Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Serendipitor – more fun urbanism

With smart phones, GIS, and other such navigational tools, it is much easier to get exactly where you are trying to go…but what fun is that?  Enter the Serendipitor which, in addition to having a great name, can help plan … Continue reading

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Stormwater

Perhaps, after reading the Northfield News on Wednesday, you think the City Council has agreed to some new stormwater fee with which to punish businesses who want to expand.  No, the Council is making decisions to address the trickle down … Continue reading

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What good is poetry, anyway?

Is Northfield’s sidewalk poetry a valuable addition to our community infrastructure or just a frivolous expense?  We stole the sidewalk poetry idea from St. Paul and here’s SP Mayor Chris Coleman’s view of sidewalk poetry and the arts as a … Continue reading

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TIGER grant modal integration project – crossing Highway 3

There was an open house for the TIGER grant project to build an underpass under Highway 3 at Greenvale Avenue last week.  I’ve supported this project, but I sure wish it wasn’t needed because it is very expensive and takes … Continue reading

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Media misrepresentation

Yes, I do understand this problem And then there are those commenters on the Northfield News site – I happened to watch this episode of The West Wing where Josh discovers the pitfalls of responding to comments on the internet.  … Continue reading

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Going on vacation in August? Absentee voter information

I’ve updated the Voter Information page with additional absentee voting information – please check it out if you’re planning to be away from your precinct on August 14.

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MNDOT’s Minnesota GO plan

Time is running out to comment on MNDOT’s new multimodal transportation plan Minnesota GO – July 31 is the deadline.  Since MNDOT has become (context) sensitive and Northfield has adopted its Complete Streets Policy, I’m more optimistic about transportation planning … Continue reading

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Government transparency

My position is that all information not explicitly protected by data privacy laws belongs to the public and members of the public should be able to find out what they want to know about city operations.  I’ve been asked relatively … Continue reading

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More about parking

For transportation geeks: parking, parking lots, parking pricing, price of parking…here’s a selection of what I’ve been perusing: The aesthetics of parking lots: Taking parking lots seriously as public spaces.  Michael Kimmelman, art and architecture critic, argues we should treat … Continue reading

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Action alert for bike/ped funding – updated

Just when I think we’re making progress toward a transportation system that meets the needs of more than SUVs, something bad happens.  Tomorrow, February 2, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will vote on John Mica’s (R-FL) American Energy and … Continue reading

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