sustainability : Development News

The Starling Project is a sort of matchmaking service for University Avenue landlords and potential temporary renters.

It’s about filling vacant storefronts in the short term, many of which have been left empty as a result of the recession or other hardships connected to Central Corridor light-rail construction, according to Kristen Murray, who is a group leader.

In December, an eight-person team of graduate students from a neighborhood revitalization course at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs launched the project as a creative way to help businesses that are struggling amid construction.

Murray says that the vacancies can be taken advantage of for “temporary or meanwhile uses, to bring extra energy into the corridor.”  

To do so, the group is hosting a series of informal open house events at various storefront spaces, which run through May.

The Starling Project is targeting areas where there’s a cluster of storefronts.
 
The group’s goal is “to figure out how this model can work longer-term for the Central Corridor and others in transition, where there are vacancies.”

Recently, a group of art students and their instructor from the university rented 2401 University for a temporary gallery, while other matches are in the works.  

“There’s a lot of visioning happening along the Central Corridor,” she says, adding that the group is trying to help neighborhood organizations “think about how vacant spaces can be used to express some of those visions for the future.”

“The temporary uses and events can really bolster business,” she says, adding, “We’re trying to [help] small locally-owned businesses survive and thrive.”  

Although other cities have worked on initiatives to enliven vacant storefronts, “There haven’t been any programs looking at how pop-up efforts can be a strategy to use during a disruptive period,” such as construction, says Murray.


Source: Kristen Murray, Starling Project
Writer: Anna Pratt

RiverFIRST, a plan that would re-imagine a 5.5-mile stretch of the Mississippi riverfront in Minneapolis with new parks and trails, is entering into an early design phase.

The proposal, which will go before the full park board for approval in March, includes a riverfront trail system and a number of neighborhood-accessible parks that are being referred to as the Farview Park extension, Scherer Park District, North Side Wetlands Park, and Downtown Gateway Park, according to project spokesperson Janette Law.

(To see a description of each of these parks, go here.) 

The plan, which has a $174 million price tag, spaces out the projects over the next five years, with construction starting in 2013.

It also lays out a broader 20-year vision for the area along with a number of guiding principles, she says.

The planning committee is “asking for authorization of the completion of next steps,” which center mainly on the Scherer Park site and the 26th and 28th avenues North greenways, Law says. “The major news is that the park board is moving ahead on getting schematic designs."

RiverFIRST may also help lay the groundwork for the city’s Above the Falls master plan, which includes a "rich mix of land uses," including recreation along the Mississippi's east and west banks above St. Anthony Falls, according to park information.

RiverFIRST originated as the winning proposal from the design team Tom Leader Studio and Kennedy & Violich Architecture (TLS/KVA) as a part of the international Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition, which the park board and the Minneapolis Parks Foundation jointly held in late 2010.   

The proposal stood out for the way it speaks to such contemporary challenges as dealing with water, the “green economy,” community health, and mobility, according to a prepared statement about the project.

After the contest wrapped up, the effort became known as the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative.

“It’s an exciting vision for the Upper Riverfront, with the potential to bring the same water amenities to North and Northeast that South currently enjoys,” says Law, adding, “that area is significant locally and nationally. It presents the prospect of creating the most new park land in the city since the parks were founded over 100 years ago.”   

Source: Janette Law, RiverFIRST spokesperson
Writer: Anna Pratt

In St. Paul’s Como Park neighborhood, some neighbors are putting their heads together to identify the ideal spot for a new community garden.

Como Park already has a number of community flower gardens, but over the past year, some residents have expressed interest in planting vegetables somewhere, too, according to Jessie Bronk, the administrator and coordinator for the District 10 Como Community Council.

Recently, the neighborhood group formed a planning committee to help nail down the details. The eight-member committee, which had its first meeting earlier this month, involves both renters and homeowners in the neighborhood. “All are avid gardeners,” she says, adding, “It’s helpful to have all of that experience.”  

Since it’s so early in the process, the project’s budget and scope, along with the garden's location, have yet to be determined. “We’re aiming for a space that can accommodate at least 15 plots,” she says.

At this point, the group has narrowed its list to seven possible locations, which it plans to look into over the next month. For starters, in the case of each piece of land, “We need to find out who owns the land and whether there’s a water source nearby,” she says. 

It's a lot of work, but community gardens have plenty of benefits.

“[They're] a great way to connect neighbors, build community and beautify the neighborhood,” Bronk says, adding that they can help reduce crime as well.

She also sees community gardening as a good opportunity to reach out to diverse groups in the neighborhood. “It’s a way to make our district stronger,” she says.

Additionally, community gardens encourage local food production, healthy eating, and physical fitness.  

The group hopes to begin gardening this spring. The fact that it's been such a mild winter has made it “fun to dream and plan for spring,” Bronk says.  


Source: Jessie Bronk, administrator and coordinator, District 10 Como Community Council
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, a building in Minneapolis's Northeast Arts District that sat vacant for a year will become a hub for beer, art, and solar power.

It's been dubbed the Solar Arts Building, according to Nathan Berndt, a cofounder of Indeed Brewing Company, which will be its anchor tenant on the first floor.

In the past, the 1914 building had various uses, including housing a Sears Roebuck distribution center and more recently, an electrical transformer company, before it went through foreclosure stages, according to Indeed Brewing information.

Besides the brewery, artist-geared spaces, some of which have already been snatched up, will fill the building's remaining two floors.

It’s an ideal location for the new brewing company, which recently signed a lease for the space with building owner Duane Arens, Berndt says. “We’re involved in the community and we support being in a place for people to come together,” especially artists, he says. “We like being around creative people.”

Another dimension of the brewing company will be a public taproom, for which the design is still being developed.

A strong visual feature will be the building’s original wood columns, which lend a turn-of-the-last-century warehouse feel, he says.

Sustainability is also an important aspect of the building’s overall rehab. On the building’s rooftop a sizable solar array will be installed. It’s also getting new energy-efficient windows and mechanical systems, Berndt says.  

The effort to go green is something that’s important to the brewing company, as well, he adds.

“This sleepy dead-end adjacent to the Northstar Commuter Rail tracks will be a bustling intersection of art, craft beer, solar power, and urban revitalization,” the brewing company’s website states.

Indeed plans to open this summer.

Source: Nathan Berndt, cofounder, Indeed Brewing Company
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and nearby Cowles Conservatory, popular attractions at the Walker Art Center, are due for a facelift, according to Phillip Bahar, the museum’s chief of operations and administration.

It’s been almost 25 years since the sculpture garden was inaugurated, he says.

Back then, the garden, which is run by the museum on city parkland, was the “first major urban sculpture garden in America,” and it became a model for many others.  

The University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum ran the conservatory in the beginning, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation constructed the colorful bridge that connects Loring Park and the sculpture garden.

“It was an amazing example of what can happen when the community comes together around one idea,” Bahar says.

Since then, over 8 million people from all over the world have visited the sculpture garden, which is also the most tagged photo subject on the photo-sharing site, flickr, he says. “It carries the message of Minnesota and the arts.”

However, over the years the garden’s soil has become so compacted that water doesn’t drain properly anymore. It needs to be refreshed to “loosen up the topsoil.” Granite pavers that have settled into the land also need to be reset. “Those are some of the things that are hit the hardest by water,” he says.

A new drainage system that’s been designed for the garden would capture rainwater to irrigate the land, a process that's especially useful for the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture, which has a water feature.

Beyond that, the conservatory’s mechanical systems have become outdated, and its greenhouse use is also nearing an end. The conservatory will probably be turned into an exhibition space of some sort, he explains.

Altogether, it’s an $8.5 million project, which the state legislature is considering in its current bonding bill. To be clear, he says, the park board is making the funding request. As such, “None of this money goes to the art. It goes to infrastructure and landscape,” the sculpture garden’s “hard parts.”

Depending on how the legislative session goes, work on the garden could begin as soon as the fall.  

“We have this beloved state asset,” Bahar says, and, just like any other major infrastructure project, the garden needs work to “replenish it to its glory when it was new.”

Source: Phillip Bahar, chief of operations and administration, Walker Art Center
Writer: Anna Pratt

This spring, a pop-up tree nursery is coming to St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood as a creative way to get more trees planted in the area.

Part of the reason for the project, which is a collaborative effort between St. Paul, Frogtown Gardens community activists, and the University of Minnesota, relates to a 2010 tree canopy analysis of the city.

The study found that Frogtown has a lack of tree cover, according to Brett Stadsvold, who works for the city’s parks and recreation department.

Last fall, the partners worked together on a pilot project to address the issue. They involved “citizen foresters” in planting and maintaining 18 boulevard trees throughout the neighborhood.

Building on the project's success, “The next idea was to develop a citizen-run tree nursery,” but starting small, with a pop-up or temporary nursery, says Stadsvold. “We wanted to gain support and get people interested.”

The 25-tree nursery, which will include a mix of shade and fruit- and nut-bearing trees, will go on the corner of Dale and Lafond avenues--a city-owned parcel--for one growing season, starting close to Arbor Day.

Experts in the subject will help volunteers “learn how to propagate trees from seed.”

At the nursery, there’ll also be space for demonstrations and social events for which University of Minnesota agriculture students will be submitting design proposals on Feb. 27, he says.

Signage and furniture made out of repurposed materials will make the lot inviting year-round. “We’re repurposing things that may be seen as waste items, and acquiring them at low cost,” he says.  

Later the trees will be transplanted onto private properties in the neighborhood.

Although the project’s budget is $3,000, it’ll probably only use half of that amount, says Stadsvold.

In the future, the project could be expanded. “We want people to feel empowered to take care of trees and be stewards,” he says, adding that the effort has come from community members.

The city is providing support in the form of “labor with the logistics and acquiring the trees,” he adds.


Source: Brett Stadsvold, St. Paul parks and recreation, forestry unit
Writer: Anna Pratt

The historic Uptown Theatre, a well-known fixture in Minneapolis’s Uptown area, closed on Jan. 31 for renovations.

Its operator, Landmark Theatres, which is based in Los Angeles, plans to reopen the place this spring, according to a prepared statement from the company.

The 900-seat theater is a destination for foreign, art and cult films, including the long-running "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
 
As a part of the renovation, Landmark plans to turn the concession stand into a full bar, according to a prepared statement from the company. The theater will also get a giant new screen, luxury seats, and a digital projector. Its distinctive neon sign will remain intact, and  and so will its balcony, which is one of the few of its era in use locally.

The existing Uptown Theatre was constructed in 1939 after the 1913 building on the site burned down. Originally it was known as the Lagoon Theater.

It’s defined by a classic Streamline Moderne style employed by its designers, architecture firm Liebenberg and Kaplan, which also did the Suburban World Theatre down the street, according to the Star Tribune.

The Uptown Theater last underwent a major remodeling in the late 1960s, the Star Tribune story states.   

Alicia Garatoni, who works at Keller Williams Realty and serves as the vice president of the Uptown Association, welcomes the changes. “I’m thrilled, both as someone who loves independent and foreign films and has a business in the Uptown area.”  

“It’s in keeping with the forward movement of Uptown,” including the remodel of Calhoun Square and a number of other area renovations and development projects. “I’m glad it’s getting attention and will drive traffic into the Uptown area.”  

She says it’ll help the area be a well-rounded destination center. “So much is going on in Uptown,” she says. “There’s a lot of reasons to come to Uptown and this is just one more.”  

“I love [the theater] because it has an old-time feeling to it. It’s so charming,” she adds.   

Source: Alicia Garatoni, realtor, Keller Williams and vice president, Uptown Association  
Writer: Anna Pratt

For Patricia Ohmans, a proponent of Frogtown Gardens, a potential urban farmstead and demonstration site in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood, the proposal is becoming more of a reality.

It's a mutlifaceted concept for a new kind of park that would go beyond a nature sanctuary, a place where people would “literally gain sustenance,” she explains. (See The Line's earlier story here.)

For those who've gotten involved in the effort, she says, “We are solidly in favor of a place to play and commune with nature and a place for food and eating,” adding that it makes sense to do it on the largest green space left in the city.

Until recently, the idea seemed like a bit of a long shot, due in part to the cost of the 12.5-acre parcel that the garden advocates are interested in. The site is owned by the St. Paul-headquartered Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, a nonprofit health and human services organization. Wilder put it up for sale through an auction, taking sealed bids on the site through late January, according to Ohmans.

Recently, the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit organization with a St. Paul office, partnered with Frogtown Gardens to put a bid on the land. “I think the TPL wouldn’t have decided to do it if it hadn’t see how much public support it’s generated,” Ohmans says.  

She hopes that the combination of a credible buyer and neighborhood and city support, including boosts from local institutions, will make it happen.

When the results could be in, though, remains an open question. Right now, “The ball is in Wilder’s court,” she says. Nevertheless, “It’s really a big step for us,” she says, adding, “It’s an idea whose time has come.”

On Jan. 26, the community activists hosted a cooking event at the Rondo Library to promote the project.  

In the hopes that the Frogtown Gardens will materialize, in the coming months, its advocates will be hosting meetings and design charrettes “to make sure the eventual design and creation of this park reflects as many people’s desires as it can,” Ohmans says.

Source: Patricia Ohmans, Frogtown Gardens and Urban Farm
Writer: Anna Pratt

A group of community members in St. Paul’s Summit Hill neighborhood are working to bring an idea for a community garden to fruition.

It’s something that the Summit Hill Association (SHA) has been talking about for several years and it’s finally starting to come together, according to Kate Pearce, who chairs the neighborhood group’s environment committee.

“As most community gardens are aiming to do, we want to use more green space for the cultivation of food and to do some community-building at the same time,” she says. “It’s just a more sustainable way of growing food and getting it local.”  

Community gardens are also good for security, with more people out and about who know their neighbors, she says. “It’s something the neighborhood wants and needs.”  

SHA, which has scouted out various locations for the garden, is currently eyeing a site at Linwood Park, between the recreation center and tennis courts, where there’s open lawn space.

Already, SHA has looked into the feasibility of the city-owned site. The biggest challenge will be to create the infrastructure to pipe water into the garden, which will probably cost $5,000, according to Pearce.  

The soil may also need to be tested, while the garden's size and the number of plots are also yet to be determined.

At a Feb. 28 public meeting that the environment committee is hosting, “We’ll get to know how many people are interested in helping to get it going,” she says.

Then, they’ll be able to come up with a rough timeline and a plan for fundraising and applying for grants for the project. At this point, Pearce is unsure what its total cost might be.  

Although the timeline is still unknown, Pearce predicts that the garden could be ready in the spring of 2013.

“We’re assuming there’ll be a high demand,” she says. “We have to figure out how to make it equal-opportunity [so] that it’s fair to everyone.”   


Source: Kate Pearce, environment committee, Summit Hill Association
Writer: Anna Pratt

Waite House, a community gathering place in Minneapolis’s Phillips neighborhood, started construction at its new home this month. It’s about 80 percent of the way to its goal of raising $250,000 for the project, according to Waite House information.

The neighborhood organization is moving from its cramped quarters at 2529 13th Avenue South only blocks away into the larger Phillips Community Center at 2323 11th Avenue South.

By the spring, the organization will be sharing the building with a handful of other community-oriented organizations, including the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, which has also revamped some parts of the complex.

Waite House director Francisco Segovia says that the new digs will allow for “collaboration with other organizations under the same roof."

Community members will be able to take advantage of the fitness center, eat healthy meals, and take classes. It also has a double gym, teen center, kitchen, dining room, offices, parking, and more.   

“This will enhance and provide services to a lot of kids in Phillips,” says Segovia.

The remodeling project mainly involves tearing down walls, installing new flooring, and upgrading systems, he says.  
 
Until now, the Waite House has had to juggle a community café and a gym in the same space.

In the new building, the functions will be separate. It’ll also have a computer lab, community-organizing-focused library, wireless Internet access, and meeting space.  

The food shelf is going to be bigger, he says. “We’ll be able to store more fresh food than we can at this point.”  

In the future, he hopes the organization will be able to open a coffee cart to have on hand for meetings.

“It’s a place in the neighborhood where community members of all nationalities and ages can come and network with people there,” he says.

Source: Francisco Segovia, director, Waite House
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, Minneapolis's East Side will get something called a Local Food Resource Hub.

The hub, which is still in planning stages, is a part of a program that was piloted in the city last year. Through neighborhood-embedded hubs, it connects hundreds of gardeners to discounted seeds and seedlings, tool sharing, workshops, and more.

Stephanie Hankerson, who is a program volunteer, explains, “A hub implies a physical location that people descend to but it’s more of a network of gardeners supporting each other." She adds that the hubs have only temporary locations.

Another hub is also in the works in St. Paul.

Gardening Matters, a local nonprofit agency that provides support for community gardens, is administering the program in partnership with the city and various community organizations and businesses.  

Hankerson explains, “The idea is to lower the barriers to get food-growing happening in backyards and community gardens and even support for commercial enterprises.”

It’s based on a model that’s been successful in Detroit, according to Hankerson.

Hubs offer memberships to gardeners based on a sliding scale fee, and scholarships are available.

Last year, each hub had about 200 members, which is a number that she expects to increase this year.

The individual volunteer-driven hubs each have a different flavor. “It reflects the neighborhood and community it’s coming from,” says Hankerson. 

“My hope is that the hub would be a support system for folks to grow their own food,” she says, adding, “At the same time, it’ll make our neighborhoods more sustainable and self-sufficient.”

On March 3, the hubs are hosting a program-wide fundraiser, with a winter sowing demonstration, composting tips, and information about low-cost city trees and community gardens, according to program materials.

A couple other kickoff events for the East Side hub are also in the works for February. For more information, check the Gardening Matters website. 

Source: Stephanie Hankerson, East Side Local Food Resource Hub
Writer: Anna Pratt 

To gauge  interest in a couple of its redevelopment projects, Plymouth-based Dominium Development and Acquisition hosted a community meeting on Jan. 9 at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.

Dominium plans to convert two historic sites--the old Jacob Schmidt Brewery in St. Paul and Pillsbury ‘A’ Mill in Minneapolis--into artist live/work spaces. (See The Line’s stories here and here.)

With the help of PLACE, a nonprofit agency that specializes in this kind of housing, Dominium has created an online survey to get additional input.

The survey asks people to weigh in on everything from possible rent prices to amenities, to help shape the common spaces and individual units in both developments.

Owen Metz, a senior development associate at Dominium, says that the company wants to “assess the market, to see what interest there is from the arts community,” adding, “We want to find out what their motivations are for living there.”

Dominium is hoping to hear from 10,000 area artists. “We’ll use the feedback to guide and drive some of the decisions moving forward, as we design units and common spaces,” which will allow for flexibility in the design, he says.

He adds that the company is reaching out to artists working in many different media.  

Depending on the survey’s results, a photography studio, for example, could be incorporated into one or both of the housing projects.  

Whatever the reaction is, “We’ll take it to heart and try to accommodate it as much as we can,” he says.

Source: Owen Metz, senior development associate, Dominium Development
Writer: Anna Pratt

Central Exchange, a mixed-use development that's planned for St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood, will help turn around a site that has long been rundown.

Historically, the neighborhood as a whole has been under-invested in when compared with other parts of the city, according to Craig Johnson, who is the project manager for developer Model Cities.

Model Cities, which is based just a block-and-a-half away from the University Avenue site, wants to be a part of its improvement, he emphasizes.

For the project, the organization has acquired four vacant commercial properties that he describes as an “eyesore on the avenue.” It has often attracted vandalism, he says.  

Johnson says that the development will provide a boost to the area. “It’ll help make the area more attractive,” as opposed to somewhere that one would merely drive through.

Two of the buildings on the properties have been torn down, while the city will soon demolish the remaining couple of structures, he says.

Model Cities may also acquire another adjacent property, for which it’s trying to secure financing.

Central Exchange will have ground-floor commercial space along with a couple of stories of housing.

Altogether, there’ll be 30 to 45 units of mixed-income housing. Depending on its final footprint, the project could cost anywhere from $9.5 million to $13 million, according to Johnson.

The commercial spaces will be “oriented towards nonprofits, educational institutions or small businesses,” with an eye on what’s “useful to the community,” he says.

Model Cities is planning to install green roofs that will allow for urban gardening and stormwater management, as well.

The complex will alternately rise up one and three stories in different areas, to help break it up, visually. “If we built this as one big building it might have a more imposing feeling,” he says.

The coming Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line helped make the development possible. As such, “We see this project as a part of something bigger that’s going to really help the community.”

Construction at the site is scheduled to finish up in the spring of 2014.

Source: Craig Johnson, project manager, Model Cities
Writer: Anna Pratt

Kopplin’s Coffee settled into its new digs in St. Paul’s Merriam Park in late November.

In preparation for the move, Kopplin’s, which relocated from the nearby Highland Park neighborhood, remodeled the new space--a big project that totaled over $100,000, according to owner Andrew Kopplin.

The new place required a lot of painting, and now appears in shades of cream, brown, and green. Kopplin also built a “big sweeping bar” and installed new flooring. The result is casual, a blend of contemporary and traditional styles, he says.  

The coffee shop tripled in size, according to Kopplin. More space means that “We can serve customers in a better way,” he says. “Having more seating makes it easier to have people stay, sit down, and slow down,” which, he adds, is harder to pull off in a crowded space.  

The additional square footage also allows for more storage space. In the future, he hopes that it’ll provide the legroom to experiment with new drink recipes. “It frees us to do more,” he says. 

The remodeled coffee shop has already been featured in Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the country’s coolest coffeehouses.

Kopplin says that it helps to have complementary businesses nearby, such as Izzy’s Ice Cream and Sweets Bakeshop. They’re contributing to the local/sustainable "slow food" movement, which Kopplin’s advocates, he says.   

Previously, the coffee shop was somewhat isolated from other businesses. Its new address is in an area “where people are already out doing things,” he says. “The businesses around have made a huge difference. It makes it more of a destination neighborhood.”


Source: Andrew Kopplin, owner, Kopplin’s Coffee
Writer: Anna Pratt

This year, a lot of local development projects got creative.

They innovated in community engagement, replacing the typical “request for proposals” with contests. Social media tools helped to keep the conversation going beyond the traditional town hall meeting. Artists and art-making were brought into the development process in fresh ways. And technology contributed to community-building via smartphones and QR codes.

For example, early in the year, the Mississippi Riverfront Design Competition attracted 55 proposals from around the globe.

In re-imagining a portion of the riverfront in Minneapolis, the idea was to emphasize parks as an “engine for sustainable recreational, cultural, and economic development along the riverfront,” according to project materials.

Today, the effort has evolved into the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative (MRDI).

On Dec. 15, MRDI held a well-attended public meeting at the Mill City Museum to discuss the possibilities for a nearby ‘Water Works’ park along the river. In the past it was the site of the city’s first water supply and fire-fighting pumping stations.

Partners in Preservation

Partners in Preservation (PIP) from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation had a contest to award $1 million to 13 local preservation projects. The public got to help determine where the money went by voting on Facebook for their favorite projects.

Chris Morris from the National Trust for Historic Preservation said that the contest raised the profile of a number of local preservation projects. He celebrated “the impact it can have on sites that are meaningful to people in their neighborhoods.” Additionally, through creative open-house events, people “tried to involve the community and do good work.”

The Weisman Art Museum held a contest that for the redesign of the bike and pedestrian plaza outside its door, hosting public meetings with interdisciplinary design teams and exhibiting preliminary sketches and models.

Similarly, Architecture Minnesota magazine, which the American Institute of Architects Minnesota publishes, is undergoing its second annual round of Videotect, a video competition that asks participants to contemplate the built environment. The theme this time is sustainable transportation and its enhancement through design. It’ll wrap up with a screening of the videos, giving the audience a chance to weigh in.

Irrigate   

Also on the transportation theme, Irrigate is a three-year place-making initiative that aims to connect artists to community development that will accompany the coming Central Corridor light rail transit line.  Springboard for the Arts, TC LISC and the city of St. Paul received $750,000 from the national funding group ArtPlace, to set it in motion.  

Laura Zabel, who heads Springboard, said, “We really see the Central Corridor and construction as an opportunity to engage artists in a really deep way."
 
Similarly, technology tools are helping to create a sense of community. Some recently released smartphone tours feature audio segments about local landmarks, like Ranger on Call, which touches on various aspects of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

Others, such as Saint Paul: Code Green put people on a kind of scavenger hunt in which they scan strategically placed QR codes to learn more or advance in the “game.”

Experience Southwest’s "shop local" marketing campaign in Southwest Minneapolis also takes advantage of QR codes to direct community members to area retailers.  
 
Going forward, I expect to see more experimentation of this kind in other areas--look for it in connection with locally trending topics like bicycling, solar power and urban farming.

Anna Pratt, Development Editor