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This Old House magazine has put together a list of the "Best Old House Neighborhoods" across the country, which includes "64 timeless neighborhoods in the U.S. and Canada where the historic homes have extraordinary pasts and unarguably promising futures."

Among the top 15 in the entire Midwest is the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis. Its well-maintained gardens, its eclectic residents, and the multitude of historic homes give this neighborhood its appeal. And its location smack dab in the middle of Minneapolis and St Paul make it the ultimate in convenience and culture.

Find out more about Prospect Park here.
See the full list of their "Best Old House Neighborhoods".

Do you live in Prospect Park? What do you love about it? Leave us a comment on Facebook or Twitter.

Mattel has teamed up with the AIA (American Institute of Architects) to unveil the "Architect Barbie Dream House Design Competition" - where architects have the opportunity to design a new Green Dream Home just for Architect Barbie! Oh, you didn't realize there was an Architect Barbie? Well, there is. She's new! And stylish...with her skyline dress, ankle boots, and trendy black glasses (which she doesn't seem to actually wear on her face). She's also got a hard hat, a scale model Dream Home, and a blueprint holder.

So what does Architect Barbie want in her new Green Dream Home? Well, along with the most sophisticated sustainable design principles, it's also got to be stylish. (She is Barbie, after all.) She has some other pretty specific demands, though - including:

- A spacious home office with hi-tech gadgets, where she can practice her 125 other careers.
- A ginormous closet for her "unlimited fashions".
- A top-of-the-line kitchen and huge entertaining space where her friends can mingle.
- A backyard big enough for her five pets (which include a giraffe).
- And finally, her house must be on the ocean. (Location, location, location!)

Any architect willing to take on all of those demands AND make it sustainable will have to be a miracle-worker, I think. But it's not like this is the real world, right? As the AIA reminds the contestants, "Remember not to take it too seriously — Barbie is a doll after all! Just think pink and you’ll do fine."

New York City's "Don’t Be A Jerk" bike safety ad campaign is meant to "humorously highlight the essential do's and don’ts of safe, responsible biking." Their videos (watch them all here) feature celebrities like John Leguizamo breaking common cycling laws, with pedestrians telling them exactly what they think of them. This ad campaign is part of NYC's Bike Smart initiative, which reminds cyclists to follow these basic rules of safety:

1. Yield to pedestrians.
2. Stop at red lights and stop signs.
3. Ride in the direction of traffic.
4. Stay off the sidewalk.
5. Use a white front light and red tail light at night.

Now, the eco-site Grist.org isn't a big fan of these ads because they think they'll encourage more bike vs. pedestrian animosity, and ignore the countless drivers and pedestrians alike who also break common traffic laws. (You have to admit, there are plenty of drivers out there who could use a refresher course in those same five rules above.)

What do you think? Do you think Minneapolis needs a similar ad campaign to help keep safe our growing cycling community? Or maybe, as Grist suggests, a safety campaign that doesn't single out cyclists but applies to everyone - walkers, bikers, and drivers alike?

Leave us a comment on Facebook or Twitter!

This great little article by the Southwest Minneapolis Patch is all about bike culture in Minneapolis...but not the bike culture as you know it now, but the bike craze of the 1890's. From "scorchers" and "wheelmen" to the impact of bicycles on the streetcar industry, you'll probably learn quite a bit about the original Twin Cities bike culture. Here are some good tidbits from the article:

In 1896 Susan B. Anthony said, “the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world.”

Bicyclists formed the League of American Wheelmen in order to lobby for better conditions. Many of the first paved roads in the United States were paved to facilitate better bicycling conditions.

Read the full article here.

On Sunday June 12 from 10am to 2pm, 20 blocks of Lyndale Avenue will be closed to car traffic as part of a new "Open Streets" event. This event will give people "the opportunity to explore and enjoy their neighborhood streets by biking, walking, and skating without the presence of motorized traffic." There will also be on-street events like music, bike classes, and games. The event is based on the Ciclovía in Bogotá, Colombia, where every Sunday the city's main streets are blocked off for pedestrians and bikes.

What a great way to interact with community and to enjoy the commerce of Lyndale on your own two feet (or wheels)!

Here's a link to the Facebook event.

Green Patriot Posters is a campaign to inspire people to build a sustainable economy, drawing inspiration from classic WWII-era posters. All of the posters were submitted by the public, and you can submit your own design right on the website. We've shared some of our favorite submissions here, but check out their poster page to see more. You can even buy an art book of the poster collection!

A mechanical pencil that keeps the point consistently pointy? What will they come up with next?!

Found on core77.com.

Designed by Solaleya, this shell-shaped beach house combines passive-solar building techniques with sophisticated sustainable technologies into one beautiful shape. It provides shade and ventilation in the summer, and plenty of insulation and heat-capturing technologies in the winter. Be sure to check out the slideshow for more pictures of this enviable home...

This recent announcement by the European Union apparently has the world in an uproar. Their new European transport plan calls for a complete ban of gas-powered cars by 2050, among other requirements such as making airlines and shipping services cut their emissions, and improving public transit services.

Now, they're not talking about banning ALL cars, just gas-powered ones. So assuming that electric cars will become more mainstream in the next 30 years, this shouldn't affect too many Europeans who rely on personal transportation - especially if public transit improves along with electric infrastructure. But some folks are concerned that people will either resist the transition or that it would affect some locations more drastically than others and that individual cities should be able to set their own restrictions. (See Grist's article.)

So the big question is: If Europe can pull it off, can the U.S. do the same? The American sentiment for the car notwithstanding, is the geography of our nation just not cut out for an all-electric transportation system? Urban areas would do just fine focusing on public transit, but what about rural areas, where you might go 50 miles between towns? If electric vehicles were the only available options, can we set up the infrastructure to support it in time? And would you rather see legislature like this enforced on a national or local level?

Share your thoughts with us on Facebook or Twitter.

The well-known local bike shop Freewheel Bike just opened up their third location in Eden Prairie! All three of their locations (West Bank + Midtown Greenway) are now connected by the Twin Cities' extensive bike trails. And, as The Line reported, the new location will support 35 new jobs! (Here's a link to their current job openings, in case you're looking.)

We think it's awesome that a local company has expanded, but especially awesome that they did it during a recession! Way to go Freewheel!

P.S. Did you know Freewheel has a Mobile Repair Squad?