wood and paper sculptures by Seitu Jones and Mary Hark at the Rondo Library - Bill Kelley | Show Photo

University

The U of M's McNamara Alumni Center

The gigantic Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota spawned two student-friendly business districts: Stadium Village, where chain eateries alternate with authentic Chinese places and a couple of venerable bars; and Dinkytown, where Bob Dylan got his start in a long-gone caf� called the Ten O'clock Scholar, and which still maintains a countercultural vibe, thanks to coffee houses, Asian restaurants, a pair of classic campus-style used-and-rare bookstores, and the Varsity, a movie-theater-turned-ultrahip-rock-venue. The once-dowdy Marcy-Holmes district, which borders the Northeast neighborhood, has been remade in the last decade into a mecca for creative retail and new restaurants.

University Features

Revisiting the Central Corridor's Funky Treasures: A SLide Show

Bill Kelley, Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 01, 2012

In one magical zone in the Twin Cities, there's a loon made of junk, a chimney covered in shattered glass and ceramic shards, and a place to buy tarantulas. It's called the Central Corridor. Here's a second look at what photographer Bill Kelley and managing editor Jon Spayde picked out last year as they traveled down University Avenue and Washington Avenue, seeking out their favorite offbeat, oddball, one-of-a-kind things.

Local makers redefine, and refine, holiday chocolates

Susan Klemond Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A couple of distinguished local boutique chocolatiers, one big and one small, are helping holiday chocolate lovers forget the foil-wrapped Santa--with high-cacao-content, eco-conscious, elegant bonbons and truffles.

Behind the Bicycle Boom

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Most of us in the Twin Cities are aware that we've become a great town for bicycling in recent years, but urbanist and author Jay Walljasper--an avid biker for decades--has been digging into the trend to find out the what and the why behind it. In this adaptation of an article he wrote for Bikes Belong, he fills in the story and gives us some impressive facts about the sheer scale and promise of our new two-wheel era.

Videoline: Celebrating the Midtown Greenway

Streetfilms Wednesday, October 19, 2011

To accompany Jay Walljasper's take on bike policy and bike culture in the Twin Cities, here's a video by Streetfilms that shows just how valuable one of the crown jewels in our bikeway system is--the Midtown Greenway, running more or less parallel to Lake Street from Chowen Avenue to the Mississippi River.

Lighting up the night with Northern Spark

Tristan Pollock Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Hobbled by a broken ankle but determined to see as much glow-in-the-dark art as he could, our reporter plunged into the dusk-to-dawn art extravaganza called Northern Spark on the night of June 4. He saw luminescent plankton, 1,600 light-bulb pixels, and a wall of perfectly legal virtual graffiti.

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