Crossing the Bridge

Every time I cross the Stone Arch Bridge, I feel a great sense of awe.  I walk across transfixed by the intersection of natural and manmade beauty in the middle of the city.  It’s my happy place and where I find my calm.

The Stone Arch Bridge feels like an age-old pedestrian crossing, but it didn’t open to foot traffic until 1994.  The one-time railroad viaduct was built in 1881 and bisects two neighborhoods of Minneapolis that were once centers of industry, but are now districts of revitalization, places defining the city’s new cosmopolitan urbanity.

When strolling across the bridge, one sees both sides of the city.  Ruins dot the cliffs along the river, and power plant smokestacks dot the air close to the University of Minnesota, one of the last traces of Minneapolis’ industrial past.  Meanwhile, old mills and warehouses on both sides of the river have turned into lofts.  Jean Nouvel’s Guthrie Theater stands tall and blue on the western banks, and the cobblestone streets on the bridge’s eastern side come alive in the summer when friends and lovers take in accordion music and a leisurely dinner at the Aster Café, or on cold evenings before a show at the St. Anthony Main theatre.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a winter afternoon than a walk across the Stone Arch followed by coffee and pastries at the brand new Café Alma, two blocks uphill from the bridge’s east-most point.

I lived two blocks from the Stone Arch Bridge for nine months a couple years back and I miss that location every day.  Walking, running or biking across the bridge is the best way to clear one’s mind during stressful times.  It’s a great place to meet for dates, or for picnics in the nearby park.  Moreover, it’s convenient to everything, walkable from both the North Loop and Northeast and a stone’s throw away from the U.  To have such nature and beauty in the middle of the city is comforting, for the Stone Arch is also a place to stroll slowly across during moments of reflection.  Walking the bridge in the middle of the day - when it’s free of tourists and weekenders - is a form of meditation.  Something in the water, perhaps, takes all the cares of the world away and right then, right there, all there is is the magnificent scenery and a sense of belonging in the middle of a city.

Location: Stone Arch Bridge