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Reposted by Ben Shardlow

City of Minneapolis @minneapolismn.gov · 9d

This week, the City launch automated enforcement of speed limits at five high-risk intersections as part of a traffic camera safety pilot program. The pilot is a key part of the City’s award-winning Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries on Minneapolis streets.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 28d

They just freshened up the Go Lynx street mural on 1st Ave N for the playoff run. Someone who works for the team told me the first person to notice was Sylvia Fowles!

Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 28d

Got to tour the Mpls Public Works Traffic Mgmt Center this week with the @moveminneapolis.bsky.social Advisory Board this week - highly recommend it. They print their own signs (~4,400 unique ones in the city!), manage signal timing, street painting, etc.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 28d

fowlingwarehouse.com/minneapolis/

COMING SEPTEMBER 13 - Fowling Warehouse Minneapolis

Football + Bowling + Bar = Fowling Warehouse. Fun and easy. Just throw a football at 10 bowling pins until someone knocks them all down. Come play!

fowlingwarehouse.com

Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 28d

I brought my kids to the ribbon cutting for @fowlingmsp.bsky.social this morning - pretty fun. They’re excited about Royalston LRT Station opening in 2027 and have an idea for a walkway through to the Farmers Market.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 28d

It’s very challenging to get everyone aligned on any big street project in Mpls. I’ve personally worked on improving transit and biking DT for over a decade and I’m proud of the improvements we’ve made. If you ever want to actually talk about this stuff, I’d welcome that.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 28d

That’s a mischaracterization, Taylor. We’ve been working with Public Works and stakeholders on this project for years. There were concerns about design details that were expressed that led to improvements in the layout. We’ve supported building a grid of protected bikeways DT since 2013

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

That’s just not me, unfortunately. I don’t enjoy debating things on social media, and I think this is too complex a topic. I’m engaging today because I like the people who organized the event last night and I was bummed out by the polarized response to it.

Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

I got to walk Jordan around the CEZ this morning! First time I’ve felt like I was there when looking at his pics and it’s actually been true.

Jordan van der Hagen @thejvandy.bsky.social · 29d

On the Industry of Creative Manufacturing.

Saint Paul, Minnesota

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

Maybe we could talk offline about this, too, bc I don’t know what you’re referring to about MDC’s biggest allies.

Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

It has been a perennial topic of debate for decades and I’m honestly glad it’s being considered now. Calling the question should be productive. You can make solid cases for or against it. Still hopeful that we can have a much more productive exchange of views but the election year makes it tough.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

I don’t know how to have a productive conversation about the range of motivations for people on both sides of this issue second-hand. I also could never realistically aspire to changing the hearts and minds of every stakeholder - the best we can ever hope for is engagement.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

Also: hi, Janne. 😁 We’re due for another lunch on Hennepin. Please hit me up the next time you’re in town!

Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

I believe there could be outcomes that are better or worse than the status quo either way. But there's no resemblance between what people say proponents want and what I've heard people who like the idea say they envision - which is an activated, park-like space. This us vs them shit is so depressing

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

DT park. More would be even better, but there's a lot happening with full public and private support. Great transit improvements coming all over DT - E Line, F Line, H Line, LRT extensions. If the powers that be are anti-transit, would those projects be happening?

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

We need a healthy debate about taking transit off Nicollet really badly - it makes me very sad it isn't happening. Opponents of the idea have said this is about sticking it to poor people so often that it's treated as fact. There's free, inclusive programming on Nicollet, Peavey Plaza, and in every

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

Woke up to a lot of chatter on here setting up a false dichotomy about downtown (and Mpls more broadly) being a great place to live and a great place to visit. We can do both. I honestly don’t think I know people who don’t want to do both.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · 29d

Dinner du Nord was really lovely last night! We talked with strangers, ate really good food from a new restaurant on Nicollet (Esther’s Table), and enjoyed a beautiful night downtown. I’m inspired by Scott Mayer - who started Doors Open, too - to organize such a complex event as a volunteer.

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Reposted by Ben Shardlow

Vince Mpls @vincempls.bsky.social · Aug 4

This is the correct take. There's a special tragedy to St Paul's downward spiral that the DSA left, the ossified Save Our Summit right, and even the city's planners don't understand or are simply unwilling to face. A 🧵

Mike Beckstrand @beckstrand.bsky.social · Aug 4

Bottom line is there is a need in St. Paul to work with private developers/capital as unsavory as that may be, as the tax base is currently not there. This cannot be magicked away or ignored.

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Reposted by Ben Shardlow

Creative Enterprise Zone @cezmsp.bsky.social · May 24

Mariela Ajras is underway with the first of her two new Chroma Zone murals at The Wycliff in the Creative Enterprise Zone! She's creating a triptych called Motherhood and Migration, including her 2019 mural (seen here to the left where she is currently painting). www.chromazone.net/mariela-ajras

5-story brown brick building with windows. 4-story mural on left side of a woman holding a child that is made of gold streaks slipping through her arms. On right side, a boom lift is in front of a 2-story vertical oval that is currently being painted, artwork obscured by the lift deck.

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Reposted by Ben Shardlow

Bill Lindeke @blindeke.bsky.social · May 19

ChromaZone is such a great project in St. Anthony Park! The murals have aged really well, and keep getting better. www.twincities.com/2025/05/19/c...

Chroma Zone mural festival returns to St. Paul for sixth year

Since 2019, the festival has brought 62 murals by 72 artists to South St. Anthony Park, organizers say.

www.twincities.com

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · May 16

Happy Bike to Work Day! I celebrated by using our building’s secure bike parking room for the first time (shout-out, Young-Quinlan Building).

Isn’t she a beaut.

A door to a secure bike parking room at an office building.

Bike amenities at a secure bike parking facility in an office building.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · May 16

www.twincities.com/2025/05/15/b...

Ben Shardlow: The soon-to-close recycling plant and environs are places we should love, or learn to

Is learning to love a factory a pathway to an entire world of gratitude for things that are not specifically for you or me, but underpin a thriving city? I hope so.

www.twincities.com

Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · May 16

I wrote an Op-Ed about the impending closure of the WestRock plant in Saint Paul and why places like it and the surrounding Creative Enterprise Zone matter for the city.

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Ben Shardlow @shardlow.bsky.social · Apr 16

It's critical for dialogue on downtown retail to be grounded in data, and this Retail Inventory tool will help us do that. It was built to receive feedback from users to keep it accurate - if you care about this, please report when you see something to fix!