Boring public a culprit in loss of treasured businesses

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Last week, the owners of Nye’s Polonaise Room announced that the beloved Northeast Minneapolis bar would be closing next year to make way for a residential tower of some sort. It’s pretty sketchy what that will ultimately entail, but quotes from the developer indicate that the existing building will need to be demolished to make a tower work on the site, which is pretty small. It’s worth pointing out that, by now, you’d hope that smart developers know to start out with something crazy to then negotiate down to what they actually want to do. Also, the developer in question lost the nearby/huge Pillsbury “A” Mill complex to foreclosure after proposing an ambitious redevelopment plan about five years ago, so who knows, anything is possible in real estate. In any case, it seems like the bar & restaurant itself will be closing. The owners say they can’t make Nye’s work as a business anymore, but of course you’d want to take that statement with a pretty big grain of salt. Continue Reading

Minnesota must continue to lead on clean energy

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For the past two months I’ve been furiously working to collect comment cards from Twin Cities area youth in support of the EPA Clean Power Plan before the public comment period ends on December 1. To curb climate change, the plan calls for nationwide emissions reductions of 30 percent by 2030, and would require Minnesota to reduce its carbon emissions by more than a third in that time. Together with my fellow students from Youth Environmental Activists of Minnesota (YEA! MN), the high school program of the Will Steger Foundation, we collected 649 comment cards supporting the plan.

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Nothing says community like a $6 entry fee

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I enjoy a good Christmas Market. It’s fun to wander through the booths looking at crafts and talking to other shoppers and shopkeepers (who are usually the craftsfolk responsible for the creations we’re oogling). The wooden toys that are often in abundance are my favorite, topped only by the abundance of treats from homemade stroopwafels to gelato and the ever present Gløgg, Glüwein, or Weihnachtspunsch. Continue Reading

Dog Park detective: High Bridge Dog Park

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Dog Park Detective is an ongoing series in which Sidewalk Dog sniffs out the best parks in the Twin Cities metro. Check out the other parks we’ve investigated, and stay tuned for opportunities for your dog to be one of our Dog Park Detectives!

THE DAY: November 25, a blustery 17 degrees

THE DETECTIVES: Dozer, a nearly four-year-old border collie mix, and Itty Bitty, the 18-year-old Maltese/Poodle cross

THE PARK: High Bridge Dog Park in St. Paul Continue Reading

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4 helpful mnemonics for remembering which 21 bus is which

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Most Metro Transit buses have branch letters following the route numbers, which indicate where the route goes. It’s also ignored by the vast majority of riders, until they find themselves plunked down halfway to where they thought they were going. The various 21s present perhaps the most difficulties. But fear not: you can remember them using this handy (and sadly, not particularly snarky) guide. Continue Reading

The Hennepin County 2040 Bike Plan: Cassie’s notes

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Late this fall Hennepin County put out a draft of its new 2040 Bicycle Plan for public review and comment. This long-range vision and planning document piqued my interest but, oof, the thing is 116 pages long! Not the easiest to tackle in terms of length, especially for bike-loving-yet-busy folks who might not have time to comb through it. In true librarian form, I decided to read the plan through and compile a sort of Cassie’s Notes version (who’s that Cliff guy, anyway?) to hopefully provide easier access to the information for more folks. This post gives a (relatively) short overview of the vision, goals, strategies, and actions of the Hennepin County 2040 Bike Plan. Continue Reading

Community health overview: Korean Americans

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According to the 2010 U.S. Census the eight largest Asian American populations in Minnesota are the Hmong, Asian Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Laotian, and Cambodian communities. Specifically, 27 percent of the total population identify themselves as Hmong, 15.5 percent are Asian Indian, 11.7 percent are Chinese, 11.1 percent are Vietnamese, 4.9 percent are Laotians, and 3.9 percent are Cambodians (See Figure 2). Continue Reading