In Minneapolis, we have useful service called 311. You dial the number and someone answering on the other end (during the weekdays, 9-5) can answer your questions about winter parking restrictions or let you report graffiti, parking violations, animal concerns, potholes and more. They might have answers to some of your other questions, but primarily they are used as a complaint line. For example, in Willard Hay, one of the neighborhoods near me,...

This is not an original idea, some friends have been doing it amazingly well in the northside Hmong community for a number of years. Last week we meet briefly and planned a one-day soccer camp for northside youth ages 6-12. Our goal was quite simple, bring the several different community and soccer efforts around the community together to do something fun and free for youth. The larger vision is to encourage different cultures and communities...

This one is pretty simple: The internet provides a huge marketing opportunity for small businesses with little to no cost, but many don’t know how to access these options. Helping community businesses stake their claim in the internet landscape allows local residents to find them and helps encourage a thriving local economy. Partnering with a local business association, a simple, streamlined process to gather basic store information from...

There are lots of places to look for job postings, but none focus or allow you to search in a specific geographic area with the consideration of those who use public transportation or bike or walk. A Job Board for the northside has many benefits. First of all for the employee, the shorter the commute the less possible problems getting to work (unreliable vehicle, late buses, inclement weather, etc.) and a shorter overall work day. For the...

Many urban city center’s are plagued by something called a “Food Desert” which basically refers to a lack of access to health food options. Much of north Minneapolis fits into this category because, though Cub Foods is not too far away, lack of adequate transportation and winter weather makes it a difficult location to get to. My idea is to create a “Grocery Buddies” project where neighbors with vehicles buddy-up...

Last week, I wrote about creating a community calendar with a couple of unique elements, this week I’d like to share some ideas for using that collective calendar to reach more of the community. The initial concept was to create a community calendar that was collaborative, meaning multiple people would help maintain it, and collectively-owned, meaning it could be used and posted anywhere one would like. So far though, the calendar exist...