Hello neighbors!

I knew searching the Internet for audio walking tours would turn up loads of tours of London, New York and Rome (of varying quality and mission).  But I didn't expect to find one in my own back yard.

Turns out a group of residents in Northeast Minneapolis are also teaching themselves to placecast . The project's mission (it's put on by the community group ARTSHARE) is simply stated:

The Audio-Guided Walking tours will show Northeast as a collective of many experiences and a vital neighborhood with a past, present and future!

That's a tall order.  Past, present OR future could generate hours of audio in any particular location.  But this group seems to be working hard to zoom into a handful of topics that represent larger themes in their neighborhood.  The three tours they plan to produce focus on:

1. Bottineau Park -- along the river in the heart of old Northeast
2. Eccentric and Eclectic -- visiting some of the neighborhood's iconic restaurants featuring foods from all over the world
3. Trolley Tour -- follows an old street car line down 13th Ave, past art galleries, restaurants and a LOT of churches.  These folks say this street has more churches than any other in the world.  Now that's worth a tour!

View ArtShare NE Walking Tours in a larger map

The group working on the project looks like a mix of ages and backgrounds...the kind of mix the Northeast neighborhood is known for here in the Twin Cities.  From their blog :

It is our plan put together tours that show Northeast as a collective of many experiences and not a singular voice of the past, present or future.

These probably aren't walking tours for tourists.  While a scan of their blog didn't immediately reveal a target audience, it seems like they're putting together placecasts for the people who already live and work there.  This is part of the promise of placecasting...it's a tool not just for informing newcomers, but also for enriching the relationship residents have with the world around them.  There is a lot of fascinating history and energy pent up in homes, churches and businesses that isn't spilling forth into the streets.  It takes a project like this to collect it and present it to people.  Sometimes people need help getting to know their neighbors.

I'm excited to watch this project progress.  I'd like to pay them a visit as they produce the audio they're gathering from festivals, street scenes, business owners, long-time residents, new immigrants and more traditional oral histories.

I'm proud this project is going on in my home town and I wish the team good luck.  Final podcasts are due out in August.