the alley Newspaper | News & Views of Phillips Since 1976

Return to Street Cars?

Written by editor on 08 May 2012

: 180 parked streetcars of TCRT”'s 1021 in 1920

: Hi-Lake TCRT streetcar “barn” employing 500 in 1920

: Same location 92 years later as Hi-Lake Shopping Center

By Joyce Wisdom

Meetings about street cars in Mpls. are happening at various levels of policy making.Â [See pg 12; “Make Places..Visioning Streetcar Station Workshop].

The Twin City Rapid Transit Company opened the Lake Street Station in 1910.Â It was one of six car-houses for the Mpls/StP. system.Â In 1920 TCRT had 530 miles of track, 1,021 streetcars & 238 million riders. Lake Street Station housed 180 streetcars and 500 employees: motormen and conductors,, mechanics and cleaners and a few office workers. The station ran 24/7. Twice a day the number of streetcars doubled for rush hours. The system was dismantled in 1954 in favor of buses.Â The Lake Street Station was demolished. The land was redeveloped as Hi-Lake Shopping Center.

Good news: Before and After photos & history at 62 such Historic places on Lake StreetÂ beginning late June 2012;Â Watch for Lake Street Council”'s “Museum in the Streets.”Â … Read the rest “Return to Street Cars?”

“Blooming Town” at MayDay Festival ”“ Powderhorn Park – May 6

Written by editor on 04 May 2012

By “Blooming Town”Â Town Council

As this year”'s MayDay Parade flows into Powderhorn Park culminating its trek since 1 PM along Bloomington Avenue from 26th Street to 34th Street; “Blooming Town” will miraculously emerge on the ball fields at the end of the Parade in Powderhorn Park. “Blooming Town” created by Southside residents and supported by In the Heart of the Beast Theater,Â is a hands-on space for learning, action, and community collaboration around moving our community beyond dependency on dirty energy. Join us for:

Activities on growing food, energy solutions, and sustainable transit

Get support taking action yourself

Dialogue with neighbors on ways to create solutions locally

Join teams who are taking action in the neighborhood

Blooming Town is part of the broader MayDay theme of the transition beyond fossil fuels.

Today”'s economy relies on abundant fossil fuels ”“ oil, coal and natural gas ”“ to produce our food, clothes, homes, medicine, transportation and more. We are using more fossil energy and finding less. What remains is lower quality, harder to get, more expensive, dirtier, and more dangerous. Dirty energy hurts the health of our community, drains our financial resources, and threatens the local and global environment. Transitioning away from fossil fuels means learning to live well while using less energy, developing renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and making our communities more self-sufficient and adaptable.… Read the rest ““Blooming Town” at MayDay Festival ”“ Powderhorn Park – May 6”