Featured Stories

City Art: New thinking about public art in Saint Paul is transforming the public sphere

Christine Podas-Larson Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Sustainability, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Saint Anthony Park, Downtown/Lowertown, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Payne - Phalen

"Open-Source"--The Next Big Thing in Twin Cities Car- and Bike-Sharing?

Conrad deFiebre Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sustainability, Transportation

Anthony Ongaro aboard a familiar green bicycle

Nice Ride's Next Roll: A Conversation with Anthony Ongaro

Jon Spayde Wednesday, September 11, 2013

With new ventures in greater Minnesota, plans for "inspansion" in the Twin Cities, and a bicycle that makes ice cream, the bikeshare program is both growing fast and becoming a (sometimes quirky) part of Minnesota culture. Nice Ride's marketing director fills us in.

Creative Leadership, Regionalism, Sustainability, Transportation

Blue Flag Iris by Shelley Bowman and Marsh Marigold by Gerry Herriges

In a Multi-Year Project, Our Native Flowers Sit for Their Portraits

Meleah Maynard Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Green Jobs, Life Sciences, Sustainability

North Side

Turning Trash into Treasure, Creative Reuse Movement Boosts Urban Economies

Lee Chilcote Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Across America, creative reuse organizations are popping up to "upcycle" and sell stuff that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Artisans and artists are, in turn, turning this would-be detritus into artworks and products.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Reuse / Rebuild, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Summit Hill and Crocus Hill

Twin Cities Parks 3.0: Bold New Initiatives Coming to Our Green Spaces

Susan Klemond Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Get ready for some changes in our already-stellar park system that will expand your ideas about recreation, ecology, and economic development.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, Regionalism, Sustainability

Riverfront/Mill District, Downtown, Southwest, North Side, West Seventh, Calhoun - Isles, Northeast

Judy Gerdts and Becky Masterman of the Bee Squad atop the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Hive Minds: Urban Beekeeping in High Places

Meleah Maynard Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The rooftops of some prestigious locations are buzzing as local institutions hop aboard the global urban beekeeping bandwagon. The idea is to play a role in restoring declining bee populations, with the help of the U of M and some intrepid honey-oriented entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Life Sciences, Sustainability

University, Downtown, Powderhorn

A charging station at Saint Paul's RiverCentre

Where to charge your car: Electric-car "refueling" stations in the Twin Cities

Anna Pratt Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Charging stations for electric cars are popping up here and there in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. In fact, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is working to install up to 76 electric car-charging stations throughout the metro area, adding to an already expanding network. Here's our guide (a work in progress) to our towns' car-charging infrastructure.

Coordination/Collaboration, Emerging Technologies, Emerging Technology, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Mike Smieja and We Can Grow: Building Urban Gardens, Helping Urban Gardeners Thrive

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The onetime marketing professional made a career u-turn when he discovered how gardening--and cooking and eating healthy produce right from the soil--could change lives. Now his nonprofit startup helps inner-city newcomers to gardening make healthy foods part of their lives.

Creative Economy, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Sustainability

The May Day Parade: A Slide Show

Bill Kelley Wednesday, May 08, 2013

The May Day Parade and Festival is our Mardi Gras--a heartfelt explosion of color, music, art, fun, and earth-friendliness after the weariness of long winters. Bill Kelley caught the parade action last Sunday in the Powderhorn neighborhood as Minneapolitans dressed up and rocked out to say goodbye to the cold.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Sustainability

Powderhorn

The Challenges of Building "The Essential House"

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Architect Daniel Yudchitz decided to design and build a small, sustainable, low-cost, energy-efficient house for himself in Saint Paul's challenged Rondo neighborhood, to demonstrate how architecture could promote urban reinvestment. And then the banks weighed in.

Affordable Housing, Design, Energy, Sustainability

Summit - University

Honeybee Mobile Market: A Farmers Market on Wheels

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, April 10, 2013

What if, instead of you going to a farmers market, the market came to you? That's the vision of an entrepreneurial couple who want to create a fleet of truck-drawn trailers full of food from local farms. They're calling on Kickstarter for help and betting that the market for fresh, local food can only, well, grow.

Creative Economy, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

At the U of M, a confab for designers who want to change the world

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Consolidating its position as a laboratory for cutting-edge design thinking, the University of Minnesota's College of Design hosted the first Public Interest Design Week. Its climax was an awards show that displayed ingenious design-driven solutions to the dilemmas of poverty and ill health in America and around the world.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Emerging Technology, Higher Education, Philanthropy, Sustainability

University

Our next hot neighborhood? Put your money on Payne Avenue

Anna Pratt Wednesday, March 20, 2013

It's weathered industry exoduses and foreclosure--but now the proud old East Side Saint Paul neighborhood is home to a hot new bar/restaurant, Ward 6, that's both a sign of, and a force in, a wider renewal.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Energy, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Reuse / Rebuild, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Greater East Side

Turning a Modernist Classic Green in Highland Park

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, March 06, 2013

When Heather and Brent Fredrickson bought a modernist house in a historic Saint Paul neighborhood that was something of a midcentury architectural showcase, they had one big problem: an awkward bathroom. The remodel they did added a 21st-century environmental ethic to the whole home.

Arts and Culture, Design, Sustainability

Highland Park

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