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How could I have been so dumb?
For years I have been biking to the Wedge Coop when I needed bulk foods like rice and crystallized ginger. It's only 2.5 miles away, but biking there gets harder every year as the City of Minneapolis fiddles with the local streets to make them increasingly difficult to use (for both cars and bikes). Currently there is not a SINGLE STREET between I-35W and Lyndale where a biker can cross Lake Street at a traffic light without the street suddenly changing direction or the bike path abruptly disappearing. And even if you are young and spry enough to dash across Lake Street traffic without a light, I don't think there are any north-south streets that are truly ridable in both directions. I've been riding down to Bryant, working my way through the construction mess and backtracking to Lyndale. And for what? To get to a coop I don't even like very much.
It FINALLY occurred to me that the Seward Friendship Coop is less than a mile away! It opened in 2015, but I somehow never realized just how close it was. Probably because it is on the other side of the freeway, a neighborhood I rarely visit. But there's a pedestrian bridge on 40th St., at the bottom of the hill I live on! *duh* So on Tuesday when the weather warmed up briefly I biked over there and it was lovely. I think I did visit that store when it opened back in 2015 and wasn't impressed - probably because it was still in chaotic early days. Now it has landscaping and sweet little outdoor tables for eating deli purchases, and bike racks and off-street parking and all the coop things.
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I see by the new neighborhood paper (The Connector) that the wonderful South Lyndale Liquor Store has just moved to a new building down the block, tripling its size. They're using the extra space to add a deli and wine tasting room, and to allow the family that owns it to keep expanding their already impressive selection of wines and ciders and beers. It's always been a great liquor store, and now it will be better. And It's nice to see a locally owned family business thriving.
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In other news, the abandoned K-Mart Building at Blaisdell and Lake burned down this morning! I didn't even notice the sirens. Maybe I'll bike down and gawk at the ruins, since it looks like a lovely day. No great loss - they were planning to demolish it next spring. The plans for redeveloping that tragic site keep cranking along at snails' pace, but are starting to look kind of promising. Besides finally reconnecting the severed pieces of Nicollet Avenue, there will be some sort of park space that will supposedly connect to the Greenway and possibly on up to Eat Street.
For years I have been biking to the Wedge Coop when I needed bulk foods like rice and crystallized ginger. It's only 2.5 miles away, but biking there gets harder every year as the City of Minneapolis fiddles with the local streets to make them increasingly difficult to use (for both cars and bikes). Currently there is not a SINGLE STREET between I-35W and Lyndale where a biker can cross Lake Street at a traffic light without the street suddenly changing direction or the bike path abruptly disappearing. And even if you are young and spry enough to dash across Lake Street traffic without a light, I don't think there are any north-south streets that are truly ridable in both directions. I've been riding down to Bryant, working my way through the construction mess and backtracking to Lyndale. And for what? To get to a coop I don't even like very much.
It FINALLY occurred to me that the Seward Friendship Coop is less than a mile away! It opened in 2015, but I somehow never realized just how close it was. Probably because it is on the other side of the freeway, a neighborhood I rarely visit. But there's a pedestrian bridge on 40th St., at the bottom of the hill I live on! *duh* So on Tuesday when the weather warmed up briefly I biked over there and it was lovely. I think I did visit that store when it opened back in 2015 and wasn't impressed - probably because it was still in chaotic early days. Now it has landscaping and sweet little outdoor tables for eating deli purchases, and bike racks and off-street parking and all the coop things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I see by the new neighborhood paper (The Connector) that the wonderful South Lyndale Liquor Store has just moved to a new building down the block, tripling its size. They're using the extra space to add a deli and wine tasting room, and to allow the family that owns it to keep expanding their already impressive selection of wines and ciders and beers. It's always been a great liquor store, and now it will be better. And It's nice to see a locally owned family business thriving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news, the abandoned K-Mart Building at Blaisdell and Lake burned down this morning! I didn't even notice the sirens. Maybe I'll bike down and gawk at the ruins, since it looks like a lovely day. No great loss - they were planning to demolish it next spring. The plans for redeveloping that tragic site keep cranking along at snails' pace, but are starting to look kind of promising. Besides finally reconnecting the severed pieces of Nicollet Avenue, there will be some sort of park space that will supposedly connect to the Greenway and possibly on up to Eat Street.
