Linden Hills Native Searches Out "Street Stories"

Maybe it’s because her mom once found a freezer chest full of dildos on a blind date, or maybe it’s because her dad accidentally sank a canoe in Minnehaha Creek and frightened a homeowner in the process, but Linden Hills native Joanna Solotaroff is convinced every street in Minneapolis has an interesting story to tell.

“I want to showcase where stories happen in the city, and give stories a place to live,” Solotaroff said.  “For my mom, it doesn’t matter that 30 years has passed since that date. The story will always live at that address forever.”

Solotaroff is gathering stories like these and presenting them, one at a time, in videos for MPLS.tv.

Solotaroff said she started her “Street Stories” project on a bit of a whim when she was living in Japan and needed something to look forward to on her return to Minnesota.

“I was kind of depressed because I didn’t have a creative or a community outlet,” she said. “I didn’t speak the language, I was completely illiterate. I was like a giant toddler.”

The storytelling also lines up well with her day job as a community organizer with the Longfellow Community Council.

“If you throw a bunch of stats at someone, their eyes glaze over,” she said. “But you tap someone who tells a really personal story, people will make that connection and understand the issue much better.”

Eventually, Solotaroff said she wants to map all the stories, but for now, she’s still up to her eyes in the long process of finding people who will talk about their experiences on-camera.

Want to share your story with Solotaroff? Check out her Street Stories blog.