Biking mapper

Via: Star Tribune
Date: July 18, 2008
Author: TONY GONZALEZ
Biking website pools cyclists' expertise
Sitting near an eight-level tower of enchilada sauce cans in his University of Minnesota office (he really likes enchilada sauce), graduate researcher and avid cyclist Reid Priedhorsky browses an online map at Cyclopath.org, searching for a gap between a street and a bike path on the U's East Bank.

No one goes there, it's too crowded

Pioneer Press Wed, 9 Jul 2008 11:16:18 MDT
From burg to 'burb

When Lori Peterson decided to move to the east metro from Eau Claire, Wis., she narrowed it down to two cities â€" Woodbury and Hugo. ... "I know I'm one of the new ones increasing the population," Peterson said. "But I also hope it never becomes as congested as some of the other suburbs."

[[keywords: LandUse;Living;Metro;]]

Another easement opportunity missed

Star Tribune Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:35:56 GMT
Scott County gets key park parcel for bargain price

The county is preserving a lakefront parcel between Prior Lake and Elko New Market, keeping it out of the hands of developers. With an assist from a state program aimed at saving woods and lakes before developers can snare them, Scott County has acquired a lakefront parcel that will one day be a centerpiece of a major regional park. A proposal last summer to turn the 51-acre property into as many as six lakeshore lots kicked off a long sequence of negotiations and grant-seeking that has ended in a $1.2 million deal to preserve it for public use instead. And the pricetag -- hundreds of thousands of dollars less than it might have cost a couple of years ago -- is yet another sign of how plummeting property values are producing unexpected winners and losers in the south metro area.

[[keywords: Parks;Metro;]]

I thought we threw that away

Star Tribune Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:00:39 GMT
State gets ready to dig in at Washington County landfill

The three-year cleanup in Lake Elmo -- at a cost of $27.6 million -- will be the most expensive for the state remediation program. Call it the big dig. State officials have elected to clean up a Washington County landfill that's releasing toxic gases and polluting area groundwater by digging out the waste, lining the landfill and then burying the waste again. The project will start later this summer and is expected to take three years. Its cost is estimated at $27.6 million, making it the most expensive landfill cleanup in the history of Minnesota's landfill remediation program. From 1969 to 1975, Ramsey and Washington counties used the 35-acre landfill, in Lake Elmo, as a garbage disposal site. 3M Co. also used the site to legally dump materials, including the chemical PFBA, a coatings compound used in photographic films and other products. In the past year or so, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has been weighing several options to clean up the site. Recently, agency officials chose the dig-and-line approach, over the objections of some Lake Elmo citizens and city leaders. They had lobbied for removing the waste permanently, either by hauling it away in trucks to a different landfill or by incinerating it on site using a futuristic technology called plasma-torch incineration.

[[keywords: LandUse;PublicWorks;Metro;]]

Our parks can beat your parks

Star Tribune Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:20:49 GMT
Minneapolis, St. Paul parks shine in national report

When it comes to ball fields, tennis courts and recreation centers, St. Paul and Minneapolis rank at or near the top in those and numerous other measures taken by a leading parkland conservation organization. As for land dedicated to parks, 16.6 percent of Minneapolis is parkland, first among cities with similar population densities. St. Paul is second (14.7 percent) in the same category.

[[keywords: Parks;Metro;]]

Inclusionary Zoning

Pioneer Press Sat, 5 Jul 2008 06:56:39 MDT
The good news about, and good reasons for, affordable housing

The Pioneer Press' three-part series on affordable housing in the suburbs sheds light on a critical public policy issue. But readers could easily come away with an impression of hopelessness: neighbors angrily condemning affordable housing developments, residents of those properties feeling embattled, cities piling on regulations, and developers forced into building only luxury housing. That's not the full picture of affordable housing in the suburbs. Nor does it reflect the fact that there is good reason to believe we can do better in making our communities welcome to all. ... One of the most promising and underutilized tools for generating affordable units is Inclusionary Zoning. With IZ, a city expects a developer to include some affordable units in his or her new development in return for providing incentives to make it work financially for the developer. Typically, we look mostly to government subsidies to make housing units affordable; the beauty of IZ is that it can produce affordable units for households in the $40,000-income range without government subsidies. More than 400 cities in the U.S. have adopted some form of IZ, including Boston, Denver, Chicago, New York, and many smaller cities. For IZ to work, cities have to make sufficient concessions so that developers don't have to build the affordable units at a loss. The most common concession is a density bonus â€" allowing the developer to build more units on the same parcel of land. Even modest increases in density can have a boost for affordability, and the good news is we now know how to design higher-density housing to avoid the problems of the past. A number of cities here now use density bonuses, but we can do much more with this and with other incentives cities can offer. Many cities want to do the right thing in diversifying their housing supply; they just need more tools such as IZ. Now is a great time for citizens to play a role in nudging their local government in the right direction. All metro cities are rewriting their comprehensive plans for submission to the Metropolitan Council by the end of this year. Cities must include in those plans how they will meet their affordable housing goals for the next decade. Showing up at a public hearing and urging local officials to adopt IZ and similar strategies is one small but effective step toward more inclusive communities. Tim Thompson is president of the Housing Preservation Project, a St. Paul-based public interest law firm that uses legal and advocacy strategies to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing. His e-mail address is tthompson@hppinc.org. More information on the role of local governments in affordable housing is available at www.TCHousingPolicy.org.

[[keywords: Housing;Metro;]]

Spandex optional

Star Tribune Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:10:30 GMT
From freeway to greenway as workers dust off bikes

Rush hour hits the bike lanes as high gas prices push people to pedal to work. When Marian Hayes took an evening bicycle ride along the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis last year, she felt as if she had the trail to herself. Now the greenway is a freeway. Fast cyclists pass slower ones on the left. Commuters get on and off via exit ramps. Traffic moves along at 15 miles per hour. "You feel like you're in rush hour," said Hayes, who commutes 25 miles roundtrip from Mendota Heights to downtown Minneapolis. The latest bicycle boom has little to do with fitness and everything to do with $4 gas. People are hauling long-neglected bikes to repair shops and snapping up bicycle saddlebags. In Minneapolis, already home to the nation's second-highest number of bicycle commuters, the network of bicycle paths is getting crowded.

[[keywords: PublicWorks;Living;Metro;]]

Use it or lose it

Star Tribune Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:37:43 GMT
Vibrant urban villages? Plans don't fit reality

As the housing slowdown dashes plans across the metro to create "livable" core communities, the Met Council is accommodating some adjusted goals. Stitched together by developers from fields and gravel pits, Apple Valley has worked for years to build the kind of downtown where residents can leave home in the morning and walk to the bus, their jobs or local stores. New restaurants and a hotel, townhouses and a park with water fountains where kids can play have already sprung up in the Central Village, but right next door, there are still empty fields. The housing market slump caused a slowdown in development that forced city leaders to plead earlier this summer to hang onto public funding that is key to their vision: a $2.3 million Livable Communities grant from the Metropolitan Council to build underground parking below an as-yet-unbuilt complex of housing and businesses on Galaxie Avenue. In the last year, Met Council officials have fielded an unprecedented number of requests from city leaders who already have Livable Communities grant money in hand, but say they need to change plans to make their community's project. And for the first time in the program's history, a shortage of deserving proposals led the Met Council to hold back about $3 million last year in money available through the program, which helps metro-area cities create thriving urban villages by cleaning up contaminated property and building affordable housing near businesses and public transit.

[[keywords: LandUse;Metro;]]

New path to walkable communities

Star Tribune Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:59:51 GMT
Fuel bills and budgets challenge east metro cities and counties

The ones that aren't burning up money set aside banded together to buy gas and diesel in bulk. ... In Ramsey County, the Parks and Recreation Department alone is likely to come up $40,000 short in gas and diesel expenses by the end of the year, said department director Greg Mack. More cities and counties are joining forces to buy fuel in bulk, as Woodbury did this spring. Woodbury's involvement with St. Paul and other east metro cities in a purchasing consortium already reduced its gasoline and diesel costs by $7,764 on its first fuel order. Roseville, Maplewood, Shoreview, New Brighton and Ramsey County also belong.

[[keywords: PublicSafety;PublicWorks;Maplewood;]]

How the other half lives

Star Tribune Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:36:46 GMT
Bridge opening to reunite North St. Paul

The Margaret Street bridge over Hwy. 36 will open in July, finally linking the high school side of the highway with the downtown side. The principal at North High School in North St. Paul has been watching with anticipation as workers hit the final stretch of construction of the Margaret Street bridge over Hwy. 36. "North High School is smiling," said Greg Nelson, noting that the bridge will allow his students, staff and hundreds of other residents to zip directly into downtown. "We've been patient, but we'll be glad when it's finally open." If all goes as planned, the Margaret Street bridge will open in July, linking the north and south sides of North St. Paul with a safe and quick connection over Hwy. 36 for the first time. Previously there was a road-level intersection across Hwy. 36 that was often a safety hazard, in particular for children and seniors, said Wally Wysopal, North St. Paul city manager. And it had a long red light for cars waiting to cross to the other side of the city, he said. The bridge is one of the final phases of the Hwy. 36 construction project, and the most important for North St. Paul, Wysopal said. "This is about connecting our community," Wysopal said. "Margaret Street is at the dead center of our city."

[[keywords: Living;Metro;]]

partnerships

Star Tribune Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:42:05 GMT
Rosemount: No athletic complex, but a few new fields

Rosemount soccer players will get new turf to run on as soon as the fall of 2009 under a deal between the city and Dakota County Technical College. The news came after voters rejected a new sports complex in April. Weeks after Rosemount voters shot down a proposal to spend nearly $7 million on an athletic complex, local soccer players found out that they'll get a few new fields to spread out on, after all. The city and Dakota County Technical College signed a deal last month to build three full-size soccer fields just west of the college's main campus. "This will help relieve some of the crowding on some of the existing fields, and it will help with some of the pressure during tournaments," said Dan Schultz, the city's parks and recreation director. The timing of the deal, Schultz said, was not related to the April referendum, which failed by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The college and city have been talking about teaming up on the fields for four years, and the city had set aside money for them in a park improvement fund well before the vote on the outdoor recreation complex, he said. The soccer fields, which could be split in half to accommodate up to six youth games at once, could be ready for games in the fall of 2009. The college gets first priority for practices and games, but its soccer players usually play during the day, while kids will need the fields in the evenings. As many as 1,000 people may use the fields each week, Schultz estimated, not counting DCTC students.

[[keywords: Parks;Living;Metro;]]

This should turn out well

Pioneer Press 06/13/2008 04:56:39 AM GMT
Vadnais Heights planning area sports complex with ice rinks, pool, fitness center

Residents of Vadnais Heights could soon get a $25 million sports complex â€" and city officials say it won't cost taxpayers a thing. The city is working with a developer and a nonprofit organization to formalize a plan for the complex, which they say is much needed and long overdue. If all goes as planned, the project would be funded by tax-exempt bonds, with the city acting as a conduit lender and a partial investor. The city did pay for a $25,000 market study, which is in the works. "The city might be contributing a few dollars, but not tax dollars," Mayor Susan Banovetz said. "The financing of it is really intriguing and innovative." Nothing is final or approved yet, but a general plan is in place, said Mark Bigelbach, the lead developer and a former Vadnais Heights City Council member. The proposed 240,000-square-foot building will include two swimming pools, two ice rinks, a gymnasium with multipurpose courts, an indoor turf field, a fitness center and possibly a restaurant and a pro shop. It would occupy 20 acres at the northeast corner of County Road E and Interstate 35E, bordered by Labore Road. Lease fees from participating sports groups and building occupants will be used to pay off the bonds, said Dan Nelson, attorney for Community Facility Partners, which will be the mortgage holder. The nonprofit was created to bring together small organizations, on the premise that while they can't fund a project like this independently, together they can. Each will contribute enough for the complex to be self-supporting, he said.

[[keywords: PropertyTax;Metro;]]

Maybe a newspaper can move in to the space

Star Tribune Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:47:08 GMT
Rise in electronic banking versus checks leads to vacant Federal Reserve space

HELENA, Mont. - The shift to fewer paper checks and greater electronic movement of money in the United States has left the Federal Reserve with some empty office space. Processing of checks by the Fed, a service commercial banks purchase, is down as more Americans pay their expenses electronically with debit cards, automatic deductions from checking accounts or other options. More than two-thirds of the noncash payments in the U.S. are electronic, according to the Fed. Locations where the nation's central bank clears checks have fallen from 45 to 18 within the last few years, and the number of Fed check employees is down to 2,800 from 4,600 in 2003.

[[keywords: Whatever;Metro;]]

Managing parks might be important to a city's future

Star Tribune Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:24:28 GMT
Twin Cities parks: Busy, safe and active

Twin Cities park and rec departments are providing an array of activities to keep children engaged and entertained all summer long. ... "Park and rec is what makes a community,'' said Randy Quale, manager of parks and recreation for Bloomington.

[[keywords: Parks;Metro;]]

Wrong neighbors? No meal for you

Star Tribune Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:00:55 GMT
Senior meal program in Ramsey County faces money woes

The clarification of a federal policy may mean some disabled residents will lose their reimbursed meals. A longtime senior nutrition program in Ramsey County that serves about 120,000 meals a year is facing a financial crisis that is threatening to trim back the program. The "congregate dining program,'' which offers warm meals and social time for seniors at apartment complexes and community centers, had been erroneously giving meals to too many disabled people under age 60, according to a clarification issued this year on federal requirements. Up to $1.6 million was spent on the meals for disabled and low-income residents since 2004 who were later found not to be eligible for reimbursement, said Ramsey County Commissioner Janice Rettman, who is on the board of directors of the agency running the dining program, Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties. It's unclear whether the money will need to be repaid. Under federal guidelines, disabled people can get the reduced-cost meals as long as seniors comprise more than 50 percent of the occupants of their apartment building. A shift in the makeup of people living in senior housing buildings meant nine of 17 buildings in Ramsey County no longer met that standard, said Kirk Hayes, acting executive director of the Community Action Partnership.

[[keywords: Living;Ramsey;]]

To help you discover what your opinion is

Star Tribune Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:53:58 GMT
SuperTarget again pursues Bloomington site

The company is moving to open a store in a neighborhood that fought the proposal before. Target will have to win over both city officials and residents. ... A year ago, about 300 residents attended a raucous informational meeting on the proposed store, and City Council members were bombarded with e-mails that mostly opposed the development. Since then, Target has held small meetings with residents in the area and hired a public relations firm to advance the project. City Council member Rod Axtell, who represents the ward where the new store would be built, said he's keeping an open mind on the project. So far, he said, public reaction to Target's formal application for redevelopment has been muted compared with last year. "Anytime you have someone willing to invest this type of money into this type of area, which is a bit ... aged, it's important to go through the hearing process," he said.

[[keywords: ]]

Is means is, town means town

Star Tribune Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:45:13 GMT
Can Ramsey still hold town hall meetings?

A judge said that because Ramsey is a city and not a town, a rule concerning charter schools doesn't apply. Ramsey has a Town Center. It has town homes. But Ramsey is not a town -- it's a city. And after an Anoka County judge's recent ruling, nobody is more aware of that distinction than Ramsey City Council Member Matt Look. Look sued the PACT Charter School in Ramsey in a challenge of its admissions policies. He argued that state law requires if a charter school is the only school "located in a town" that offers a specific grade level, residents of that town get admission preference for that grade level. But the PACT school administrator said the rule does not apply because Ramsey is a city. And Anoka County Judge Tammi Frederickson concurred when she ruled: "Creating an admissions preference that applies to only charter schools located in townships may be an underinclusive policy. However, the court's role is limited to interpreting a statute, not passing on its 'wisdom and utility.'"

[[keywords: Legal;Living;Metro;]]