Smithers MINNEAPOLIS

Bike Commute to Work (AKA Pretty Pictures)

When I first moved to the Twin Cities I frequently found myself bored and listless.  Of course, I blamed the space and the culture rather than myself, because, after all, who doesn’t seek to place blame elsewhere?  At any rate, over the past few years I have begun to warm to the beauty of the space, and realize that the amount of public investment and desire to live in a “liveable community” really makes the Twin Cities a great place to live (don’t get me wrong:  I will still complain whenever I get the chance).  Unlike other places where I have lived–where it seems like nature is essentially bulldozed in order to be replaced by human space–, the human space is integrated into nature here.  There are a number of places you can go and forget you are even in the middle of an international population base of over 2.5 million people.  Lakes and the rivers have been protected as belonging to the public (where in other cities lakes like Calhoun, Harriet, and Como etc. would be the back yards of the wealthy) and an extensive system of interconnected trails can take you from one end of the cities to the other.  Of course, this type of system is an investment that costs a lot of money to have and maintain, but people generally understand that, and are willing to pay for it and see that it is a good value.

 I use this system fairly extensively, including on my commute to work where I try to ride at least three days a week.  I certainly feel better when I am car-less.  Rather than stuck in traffic, this is what I get to see:

Pedestrian bridge over Minnehaha Creek

Minnehaha Falls

The Mississippi

Ford Plant–will be closing in the next few months

GP-For those of you not from the Twin Cities, this is the only bike shop in town (Grand and Prior).

These are neighbors who are against the burner.  I do not know what the burner is.

Summit Avenue

The Cathedral

MnDOT–Notice the caution fences and overhead protectors around the building and entrances.  These are not because they are working on the building, they are because they are not.  The granite slabs on the exterior are crumbling off and in danger of falling off completely, as well as other structural problems with the building.  Funding has been approved by the legislature at least once now, if not twice, only to be vetoed by the Governor. 

The capitol–A little ways behind it is where I end my morning journey.