Andy Fenelon
@andyfenelon.bsky.social
Minneapolis transit rider. Associate Professor University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Interested in housing, health, public policy, and coffee.
Have to say it’s a little concerning that bus drivers hate the lanes. Although it’s obviously true that car drivers are terrible with them, the lanes on the B-Line speed up the bus a LOT. They work.
November 11, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Have to say it’s a little concerning that bus drivers hate the lanes. Although it’s obviously true that car drivers are terrible with them, the lanes on the B-Line speed up the bus a LOT. They work.
Is there a large StP Fenelon contingent?
November 9, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Is there a large StP Fenelon contingent?
I’m newish to Minneapolis, but I feel like the twin cities function essentially as one city and I’ll admit I don’t totally understand why people think they’re so different.
That being said, I rarely miss a chance to jokingly refer to St. Paul as our largest suburb
That being said, I rarely miss a chance to jokingly refer to St. Paul as our largest suburb
November 9, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I’m newish to Minneapolis, but I feel like the twin cities function essentially as one city and I’ll admit I don’t totally understand why people think they’re so different.
That being said, I rarely miss a chance to jokingly refer to St. Paul as our largest suburb
That being said, I rarely miss a chance to jokingly refer to St. Paul as our largest suburb
But I think you’re right it’s a decline in child pedestrians.
October 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
But I think you’re right it’s a decline in child pedestrians.
Decent point, but note that the child trend only contrasts with the adult trend for the last 15 years, not the last 50.
October 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Decent point, but note that the child trend only contrasts with the adult trend for the last 15 years, not the last 50.
Instead of making the neighborhood on the right safe, we brought kids to the neighborhood on the left
October 30, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Instead of making the neighborhood on the right safe, we brought kids to the neighborhood on the left
Simple explanation is that helicopter parents don't let their kids roam the neighborhood anymore, but I'm not sure that's it.
Or if anything that's downstream of the fact that kids increasingly grow up in places where you can't walk, must be driven everywhere, and have no real neighborhood to roam.
Or if anything that's downstream of the fact that kids increasingly grow up in places where you can't walk, must be driven everywhere, and have no real neighborhood to roam.
October 30, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Simple explanation is that helicopter parents don't let their kids roam the neighborhood anymore, but I'm not sure that's it.
Or if anything that's downstream of the fact that kids increasingly grow up in places where you can't walk, must be driven everywhere, and have no real neighborhood to roam.
Or if anything that's downstream of the fact that kids increasingly grow up in places where you can't walk, must be driven everywhere, and have no real neighborhood to roam.
Count me in the side of ‘Minneapolis is not abnormal in this regard.’ What I think might be going on is that we experience parts of Minneapolis with bad behavior but don’t always experience those parts of cities we’re visiting.
October 28, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Count me in the side of ‘Minneapolis is not abnormal in this regard.’ What I think might be going on is that we experience parts of Minneapolis with bad behavior but don’t always experience those parts of cities we’re visiting.
I kind of buy the @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social explanation that they essentially stopped enforcing this stuff a number of years ago and drivers eventually caught on.
October 28, 2025 at 9:00 PM
I kind of buy the @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social explanation that they essentially stopped enforcing this stuff a number of years ago and drivers eventually caught on.
You mean gorgeous sunny days walking across a frozen lake? 😀
October 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM
You mean gorgeous sunny days walking across a frozen lake? 😀
West Bank is Best Bank
October 17, 2025 at 5:36 PM
West Bank is Best Bank
Definitely some on the margins close ones, but UW is probably the closest
October 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Definitely some on the margins close ones, but UW is probably the closest
But I appreciate the notion that we should be transparent in our advocacy, so it's a tough one.
October 16, 2025 at 10:23 PM
But I appreciate the notion that we should be transparent in our advocacy, so it's a tough one.
I think it's not even that the phrase would be used in bad faith, it's that transit does not even register as an option for many people. So the time tax could be a reason we should make sure everyone can afford a car.
(Vaguely remembering a story about a guy in Detroit who got a GoFundMe car.)
(Vaguely remembering a story about a guy in Detroit who got a GoFundMe car.)
October 16, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I think it's not even that the phrase would be used in bad faith, it's that transit does not even register as an option for many people. So the time tax could be a reason we should make sure everyone can afford a car.
(Vaguely remembering a story about a guy in Detroit who got a GoFundMe car.)
(Vaguely remembering a story about a guy in Detroit who got a GoFundMe car.)
I agree with this so long as the “time tax” is a rhetorical tool to improve transit not a reason to make driving more accessible. Most advocates assume the former, but I fear there’s a huge constituency for the latter
October 16, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I agree with this so long as the “time tax” is a rhetorical tool to improve transit not a reason to make driving more accessible. Most advocates assume the former, but I fear there’s a huge constituency for the latter
There’s something about sitting behind a windshield every day that warps perspective such that people who do that a lot start to view the world in those terms alone. Pretty dark
October 16, 2025 at 8:46 PM
There’s something about sitting behind a windshield every day that warps perspective such that people who do that a lot start to view the world in those terms alone. Pretty dark
This place has great mechanics, but it definitely seemed to be in trouble as of late
October 16, 2025 at 8:27 PM
This place has great mechanics, but it definitely seemed to be in trouble as of late
Like, could I believe that Portland and Seattle metros have 50% more walking trips than we do? Absolutely. Would I believe that is matched by Lakeland, Florida? Eh.
October 16, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Like, could I believe that Portland and Seattle metros have 50% more walking trips than we do? Absolutely. Would I believe that is matched by Lakeland, Florida? Eh.
I don't know. It's hard to look at that list and not be a little skeptical that we have the right interpretation of the data and measure.
October 16, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I don't know. It's hard to look at that list and not be a little skeptical that we have the right interpretation of the data and measure.
But I do like that a brewery is allowed by right in a random 44th street parcel.
October 12, 2025 at 6:10 PM
But I do like that a brewery is allowed by right in a random 44th street parcel.