Open Streets Minneapolis: A Day Without Cars on Lyndale Avenue

Would your city do this, shut down one of you most travelled streets?  What would happen?  What would people do?  In Uptown Minneapolis, the cars were all pulled off the streets and the party started.  I thought I would share a few pictures of the day, because as we hear more and more about our growing dependency on oil, the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota decided to come together to bike, walk, skateboard and draw in the streets for an annual event called "Open Streets Minneapolis".

Right next to Lyndale Avenue, the Harleys were parked, the street was closed off to any motorized traffic and slowly, on Sunday morning the people began to emerge from the neighborhood.  A group set up their ping pong table.  The tables and chair came out for all of the small eateries in the neighborhood.  There was an air of enjoyment of the warm weather that we crave.  After a long hard winter, these are the days we live for.  The only ones who stay inside are either sick or dying.  No one is watching TV or on a computer.  It's time to get out there and just explore.

 Parents took their children out to play, and it almost seemed like a memory of simpler days.  The kids were doing what they do best, play.

A whole 8 hours of no traffic jams, no cars, no trucks, no deliveries and no emissions.  There was nothing competing with the song birds.  For about a mile there wasn't a single car on the road and the people came.  Sounds odd, doesn't it?  All of this just so that people could ride their bikes up and down the street, enjoy the sunshine and look at how peaceful it could be.  But there was a purpose for this.  One of the reasons Open Streets exists is to promote our bike trails.  Minneapolis has an incredible amount of bike paths, trails and bike lanes, ranking within the top 5 in the nation.  As far as commuting to work, we're also near the top, and that's saying something, because our winters can be incredibly vicious.

So on this day of chalk drawings on the asphalt, instead of cars, the residents came to show we care (and also like to have a good time).   The kind smiles, the friendly hand shakes, the good natured feeling as people just exhaled, made me feel glad to be home.

To be able to see scenes that seem to go by the wayside in other places and see them here, reminded me why I call this city home.  A lemonade stand set up by an industrious little boy who bellowed out, "ALL NATURAL LEMONADE, 100 PERCENT REAL" made me realize our kids are paying attention and also know how to take advantage of a hot day outside.

 I also saw that we are putting into practice what we need to do to change.  If Germany, with a similar climate to ours can change to more solar energy usage, so can we.  This new solar program gives a person credit for allowing solar panels to be installed.  I gladly shared their information with a few friends that were wanting to reduce their energy bills.

 All in all it was a very beneficial day.

 And the gas stations were idle.

 And the kids...

well, they were having fun too.

The garage bands moved their shows to their front lawns.

And the dancers showed off their moves.

It's good to be home.

A Fixation on detail

I tend to swim in thought when I go for my solitary walks. As I go along and shoot pictures, I find that what I see and take in are like little notes to myself. Perhaps, it is in part that my culture is so young and lacks a real identity that was a creation of wanting to shed the old have having something new. That sense of individual freedom that can tend to horrify cultures that are community based. However that sense of individual freedom does have social costs associated with it that I never seemed to grasp until I started looking outside of my American bubble. Yes, perhaps I think too much. Just how I can view this wall and not just see a wall, but how the bricks though oddly shaped all have a place to form a perfect wall...with the right patterns and values to keep your eyes moving. There is the deception of being random, but you see the patterns that gives it order and stability.
I could just cross this bridge and wish it was another one in another part of the world, but I managed to see the light and image of how it made me want to see more. There is something to be said for societies who manage to hold themselves together for thousands of years. The name of the country might change, the political views may swing, but the mystery of the east is lies within their endurance. They embrace a culture of society, not the individual desires. How does one balance the desires and dreams for the individual to make it fit like the oddly shaped rock in a wall? A part from the wall, it's just a rock. Perhaps instead of being a rock one could be like a lamp post. Standing alone it serves a purpose in the night. In sharp contrast to the lights over a highway, an autobahn, or an expressway where they are functional in appearance and purpose. A lamp post is unique.

They are more unique and don't throw off a lot of light, but people are still attracted to them. Compared to the uniform construction of functional buildings with little personality, they serve as a respite against the glaring concrete communities that have been erected in the urban areas of Korea.

Though, I will have to say that I had to curb an overwhelming desire to be able to clean them up a bit.

The New Footwear Trend in South Korea

I personally think these fall into the "ugly as sin" category of footwear. These
'rocker style' (and I don't mean rock star) style shoes are more like orthapedic shoes that are designed to rock your feet while you are out and about walking...or in this case rocking.

I had to laugh because like when the "crocs" came out I could not even comprehend trying them no matter how comfortable everyone said they were. I guess I am not sensible when it comes to shoes, but who wants to be sensible if they don't look good as well? Are the MS-Zones taking off? Hmmm...it is hard to say since most of the women I saw walking around where in killer heel boots and shoes...and well, I admit, today I had my trainer's on. Damn, I guess I was being sensible after all. Perhaps I ought to try rocking around the streets of Daegu, I might like it after all, but you won't catch me trying to ride a bike with a pair of these!