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The Biggest Danger to Kids? Bad Urban Design!
The Lyndale Walking Schoolbus, by Brendon, via Creative Commons The free-range kids movement has been seeing a lot of press lately, both pro and con. Some say that giving kids freedom is great. Others...
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Parachute Cloth Mural Builds Community in South Minneapolis
How can a new school introduce itself to a community? Folwell Performing Arts Magnet School in south Minneapolis is using principals of placemaking and robust community engagement to create and install...
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One Soccer Mom For Bike Lanes
Proposals to get St. Paul up to a higher standard of multi-modal joy abound. One key proposal is the City of St. Paul Bike Plan. It is a comprehensive approach to closing gaps in city bikeways and...
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Open Letter to Joe Soucheray from a Saint Paul Minivan Mom
A Toyota Sienna. Note: not the author’s minivan. The following is in response to a column that appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week. — Dear Joe, You called me out. I have three children...
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Transpo Convo: Kristen Biking With Her Son
[This is part of streets.mn’s “transpo convo” series, which aims to be an oral history of getting around the Twin Cities, one person at a time.] Kristen is a health care employee who cares deeply...
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Chart of the Day: US Fertility Rate
Via Todd Graham on Twitter, this interesting chart of US fertility rates and total live births in the US: Todd was reacting to an article in Urban Wire about the “baby recession,” or the fact that...
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Roadkill Bill: Kritical Mass Kids
In the midst of a busy month of traveling and sketching, the work on Bicyclopolis Book 2 continues unabated. In the meantime, here’s an ancient Roadkill Bill comic that explores a subject that should...
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Chart of the Day: How Kids Get to School
Back in the ’60s, about half of all kids in the US biked or walked to school. Today, that number is something like 15%. Obviously, that’s a problem. Still, though, that’s starting to change. Via...
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Northfield’s Routes to Schools Still Not Safe
246 Solutions Group is a new grassroots “group of concerned Northfield residents that came together to help change a very dangerous intersection” on MN State Highway 246 near three of Northfield’s five...
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15 things I’ve Learned in 1500 Miles of Stroller Running
It’s way easier to get a child into a stroller than a car seat. Most Minnesota drivers ignore the crosswalk laws. But they’re more likely to stop for you when you have a stroller. There are two...
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Seven Reasons to Keep 29th Avenue Closed to Cars
After a test closure of 29th Avenue at the Midtown Greenway that has been in place for a year, the City of Minneapolis is proposing to turn the closure into a ‘half closure’ on a long-term basis. The...
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Otto Avenue Gets Big Bike Improvements
Last week Saint Paul completed a very short, but very important bicycle and pedestrian improvement. The one-third mile off-street path connects West 7th Street to Shepard Road and the Minnesota River...
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A Stroller on the A Line
I ride the bus with little kids, and being able to bring a stroller on board makes the ride a lot easier for me. For this, I like the Green Line the best, with its level boarding, wide walkways and...
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Pokemon GO: 10 Streets Etiquette Tips for Pokemon Trainers
Perhaps you have seen people wandering around with their face in a phone, more than usual? Perhaps you have heard them exclaim that they have found a “Pokestop!” or a “wild Charmander?” Perhaps you...
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Fix the One-Way Trails, Please
Me with the sibkid on the tag-along. My 7-year-old sibkid “K” spent a week with me in the Big City so she could go to day camp. I registered K at a “nearby” program (that K loved). But Lake Harriet...
View ArticleFresh Energy Video: Safer Streets, Amy Brendmoen
In this brief video, Saint Paul City Council Member Amy Brendmoen and her son Lars go for a bicycle ride with Fresh Energy to talk about safer streets. The post Fresh Energy Video: Safer Streets, Amy...
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Magical Moments on Wheels with “I Can Shine”
“The wheels on the bike go round and round, all through the town…” What parent hasn’t sung something like that to a child who is proudly or reluctantly or fearfully mastering the complex feat of bike...
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A Christmas Love Letter
When I was pregnant with my daughter my husband worked second shift, and five nights a week I was left to wrangle our then two-year old son by myself. After working all day I lacked the energy to cook,...
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School Children Beg Dog Owners: Pick Up The Poop
Dogs–good. That being said, there are some dog owners in our community who are not. I live in Loring Park, which I like, and there isn’t a ton of open space other than the huge park the neighborhood is...
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Biking Mama: An Interview
I sat down with Sarah Tschida and her daughter, Willa, to talk about her role on the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition’s board, her experience of biking as a parent, and how we can support new parents and...
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