Green Inside & Out-My Love Affair with the Seward Coop

I love the Seward Coop building. It's a lovely hunk of modernism with its bold green exterior paneling and its boxy shape. There certainly is no mistaking the messaging here--this co-op is green--in every way. According to a January 2009 article in "The Bridge," the building has:

white roofing for climate control, skylights and recycled construction materials — including flooring from the old store — to minimize the co-op’s carbon footprint. Rain gardens and a sloped parking lot capture 90 percent of stormwater runoff.

It was also designed by Close Associates, whose offices are just blocks away on Franklin Avenue (how's that for local?!). As the store awaits for the results of its LEED Gold application (a year-long evaluation process, before certification is granted) I'll be wishing them success.

image: www.heavytable.com

A great holiday gift for your budding Twin Cities Geographer

I recently bought this map for work-related purposes and cannot speak highly enough about it! If you want a beautifully illustrated map that includes EVERY neighborhood in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, get to Big Stick Maps ASAP and order this stunning gem. You'll discover some of the smaller neighborhoods you may have never heard of before as well as get your bearings straight in different parts of the city. A great resource for the geographer, city-lover, or map-nut on your shopping list.

MSP makes NYT

One of my favorite parts of the Sunday edition of the New York Times is the "36 Hours in _____ city." Well this Sunday, Minneapolis and Saint Paul were the featured city (ies.) Not a bad list of highlights--I'm impressed that Saint Paul destinations were referenced (I admit this is a low bar, but given recent RNC coverage and the nation's failure to recognize that the convention is in St. Paul and not Minneapolis, I'll take what I can get!) and the author also listed some off-the-beaten- path bars (e.g. CC Club, Lee's Liquor Lounge, 331 Club) that probably weren't on visitors' radar screens.

image: Ben Garvin, New York Times.

Survey Time: Tell me what you love about Minneapolis and St. Paul

Dear readers residing in the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul:

I was hoping that you could take a couple of minutes of your time and either shoot me an e-mail (marykay_bailey@yahoo.com) or use the comment field to answer the following questions:

1) What do you like most about living in the city?

2) What do you like most about your particular neighborhood?

3) What neighborhood do you reside in?

4) How long have you lived there?

You may be wondering why I'm asking and what I plan on doing with this informal, unscientific survey. Well, I've recently begun working on an initiative to market and promote all of the neighborhoods in our two fair cities. I wanted to get a very informal baseline about what the folks that read this blog and live here value about the Twin Cities and their neighborhoods. So if you're reading this, please take a minute to share your opinion and if you will, pass a link to other folks you know too. Thanks in advance for the help!!

Save the Date: Saarinen coming to MIA

Lovers of modern design mark your calendars. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker will be sponsoring the internationally-touring "Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future" exhibit from Saturday, September 13, 2008—Sunday, January 4, 2009. The exhibit will be held in the MIA's U.S. Bank Gallery.

Read more about the exhibit here.

And get your engines revved by checking out Eero and son Eliel Saarinen's local masterpiece, Christ Lutheran Church at 3244 34th Avenue South in Minneapolis.

image: Christ Lutheran Church, by Pete Sieger. See all of his photos here.

Making the Twin Cities Even More Bike Friendly

Back in July, there was a great article about a U of M Computer Science graduate student named Reid Priedhorsky who is starting up Cyclopath.org--a "geo-wiki" that allows cyclists to post bike routes to all sorts of destinations. The advantage of this set-up is that sometimes the most direct, or most traffic-free routes can take you off of streets and onto unofficial paths--things that aren't picked up by any map. While the Twin Cities Bike Map is certainly decent--there are lots of alternative ways to get from point A to point B that experienced cyclists are likely to point out. Cyclopath is still in testing mode, but you can sign up to be notified of its official release.

On August 17th from 1-3, the City of Minneapolis and Bike Walk Twin Cities, are launching a
Bike Walk Ambassadors Program. As the website notes:

"The Bike/Walk Twin Cities Ambassadors are here to help you out! The Ambassadors provide the information and support needed to help you start bicycling and walking more often. The Ambassadors are available to give presentations, lead safety/user clinics, and host events year-round. They'll help your group learn how to reach destinations by foot or bike with ease."

There are several other good resources if you're looking to find the best routes to places.

Minneapolis Bike Love. Com has a route planning forum with lots of posted routes and a place where you can ask how to get from here to there.

Bikely.com, a national website, also has a list of bike routes and paths for the Twin Cities.

Bike Walk Twin Cities has links to a bunch of other map/route resources, too.


image: Cage Design. You can purchase a series of posters of favorite Minneapolis-St. Paul cycling locations here.

Me, Mayor Rybak, and Facebook

While it's true that I may be a dork, I seem to be in good company with the 1,434 other individuals who have Mayor R.T. Rybak listed as a friend in Facebook. I'm already a bit beyond the intended Facebook generation, but it seems to me that we are supposed to "friend" those people that we have established, or at least tangible, relationships with. Arguably, some of these 1,400-plus people actually know the Mayor, but I can't claim that. Yet when I discovered that one of my favorite elected officials had a Facebook page, I was compelled to invite him to become a friend of mine. Why? I'm not sure, but I couldn't resist the Starsky and Hutch-like photo on his profile page (see left) and well, who doesn't secretly aspire to having a famous friend--even if it's only on Facebook?

Invite R.T. to be a Facebook friend of yours, here.

Living the Luxe Life for a Night

After years of sleeping in hostels, on friends' couches, and in cheap roadside inns, I've grown into adulthood appreciating the occasional indulgence of a luxury hotel. Around the same time, I also discovered that these lovely refuges also tended to have equally indulgent bars. It wasn't so long ago that the Twin Cities didn't have much to speak of in this department--with the exception of some of our lovely historic hotels. So I've been overjoyed by the presence of such glamorous accommodations as the Chambers, the Graves 601 (which I had the pleasure of staying in when it was Le Meridien, and it was a pleasure then too!), the new Westin, Hotel Ivy, and my personal favorite from other cities, the forthcoming W Hotel in the Foshay Tower. At this point in time, I'm most likely to pop in for the occasional cocktail and ogling of art and architecture (have you checked out the interior space of Bank, in the Westin?!?), but I hope that in the nearer future my husband and I can play tourists for a night, complete with wining, dining, and sleeping in some nouveau luxury!

Calling the University District Home

Bringing together businesses, the U, neighborhood advocates, and the city of Minneapolis, the University District Partnership Alliance--comprised of the SE Como, Marcy-Holmes, SE Industrial Area, U of M, Cedar-Riverside, and Prospect Park neighborhoods--aims to "preserve and promote the district as a place to live, learn, and do business." With funding from the state legislature, the Partnership will be offering home ownership incentives in the area, creating neighborhood visions and plans, and telling the stories of residents who love living there. I love the idea and structure of this program--part marketing, part economic development, part residential stabilization, and part community building. I wish them the best of luck in their endeavors!

Free Summer Historic Walking Tours in Minneapolis

Want to know the history of Elliot Park? How about the a glimpse into early 20th Century Jewish life on the Northside of Minneapolis? Well, you can learn more about these and other Minneapolis neighborhoods and historic sites by participating in any of the numerous free walking tours hosted by the city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. The schedule is posted here.



image: from the City of Minneapolis, inside the Shubert Theater on the 2007 tour.

A taste of summer

Nothing says summer like a trip to Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis--preferably via bike--and lunch at the Sea Salt Eatery, complete with a fried fish sandwich and a frosty pitcher of beer. For the uninitiated, Sea Salt is actually located within the park--its a concession of the park building right near the falls and parking lot. So enjoy your summer meal, stellar people watching, and the lovely setting of Minnehaha Park--not bad for an all-inclusive package!

image: Roman Espiritu

The Ultimate Urban Scavenger Hunt- (with prizes!) on 5/31/08

For all of you savvy urban scavengers who know your way around Minneapolis, you may want to register for this free, prize-giving event being held on May 31st. The race is called the BlackBerry Curve Challenge (can you tell who the sponsors are?) and it is limited to 150, two-person teams. Participation is free and open to adults aged 18 and older.

Basically, teams are given a set of clues that incorporate the landmarks and layout of Minneapolis. At each of these destinations team members will have to use their Blackberry to take a photo of themselves completing some kind of challenge. The kicker is that to get from destination to destination, you can only run/walk or take public transit. The distance will be several miles and the course takes between 3 -4 hours to complete. And oh yeah, you can use your Blackberry as a "lifeline" to call/text friends for help answering some of the clues. So gather a posse up by a computer so they can get you answers to the clues you don't know.

Here are the deets:
WHERE: Guthrie Theater, 818 South 2nd Street--serves as the Start & Finish line
WHEN: SATURDAY, MAY 31, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Team Orientation, 10 a.m. Start
HOW: Advanced registration suggested. Register online at http://www.BlackBerryCurveUC.com. Day-of registrations accepted on-site if race slots are still available
PRIZES: The top 30 teams will receive one BlackBerry Curve 8330 smartphone for each participant. The winning Minneapolis Challenge team will compete in the Ultimate Challenge in San Francisco on June 14th . Both members of the team will receive an all expense paid, three-night stay in San Francisco for themselves and one guest. Members of the winning team of Destination Alcatraz, the final challenge in San Francisco, win an all expense paid trip for two to their choice destination of Maui, Paris, Rome or the Mayan Riviera.

Image: from last year's "running of the Elvises?!?!"--taken by "kayakbiker."

Drug Store Democracy

I haven't actually experienced the spectacle myself, but I've heard and read about Schneider Drug's (@ 3400 University Avenue, in Prospect Park in Minneapolis) legendary stature among hardcore DFLers. Drug store by day, town hall by night, Schneider's plays host to candidate nights and heady political discussions--full of debate. According to an NPR story last year, the drug store's pharmacist, Tom Sengupta, a native Indian, organizes and moderates the meetings. It is expected that if you are a DFL candidate running in MN, you'll make a stop at Schneider's and sit in the hot seat for hours being grilled by party activists, academicians, and other political heavy weights. So the next time you're heading east on University you can feel assured that democratic debate is alive and well in this small, nondescript drug store.

Why Minneapolis is Great: Reason 2

Reason 1 was the lakes. Reason 2 is the riverfront. When I last lived here 10 years ago, the Whitney Hotel (now the Whitney Landmark Residences) was the only thing happening near the mills. We cyclists were overjoyed with the opening of the Stone Arch Bridge back in the early 90s to non-auto traffic. You could ride your bike on the parkway, but if I recall correctly it was incomplete (as you headed down river toward the U.) But otherwise, there wasn't a whole lot going on here.

Now this part of town is a true Minneapolis treasure.

There's the amazing mill architecture--and it's great that we've got the Mill City Museum to show and tell the story of the area, but you also get the bonus adaptive reuse of random mill buildings and warehouses into stunning lofts. The North Star Lofts are my favorite.
Second, this area has some of the most innovative and funky parkland in the city. Going to Mill Ruins Park is like embarking on an historical scavenger hunt or archeology dig.

Climbing to the top of Gold Medal Park is like being King of the Hill--where you preside over the Guthrie Theater, downtown, and the Mighty Miss.
As if these two parks weren't enough, the land along the river banks is all park too--complete with the aforementioned trails.

All of these things bring people to the river--which is in and of itself a remarkable asset. It's the Mississippi--the father of US waters--right here in MPLS! Standing on the Stone Arch Bridge, looking down at St. Anthony Falls or off at the skyline, it doesn't take long to realize that this is a pretty stellar place to live.

images: Riverfront @ U of MN; North Star Lofts homepage; Mill Ruins Park at wikipedia; Gold Medal Park @ oaala.com; Pedestrians on the Stone Arch Bridge @ MNDOT.

Common Roots Cafe--uncommonly delicious

Much has been made of the NY-style bagel at Common Roots Cafe in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of Minneapolis--and much should. The crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside plain bagel with good old plain cream cheese is a weekend treat everyone should wake up to. A friend and I went in the evening a couple of weeks ago and we were totally impressed by the patatas bravas-- a typical find at a tapas restaurant--yet they were much better at Common Roots than they were at Solera.

So I'm hoping that the good folks at Common Roots aren't anti-expansion, because with their super eco-ethos and their totally treatsy food, we'd love to see them in St. Paul. In particular on Snelling Avenue north of University where there is a sandwich and bagel wasteland. Come East oh Common Roots!!


images: Common Roots Cafe website.

Looking for stuff to do in the Twin Cities? Event calendar links are here

A lot of people get to my blog by searching for things like "Cool Things to Do in the Twin Cities this weekend" and "Plays in Minneapolis." And I'm sure that they end up leaving disappointed since my posts are typically musings about random things that I think are cool that aren't geared toward a specific weekend or venue. So for all of you party animals, thespians, groupies, and others looking for calendar-specific things to do in the Twin Cities, I'm going to include links to some of the major event calendars in the area.

City Pages calendar (you specify the date range and the kind of event).
Vita.mn (the homepage has featured events for the day and you can select for the week or month.)
Craigslist (I just discovered that good, old Craig has an events calendar. It seems sweet for finding some really random things to do.)
Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine (the place to go to find fundraising events)
Minnesota Public Radio (the calendar lists their own events and others submitted by "listeners"--or I guess "readers.)
The Rake (same as City Pages concept)
Last FM (has listings of concerts and event in Minneapolis--you could change search term and find things going on in St. Paul too.)
Thrifty Hipster (for the drinkers out there, this interactive guide has happy hours and bar and nightclub events.)

You can also sign up for e-mails to get the latest scoop on events.
Meet Minneapolis' e-newsletter sign up is here.
Minnie Indie weekly e-newsletter sign up is here.

If the Mayor thinks it's cool...

Have you ever wondered what the Mayors of our fair Twin Cities like best about their cities? Well, you can get a glimpse in the new Insider Guides that Meet Minneapolis has developed. Here you'll learn that R.T. likes to eat dinner at Solera and swim in the city's lakes 3x/week in the summer. You'll also discover that Mayor Coleman lists 15 different locales for his favorite bar/restaurant and likes to buy men's clothing at Heimie's Haberdashery.

If you care less what the politicos think and more what other interesting locals think about the cities, check out the full range of guides here.

To the moon

If you head west on Lake Street and turn right at the Blue Moon coffee shop...and then go a few blocks til' the street dead ends, you'll hit one of my favorite, little neighborhood parks. Brackett Park is in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis and is home to a gorgeous rec. center, a kiddie pool, mature trees, a playground, and this awesome rocket sculpture. Ahhh, summer awaits.

Fear of an Old Home

I had an interesting conversation the other day with someone who said she'd love to live in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, but feared the prospects of having to do repairs to an older home. I figured that in an area like ours, there would be lots of places to turn for learning how to tackle some common home improvement/repair issues. Here's what I found:

Both Saint Paul and Minneapolis have Community Education courses focused on Home Improvement. You can take classes in "sanding your own floors," "window restoration," "electrical wiring," "plaster and sheetrock repair," among many others.

Depending on where you live and the income you make, there are also city and non-profit programs to help offset the cost of some improvements (e.g. lead paint removal, energy updates, etc.) Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have "City Living Home Programs" that offer home repair loans and mortgage assistance. There's also a list of some different programs here and I'm familiar with the work that Sparc does in Hamline Midway, the North End and East Como.

If home improvement still scares you, the city of Minneapolis has the Home Ownership Works program where you can move into a home that the city has remodeled to bring up to code.

So don't fear the old house--there are lots of resources available to you!

image: http://www.geomyidae.com

A Minneapolis Institution

Indulging an unnatural craving for a glazed donut, I headed over to the out-of-the-way (for me) but revered Mel-O-Glaze bakery on Minnehaha Parkway and 28th Avenue S. What's up with the spray-painted, fake Christmas trees out front? My donut was good, but I think since I went in the late afternoon, it was past its peak freshness. Regardless, I love that this bakery is all by itself on a street corner surrounded by homes, apartment buildings and the lovely Parkway.