Wedge LIVE!

In this episode we go behind the music with the organizers of the Uptown Porchfest, aka Wedgestock Music Festival. John talks to Lisa Martelly and Amy Goldstein about how they managed to book 29 bands for one day of free musical performances happening on porches, yards, and driveways across the Wedge neighborhood -- and the steps they're taking to make sure nobody's yard gets peed in. We talk about how the idea developed; arranging for portapotties; getting the required city approvals and making sure they aren't breaking any laws; recruiting bands, porches, and sponsors; and how they've been inspired by John's groundbreaking leadership of the Wedge LIVE Cat Tour.

John's conversation with Alex Burns of Our Streets Minneapolis about the ongoing debate over what to do with I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul, which Our Streets says is a "once in a lifetime opportunity to repair a terrible injustice." With the DOT's inclusion of boulevard conversions among the 10 possible alternatives for reconstruction, advocates for freeway removal have something to feel good about. But is it really politically possible? Alex and John talk about: the coalition Our Streets has built to address the historic and very much ongoing harm of a massive urban interstate through the heart of Minneapolis and St. Paul; Alex's recent conversation on talk radio with the very skeptical Jason Derusha; we pick at the Star Tribune's recent editorializing against the idea; notable local examples of the concept of traffic evaporation; the arguments MnDOT is likely to make in favor of the status quo; how THE PANDEMIC CHANGED EVERYTHING, MAN; and much more.

MN Dept of Transportation survey: https://talk.dot.state.mn.us/rethinking-i94/survey_tools/rethinking-i-94-alternatives-survey

Attend a community visioning session in Cedar Riverside on August 5: https://www.twincitiesboulevard.org/join-us-at-a-community-visioning-session-in-cedar-riverside-on-august-5/

John is joined by Bill Lindeke, author, MinnPost columnist, prolific tweeter, and lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota, for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Read Bill's books:

Closing Time: Saloons, Taverns, Dives, and Watering Holes of the Twin Cities - https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/item/1SqnOF0xZ8uTTlewBdbU_A

St. Paul: An Urban Biography - https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/item/1SqnOF0xZ8vDPBiXoqv9_w

Minneapolis St. Paul: Then and Now - https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/item/RQyeBIGEpWSH3wwMqGOXWA

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

The results are in: the new 3-lane Lyndale Avenue is a big improvement over the 4-lane version. Data collected by Hennepin County regarding their pilot project are impressive. But if you've spent any time walking, biking, driving, just living near Lyndale from Franklin to Lake, you didn't need numbers to convince you. Crashes are down by more than half, pedestrian crossings have nearly doubled at the most problematic intersections, drivers are actually stopping for pedestrians. As a result of this redesign, car traffic has done the unimaginable -- it's moving at the speed limit. John is joined by Melody Hoffmann (https://southwestvoices.news) to talk about these results and what comes next, with the planning for a full reconstruction of Lyndale coming up soon. We also talk about the sudden and unexpected end to the city council's deliberation over rent stabilization policy; the loss of our freedom to exist in public spaces due to our society's inability to cope with larger societal and environmental issues; and Melody's award-eligible Farmer's Market Report.

John's conversation with Council Member Andrew Johnson, who is calling it quits after 10 years of representing Ward 12 in Minneapolis. We talk about the wildly successful nationally-heralded Wedge LIVE cat tour, wisdom gleaned from a decade of service, public safety, rent stabilization, and whether it's appropriate to talk through an excel spread. We also commiserate about back pain. Be sure to watch on youtube.com/wedgelive to see Andrew Johnson drink from the largest container anyone's ever drunk from on a podcast.

Note that this was recorded one day before the City Council voted to effectively kill this year's legislative process on rent stabilization, a topic that Andrew Johnson and I talked about extensively. My very strong/wrong expectation as of the day of this conversation was that the city was about to have two months of debate among council members and the public about the policy.

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

John's conversation with Council Member Robin Wonsley, who's running for re-election to the Minneapolis City Council in Ward 2.

There's a saying that sometimes one man's trash is still another man's trash. That other man is Henry LaBounta of the East Isles neighborhood. On land or in the lakes, Henry is picking up trash. Whether he's walking his dog on Hennepin Ave, out in his kayak on Lake of the Isles, or donning waders at the shoreline, he's filling up buckets and buckets of garbage. Discarded fast food containers, hypodermic needles, dead animals -- he's keeping meticulous statistics about what and how much he's collected. In this episode, we talk about how Henry's weird obsession has grown into something more. He's applying for grant money and collaborating with neighborhood organizations. We talk about the importance of intervening in the trash cycle early, before it ends up in the street and gets washed into our lakes and waterways; infrastructure and street maintenance fixes; how keeping a place clean can discourage more litter; and how local government and people like you can help.

You can contact Henry at [email protected] and find more information by searching for "Friends of Lake of the Isles" on Facebook.

Luna Zeidner was campaign manager for Sheila Nezhad's 2021 run for Minneapolis mayor. But where did she go? What did she learn? And where is she now? John and Luna rehash painful memories from 2021 and its fallout; talk about why she felt the need to take a step back; and explore how she's reengaging in politics, finding hope in the present, and trying to fall in love with Minneapolis all over again. This episode also features: plenty of hot takes on the 2023 election.

Three people who attended last Saturday's Minneapolis DFL Ward 10 convention give their firsthand experience of what it was like when Nasri Warsame's campaign stormed the stage and forced Council Member Aisha Chughtai's delegation of supporters out the back door. John Edwards (delegate in precinct 10-1) is joined by Josh Martin (citizen journalist who was seated in the visitors section) and Devin Hogan (former Minneapolis DFL chair who assisted with operation of the convention).

Forest Eidbo was elected to the city council in Crystal, Minnesota in 2022. He was inspired to run for the part-time, $600/month position after his council member voted against a resolution supporting Pride Month. We talk about all the familiar local issues from a suburban perspective -- streets, stop signs, trash, property taxes, trees, public safety, and the surprising volume of constituent phone calls.