Researching Shoreland Plants and Climate Change

U of M Extension water quality experts, led by Barb Liukkonen, are conducting research at the University's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory on the Mississippi River.

River Talk - The Next Generation of Parks 2: Stoss Landscape Urbanism

From River Talk:

Titled "Streamlines," this proposal focuses on getting people to the river for direct encounters.  Bringing the streams of the river into the streams of the city, this proposal employs highly dynamic metaphors and imagery.

I have to say that the recognition that the river is in fact many rivers, that the city is many cities, is welcome.  Too often it seems that people plan and design for a monolithic hypothetical "city" that flattens out the rich, and growing, diversity of the biological and human systems that make up this place.

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River Talk - The Next Generation of Parks 1: Ken Smith Studio

From River Talk:

The Ken Smith Studio team, originating primarily from New York City, titled its proposal "City of the River."  The team argues that the past decades of activity and investment have made Minneapolis, long known as the "City of Lakes," the "City of the River.

Many particular strategies are proposed to enact the City of the River scheme.  The Mississippi Greenway would complete the park system's famed Grand Rounds.They focus on energizing transportation connections, particularly by adding bike lanes to existing railroad bridges and strengthening transportation links to new amenities and destinations along the river.

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Four Dazzling Proposals of a New Upper Minneapolis Riverfront

From MinnPost:

An overflow crowd at the Walker Art Center last Thursday saw four dazzling proposals for redesigning Minneapolis’ Upper Riverfront. The winning design will be announced on Feb. 10.

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River Talk - Four Minutes of Fame

From River Talk:

I had my four minutes of fame yesterday, which means, if Andy Warhol is correct, that I have another 11 minutes coming to me.  Maybe so.

The four minutes I had yesterday was a segment on KARE 11 News Saturday, a show that airs early Saturday morning (instead of cartoons, I suppose) that offers weather, news headlines, and brief chats with people who have somehow found a way to come to their attention.  In my case, I was there because the University of Minnesota Press is promoting the newly-released book The City, the River, the Bridge, about the collapse of the I-35W bridge in 2007, which I had the pleasure and honor of editing.

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Mpls. Mississippi River Design Competition Down to Wire

From MPR:

A four-and-a-half mile stretch of Mississippi riverfront in north Minneapolis moved a step closer to its new future Friday.

A jury met Friday afternoon to select a winning team in the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition. The winner will create a new vision for the riverfront stretching from the Stone Arch Bridge to the northern boundary of the city.

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Finalists in Riverfront Design Competition Present their Visions

From The Journal:

How about a Mississippi flanked with robotic searchlights, beams crisscrossing in the night? Or floating barges transformed into community swimming pools and hot tubs? Maybe a new suite of islands, laced with visitor-friendly wetlands and marshes?

These were some of the pie-in-the-sky ideas presented last night at Walker Art Center, to a packed and eager audience, in one of the final stages of the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition. Four design teams — finalists in the international competition, chosen from an initial pool of 55 applicants — had each been given $30,000 and about three months to develop their dream revamps of a 5.5-mile stretch of the Minneapolis riverfront, from the Stone Arch Bridge to the northern limits of the city.

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One River, Four Designs on the Future

From the Star Tribune:

Competing firms from New York, Beijing, Berkeley and Boston showed ideas for redeveloping along the Mississippi River from the Stone Arch Bridge north to the Minneapolis city limits.

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St. Anthony Falls Journal: The Power of Water

John Derus visits experts and concerned citizens about the history and potential for Hydro Energy in Minneapolis.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Time Lapse - Mississippi River - Lock & Dam #1

Lock and Dam # 1 on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Time lapse video of the locks in operation.