Lou Miranda
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newlou.bsky.social
Lou Miranda
@newlou.bsky.social
Urbanist. Sustainability & equity in suburbs & cities. Foodie. Techie. Gaeilge. Likes beautiful things. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌈🦄
Huh. I posted this almost exactly one year ago.

Relevant to the political murders/shootings yesterday
Why do journalists make it seem like anger & divisiveness is just ordinary people acting alone, when we know from books like Dark Money by Jane Mayer that this is almost certainly all organized disruption of smooth, efficient government that benefits us all?

m.startribune.com/in-local-gov...
In local governments across Minnesota, a reflection of national politics' divisiveness
Recent incidents on city councils and boards across the state show how the rancor of D.C. has infected local politics.
m.startribune.com
June 15, 2025 at 10:36 PM
For anyone who’s looking for a sewing machine in the Twin Cities metro, I highly recommend Creative Sewing Centers.

I’ve had a wonderful experience with the Minnetonka location. Outstanding customer service you won’t get at a big box or online internet retailer.

www.creativesewingcentersmn.com
Home - Creative Sewing Centers
Visit the Creative Sewing Showrooms Roseville 651-636-3980 Spring Lake Park 763-786-1377 Apple Valley 952-431-6688 Minnetonka 952-593-3866 Serving the Twin Cities Sewing Community Since 1983! ━ Servin...
www.creativesewingcentersmn.com
December 7, 2024 at 5:29 PM
Urbanism is…

I just blocked a motorist in a white Subaru from a closed road under construction (44th & France). He was trying to drive his car on the walk/bike path. If I didn’t physically block him he would’ve continued. (A man and his daughters on bikes couldn’t believe what was happening.)

1/2
August 30, 2024 at 11:58 PM
Started a new urbanism channel on YouTube:

www.youtube.com/@UrbanLou

First episode is about how Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo built an equitable & sustainable Olympics that also benefits residents.

Working on a series about “What Urbanists Don’t Talk About”.

(Forgive the terrible name & logo haha)
Urban Lou
A suburban view on urbanism
www.youtube.com
August 13, 2024 at 4:17 PM
Apple: We are all about privacy & security!! You are in control!!

Me: What's the distance between these 2 cities?

Apple/Siri: I NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!!!!

Me: ??!
June 16, 2024 at 1:18 PM
Capitalism is corporate & private equity buying up & destroying local businesses (here, bakeries, but also rural hospitals & medical facilities) to remove competition so chains can expand & own the market.

Remember when we used to have local pharmacies? Gone.

Expect the same for food & hospitals.
June 6, 2024 at 2:19 PM
Urbanism is...

making it easier to take transit than to drive.

That's our goal, full stop.

@streets.mn

streets.mn/2024/06/04/i...
I Put a NexTrip Display in my Apartment (and You Can, Too!)
Tired of having to check overly complicated and unintuitive apps for your transit? Here’s how to set up your very own display for bus departures!
streets.mn
June 6, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Why do journalists make it seem like anger & divisiveness is just ordinary people acting alone, when we know from books like Dark Money by Jane Mayer that this is almost certainly all organized disruption of smooth, efficient government that benefits us all?

m.startribune.com/in-local-gov...
In local governments across Minnesota, a reflection of national politics' divisiveness
Recent incidents on city councils and boards across the state show how the rancor of D.C. has infected local politics.
m.startribune.com
June 6, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Capitalism is photo Alt-text so that AI model builders can suck up all the data and train their models better

Capitalism is EVs that make noise "to protect those of hard of hearing" but really just to make fart noises & mimic threatening engines
June 6, 2024 at 2:03 PM
Urbanism is...

taking transit & literally walking 2 blocks to Pride Night at the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball stadium.

Then having them win 5-1, and getting a double-rainbow as part of the deal!

And having local restaurant Wok in the Park make your food fresh.
June 6, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Government needs to act like high-end business (i.e., capture rich $) when it comes to marketing used as a way to induce behavior bad for society.

Manufacturers marketing oversized SUVs? Fine, don't ban them, just make annual registration fees proportional to weight & size.

$10,000/yr for big SUVs
May 30, 2024 at 3:21 PM
This is what Americans should driving on our streets.

Please, no SUV version.

Legislate very low insurance rates (they only go 25 mph), make registration a token amount ($10?).

Limited on car lanes to 25 mph. So e-bikes should be 15 mph on bike lanes.

electrek.co/2024/05/29/w...
Why this electric 'car' the size of two motorcycles should be on your list
Let’s just face it, America. We’ve got a weight problem. No, not that weight problem. It’s the size of the...
electrek.co
May 30, 2024 at 2:13 PM
I jumped on the Third Place bandwagon.

This has got me rethinking it.

Josh always brings a fresh perspective to things you think you know.

“Josh ruins everything” haha

m.youtube.com/watch?v=8E5M...
Third Place vs. Right to the City
Seems like everyone wants to talk about third place lately. Honestly, I don't really get it. Ray Oldenburg - the creator of the theory - was not progressive by most definitions and he built his theory off of strict masculinity rooted in misogyny and homophobia. I really don't like Ray Oldenburg and I'll show you exactly why in this video. And on top of that I'll give you something else to talk about - a more relevant theory called "The Right to the City," which is the idea that we control how the places we live change over time - not profit-seeking capitalists. --- Check out the Zoned Out Podcast! https://open.spotify.com/show/4zXsufctnkkn4DeiiUmZlM?si=d7d0e93ddda64a30 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zoned-out/id1607682312 --- Sources (in order of reference): Ray Oldenburg - The Great Good Place, 1989 (Third edition: 1999): https://archive.org/details/greatgoodplaceca00olde_2 Ray Oldenburg - Celebrating the Third Place, 2001 (unfortunately I cannot find a readily-available pdf online, I got the E-book for this video. But also you would be better served in avoiding this one, it's terrible) Karl Marx - Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm Leopold Schwarzschild - The Red Prussian, 1947: https://archive.org/details/redprussian0000schw Erich Fromm - The Sane Society, 1956: https://historicalunderbelly.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/erich-fromm-the-sane-society.pdf Henri Lefebvre - "The Right to the City" (1968) from Writings on Cities, 1996: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/henri-lefebvre-right-to-the-city David Harvey - "The Right to the City," 2008 https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii53/articles/david-harvey-the-right-to-the-city
m.youtube.com
May 20, 2024 at 2:53 PM
Forget diet pills, vitamins, EVOO, antioxidants, Kimchi, fiber, perfect foods, and other marketing fads

Urbanism is eating a balanced diet of mostly whole foods & simply prepared meals

Pro tip: a piece of whole fruit can be a dessert

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Ultra-processed US foods are ultra-bad for you. Here’s what to know
A growing number of grocery-store foods, from fruit-flavored yogurts to packaged bread, are being tied to health concerns
www.theguardian.com
May 20, 2024 at 2:48 PM
Two recent articles on biking ... in the suburbs!

1. Excellent article by @startribune.bsky.social's Greta Kaul on biking in Roseville, Blaine, Richfield, & Edina. Several interviewees (including yours truly) are alums of Streets.mn

2. That brings us to...

m.startribune.com/twin-cities-...
Twin Cities suburbs aim to expand bike infrastructure
Roseville will join a growing number of metro area cities that have plans addressing bike needs, according to the Metropolitan Council.
m.startribune.com
May 16, 2024 at 4:07 PM
Annie's Parlour is reopening in Dinkytown (UofM).

Convention Grill reopened in Edina (44th & France).

Sister eateries: Runyon's and Monte Carlo.

All but one are within 1 block of E Line (6 bus), and that one's just 2 blocks away.

A fun E Line kickoff in 2025?

racketmn.com/annies-parlo...
Annie's Parlour Is Finally Back: Does It Live Up to Your Nostalgia? - Racket
The Dinkytown institution is back to serving burgers and malts after going dark for almost four years.
racketmn.com
May 16, 2024 at 3:58 PM
Target is abandoning the LGBTQIA+ community because of profits.

That's all the support was ever about profits.

And now that's at risk (because, you know, it would cost money to have reasonable security at their gigantic stores).

So, goodbye support for us.
May 10, 2024 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Lou Miranda
What is the polar opposite of "Profile in Courage?'

I stand with the #LGBTQIA+ community! www.startribune.com/target-pride...
Target limits Pride collection to select stores
This year's collection also is smaller. All of it will be available online.
www.startribune.com
May 10, 2024 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Lou Miranda
This morning's Minneapolis front page.
May 10, 2024 at 12:53 PM
MnDOT's terrible idea for a highway cap over I-94 in St. Paul gets an in-depth discussion on this week's amazing, excellent, can't-miss-it episode of CityNerd by Ray Delehanty @nerd4cities.bsky.social

Check out @ourstreetsmn.bsky.social's great ideas:

(Also on YouTube)

nebula.tv/videos/cityn...
CityNerd — This Freeway Sucks -- Let's Decommission It
The vast majority of urban freeways were built in the mid-20th century. This means that, structurally, many are reaching the end of their useful life, so state DOTs are looking at rebuilding -- or eve...
nebula.tv
May 9, 2024 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Lou Miranda
So I have identity theft protection via one of the many data breaches that have happened in Canada and I just went to log in to check on a new report... this does not inspire confidence. If you're limiting the length of passwords, you're doing things very very very wrongly.
May 5, 2024 at 3:10 PM
Flooding in Houston, a YIMBY paradise, apparently.

This article talks about a guy evacuating who normally spends the weekend mowing his 2.5 acre lawn.

In Kingwood neighborhood, *30 miles* from downtown Houston.

Kingwood was developed by… Exxon.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/arti...
At least 400 rescued from flooding in Texas as waters continue rising
A flood watch remains in effect through Sunday afternoon after forecasters predict additional rainfall in Harris county
www.theguardian.com
May 5, 2024 at 2:25 PM
Fascinating article about the Internet (and the World Wide Web) that speaks to diversity vs. duopolies/monocultures in business, forestry & farming.

And, if you think about it—urbanism.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The internet is in decline – it needs rewilding | John Naughton
The online world was meant to be an open system but has become dominated by huge corporations. If we are to revive it, that must end
www.theguardian.com
May 5, 2024 at 1:20 PM