From Kingfield to Highland Park, through Tangletown and Nokomis, my commute to school is long but rewarding. Biking is by no means the quickest way to get to school. However, the extra time I spend pedaling through neighborhoods has some unexpected benefits.

One such benefit is having more time to observe my surroundings and really see what is going on in the Twin Cities. It gives me a sense that local politics are more than just lines on a newspaper.

On the first leg of my journey I breeze past lawns teeming with political posters. “Ilhan” written in a graceful script. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith both went with a lime green and navy blue poster (I guess that was big with the focus groups).

In Kingfield many people set up signs encouraging people to register to vote.

I see many signs condemning the Minneapolis 2040 plan (Developers Win! NEIGHBORS LOSE!). A lone poster stands proud, advocating for “Neighbors for more neighbors.”

The problem with the 2040 plan according to to Jessica Lee for MinnPost is “A proposal to allow multi-family housing of up to four units (fourplexes) across the city — including in neighborhoods now currently zoned exclusively for single-family homes.”

The most common sign these days are striped in turquoise and colors worthy of a sunset, written over with clean white lettering, proclaiming “All Are Welcome Here.” The company that creates and distributes these signs sums up their mission with a Maya Angelou quote: “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

Seeing these signs everyday is nice way to start the morning.

Discourse is alive and well in the Twin Cities community. A new debate can be discovered on every block. All one has to do to find the current discussions over local news is to look at their neighbor’s front yard.