Author Archive
Commentary: Trails shaped our lives Betrayed trails harm livability Betrayal has shaped our lives We can shape it anew!
By Harvey Winje Be-trail can be turned upside down! Help Wanted! Will you help? Phillips Community has been betrayed in many ways over the years. This observation is as we begin to discuss the effect of traffic on liveability and how it may be calmed. Should we blame others and risk waste of energy and a chance to unite our community or should we admit that we all need to take responsibility so we can move beyond finger pointing to solving the difficulties together? Will you help? Will you slow down? Will you take part in a discussion of what will work better? During Black History Month we were reminded of the African concept of Ubuntu by a recent visit of Naomi Tutu. It is helpful in this regard. According to Michael Onyebuchi Eze, the core of ubuntu can best be summarized as follows: “A person is a person through other people strikes an affirmation of one”'s humanity through recognition of an ”˜other”' in his or her uniqueness and difference. It is [...]
St. Paul”'s Church Rejoices 50 Years after relocation to Phillips on Portland Avenue: Concerts and March to Celebrate Historic Congregation”'s Golden Jubilee of March to New Site in Minneapolis
By Roland Wells Marching from their old building to their new site on March 22, 1964, St. Paul”'s Church committed themselves to the Phillips Neighborhood. Seven years before, St. Paul”'s Church had faced its biggest decision. They learned that the projected I-94 freeway was going to take their building. The congregation had been located at 18th Street and 14th Avenue South. A decision had to be made. Would they, like hundreds of congregations in Minneapolis”' core city, move to the suburbs, or would they stay in the city? Already they had members living in Bloomington, Richfield, St. Louis Park and Plymouth. Moving to the outskirts of the city might make sense. In a crucial meeting, one sentence was uttered that would determine the future of the congregation: “Where is a church more needed than here?” From their decision in 1957, they began to look for a location nearby. At that time, the majestic former First Presbyterian lay derelict. The [...]
Midtown Corridor Study: How about Traffic Calming Initiatives?
A Midtown Corridor transit alternatives study recommends rail in the Midtown Greenway and enhanced bus service (EBS)on Lake St. as the best long-term transit solution as funding is available. This Locally Preferred Alternative is by the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC); community and business representatives & Metro.Council, HN County and City of Mpls. appointed officials. 4.4-mile transitway between the METRO Blue Line”'s Lake St./Midtown Station and the proposed West Lake Station on the METRO Green Line Extension (Southwest LRT). Improved stations would be built every .5 mile on Lake St. Buses would continue operating in mixed traffic with less stops, off-board fare payment and signal priority. The improvements would extend into StP on Marshall Ave. connecting with the METRO Green Line”'s Snelling Ave. Station on University Ave. Midtown Greenway rail would run south of the bike trail with single-car trains. EBS is better traveling shorter distances; [...]
