Over the past months I’ve had more and more opportunities to ride my bike down in Minneapolis. Just this past weekend I spent a bit of time on the Cedar Lake Trail and the Midtown Greenway. As I was riding down the Midtown Greenway I was struck by how impressive the bike and park system in Minneapolis is. The greenway is this beautiful path that has lanes for pedestrians, and two directions of bike traffic. It’s a wonderful place to ride (although I know it gets a bit sketchy after dark). This is in addition to all the other great trails that can get you off the road, and across the city efficiently and safely. The extensiveness, and thoroughness of the planning of the trail system is very impressive.

I’m saying all this as a Saint Paul boy, who always looked at Minneapolis as that annoying older brother, who’s more popular in school, gets all the girls, has all the fun, but deep down has some issues. There’s a phrase that I’ve heard recently, “Date Minneapolis, marry Saint Paul.” However, I’m putting away my awkwardness and distrust of Minneapolis, to given them a solid kudos on their parks and bike trails.

Since I’ve been riding Minneapolis trails I’ve been incredibly impressed how easy it is to get around the southern part of the city, and connect all the parks and lakes in that area. I do wish there was a bit more equity on the north side of town. It feels a bit like the trails are where the money is. However, there are still a ton of bike lanes on the NE side that make navigating the city on two wheels much easier. If only more suburbs could take the leap and put in more bike friendly accesses.

Good job Minneapolis. I may never want to live inside your borders, but I have to say, your bike trails make it a seriously tempting offer to change my mind.