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09/17/2015
IN THIS ISSUE
 The installation of temporary street design experiments at 26th, Bloomington, 10/11th and Nicollet Avenues is nearly complete. These experiments include:
- Creative signage on fences, bridges and walls
- Painted icons and other designs on the pavement
- Bike racks and fix-it stations
- Planters, seating and games
These pop-up improvements are intended to build on the success of the greenway, point greenway users to restaurants, shopping and other destinations in nearby neighborhoods, and help make greenway spaces more welcoming and friendly.
They'll remain installed through October -- as long as the weather holds -- so we can measure their impacts over a number of weeks. You can help in two ways:
- Complete our online survey
- Forward this newsletter to friends, neighbors, coworkers and others who use the greenway, and ask them to do the same.
Your input will help shape longer term investment in more permanent improvements along the greenway.
Many thanks to the City of Minneapolis urban design team for their design work on this project, and to the Midtown Greenway Coalition, the Lake Street Council, and nearby neighborhood groups and businesses who are supporting these efforts.
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A portion of the greenspace between 10th and 11th avenues on the Midtown Greenway will be re-landscaped in spring 2016 with some plantings perhaps going in this fall.
Back in 2011 and 2012, a native prairie perennial garden was planted on the hillside below the picnic tables and swings, but the plants didn't flourish (we believe this was due to inadequate watering). Two attempts to reseed the area by the vendor were unsuccessful as well. The resulting weedy hillside has contributed to a sense of neglect, so the space was not attracting the kind of routine use that keeps public spaces feeling vibrant and safe.
 With neighborhood support, the county would work with a new vendor to plant additional trees and restore the failed perennial garden, using funds from the city's Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
The proposed restoration builds on the original planting plan by including:
- Primarily native species that thrive in the site's hot, dry and sunny conditions
- Species that attract pollinators (i.e. birds, bees and butterflies)
- Mass plantings of one species for easier maintenance
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Low flowering shrubs (less than 18") that protect the hillside from wear and tear without obscuring sightlines
- Trees that are sourced from the county’s gravel bed nursery at significant cost savings
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To learn more about the restoration plan, please join us at the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association community meeting:
Septembeer 22, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Stewart Park Multi-purpose Room
2700 S 12th Ave. Minneapolis
If you can't attend the meeting, but would like to comment, please contact midtowncw@hennepin.us.
 This long rectangular garden on the Midtown Greenway was originally adopted by Abbott Northwestern Hospital in 2008 and beautifully maintained by community member Henry Hubben. Henry, whose life was cut tragically short by cancer in 2014, was the first board president of the Midtown Greenway Coalition and owned and operated City Green, a local landscaping company.
Special thanks to community volunteer Caitlin Cook Isaacson for sprucing up the garden this summer, but we need volunteers to help with planting and weeding long term. If you can help, please contact Janey@midtowngreenway.org or call 612-879-0106.
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 Get tips, tricks and supplies from Hennepin County’s Recycle Everywhere campaign that will help you change your recycling routine and recycle in every room. Hennepin County is also partnering with the Minnesota Twins to highlight their efforts to Recycle Everywhere in Target Field.
Hennepin County residents can enter the Recycling VIP Sweepstakes through September 23 for a chance to tour Target Field’s recycling facilities, meet Torii Hunter and attend the Twins game on Saturday, October 3. The county has partnered with the Twins since Target Field opened to collect recycling and organics for composting throughout the ballpark.
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St. Stephen's Street Outreach team provides the first contact for individuals experiencing homelessness and for others who are concerned for them. Partnering with law enforcement, faith communities, probation officers, and a multitude of social service providers, the team offers people living outside intensive, on-the-spot services that include:
- housing and shelter referrals
- access to food, clothing, showers and other everyday needs
- a social service response to certain livability crimes, such as public intoxication
- responding to non-emergency calls from the community
Helping the outreach team is easy: click here (PDF) for a St. Stephen's brochure with resources you can use to connect people on the streets with services that can help them.
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