East Lake Open Streets scheduled July 24

Article and photos by MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN

E. Lake St. can be an unfriendly street for bikers. According to the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, 13,000-15,000 cars use Lake St. east of Hiawatha every day. With the high volume of traffic and the tendency for drivers to speed, biking there can be pretty scary.

There is one compelling reason to bike E. Lake St. though, even if it means riding on the sidewalk sometimes. You can find all the essential stuff of life if you know where to go, and plenty of other stuff that’s just plain fun too.

Photo left: Kym Erickson, manager of Soderberg’s Floral (3305 E. Lake St.), with Princess, the shop dog. “What makes our business succeed? We have been designing and delivering the best floral arrangements in town for 91 years.”

E. Lake St. has been a bustling commercial corridor for well over a hundred years. The Longfellow neighborhood is home to two of its original businesses: the American Rug Laundry (4222 E. Lake St.) and Soderberg’s Floral (3305 E. Lake St.). All along the street, established businesses sit next to, or near, new enterprises. This eclectic mix is part of what makes a bike ride or a walk down E. Lake St. an adventure and opens your eyes to a rapidly changing urban corridor.

Photo right: Iris Eyestone, an employee of Northern Sun (2916 E. Lake St.), in front of a selection of their custom, preprinted T-Shirts. Also available are posters, buttons, canvas bags, yard signs, flags and banners for progressive causes since 1979. Little known fact: bring in a ticket stub from The Riverview Theater and receive a free bumper sticker.

The second East Lake Open Streets will take place this year on Sun., July 24 from 11am–5pm. For six hours, the street will be closed to motorized traffic between 42nd Ave. to the east and Elliot Ave. to the west. Bicyclists, wheelchairs and pedestrians will be able to roll and stroll right down the middle of the street without having to dodge traffic. There will be special events and activities all day long. It’s a great opportunity to think about how we use our streets, and to connect with neighbors and business owners.

Check the website a week or so before the date to get the final schedule at www.openstreetsmpls.org/east_lake.

Open Streets may be the best day of the year for those operating under their own power, but what about the other 364 days? Consider an ordinary day, on an ordinary block of E. Lake St., between 42nd and 41st avenues. A person can get an awesome tattoo (Leviticus Tattoo), find a competent therapist (The Family Partnership), have their teeth cleaned (West River Dental Care) fix their PC (Que Computer) or vaccinate their cat (East Lake Animal Clinic), all without having to leave the block.

The Open Streets event celebrates and magnifies what happens here every single day of the year: people working hard in a variety of practical and creative ways.

Photo left: John and Midori Flomer, of Midori’s Floating World Cafe (2629 E. Lake St.), said, “Our sushi is delicious and rolled by hand, but people may not know is that our tempura is right up there too.“ Both John and Midori are art school graduates and chose the restaurant’s name as a reference to a style of Japanese art called Floating World.

As the street has pulled itself up by its bootstraps in the last fifteen years, businesses have flourished in what is known as, “The East Lake Renaissance.” Take, for example, the intersection of 39th Ave, and East Lake. Ten years ago, the intersection had only one viable business: The Blue Moon Coffee Shop (NW corner), which recently marked its 24th anniversary.

In 2016, all four corners of the intersection are solidly anchored. At the nearly-new restaurant Peppers and Fries (NE corner), diners are rewarded with burgers so good they recently won the Twin Cities Burger Battle for 2016. The Frattallone’s Ace Hardware Store (SE corner) is a welcome presence in the neighborhood, selling nursery stock free of neonicotinoids and affordable Christmas trees. The Longfellow Market (SW corner) is doing what seems nearly impossible, making a “go” of it as a small, independent grocery store.

Every block or intersection has its own story to tell, and those stories have changed as the decades have rolled by.

D & Z Auto Sales (3722 E. Lake St.) is one of the few remaining used car dealerships that used to line E. Lake St. By the late 1960’s, the area was known as “the used car haven of the western world.” The sale, repair, and use of cars defined E. Lake for decades as Automobile Row.

It was the re-location of car lots to surrounding suburbs (where land was cheaper) that prompted E. Lake’s nosedive in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. There simply weren’t businesses large enough to re-use those spaces, and the many large, vacant lots deteriorated with the presence of drugs, crime, and prostitution.

But the streetscape has changed again, that’s for sure. E. Lake St. is drawing diners galore to its array of ethnic restaurants. Its diverse businesses, many of which will spill out onto their sidewalks for East Lake Open Streets, are cranking out all kinds of services. Need a handcrafted hardwood cover for your radiator? Check out Prairie Woodworking (3535 E. Lake St.). Or what about a manicure or pedicure? Daisy Nails (3015 E. Lake St.) offers a rainbow of polish colors and friendly service—and, if your car is in need of a tune-up, Saigon Garage (3028 E. Lake St.) is conveniently located across the street.

Years ago, the sign above the Midas Muffler (601 E. Lake St.) used to say in English and Spanish, “East Lake is great, and getting better.” Come out and celebrate that spirit and energy with East Lake Open Streets on July 24.