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Train will bypass key West Broadway business zone
The newest Blue Line design moves the tracks but businesses in the area, including KMOJ, may still be affected.
MINNEAPOLIS — The most recently proposed route for Metro Transit’s Blue Line Extension light rail line will bypass the main core of the West Broadway Avenue business district on the north side of Minneapolis. But the change won’t make everyone happy because the design still envisions the trains running along Broadway west of the main retail hub.
Until this week, the design visualizations showed parallel tracks running down the middle of West Broadway between I-94 to James Street, with vehicle traffic limited to one lane in each direction. But at a community engagement meeting Thursday afternoon, the staff recommended a plan that puts the line a block to the north among North 21st Avenue.
The plan calls for a new bridge across I-94, connecting 21st Avenue to Washington Avenue.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction. It shows the project team is being responsive to community feedback,” Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison told KARE.
“But it’s not the end of the discussion. They will need to engage fully with the residents along 21st Avenue to consider their concerns.”
Construction of the line, which will run from Target Field in downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park, is still years away. But planners are trying to pick a route so they can begin work on a draft environmental impact statement. All of the cities along the proposed light rail line, including Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park, will need to sign off on the route.
“You want to see good infrastructure come to north Minneapolis, but you want to make sure that it’s a benefit. You want to make sure the community’s comfortable with it.”
The proposed route has the train tracks joining the West Broadway corridor at James Avenue and then continuing on that street through the busy intersection at Penn Avenue and Broadway. The Met Council notified the owners of the Five Points Building that it may have to be taken down to make room for the tracks.
That building is the current home of KMOJ-FM, which has been serving the community since 1976. The station has been at that location for ten years.
“We stand to lose that home as do a number of people in the pathway whichever route it takes,” Freddie Bell, KMOJ’s general manager, told KARE 11.
“At the meeting I felt a lot of compassion for KMOJ,” Bell remarked. “But that compassion doesn’t necessarily tell us where a displaced homemaker will go, where a small business like the ones here on Broadway will go. And it certainly doesn’t tell us where KMOJ will go.”
The Met Council staff has pledged to keep takings of private property to a minimum and to help displaced families and businesses relocate to comparable spaces. Early letters to affected property owners often err on the side of caution.
But Bell said people along the route, including the staff of KMOJ, would like some certainty so they can make definite plans.
Across the street from KMOJ you’ll find the Wilson Image Barbers and Stylists. Owner Teto Wilson said he’s had multiple meetings with Met Council and Hennepin Rail staff about the line and still opposes the project.
“Every business up and down this street is against it because it will be divisive and destructive. People in this area use cars and buses. We don’t need a train.”
Wilson also said he’s worried customers will be driven off by construction disruption.
“We can’t afford to have a project go on for five, six, seven, eight years.”
According to the CDC, 40% of students experience sadness and hopelessness on a regular basis.
ST PAUL, Minn. — At this year’s Minnesota Educators’ Academy (MEA), the main focus was how to better students’ mental health. MEA is the largest development opportunity for educators in Minnesota, and gives teachers the opportunity to learn ways to improve in the classroom and handle the forever-changing needs of students.
“We need more counselors, we need more social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, people who really know their stuff,” said Education Minnesota President Denise Specht. “There are some schools that only have a counselor one day a week. We simply need more teams to address the needs.”
Specht also said having smaller class sizes would help teachers build stronger relationships with their students, potentially bettering their mental health.
According to the CDC, 40% of students experience sadness and hopelessness on a regular basis. Student teacher Caitlin Efta feels social media is playing a large part.
“There’s a lot of bullying and other things that happen online, and a lot of kids are just falling victim to that,” Efta said.
Minnesota’s 2024 teacher of the year Tracy Byrd says to improve students mental health, we need to take the stress off of them.
“Just by letting them know, relax, you are enough, you are okay,” Byrd said. “Don’t put too much pressure on this one assignment or this one test or this one book.”
Women’s Advocates opened in 1974 in St. Paul and is renovating 19 new apartment units to increase shelter space.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Women’s Advocates is considered the first shelter in the nation for survivors of domestic assault. It opened in St. Paul in 1974 and on Thursday, it’s hosting its 50th anniversary gala at the Landmark Center.
The tickets are sold out.
The organization is in the midst of a campaign to raise $14.25 million to acquire and renovate two new facilities in St. Paul to better serve the public. It includes 19 new individual apartment-style units totaling 58 beds for adults and children.
The space would also allow survivors to live with their pets 24/7, increase mental health support, and be ADA-compliant for all genders, sexualities, and abilities.
“It’s hard because we want to work ourselves out of a job, we want to be in a scenario where there’s not violence present in our community, but until we get there, we’re here as a support system for folks needing that,” said Executive Director Holly Henning.
Women’s Advocates currently serves about 50 adults and children, sometimes for three months at a time. It offers services ranging from mental and chemical health to legal advice and financial support.
The organization originally started as a hotline to guide people going through divorce.
“What they were finding when those calls were coming in was much different than, I just need a divorce,” said Henning. “It was folks who were in immediate danger and really needed help beyond that.”
Nowadays, the organization often has to turn people away. Other organizations actively work to find empty beds across the city for survivors in need. But Henning says, that sometimes, the violence people are experiencing is also more severe.
Violence Free Minnesota says that the 40 people killed in domestic violence situations last year is the most in more than three decades of record-keeping.
“It’s about compassion and empathy and I think it’s OK to have emotion, it’s OK to see people human to human and they’re continuously reminding you of why the work is so important,” said Henning.
Henning is also hoping to raise $125,000 during October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you’d like to donate, you can find more information about the capital campaign here.
There’s also more information about services and ways to connect with someone through the Women’s Advocates 24/7 crisis resource hotline here.
The “Westopolis” name is meant to highlight the cities’ vibrancy and proximity to Minneapolis.
The marketing and tourism organization formerly known as Discover St. Louis Park has rebranded this fall with a bold, new name:
The organization, which launched in 2011 and grew to also incorporate Golden Valley in 2017, began using the “Westopolis” name this month. According to Westopolis President and CEO Becky Bakken, the name is designed to highlight the vibrancy and urban character of St. Louis Park and Golden Valley, which both border Minneapolis and have a combined population of nearly 75,000.
“A lot is behind the name,” Bakken said. “Westopolis just kept speaking to us. In this process, we really leaned into the fact that we are the closest neighbor to downtown Minneapolis. To be honest, we are closer to downtown than parts of Minneapolis are. And it really felt like our primary differentiator.”
Bakken said the change to “Westopolis” is also meant to help the organization communicate better with event planners and out-of-town vendors, who sometimes confuse “St. Louis Park” with St. Louis, MO. Between St. Louis Park and Golden Valley, the cities boast nine hotels with nearly 1,500 combined rooms, and the tourism organization now known as Westopolis plays a key role in drawing visitors and filling those rooms.
“When people are looking for a place to go, that aren’t from this area, they know the big city. They know Minneapolis. We wanted to make sure they knew how close we were to that, and once they’re here they discover all the other things,” Bakken said. “The name is unique, it’s different. It’s not on a map, we understand that. We think the name is edgy, and when we’re working with planners, they’re gonna lean in and say, ‘tell me more about this place.'”
This week, Westopolis is enjoying a nice boost from the Twin Cities Film Fest, a staple of St. Louis Park that draws talent and crew members to the city’s West End from across the country. It’s the kind of annual event that Westopolis would love to see more of in the coming years.
“The West End was sort of the rationale for why Discover St. Louis Park — and now Westopolis — exists. It’s this great area that is a real driver for visitors,” Bakken said. “But both communities have their thing. Golden Valley has a big chunk of Theodore Wirth that we love to claim, and Brookview that has a lot of outdoor activities, so we really like to lean into this urban oasis.”
To unveil the new brand, Westopolis rolled out a website and held a launch party this fall.
“Change is change, and that’s always interesting,” Bakken said, “but mostly people are really excited about the new name and we’re ready to market the new name.”
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