Where the Sidewalks End

 Post, photos, and image by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

When my family went to Finland a few summers ago, one cultural difference they picked up quickly was what was considered "a short walk."  Essentially anything under two miles was a "short" walk, and about 1.5 - 2 miles was no reason to get into the car and drive.  The walking route above is a 2.25-mile round trip, meaning that much of downtown Minneapolis is only "a short walk" from many parts of NoMi.

The problem, though, is that along significant stretches of Washington Ave. N and 2nd St N., saying the sidewalks are in a state of disrepair would be a charitable statement--assuming the sidewalks exist at all.  To make matters worse, it's actually easier to navigate your way to the Mississippi River by bike than it is on foot.  The bike lanes, while lacking a direct route, are at least clearly defined.  Pedestrians have to guess where sidewalks start and stop, or contend with heavy industrial traffic if they are to reach the Mississippi River on foot.

The photo above is at the corner of...

Metrodome Festivities

Post, photos, and images by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Saturday marked the re-opening of the Metrodome, with a portion of the event aimed at thanking tornado volunteers and building community.  I was one of the first 3,000 people to enter, and so I received a commemorative piece of the previous teflon roof that collapsed in last winter's snowmaggedon.  I took a roundabout way to get to the Dome, in order to bike along the final segment of the Cedar Lake Trail.  That particular connection to the Mississippi River cost $9.2 million and took over 11 years to complete.  A similar, more ambitious, connection in NoMi could take even longer to build.  That's no reason to get rid of the proposal entirely, as some groups are recommending.

The Cedar Lake connection to the Mississippi River is quite the sight though...

A Pioneering Business, an Abandoned Riverfront Property, and Sushi

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.


Part 2 of "More Ways to Find the River"


Did you fill out the survey yet?  Friday the 19th is the last day to tell MRDI to keep the Farview land bridge.

 As you bike from NoMi down the River to downtown, there is a nondescript, gray and brown building near the Mill Ruins Park.  Many people know it already, and probably some don't.  One of my neighbors called it to my attention as we were discussing opportunities for development along the Mississippi.  He was so specific in his description of the building that he had me convinced I knew which one it was.  Eventually I had to admit I had no clue what he was referring to.

So I went out for some sushi.

The Fuji-Ya site along the river is now owned by the Park Board.  It's been sitting vacant for decades, we (as in our local government) have site control, and it sits on a key part of the riverfront.  Being north of the Stone Arch Bridge, it was within the geographic area set out by the Mississippi Riverfront Design Initiative.  So why wasn't it included in the lead proposal?  Surely something must be afoot, we thought.

In conversations with some of the planners, we found we were only half right.  The Fuji-Ya site was left out of the design because there have already been some plans in the works for it, and because the group wanted to focus on areas of the Mississippi farther north and outside of downtown.

A brief history of Fuji-Ya is in order, but first, about that order of sushi...

More Ways to Find the River

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.


Part 1 of 2.  Part 1 includes fishing and part 2 gives us sushi.

Last weekend I joined a friend of mine down by the River while we just watched how people used the Mississippi at various points in and near NoMi.  Both of us believe that some of the easiest ways to get more people connected to the Mississippi include watching how people already use the river, and then enahcing those things.

(Sidebar:  I spoke with north Minneapolis' park board rep, John Olson, at a recent meeting.  I expressed my dissatisfaction that nobody knew about the wakeboarding championships.  In spite of the fact that the Park Board obviously knew about the event but did nothing to publicize it, Olson remained steadfast that this was not their responsibility.  In most cases, I'd agree; it's not the park board event, and they can't be expected to publicize everyone's shindig on park land.  Still, I was not satisfied with his answer.  Later in the meeting, John Irwin, the Park Board president, asked the group what would make them more likely to use the Mississippi River.  Umm...how about if we knew when cool stuff was happening?)

Back to the photos above, and the thoughts they inspired...