I receive MinnPost’s newsletter in my inbox daily. I look forward to reading it to catch up on local news, and am deeply appreciative of the work MinnPost does. However, I was quite disappointed by Reflecting on one Minneapolis, two realities as a friend plans a move outside the city, a Community Voices opinion piece by Eric Molho.
It is not the first piece of this kind that I’ve read. They are everywhere – my parents have sent me several from the Star Tribune, and I’ve come across plenty in other local news sources. They seem to be saying both, “everyone needs to start going out and riding the train more” but also “I recently left my house and was terrified.”
Corcoran, the neighborhood Mr. Molho’s friend is leaving, is a beautiful area. I bike through it and take my dog for walks there regularly. It’s fancier than my own neighborhood, Morris Park, but don’t tell anyone I said that, because I’m quite fond of Morris Park as well. I can only imagine what Mr. Molho might say about my neighborhood if he deigned to drive through it, as he recently did with Lake Street.
I visit Lake Street and its surrounding environs often. Last week I had dinner and drinks with a friend at Midtown Global Market. The week before that, I biked up to Arbeiter Brewing, stopping at the recently reopened Uncle Hugo’s to buy a Lynda Barry book. Later I biked to Habanero Taco Grill for a truly excellent burrito.
In his final paragraph, Molho writes, “Our leaders mumble about 92-point plans and empty cop cars on Nicollet Mall, hoping this will somehow demonstrate strength. In fairness, I’m not sure what they could say or do to reassure me.” If there’s nothing that can be done to console him, what’s he looking for here? What is his intent in writing and sharing this? (Also: Did the recently wrapped landmark legislative session mean nothing to him??)
I am a 35-year-old white woman. I work in children’s publishing. I take the light rail to my job in the North Loop two or three days a week. Sometimes I bring my bike on the train, so that I can pedal home on the river parkway. My opinion? Take the train. It’s great; I love it. If you don’t feel like taking the train that’s fine too, but please stop writing these kinds of scaremongering pieces about neighborhoods and public transit systems that are near and dear to my heart.
Athena Currier is a resident of Minneapolis’ Morris Park neighborhood and regular user of the light rail system.
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