Streets.mn Podcast

According to Minnesota Public Radio, it's  hot girl sinkhole spring . In other words, we have a ridiculous number of potholes right now in the Twin Cities, and since we can't do anything other than wait for the hardworking folks of road repair to fix them, we made a game about the whole situation. Andy and Beth Korth join for this special Nice Games Jam ! Attributions This episode comes to us cour...

Both Minneapolis and Saint Paul are conducting rezoning studies. One is focusing on missing middle housing, the other allowing business uses in more places. Let's learn more from advocates in each city! Episode summary 00:00:00 | Intro 00:00:58 | Luke Hanson, Sustain Saint Paul 00:26:39 | Zach Wajda, Neighbors for More Neighbors 01:05:06 | Outro Resources Sustain Saint Paul Neighbors for More Neig...

At the Streets.mn Contributors' Workshop in February, managing editor Amy Gage hosted a panel titled Show and Tell , featuring several contributors ranging from newcomers to veterans. That discussion was recorded, and we are pleased to present it now on the Streets.mn Podcast feed! Connect with us Amy Gage Pat Thompson Dan Gjelten Lisa Nelson Ed Steinhauer Ian R Buck Attributions Our theme song is...

What if I told you that there is a long-distance bicycling sport that encourages participants to stay together and socialize during rides? It's true! Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 04:55 | What is randonneuring? 26:20 | Kate Ankofski 42:13 | Justin Tan 57:28 | Outro Pictures Connect with us Minnesota Randonneurs Website Register for April 8 Spring Conference RUSA Permanents Finder Email Minnesota R...

A newly signed state law sets Minnesota on course to use 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040. In this episode, Minnesota House Majority Leader Jamie Long describes the decisive legislating that took an ambitious climate bill from introduction to the governor's desk in the space of one month. Attributions This episode comes from the Volts Podcast with permission of David Roberts. Check out...

Bicycles can be a wonderful tool for bringing people together, but that doesn't happen without somebody putting in the effort! Today we chat with Patrick Stephenson about how 30 Days of Biking and the Joyful Riders Club got started, with tips for people looking to start their own group rides. Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 01:40 | How Patrick got into bikes 06:08 | 30DOB origins 11:44 | Fostering i...

Join Elissa Schufman and Ruby Levine for a discussion of the novel The City & the City by China Miéville. It starts off as a murder mystery police procedural, but the themes go much deeper than that. Connect with us The interview mentioned in the episode Streets.mn articles by Elissa Ruby's profile on StoryGraph May's book club: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd Attributions Our theme song is Tan...

The Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota works on state-wide efforts to make biking better. They have a list of priorities for this year's legislative session, and you can help them bring them about! Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 02:50 | Bike Walk Summit 10:44 | Bill Dooley Bicycle Safety Act BikeMN legislative agenda 29:09 | Funding 34:13 | eBike subsidy 39:04 | Speed cameras 42:02 | Misc 49:36 | Outro...

Today we're presenting an episode from the Active Towns podcast! They discuss the transformation of a 5,000-acre stripped-out area of iron ore mines into a gold mine of opportunity and a community-wide activity asset that supports both a culture of activity and economic vibrancy for the small towns in the area. Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 01:00 | Cold Open 02:49 | Start of the episode 05:34 | Ov...

Cities, try this one weird trick to encourage efficient land use! We sit down with Michael Krantz from Metro Transit to dig into a study his office did on what the effects of allowing LVT in Minnesota could be. Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 01:26 | Overview of LVT 03:58 | Encouraging better land use 09:44 | Background on the bill and study 12:44 | Outcomes of the study 16:05 | Levers of control 22...

School districts are organizations that have a large potential for reducing the carbon emissions of our local communities. Let's explore some of the work that is being done in this sector and see where we can push farther! Episode index 00:00:00 | Intro 00:02:26 | SPPS students riding public transit 00:05:34 | Erica Wacker, SPPS Director of Communications 00:26:05 | Staff Transportation Demand Man...

Going all-in on urbanism doesn't mean you have to give up on spending time in the outdoors; in fact, many urbanists love going camping! We'll talk to a city planner about creating car-free camping opportunities, and then follow a group on a hare-brained winter bike trip to ski and camp at Afton. Episode summary 00:00:00 | Intro 00:00:59 | Park amenities encourage different types of camping 00:09:5...

In our very first book club episode, Elissa Schufman and Carolyn Szczpanski discuss  How to Walk by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's a short, approachable book about the practice of mindful walking. Connect with us! Other articles by Elissa January's Book Club: The City & the City by China Miéville Attributions Our theme song is Tanz den Dobberstein , and our interstitial song is Puck's Blues . Both tracks u...

Evie is the first municipally-owned electric car share program in the country! To find out what it's like to use the service and how it might fit into your life, we're riding along with Madi Johnson on her first Evie trip. We're also joined in the studio by James Vierling from HOURCAR to give more background about Evie. Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 01:01 | Ian's car share story 04:16 | Madi's tra...

Metro Transit is having trouble hiring and retaining enough bus drivers for their fleet, which has led to service cuts. In this episode, we hear what Metro Transit and the bus drivers union think needs to be done to address the shortage. We're joined in the studio by transit justice advocate Adri Jereb to discuss their takes. Episode summary 00:00:00 | Intro 00:01:37 | Why drivers are leaving 00:0...

This week we are joined by Crystal Sursely of Lowertown Bike Shop to talk about the essential things that everyone should know about bike maintenance. Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 01:04 | Weekly: pump tires, lube chain 05:34 | Change a flat 11:24 | Reseat a chain 13:01 | Fenders 14:32 | Barrel adjustor 17:39 | Toolkit Video: what's in Ian's toolkit 19:49 | Winter maintenance 26:21 | Seat height 2...

Getting started with biking on a daily basis can be an intimidating experience! This week Ian and fellow bike commuter Melody Hoffmann talk about the solutions they have developed for the challenges of utilitarian cycling. Check out part 1 for even more tips! Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 01:20 | Looking presentable 09:37 | The weather 10:22 | Heat 12:00 | Cold 15:13 | Snow and ice 16:37 | Rain 20...

Getting started with biking on a daily basis can be an intimidating experience! This week Ian and fellow bike commuter Melody Hoffmann talk about the solutions they have developed for the challenges of utilitarian cycling. Stay tuned for part 2 with even more tips! Episode Summary 00:00 | Intro 04:21 | Feeling safe on your bike 18:09 | Biking within budget 27:24 | Mechanical trouble 33:20 | Securi...

Today we're joined by Adrianna Jereb, Transit Justice organizer at MN350, to talk about their campaign to influence the Metropolitan Council's budget to reflect the needs of transit users. Episode summary 00:00 | Intro 04:21 | The three needs 25:51 | Levers of power 34:11 | Connections to other transportation campaigns Urban highway removal 38:44 | Organizer role 46:19 | Outro Connect with us! Bus...

This week we're joined by Brian Nelson, President of All Aboard Minnesota, to chat about the current status of passenger rail projects in Minnesota. Episode Summary 00:00 | Intro 00:53 | Legislative update 33:25 | Rail termini in the Twin Cities 50:10 | Outro Connect with us! All Aboard Minnesota website Video: Why Passenger Rail is Good for Minnesota Ian R Buck on Twitter Attributions Our theme s...

The movement to remove highways from our cities is having a bit of a moment right now! Let's learn about why we would want to remove highways, and dive into a few such projects happening in Minnesota. Episode Summary 00:00 | Intro 01:04 | Background on urban highway removal Toole Design 17:09 | I-94 & MN-55 in the Twin Cities Twin Cities Boulevard Bring Back 6th 40:30 | I-35 in Duluth Duluth Water...

Janne wrote an article that got a lot of attention, so Ian sat down with her to chat about the data that led to the article, the policies that got us here, and what the responses to the article have been. Episode Summary 00:00 | Intro Janne's original article 00:44 | The Data 29:07 | City Policies Janne's Twitter thread about city policies Article on Reason about the overemphasis of eliminating si...

We're relaunching the Streets.mn podcast! We've got all kinds of good audio content about transportation and land use in Minnesota planned for you, including: interviews with folks working on cool projects, behind-the-article looks at Streets.mn posts, field trips, and interactive segments. If you'd like to help make the show, drop us a line at podcast@streets.mn Look for us in your favorite podca...