Park Planning and the Future of Cedar-Isles

John is joined by former TV weatherman Aaron Shaffer (@AShafferWX) for a conversation about the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's long term plan for the area around Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles (Cedar-Isles). We talk bathroom politics; rain gardens and water quality; scarce pedestrian space; ADA accessibility; the fate of the  trails through the wooded northeast corner of Cedar Lake; two-way bike   routes; commuter traffic vs recreation; and the far-too-wide parkways  devoted to car traffic that make it so much harder to implement fixes to  the aforementioned safety and environmental issues. John suggests that,  instead of fighting over these things during every planning process for  corner of the park system, the MPRB should develop consistent policies (similar to the city's transportation action plan and street design  guide) that set expectations for how parkways, bikeways, and pedstrian  trails are designed. We also talk about the terrible process (the CAC or "community advisory committee") that MPRB uses for public engagement  which tends to limit feedback to a select few who show up to three hour meetings week after week.

Read the guide Aaron created to know which are the key issues to comment on: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yJ5rr2vFrLmoNVGY8KGb0CiNL20IYPpt5SICPhriux0/edit?usp=sharing



The comment period on the MPRB's Cedar-Isles Plan is open through March  10. Read the plan and comment:  https://www.minneapolisparks.org/park-care-improvements/park-projects/current_projects/cedar-lake-lake-of-the-isles-cedar-isles-master-plan/  



You can also contact your Minneapolis Park Commissioner directly: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/about-us/leadership-and-structure/park-board-commissioners/



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