A quick fix for Minneapolis transit

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Last week, David Levinson asked whether we are “building a city” in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. He noted that rail investments only make sense in areas where there is sufficient density to support those investments. He further wondered whether Minneapolis and St. Paul could achieve those requisite densities for a majority of residents in core areas in 20 or 30 years. Continue Reading

Hampden Park Co-op sounds call to action

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Last summer, Hampden Park Co-op put out a call to action to its members to increase sales at the Raymond Avenue food cooperative. General manager Greg Junge says that call appears to have been heeded.

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Milk costs straining shops

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Stephen Miller paid $3.15 for a gallon of 2 percent milk in August. Two weeks ago, he paid about $3.45 per gallon.Though it was a price increase of about 30 cents, Miller, the manager of Bordertown Coffee on 16th Avenue Southeast, said that extra money adds up for the shop, which goes through about 45 gallons of milk each week.As milk prices across the nation swell, local businesses, said Miller, are doing their best to keep prices reasonable while still managing to make a profit.Though Miller said the coffee shop is managing just fine, he said he thinks rising milk prices will contribute to a small increase in drink prices sometime next year.Because independent businesses like Bordertown and Espresso Royale usually don’t have extra money to dip into when facing large cost increases, they’re forced to raise prices.“In a small business, when you have margins that are as thin as they are — and the margins are very thin in small business,” Miller said, “there isn’t a lot [of money] to take … out of like a profit side of things.”The rising prices are tied to an increased international demand for the U.S.’s milk supply, said Marin Bozic, an applied economics assistant professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.Milk prices change every day, said Bozic, who also serves as the associate director of the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center.Since milk is produced at an unpredictable rate and can’t be stored for very long, he said, its price is generally linked to other dairy products like cheese, which has a longer storage time.U.S. farmers have some cows that produce milk for sale within the country and some that produce it for international sales. But in recent months, more countries began demanding American milk, which has strained the product’s availability here in the states, he said.Qdoba Mexican Grill in Dinkytown has seen a rise in expenses as well, said owner Randal Gast.While the restaurant’s dairy products, including its cheese and the chain’s signature “3-cheese queso,” have slightly risen in cost during recent months, Gast said other changes in Qdoba’s overall pricing, as well as the cost of steak, present larger issues for the restaurant.Dinkytown’s Espresso Royale goes through almost 150 gallons of milk every week.Regional Manager Dan Zielske said though the coffee shop’s milk expenses went down last month, he’s noticed the overall increase.“It tends to be one of those things … that fluctuates more than other products,” he said. “[But] when it’s a sustained rise, you definitely notice.”Though the prices may not climb at Espresso Royale, Zielske said coffee and milk tend to have the largest pull on the shop’s prices.The cost of milk fluctuates so much, Bozic said, because dairy farmers can’t just will it out of their cows, and it expires quickly.“Supply cannot change much if needed; demand wouldn’t budge much if needed,” he said. “And if anybody sneezes, the prices can go up really high or really low depending on if we have a shortage or a surplus.”After a heavy demand for a commodity like milk, Bozic said, it takes a few months for prices to catch up. Continue Reading

Don’t let Big Meat eat our bumper crop

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The last few years have not been good for the factory farm industry. High prices for corn and other crops (in part driven by the growth of ethanol) made feed costs incredibly high, while at the same time, environmental and animal welfare advocates have been winning ballot and marketplace battles to shift more meat production out of intensive confinement and industrial systems. Hog and cattle producers have been hit by disease, drought and weather related disasters, resulting in losses in both sectors. Continue Reading

Restore the grid! A vision for the center of Downtown Saint Paul

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I live and work in Lowertown. Frequently my errands and wanderings take me up to the Rice Park/Landmark Center/7th Place areas. I’m always either on foot or bike. Over the last two-plus years of living here, I’ve become increasingly annoyed with the presence of the two “SuperBlocks”. These are the blocks that have 7th Street as the northern border, Wabasha Street as the western, 6th Street as the southern and Minnesota Street as the eastern border (See map). They house the Wells Fargo tower and the Bremer Bank tower on the north ends, facing 7th Street. The vacant Macy’s store and DoubleTree by Hilton face 6th Street on the south end. If you are coming from the mostly-pleasant 7th Street pedestrian mall and you want to go over to the eastern side of downtown, the most direct way is through the indoor “shopping” mall and skyway configuration of the SuperBlocks. Continue Reading

Snowlessons

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We can learn a lot from snow. I had a lot of thoughts as I drove around during and after our instant winter (text is above photos). Continue Reading

OPINION | Community Action in Ramsey-Washington demonstrates transparency, accountability

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I wish to utilize this column to share some important information related to the operations and oversight at Community Action Partnership of Ramsey & Washington Counties (CAPRW). The recent shutdown of Community Action of Minneapolis has given rise to an unprecedented level of scrutiny toward Minnesota’s other 25 Community Action agencies, including CAPRW.

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