truth and the facts, and if something is inaccurate and it's brought to our attention, we'll correct it," he said. "But in no way does anything we're trying to do stray from known facts."
The lawsuit, which has put national media attention on the state's largest district, seeks the removal of the sexual orientation curriculum policy, as well as monetary awards for the five current and former students named in the suit, who claim the district failed to address harassment and bullying they were enduring.
Get active in Ramsey County
Posted at 6:00 AM on August 5, 2011
by Laura McCallum
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, St. Paul , Suburbs
A new website aims to get Ramsey County residents off the couch.
The Go Ramsey site includes information on nutrition and exercise, and a searchable map with Ramsey County parks, trails and recreation facilities. The map includes walking trails, biking paths, cross-country skiing and skating venues. The goal is to get people walking and biking, promote park and trail use and encourage healthy eating.
Connie Bernardy of Active Living Ramsey Communities! (and a former Minnesota legislator) said she's getting good feedback on the site, ranging from a mom who wants to research ice rinks and places to skate with her daughter, to a woman who will use it to find archery ranges in Ramsey County.
As we've reported, obesity is on the rise in Minnesota and across the country, and anything to help combat that seems worthwhile.
(photo courtesy of Active Living Ramsey Communities!)
Falcon Heights is 12th city with domestic partner registry
Posted at 2:32 PM on July 28, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
The Falcon Heights city council voted unanimously last night to establish a domestic partner registry for unmarried same-sex and opposite sex couples who live or work in the community.
Falcon Heights resident Ann DeGroot brought the issue to her city after learning about other suburbs adopting registries.
"In our neighborhood, most of us think it's a bit of a no-brainer," said DeGroot.
On Monday I did a story on partnership registries multiplying--especially in the suburbs-- as Minnesota gears up for a much bigger vote on a constitutional amendment to define who can marry next year. Same-sex marriage advocates say registries are a sign of growing tolerance. Opponents say registries have no legal power, and the marriage vote is what matters.
Monday evening, Crystal's Human Rights Commission voted to forward the measure to the Crystal City Council for further action.
OutFront Minnesota, which provides technical support to cities considering registries, estimates 15-20 communities will have registries by the time Minnesotans head to the polls in 2012 to vote on the marriage amendment.
Minneapolis established the state's first domestic partnership registry in 1991. Since 2009, Duluth, St. Paul, Rochester, Red Wing, Edina, Golden Valley, Richfield, St. Louis Park, Maplewood, Robbinsdale and now Falcon Heights have approved them.
Moorhead voted one down in 2010.
Gay MN soldier gets Hawaiian tribute
Posted at 4:11 PM on July 21, 2011
by Tim Nelson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs, Veterans
The parents of Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt say their fallen son is getting another military memorial -- and one that acknowledges he was gay, unofficially, anyway.
Jeff Wilfahrt says the member of OutServe Hawaii -- a group of gay and lesbian military personnel -- have adopted a two-mile stretch of Highway 83 on Oahu as a tribute to the fallen MP, killed in February while serving with the Army in Afghanistan. His was trained as an MP and his unit was based in Hawaii.
Wilfahrt's parents, Lori and Jeff, say they're sorry the military couldn't acknowledge their son's sexuality, despite the sacrifice he made for the service and his country.
Wilfahrt's parents were in Hawaii last week for the return of Andrew's unit for a memorial service. "Even the company officers were weeping at (Andrew's) loss," Jeff Wilfahrt said.
Corporal Wilfahrt, who grew up in Rosemount, already already has several tributes, including his name on an official unit memorial in Hawaii and an MP outpost named after him in Afghanistan. That's the sign outside it, at right.
But the Hawiian remembrance is the only one that will, at least indirectly, acknowledge his sexuality. Wilfahrt's father says the OutServe members want to commemorate Andrew as a gay soldier, but can't do so overtly, "since remnants of Don't Ask, Don't Tell still pertain."
What's the right size for a new Stillwater bridge?
Posted at 2:25 PM on July 18, 2011
by Dan Olson
(9 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Suburbs, Transportation
Here's the view offered recently by a group that wants a smaller span.
They argue this version would be less than half the cost of the bridge proposed by most members of the group involved in years of negotiations aimed at replacing the Stillwater lift bridge - about $263 million versus about $633 million.
Here's another equation to think about: What's going to happen to the price of gasoline? How will that affect development in New Richmond and other western Wisconsin communities and the volume of vehicles using the bridge to get to and from the area?
The down-sized bridge idea landed with a thud among the big bridge proponents who view sizable growth and increased traffic volume as inevitable.
Boosters of the smaller span ask, among other questions, why taxpayers should in effect subsidize western Wisconsin development with a big bridge - the "Build it and They Will Come" view of how development happens.
Tell The Cities your view.
Marionettes returning to Ramsey County Fair
Posted at 12:25 PM on July 12, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, St. Paul , Suburbs
Talk about pulling strings.
Here's Nancy Mitchell performing at the Ramsey County Fair in 2006. They're returning this year.
The Mitchell Marionettes make the drive from California in their showboat theater designed by Nancy's father, a set designer for Disney.
Their performances for children are a highlight of the Ramsey County Fair in Maplewood, which opens Wednesday afternoon.
A reliable Ramsey county fair observer, my newsroom colleague Sasha Aslanian who by the way took this photo of the Mitchell Marionettes, reports the food exhibitors are showing up with their pies and breads and jellies and jams.
Seventy-nine year old Joe Fox chairs the Ramsey County Fair Board and has been a volunteer since 1966 in the all-volunteer operation.
The Fox family loves county fairs. Joe's brother Henry helps run the Dakota County Fair, which starts August 8. That's the Fox family home - they're Dakota County farm kids and the family farm is still in operation.
Minnesota's county fair season is well underway, but there are literally dozens still to come in late July through August.
Nail biting time (again) for Southwest Light Rail
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 8, 2011
by Dan Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, Suburbs, Transportation
The folks who'd like to bring us the Southwest Light Rail line are waiting for a green light.
Wonder where Southwest Light Rail will go? A map of possible routes is here.
They're in limbo, hoping the Federal Transit Administration grants permission to enter the coveted PE or preliminary engineering phase.
The human equivalent is going from childhood to teen status.
(You're a grownup transit project when you get FFGA, a full funding grant agreement.)
PE means the planners and engineers are allowed to create even more elaborate blueprints.
Predicting the likelihood of Southwest Light Rail ever becoming a reality is tricky.
Obviously the local boosters like it a lot since it connects the wealthy and car congested southwest suburbs with downtown Minneapolis.
The Metropolitan Council likes the project and has given it a high priority among other transit needs.
And the folks at the FTA reportedly like the project.
But take that with a grain of salt. There are somewhere around 100 rail and bus projects across the country in the FTA beauty pageant, all vying for scarce federal funds.
These projects rise or fall to some degree on a community's track record, and so far the Twin Cities is showing it knows how to deliver them on time and on budget.
Shutdown headaches: child care
Posted at 12:18 PM on July 5, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Suburbs
Gretchen Raymer, the adult in this photo, wrote to MPR two weeks ago, worried about the 27 children in the Creative Kids Academy child care center she runs whose families rely on state subsidies to attend. Twenty-six thousand families got letters from the state warning their child care subsidies would disappear in the event of a government shutdown.
I produced a story looking at what would happen to these families and the people who care for their children.
Today, I called Raymer to see how it's going on the second work day of the shutdown. Raymer was off. I remembered she talked about burning vacation time so other employees could get more hours. The toddler teacher answered the phone and confirmed that a third of the children aren't attending today. Raymer had to lay off four staffers.
The center backs up against a mobile home park in the Twin Cities suburb of Lexington, where some of the children live. "Sometimes this is most structured environment they have," said Raymer. Parents told Raymer they would be unable to afford the full cost of care for their children even for a week, so they were improvising arrangements with friends, grandparents and older siblings for the duration of the shutdown. Many of these parents are part of Minnesota's welfare to work program, and can't risk losing these jobs -- their ladder out of poverty.
After the interview, as we were chatting in her office, Raymer talked about the struggles these families are up against, holding down their jobs as PCAs and hotel and restaurant workers. But Raymer's concern went beyond that of a day care manager concerned about $4000 in weekly lost revenue.
She used to be one of these parents getting a subsidy. Eight years ago, she needed help as a single mother. By receiving the subsidy to care for her daughter, she was able to work her way up from child care aide to center director.
It's the kind of detail that gets squeezed out of a 4 minute story but makes all the difference.
We'll keep following the child care angle. Annie Baxter reported on a center that's closed due to the shutdown. Tell us at The Cities what you're seeing.
Government shutdown forces girls rock camp to relocate
Posted at 3:55 PM on July 1, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Suburbs
Organizers relocated the 5th annual rock-n-roll day camp for girls in the wake of the state government shutdown, which began today.
The camp is usually held at the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, a school run by the state. A judge this week ruled only 3 Perpich Center staff can stay on the job during a shutdown to do minimal building and grounds maintenance and security.
The camp moved to Main Street School for Performing Arts in Hopkins. Rock camp staff say they would have been forced to cancel without the last minute help from Main Street school.
The day camp , which I did a story on last year, is open to girls ages 9 - 17 and runs July 11-15 & July 18-22. More information here.
Regardless of shutdown, Twin Cities transit funding in limbo
Posted at 1:44 PM on July 1, 2011
by Dan Olson
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
It's deceptive.
The Metro Transit buses, trains, vans, and other services are still up and running at regular service levels.
Temporarily.
The Metropolitan Council, the agency in charge of most Twin Cities public transit, is using reserves to fill the tanks, pay the operators and keep everything rolling.
Without a state budget settlement, those reserves might last a few weeks.
Even with a budget settlement, Metro Transit folks have set public meetings next week to outline a worst case scenario.
That scenario envisions a new state budget with a $109 million transit funding cut over two years, which was proposed by the GOP.
Met Council officials say the result won't be pretty. Suburban express and crosstown bus service slashed, direct bus service to the U of M cut, 500 employees laid off, and 200 buses idled. In other words, nearly a third of Metro Transit's service goes away.
Oh yes, and then there's the matter of fares increasing as much as fifty cents.
Raising fares. Cutting service. Not a formula for increasing ridership. In fact, Metro Transit folks predict the number of riders would nosedive.
And then it would take years to recover should service be restored in some unforseeable transit future.
Those public meetings where you can make your views known are next week:
Wednesday, July 6 - 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Metropolitan Council Offices - Chambers
390 North Robert Street, St. Paul
Served by many transit routesThursday, July 7 - 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Minneapolis Central Library, Doty Board Room
300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
Served by many transit routes
What is HUD doing in Brooklyn Center?
Posted at 3:29 PM on June 9, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Suburbs
They're trying to sell this building.
The 122-unit Shingle Creek Towers is in foreclosure.
The owners stopped making payments on the HUD-backed mortgage, so the federal agency headed by Shaun Donovan is unloading the property.
Is that the same Shaun Donovan who was the crusading New York City housing commissioner before President Obama tapped him for the cabinet job?
Yes, it is.
Well, then, why is the federal agency headed by Donovan off loading HUD-foreclosed properties to problem property owners?
That's the question being asked by Jack Cann, the attorney for the St. Paul-based Housing Preservation Project, who is suing HUD.
Cann is upset that HUD is considering a bid by Emmanuel Ku, described by New York City housing activists as a notorious problem property owner.
The numbers tell the story. Ku has been sued more than 20 times by NYC for life-threatening (heat and water) code violations, and cited for thousands of other minor to major code problems. He currently owes $98,000 for emergency fixes to his buildings performed by the city.
Ku's record inspired then-Gotham housing watchdog Donovan and other officials to successfully ban him in the state of New York from buying any more HUD-foreclosed properties. These are the buildings, like Shingle Creek Towers in Brooklyn Center, that are affordable housing. Rents are subsidized and the tenants are poor people of all ages, but with a preponderance of older folks with health problems living on a fixed income.
HUD officials aren't talking about the deal except to say a decision is pending.
Meantime, Ku confirms he's also bidding on a foreclosed affordable housing property in Granite Falls, the 40-unit HUD-subsidized Riverview apartment building.
Twin Cities transportation a cinch for the able-bodied
Posted at 3:23 PM on May 20, 2011
by Dan Olson
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
Cars, buses, bikes, cabs, limos, skateboards, walking.
Not a problem for those of us with strong legs or a fat wallet.
Quite a different story for people pinching pennies and not so stable on their pins.
That's the situation for south Minneapolis resident Delores Alvous, 82, getting help from Nokomis Health Seniors volunteer driver Zan Ceeley. They're on their way to a health clinic check-up for Delores, a weekly event.
The Twin Cities response is a transit network with Metro Mobility for people with disabilities (at a cost of about $41 million a year) and Transit Link, the seven county-wide dial-a-ride service (about $6.6 million a year), where a majority of the customers are older folks.
The problem is these mostly affordable services are stretched, and still cost a bit of money - up to $8 for a round trip.
Then, there's often a wait.
And some of the service is curb to curb, not door to door, so there can still be a walk. Not always a workable equation for people who need assistance.
Nonprofits have stepped in, offering van services and supplementing with volunteer drivers. But, as one transportation coordinator says, vans are expensive to own and operate, and volunteers are short lived, typically donating their time for about three months before moving on.
Not the case, by the way, for Zan Ceeley, who's hung in there for two years and is still going strong.
Our Twin Cities living habits hinder easy answers to transit.
As one East Coast transplant notes, Minnesotans are culturally opposed to density. We like our elbow room.
The result is a very large metropolitan area, and not much density anywhere except the core cities. Not very cost efficient for transit.
Instead, we have a robust car culture with a highly developed and extremely expensive to maintain road system.
One solution is to have more older residents live closer together, and that's happening. But survey upon survey shows folks prefer to stay in their home as they get older.
Let The Cities know your ideas for ways to help our older population get around.
Yes, Twin Cities renters, you are paying a lot
Posted at 3:50 PM on May 3, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
The bad news comes from the Minnesota Housing Partnership. Every year, the partnership and the National Low Income Housing Coalition release a renting affordability report.
Minnesota's dubious distinction is that we are the least affordable rental state in the Midwest.
How big a deal is that?
The U.S. Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development statistics show about a fourth of Minnesota's households - nearly 540,000 - are rental households.
Those renters, the numbers show, need to earn more than $15 an hour to afford a modest two bedroom apartment and utilities which can range from $800 to $900 a month.
The numbers show Minnesota's typical renter earns just over $11 an hour.
The result is a troublingly high number of state residents - about a fifth - pay half or more of their income for shelter.
Doesn't leave much for food, medical care, transportation or anything else.
So, yes, Twin Cities rent is high and rising in a very tight market with a vacancy rate hovering around three percent.
But save a measure of sympathy for our outstate cousins. Their rents are rising faster in relation to income.
The Minnesota Housing Partnership points out, "The Minnesota counties with the highest increase in rents since 2000 are outside of the Twin Cities Metro, particularly in southwest Minnesota. Rents in Martin, Faribault, Cottonwood, Pipestone, Murray, Rock, Watonwan and Jackson Counties have increased by 56% or more since 2000, compared to 32% statewide since 2000."
Twin Cities "ecological" foot print is GIGANTIC!
Posted at 7:00 AM on April 30, 2011
by Dan Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
Take a look at it!
Go to page ten and figure eight of this 2010 report by the University of Minnesota's Shengyin Xu, Research Assistant and the Metropolitan Design Center and Ignacio San Martin, Dayton Hudson Chair of Urban Design and Director of the Metropolitan Design Center. The study tries to measure metro Twin Citians' impact on the environment.
The electricity portion is 28%!
I stumbled on this when I went in search of some kind of measure of our collective electricity use here in the Sin Cities with the announcement that a sizable Xcel wind energy project in North Dakota is off. For the moment.
The assumption by energy analysts is a good share of the juice generated by the wind turbines in the Merricourt Ridge project in south central North Dakota was destined for the "Minnesota market."
At the time Xcel issued a statement that it was pulling out because of the damage the turbines could do to migrating rare birds.
The project is in a major North American migratory bird flyway. Lots of our winged friends including the endangered whooping crane cruise through that area.
And the worry was the birds would collide with the wind towers. And die.
The wind energy analysts are, well, a little huffy about that criticism. They argue we're cooking the planet with all the greenhouse gases created from burning coal in order to make electricity to power our big flat screen TV's, air conditioners and shopping center lights.
The priority, they argue, is slowing climate change by way of switching to non-greenhouse gas producing sources of energy. Such as wind.
What do The Cities readers think?
Maps show longest, shortest commutes
Posted at 6:00 AM on April 21, 2011
by Elizabeth Dunbar
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Suburbs, Transportation
When it comes to long commutes, those living north of the Twin Cities have it the worst. A quarter or more of commuters in Isanti, Chisago, Sherburne, Kanabec, Wright and Mille Lacs counties spend 45 minutes or longer getting to work.
You might have heard from some of those commuters in my colleague Sasha Aslanian's story on the radio today. I looked a American Community Survey data from 2005-2009 to find out who has the longest and shortest commutes in Minnesota. Below is a map showing counties with the highest percentage of long commutes. The darker the shade, the higher the percentage. Click on any county to see how many commuters have long trips.
It's outstate Minnesota that wins in the shortest commute category. About two thirds of commuters in Traverse, Pennington, Brown and Stevens counties spend less than 15 minutes getting to work. The map is below -- the darker the color, the larger percentage of short commutes for that county.
The maps above focus on percentage of all commuters. The one below shows the average commute time in minutes for each county -- just an additional way to look at the data.
Sasha talked a lot in her radio story about rising gas prices. Gasbuddy.com has put together this graph of gas prices in Minnesota in the last six years. The price peaked in summer of 2008 at about $4 a gallon before bottoming out at under $2 a gallon when the recession hit in late 2008.
| Minnesota Historical Gas Price Charts Provided by GasBuddy.com |
So what happens when gas prices rise? Do more people ride the bus or carpool? American Community Survey data from 2008 and 2009 showed very little change in behavior statewide and in the Twin Cities. But keep in mind the quick changes in gas prices can be difficult to capture in annual behavior data.
A better indicator of changes in behavior is transit ridership data. According to Metro Transit data, mass transit use peaked in 2008, when gas prices also peaked (see graph below and mouse over to see what ridership was in a given quarter).
If you're wondering about the peaks and valleys, keep things like weather and school season in mind. Also, Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland points out that Northstar commuter rail service began Nov. 16, 2009.
Golden age of Twin Cities transit?
Posted at 11:30 PM on April 14, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs, Transportation
Yes, as measured by rising transit use.
Numbers released today by Metro Transit show a two percent ridership increase over last year likely related to rising gas prices and better weather.
But, no, not as golden as 2008 when ridership was even higher, again as gas prices flirted with four dollars a gallon.
But, yes, taking a longer view, the Twin Cities modern transit era includes rail with Hiawatha and Northstar commuter and, in three years or so, Central Corridor light rail.
And, yes, it's a golden era as measured by plans to offer bus rapid transit, LRT, service on 35W and build a southwestern suburbs light rail service.
But, no, maybe not so golden since money for those projects is not nailed down.
And, no, maybe not so golden since lawmakers are hashing over transit funding which includes a proposal that amounts to a net loss of money for transit.
The Twin Cities transit future is truly a mixed picture.
Single occupant vehicle drivers continue to account for the vast majority of daily commuter trips.
Transit - bus and rail - use continues to be a much smaller wedge of the commuter pie, so small in fact numbers from the national household transportation survey show walking and biking numbers higher than bus and rail ridership.
How would an extended period of $4 gasoline, should it occur, alter the picture?
A budget story told through bumper stickers
Posted at 2:49 PM on April 13, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(0 Comments)
Filed under: St. Paul , Suburbs
I had a story that aired this morning where I set out to find the "purple" frontier of the metro area -- where blue voters mix with red -- to get a view of how the state's budget battle is playing out there.
I went to Circle Pines, a northern Twin Cities suburb with a population near 5,000.
It's an area that helped the GOP regain control of the Minnesota Legislature. It's an up-for-grabs place politically. Obama won there by 147 votes in 2008.
I spent two hours with the mayor of Circle Pines, Dave Bartholomay, who drove me around and explained the intricacies of city finance amid the tough economy and the state budget battle. The people I talked with from Circle Pines gave me a pretty interesting political anatomy of the place, including its origins as a Danish-style socialist cooperative.
Bartholomay says party labels don't matter much in city politics. He and city council members roll up their sleeves and figure out how to find money to repaint the watertower, or fill the potholes. "The truth is, I'm a Democrat," said Bartholomay. "If you look carefully, you'll notice the Wellstone bumper sticker on my car." Bartholomay's brakes squealed as we pulled in behind city hall at the end of our tour and he announced, "Let it be known this tour was not done in a city vehicle. There are no city cars!" Mayor Dave's suburban minivan has 205,000 miles on it.
As I pulled out of the parking lot of Circle Pines city hall, the pick-up truck in front of me had two bumper stickers about Obama. The one I remember was "Obummer."
20 minutes later, I was back in St. Paul, driving behind a minivan with a bumper sticker that read "Another Mama for Obama."
There are a million little details like this a reporter notices every day. Most never make it into the story. But I liked thinking about how bumper stickers were the only sign I'd traversed a political divide.
How much do bumper stickers reveal about a community?
Where else in the metro are the political winds shifting?
The story of the farm animals and the cage fighter
Posted at 9:55 AM on April 11, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs
This wonderfully eye-catching photo led my story Friday on Minnesota's cage-fighting scene:
"The barn in the background of the dude with the Mohawk is art," one editor told me.
But others were puzzled about the context. Why was this barechested cage fighter practicing his jabs in front of a children's mural depicting farm animals?
MPR News photographer Jeffrey Thompson snapped the picture of amateur mixed martial arts fighter Matt Parker in a makeshift "locker room" before Parker's debut. Makeshift is an understatement. Just a black curtain separated the area from the public. Hours before, kids were celebrating with a pizza party in this exact spot.
The fights were supposed to happen in Forest Lake, but a four-year-old ordinance banning such events prompted fight organizers to move the contest to nearby Wyoming, Minn. The new home? Stars and Strikes, a bowling alley and family entertainment center. That led to some interesting visual juxtapositions.
The Forest Lake City Council will consider repealing or changing its ordinance tonight, given that the Minnesota Combative Sports Commission now regulates mixed martial arts events.
You can read the full story and see the entire photo slideshow here.
2010 census shows big changes in the Twin Cities metro
Posted at 6:00 AM on April 9, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Housing, Immigration, Livability, Race, Suburbs
Census Bureau data confirm what many researchers already knew: some second and third ring suburbs made big gains between 2000 and 2010, while some older and first-ring suburbs saw declines. And the state as a whole got more racially diverse.
Here's my story about it.
One big winner in the suburbs was Shakopee, which added more than 16,500 new residents. The schools there are brimming with new children and the local hospital continues to expand to keep pace with demand.
Officials at St. Francis Regional Medical Center say since 1996, in-patient admissions are up 125 percent, and surgeries are up more than 90 percent. Births doubled from 600 to 1,200, emergency admissions went from 10,000 to 30,000 and urgent care visits went from 1,200 to 9,000 -- a 550 percent increase. The hospital has also doubled its staff and added additional language translators.
Check out these stats from the Met Council on the last decade's demographic shifts.
East metro cities share services to save money
Posted at 12:24 PM on April 6, 2011
by Laura McCallum
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, St. Paul , Suburbs
If you closely watch local government (and who doesn't, if you read The Cities?), here's an interesting survey.
The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce surveyed 12 east metro cities this year to find out who's working together to improve efficiency, and what services they're sharing. The topic is particularly timely in light of the ongoing local government aid (LGA) debate at the Capitol. The chamber asked about everything from parks to libraries to human resources.
Every community surveyed shares IT services and library services, either with other cities or with Ramsey County. Most of the cities share emergency services and park services. If all that sounds a little vague, here are a couple of examples. Falcon Heights and Little Canada share a building inspector and a street sweeper. Lauderdale partners with Roseville to offer recreation programs.
The chamber said in a press release that the survey demonstrates how communities are working together during tough financial times.
"By identifying the best practices already in use, we hope that municipalities will further examine the operations of their colleagues and emulate them to achieve further savings," said Matt Kramer, president of the Chamber.
Kramer is also the former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
You can find the entire survey on the chamber's website.
Have you heard of any interesting partnerships among cities? Pass them along here.
HealthPartners and AT&T pull ads from KDWB after Hmong parody song
Posted at 1:05 PM on April 4, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(101 Comments)
Filed under: Race, Suburbs
The other shoe is beginning to drop for KDWB.
HealthPartners and AT&T say they didn't see the humor in the parody song "Thirty Hmongs in a House," and are pulling their ads from the radio station in St. Louis Park .
"The song about the Hmong community was highly offensive and not consistent for what we stand for," HealthPartners spokesman Jeff Shelman told me this morning. "We expect our business partners to have many of the same values we have as a company, and until KDWB is in sync with us, we don't have plans to advertise with them."
The Minnesota HMO was one of several KDWB advertisers contacted over the weekend by a group calling itself the Coalition Against Racism for Everyone, or CARE. Here's an excerpt from a form letter the group has emailed to sponors:
Since [sponsor] is not a corporate sponsor of intolerance, I request that you make a statement publically reinforcing [sponsor's] commitment to diversity and peaceful coexistence, distance [sponsor] from the racist actions of KDWB, and immediately discontinue all advertising on KDWB. To do otherwise would communicate support for hate speech in the state of Minnesota.It is my hope, the hope of the more than 70,000 Hmong Americans in this state, and the hope of a broad coalition of diverse allies that [sponsor] will take a position of leadership on this issue.
KDWB last week apologized to "anyone we may have inadvertently offended, as this was never our intent."
The tune, performed by KDWB employee Steve-O on Dave Ryan's morning show, pokes fun at overcrowded living situations and teen pregnancy in the Hmong-American commnity. It was part of a regular feature in which listeners submit song titles -- titles that Steve-O then turns into a little ditties that are meant to be funny.
But the CARE coalition's Dan Hess tells me the song is a symptom of the much larger problem of racial stereotyping.
"I'm not suggesting Steve-O is a race-hater," Hess says. "But the fact that these images came spewing out of him is indicative of something widely shared in our society, that there are cultural biases we can't escape."
Hess directs counseling services at Concordia University in St. Paul. He's joined by Yee Chang, a well-known community activist whose wife is former state Sen. Mee Moua.
AT&T plans to release a statement later today that characterizes the song as "very demeaning to the Hmong. ... We cannot financially support KDWB when it allows discrimination to be included in its broadcast."
A Hmong friend of mine who tunes into the show regularly tells me that the listener who submitted the song title "Thirty Hmongs in a House" is apparently Hmong. That's a detail that hasn't been widely reported as part of this conversation.
Should that change how we view this incident, and whether it's OK to laugh?
Booze is big business for some metro cities
Posted at 10:24 AM on April 1, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Suburbs
Most city-owned off-sale and on-sale liquor stores are in rural Minnesota.
However, the most profitable ones are here in The Cities land.
That's the finding in state auditor Rebecca Otto's new report checking up on the public operations.
Municipal liquor operations located within the 7-County Metro Area are considerably larger and more profitable than their Greater Minnesota counterparts. Sales by all Metro Area operations averaged $3.0 million in 2009, compared to average sales of $956,820 for all Greater Minnesota municipal liquor operations. In 2009, the average net profit of Metro Area municipal liquor operations was $214,573, compared to $66,469 for municipal liquor operations in Greater Minnesota.The rationale for allowing public ownership of booze shops?
Back in the old days, and to some extent even now, private operators weren't interested in trying to sell product in rural Minnesota.
So lawmakers years ago permitted municipally-owned liquor stores.
To be sure, there's opposition then and now to allowing public ownership and sale of a product - liquor - that is correctly viewed as a pernicious product when it is abused, and causes untold personal human suffering and gigantic public health costs.
What do you think? Should city governments be involved in this business?
Households may lose rental assistance
Posted at 6:50 PM on March 24, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
At least 300 Minnesota households won't get state rental assistance under current budget proposals. Minnesota Housing Thursday announced a freeze on new admissions to some rental assistance programs as a reaction to anticipated budget cuts. House and Senate proposals are at least $2 million below Governor Mark Dayton's recommendation for the program.
The programs help people who have been homeless for months move into stable housing. Participants typically pay 30 percent of their income towards rent. Rental vouchers make up the difference. The program last year assisted more than 2,100 households in 53 counties across the state.
Executive Director of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Liz Kuoppala says she'll be telling lawmakers that the rental assistance programs keep people from using more expensive emergency services.
If they are trying to get to a place where we are saving money, instead of cycling people through shelters and then through detox and police and all of the things that happen when we force people to live on the streets. We have documented that we save money when we are able to stably house people and that is what this program does.
The freeze on new rental assistance applications takes effect April 1st.
Users react to 2C-E overdose case on web forums
Posted at 12:23 PM on March 22, 2011
by Elizabeth Dunbar
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Suburbs
The Blaine overdose case has been a popular discussion item on online message boards frequented by people who present themselves as drug users.
Nineteen-year-old Trevor Robinson-Davis died Thursday after inhaling 2C-E, and a fellow partygoer who allegedly supplied the drug has been charged with third-degree murder in his death.
I did some web searching while pursuing a story about the legality of 2C-E and whether there have been other criminal cases involving 2C-E. In the process, I found several online message boards where people were discussing the case.
Below are a few examples of things people are saying, with links to the message boards. Please note: I didn't have time to vet statements on the message boards for accuracy and haven't tried to interview a drug user about their experiences. But maybe one will contact me through this post.
"I need to stock up before it gets hard to find." I saw several posts predicting that because of the death, authorities would ban 2C-E. The Drug Enforcement Administration already says it's illegal under the Federal Analog Act. But it isn't on the list of controlled Schedule I or Schedule II substances, meaning it's not as easy for prosecutors to pursue cases. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has already promised to introduce legislation banning 2C-E. Shroomery.org discussion.
"I have no sympathy for any of these kids." There were a lot of angry posts on the message boards, where users can remain anonymous. People were mainly concerned that this group used 2C-E without being careful and that lawmakers would pounce on the opportunity to ban it. Zoklet.net discussion.
"There's no way you should die from it unless, you are in fact doing it like coke." According to authorities, some who overdosed in Blaine DID inhale it, including Robinson-Davis. Others ingested it. The user who posted the comment also said he/she spent two weeks researching 2C-E before ordering it. Other posts expressed surprise by the death reportedly caused by 2C-E and speculated about the possibility that the group mixed 2C-E with another drug, resulting in extreme effects. Shroomery.org discussion.
"I'm wondering ... if there is a tainted or mislabeled batch going around." Some users wondered if this was the issue and expressed fear about the incident. Authorities said the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tested the drug to be 2C-E. Bluelight.ru discussion.
Got any thoughts on this reaction?
Minnesota's congressional delegation urges FEMA flood prep action
Posted at 11:47 AM on March 16, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
As the state prepares for what could be record flooding, Minnesota's entire congressional delegation is pressing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take immediate steps to facilitate a timely response to any flood damage. The delegation sent a letter to FEMA urging the agency to plan, prepare, and coordinate flood protection efforts in advance of the flooding. Forecasters from the National Weather Service are predicting major flooding for many of the state's waterways this year. Last year's flooding led to a disaster declaration by President Obama for 31 Minnesota counties.
The full text of the delegation's letter:
March 15, 2011The Honorable Craig Fugate
Administrator
Federal Emergency Management Agency
500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20472Dear Administrator Fugate:
As Minnesota prepares for the potential for devastating flooding across much of the state this spring, we ask for your immediate assistance to plan, prepare, and coordinate flood protection efforts to facilitate FEMA's timely response to any damage once the water recedes.
Last year, above average rainfall, an untimely melting of snow, and a steady stream of severe weather resulted in the Red River, the Minnesota River, and the Mississippi River reaching major flood stage and devastating communities across Minnesota. As a result, President Obama declared 31 counties in Minnesota as disaster areas resulting from the spring 2010 floods. Communities across these river valleys launched an unprecedented effort to protect homes, businesses and schools from record flooding. Residents acted heroically to protect not only their own homes, but the homes of their neighbors and community landmarks.
Unfortunately, the National Weather Service's most recent outlook for spring shows that regions across Minnesota are again facing the strong possibility of major flood events. Specifically, there is a 50 percent chance that the Red River of the North in Moorhead-Fargo will rise to 38.8 feet, and a 20 percent chance the River will rise to 41.9 feet, which is over one foot higher than the 2009 historical event. Further north, East Grand Forks-Grand Forks has a 50 percent chance that the Red River will rise to 50.4 feet, which is five feet higher than last year. Along the Mississippi River, the latest projects show at least a 50 percent likelihood that the water will rise significantly above last year's level in Aitkin, St. Cloud, and St. Paul. Communities along the Minnesota River are also preparing for rising water with a 50 percent chance that the water reaches nearly the same levels as last year near New Ulm, Mankato and Jordan. These same communities devastated by last year's flooding are now preparing for yet another flood event.
Thank for your consideration of our request. These communities need and deserve the attention of our federal agencies.
###
Where are the worst potholes?
Posted at 11:59 AM on March 8, 2011
by Molly Bloom
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
"Danger zone." "Sinking area." "The Widowmaker."
For the past month or so, we've been asking you, our lovely audience, to map the worst potholes across the state. We've partnered with SeeClickFix to help us track the potholes and alert the officials in charge of fixing them.
So far people have reported 125 issues with potholes in the metro and three of them have been resolved. The three most nefarious stretches of road (based on the number of people who want to see them fixed) are:
1) 28th Avenue between 38th and 50th Streets, Minneapolis: "I no longer drive on it - the road is too narrow to avoid the potholes, and the potholes are deep enough to do a lot of damage."
2) Washington Avenue North, Minneapolis: "Washington Ave is littered with potholes. Cars swerving to miss them are creating near accidents."
3) 46th and Hiawatha, Minneapolis: "I could probably bottom out a school bus on some of the holes in this stretch. And it's almost the only way to get to several of these businesses."
Check out the map below and vote for the potholes that you'd like to see fixed or add your own.
Not the Oscars, but the (Met Council) winners are....
Posted at 5:04 PM on March 2, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
The Dayton administration's list of appointees to the Metropolitan Council is out, and their collective resumes are replete with other public sector service, including transportation, housing and natural resources.
Roxanne Smith from Champlin, Gary Van Eyll from Carver County, Gary Cunningham from Hennepin County, and Steven Chavez from Eagan all have experience with housing issues.
Jon Commers and Richard Kramer from St. Paul, Jim Brimeyer from St. Louis Park and Harry Melander from Mahtomedi have experience with urban planning issues.
Jennifer Munt from Minnetonka, Steve Elkins from Bloomington, Edward Reynoso from Ham Lake, Adam Duininck from Minneapolis and John Doan from Blaine know about transportation issues.
Sandra Rummel, a former state Senator from White Bear Lake, and Wendy Wulff from Lakeville, the lone Met Council holdover from the Pawlenty administration, know about environment and resource issues.
Lona Schreiber from Brooklyn Park is a former state lawmaker who follows issues related to the region's older residents.
Dayton appointed five women and eleven men. Make that six women when you add his earlier appointment of Susan Haigh as Met Council chair.
The Met Council is the Twin Cities' 40 year old regional governance agency that manages waste water treatment, transit, parks and planning.
Metro Transit lines ready for a name change
Posted at 2:47 PM on February 22, 2011
by Dan Olson
(8 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs, Transportation
Here's a chance to have your kid, your favorite uncle or maybe Electra your cat memorialized forever in Twin Cities transit history.
The Metropolitan Council invites us to name the system many of us know as Metro Transit or, 'the bus.' To be clear, they're not changing the name of Metro Transit, they're inviting the public to name specific transitways, such as the blue line or the red line.
The Portland, Oregon light rail arm of their transit network is MAX, the commuter rail portion is WES.
MAX and WES, sort of the daytime soap opera approach to transit branding. Especially once you add MARTA from Atlanta.
In other cities, the systems are BART, DART and so on. In San Francisco, a city with an unbeatable mix of charm and hipness, their antique cable car system has named individual vehicles with labels such as, 'cable car 15.' Still a ways to go on the branding front there.
We can do better. Get that name in now, make history. Share your ideas here on the The Cities Blog.
Best New Chef Midwest nominees announced (we're watching you, Missouri)
Posted at 12:51 PM on February 15, 2011
by Molly Bloom
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Livability, Minneapolis, Suburbs
Ocean trout from Sea Change (Sharyn Morrow via Flickr)
Every year, Food & Wine bestows the title of Best New Chef on the top up-and-coming chefs in 10 different regions of the United States. This year, they're opening voting up to the public in what they're calling, "The People's Best New Chef."
Minnesota is well-represented in the Midwest region (which includes Arkansas for some reason). Our nominees are:
Mike Brown and James Winberg - Travail (Robbinsdale)
Landon Schoenfeld - Haute Dish (Minneapolis)
Erik Anderson - Sea Change (Minneapolis)
Three out of ten nominees is nothing to scoff at. The only state with a better showing? Missouri. We didn't even know they were our Midwest culinary rivals, but now...it's on. The last time Minnesota took home the Best New Chef in the Midwest was Stewart Woodman of Heidi's (which re-opened last month after a fire damaged their old spot last year).
Check out the nominees and vote for your favorite here.
What do you think of the nominees? Who should have made the cut?
More people rode Northstar commuter rail last month
Posted at 7:37 AM on February 15, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Minneapolis, Suburbs, Transportation
One month of numbers does not a comeback make. But Metro Transit folks are very happy about January's uptick in Northstar commuter rail ridership - weekday ridership is up nineteen percent.
You may recall last year's ridership, the line's first full year of operation, was nearly 21 percent below projection. Northstar boosters say it's worth keeping in mind Northstar is young and it takes time to build a following.
Political jousting over whether the service is a taxpayer boondoggle or a true transit option seems to have died down. One opponent says the service is here, it's time to help make it work.
A proposal aimed at attracting more bus riders to rail calls for new station in Ramsey. It could cost as much as $14 million.
There's some money on the table for the idea, but more to be found, not an easy task in this fiscal climate.
Timing those pesky Twin Cities traffic lights
Posted at 2:33 PM on February 10, 2011
by Dan Olson
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Minneapolis, Suburbs, Transportation
Richfield and Bloomington drivers on streets next to Interstate 494 may soon be spending less time stopped at red lights. That's what appears to be behind the Hennepin County board approval this week of spending $30,000 to hire a stop light timing consultant.
The county, MnDOT and the two cities want to "optimize" the timing of 43 signals between York Avenue and Highway 77 or Cedar Avenue.
The county says it has an overall goal of completing traffic signal timing on one-third of all coordinated traffic control signals annually.
This may sound like pretty small potatoes, but that's probably not the view of the folks who drive those streets regularly. It's certainly not the view of traffic engineers.
Better timed lights, they argue, improves traffic flow, saves lots of gas and obviously reduces pollution as cars spend less time idling at a dead stop. That's the good news. The bad news is that many municipalities including Minneapolis, the state's most populous city, no longer have the person power to do extensive signal timing.
Maybe the county action is the start of a change.
More Minnesota roofs cave to snow
Posted at 12:55 PM on February 4, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Suburbs
Roofing contractors in Minnesota say they've noticed an uptick in roofs collapsing this winter because of the record amounts of snow -- and we're not just talking about the Metrodome.
Investigators and Apple Valley say it's too early to say what caused a church's two-year-old roof over its gymnasium to cave early Friday. Earlier this week, a hardware store's roof in Glenwood gave way to snow.
James Kirby of with the National Roofing Contractors Association says many of the cases he's heard about this winter nationally can be explained by simple physics.
"I don't think there's too much question about the coincidence of really heavy snow and roof collapses," he said.
Even light and fluffy snow can build up, especially along corners and parapets, Kirby said, and continuous snowfalls makes the situation even worse.
"If you get one bad snow a year, and a foot of snow up on your roof, that's one thing," he said. "If you get these one-foot snows a week apart -- three, four, five times, -- then you get to the point where you're potentially overloading the capacity of the roof. We're just not used to these heavy snowfalls, and so many of them."
In Apple Valley, investigators say the church staff noticed cracks in the drywall and ceiling a week ago, and closed the gym. A general contractor was supposed to examine the building today, but it was too late.
U of M exhibit looks at making old age more livable
Posted at 11:12 AM on February 2, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
The first wave of the nation's 70 million baby boomers hit age 65 this year. With this generation predicted to live longer - and live longer at home - planners are looking at ways to make homes and communities more senior-friendly.
Glenn Ruffenach wrote about this trend for the The Wall Street Journal's September 19, 2009 Personal Finance blog.
The University of Minnesota's Goldstein Museum of Design has built what they're calling a Smart House, where visitors can experience what the home of the future might look like. The house belongs to fictional senior couple Jim and Sarah, who renovated their traditional home with stuff designed to make life a little more accessible as they age - like special showers and kitchens. Where do you want to spend your old age?
Smart House, Livable Community, Your Future
The exhibit runs Feb. 5 to May 22. Opening Reception Feb. 4, 6-8 p.m.
Everything you wanted to know about ice dams
Posted at 7:51 AM on February 1, 2011
by Jennifer Ehrlich
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
It's been a particularly bad winter for roof ice dams in the metro area. Homeowners seeking do-it-yourself solutions tend to receive suggestions about getting up on a ladder to apply salt to the roof or rake off snow, followed by dire warnings about the dangers of climbing ladders. Even the University of Minnesota's ice dam information page contains repair advice alongside warnings about taking action.
MPR's Midmorning is devoting its 10 a.m. hour to winter home repair, featuring experts who will try to provide some guidance on how to handle ice dams. Listen live or check it out later online.
Have you found any ice dam advice useful?
No train in my (Lakeville, Bloomington, Edina) backyard
Posted at 8:51 AM on January 28, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Suburbs, Transportation
Never underestimate the power of neighbors.
In the early 1990's, Twin Cities transportation planners looked longingly at abandoned or little used railroad rights of way for use as something more than bike paths. They spied a collection of tracks running from Northfield to downtown Minneapolis and named it the Dan Patch corridor in memory of the world famous Minnesota harness race horse of the early 1900's.
The north south corridor, the planners thought, would make a dandy route for a commuter rail line through fast growing southern suburbs. The planners were sidetracked by neighbors fearing declining property values from commuter rail running literally through their backyards. They lobbied lawmakers to successfully pass in 2002 an amendment prohibiting any study or spending for Dan Patch Corridor commuter rail. The law still stands after several repeal attempts.
Again this session there'll be another repeal effort. Is it moot? There's no dough for commuter rail anywhere, at the federal, state or local level. In fact, there's precious little money for any kind of transit. Central Corridor light rail might squeak across the finish line with a full funding grant agreement from the federal government expected in March. But no one is holding their breath for funding Southwest corridor or other projects.
More alarming, there's concern about whether there's enough money to pay the annual operating bills for what we already have - the bus system, Hiawatha light rail and Northstar commuter rail. On the road and bridge side of the ledger, money has been found, about $172 million, over the next two years for the rebuild of the 169/494 interchange to eliminate those three pesky stoplights not all that far from the Dan Patch corridor.
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