Maggie Lile, features editor

Using gas? Paying for parking? Driving during rush hour? Skip the car ride! This past weekend, just a short five minute walk from Augsburg’s campus, a conglomerate of local gems celebrated the community that still lives within the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, as well as showcased what it could be in the near future. 

Advertised as a “block party with a purpose,” Imagine Cedarfest is exactly that; local businesses, nonprofits, artists, musicians and performers all banding together to demonstrate the beauty of community. Our Streets, the host of Imagine Cedarfest, is a Twin Cities-native organization that preaches the importance of safe, comfortable and equitable streets that thrive through the utilization of public transportation, bikes and our very own two feet. With multiple different campaigns and events sprinkled across the metro area, Our Streets puts pressure on the city and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to start putting people and their communities first. 

But what is the importance of rethinking the streets of our city? While interstates and highways are a staple of American transportation, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a ripple effect for the people and places that these highways end up burying. The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is one prime example of the destruction that comes with the construction of mass transportation networks disregarding the sanctity of community. Homes and businesses once flourished within the diversity and community that was fostered on the streets and centers of Cedar-Riverside. Then, with MnDOT’s construction of I-94 in the 1960s, the interstate ripped through the area, gutting the streets of the life that was there. Homes were destroyed, business collapsed and thousands of local citizens were displaced all in the name of I-94. 

On Sept. 8, the streets were taken back. Cedar Avenue and Riverside Avenue cut off access for cars and embraced pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and more to roam freely throughout the streets. Traffic laws were broken and the red, yellow and green street lights went ignored as the block was used to honor our current place in time rather than putting an emphasis on what we’re doing or where we’re going next. In anticipation of over 1,000 attendees, tents exhibited arts and crafts, food trucks fed the community, weiner dogs raced down the pavement, singers sang and speakers spoke out and locals and visitors alike here in Cedar-Riverside were well-nourished. 

Volunteers are the backbone of Cedarfest — in a swarm of faces and helping hands dressed up in a neon yellow vest, it’s amazing what can be done. If hands-on action, community building or celebrating culture and history is something you’re into, you should look into volunteering for Imagine Cedarfest when it rolls around again next year. Or, if you just can’t bear to wait all the way till then, explore the other outlets that Open Streets provide to make a difference all across the Twin Cities!