Sustainability : Featured Stories

Imagine a day in a bike commuter’s boots. How does he or she prepare before walking out the door? How do they stay comfortable behind Arctic fronts and snow curtains — even the dreaded polar vortex. Here's how.

MSP's increasing public awareness about the plight of pollinators has mobilized beekeepers and gardeners, social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, educational institutions and government representatives to create new initiatives on behalf of bees and butterflies.

The Line and Creative Exchange Present “Creating Community,” a dynamic, participatory event featuring community builders and creative producers from fine art, technology, design and nonprofits.  

As the rapid proliferation of urban farms, CSAs, community gardens, hyper-local farmers’ market stalls and farm-to-fork restaurants shows, MSP’s urban agriculture ecosystem is only getting stronger.  

As woonerfs take hold in MSP, perhaps in collaboration with the complete streets movement already underway, designers are rethinking how our public realm can function for pedestrians, bicyclists--and cars.

Tami Traeger, Nice Ride MN's director of outreach and sponsor relationships, explains how a car-free calling led her to align her lifestyle with her values and smaller-footprint living.

Janis LaDouceur relocated to The North in the late 1980s and began a two-decade process of disengaging from car culture.Today, LaDouceur and her husband, Sean Burns, live an almost totally car-free lifestyle.

Youth programs with a focus on urban agriculture cultivate good health, leadership skills, community development and economic independence.

A merry band of farmers market managers and vendors are braving the cold and dark to keep us supplied with locally grown food, locally made food products and locally sourced crafts. Here's where you can find them this winter!

Ken and Roberta Avidor have been car-free since 2010. Union Depot is their jumping-off point for bike, bus and train trips around the Twin Cities—and beyond. They're also making a name for themselves in the Twin Cities’ urban-sketching movement.

A transit user and cyclist explains why he traded the conveniences of car ownership for an “experience-based lifestyle.”

With momentum on multiple fronts, a number of women-led initiatives are expanding the future of cycling to create a healthier, safer, more opportunity-rich Twin Cities for female cyclists.  

Architects, developers and city officials hope that two new apartment towers, which are changing the skyline of downtown Minneapolis, will transform street life and commerce with an influx of new residents and new businesses.  

The Twin Cities is a leader in bicycle use and a major innovator in bicycle design and technology. The seven inventions profiled here have, or will have, an impact on the local and global cycling industry. And the pace of innovation shows no sign of slowing down.    

We recently sat down with Shawn Combs Walding, MnDOT’s Transit Advantages Coordinator for the Twin Cities Metro District to discuss alternative transportation in the Twin Cities, what local entities can do to promote transit use, and how easy it really is to be car-free.