Lake Street

I live on the far west side of Minneapolis. Yesterday I had a meeting on the far east side of Minneapolis' twin city, St Paul. There are several ways to get from one city to the other, most involving highways, but given the snow and the crawling pace of traffic, I chose to take the direct route on one of the more famous streets in Minneapolis and in St. Paul.

I live a few blocks off of a street named Excelsior which turns into Lake Street as you near Lake Calhoun, one of the uptown lakes in Minneapolis. It continues to be called Lake Street until you cross the Mississippi and enter St. Paul, where it becomes Marshall. I don't know as much about the history of Marshall, but I do know Excelsior and Lake Street quite well.

When I first moved to Minneapolis, some thirty plus years ago Excelsior was where my friends and I would go to party. There were a few bars with music and tons of people. And there was Miracle Mile - probably one of the original strip malls in the states. The rest of Excelsior was a blur to me - I don't recall there being any other reason to be on Excelsior.

Lake street had distinct areas - uptown on the west, the large Sears store and K-Mart as you headed toward the less reputable parts of Lake Street and then the east side, which consisted of an odd assortment of stores, bars, and a few houses.

When Dennis and I lived in south Minneapolis, I often drove this route going west to take him to the emergency center or the hospital, which are just a bit west of where I live now. It was always rush hour, after I came home from work and the drive seemed to be a chore. I was tired, hungry and Dennis was hurting somewhere, somehow.

Yesterday I thought about how this route has evolved over the years. Miracle Mile is still a mainstay of Excelsior on the south end, but the bars on the north side have been replaced by medical clinics, chain stores and restaurants and condominiums galore. As it turns into Lake Street, the uptown area was once a bustling shopping stop full of unique stores. It has changed many times over the years, but it has always been a place for the independent minded to live and congregate.

The next part of Lake street has it mainstays - but the culture of the street has changed. What was one time considered a fairly dangerous part of town filled with drugs and hookers and drunks, has become a multi-cultural plethora of ethnic restaurants and stores.

I could go on, but I won't.

What crossed my mind as I drove this road was how much life has changed since I first moved here. Life is always evolving, as is this street.

There was some peace in thinking about that yesterday. Just a little bit of peace.