Green Space & The River

Neighborhood NewsGreen Space & The RiverLifestyle & WellnessPublic Interest

What’s To Be Done About Plastic?

As I recall bags flailing in trees like caught kites, and dealing with plastics on the street in front of my house and where I go for walks, I just want it all to go away. It’s not likely to happen soon. 

Plastics are double- edged in the current world – we can’t live easily without plastic, but our planet is inundated with plastic pollution, on land, air and sea. Plastic bags fly freely, plastic barges float in oceans, and flattened bottles and plastic pieces scuttle in the wind all around our streets, yards and fields. And microplastic floats around in our bodies.

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Neighborhood NewsGreen Space & The RiverLocal Culture

An Alternative Path

Riding or hiking along the banks of the Mississippi is one of the delights and benefits of having Crosby Farm Regional Park in our backyard. Head down one of the roads or paths leading to the trails and one immediately transitions from the heart of urban living to a natural environment where one quickly forgets the city landscape is only minutes away. The name Crosby Farm reflects a marking of history and geography that centers European immigration at the expense of the Dakota and other Indigenous people that lived here prior to European arrival. 

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Neighborhood NewsGreen Space & The RiverLocal Culture

Great Playgrounds and Great Communities

“What makes a great playground?” is not unlike the question, “what makes a great community?” Among the joys of being a grandparent is spending time at playgrounds that we once enjoyed with our own children. On this particular outing, the first place our almost two year old grandson headed was one of several slide options. He chose to go down head first, protected by winter gear that slowed him down substantially and a grandparent waiting with open arms at the bottom. After time on the slide it was onto the swings with choices for toddlers that provide the freedom of swinging without the risk of an injury for a child who hasn’t quite developed the skills of holding on tight. Next, it was over to a horse planted in the ground with a spring as its feet. Like with the swings and slides, the horse was surrounded by sand to cushion any fall. 

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Neighborhood NewsGreen Space & The RiverLocal Culture

Evidence for Giant Prehistoric Flood discovered in St. Paul

Highland Creek is among the more obscure streams in St. Paul, largely because it has been diverted underground by city engineers. But this stream has long harbored a secret—it was the scene of a giant prehistoric flood. Much of the evidence has been lying around in plain sight for years, but the dots have never been connected. Until now.

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