‘Phillips Imaginary’ Archives
Welcome to the Roof Depot’s Future: The Farm That Changed Minneapolis
from the series Phillips Imaginary... By ERIC ORTIZ A view from the future of the East Phillips Urban Farm at the Roof Depot site in Minneapolis. Artwork by Ocean. A decade of food, jobs, and community wealth has made East Phillips a global model of resilience, justice, and health. Disclaimer: This is a visionary, fictional article imagining what could happen if the City of Minneapolis strikes a fair deal with East Phillips for the Roof Depot site. The East Phillips Urban Farm turned 10 this year. What began as a bold vision for a polluted industrial site in south Minneapolis is now a living testament to what happens when communities choose justice, health, and resilience over neglect. “We stopped asking for change,” said a longtime East Phillips resident. “We became the change, and the city followed our lead.” Ten years ago, in 2025, East Phillips faced generations of disinvestment and environmental harm. Per capita income was under $19,000. Nearly 30 [...]
Phillips Imaginary: No. 1
Diagonal Pedestrian Paths with Mary Ellen Kaluza By MATTIE WONG, Radicle Land Collective An imagined rendering of a diagonal pedestrian/bike path through a city block. The pathway itself could be gravel and not add more impermeable paving to the urban environment. SOURCE: Radicle Land Collective The purpose of Phillips Imaginary is to consider alternatives in our built environment from the minds of residents, whether or not they would ever be considered in reality. You can’t build or debate what you can’t imagine, first! In this inaugural article, Radicle Land Collective talks to Mary Ellen Kaluza, a long-time Phillips resident, about diagonal cut-throughs to aid pedestrian movement in our very gridded city. The midwestern grid we are so familiar with was devised by Thomas Jefferson during the late 1700s when various purchases of land were made. The grid was seen as an efficient way to survey and parcel out the land in order to be sold off and settled to fund the [...]
