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Good morning, Minnesota! Read to the end for a very important public service announcement 🚲 On to the news 📢

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune

If you're looking for an affordable rental in the Twin Cities, it might be time to act. 

Vacancy rates have steadily grown over the last four years, but a slowdown in construction and increasing demand for housing in Minnesota's most populous region may soon combine to create a perfect storm that puts renters at a disadvantage. Reporter Jim Buchta took a look at a few trends in rental construction and demand.

Here are three key takeaways from his research:

• The Twin Cities metro area consistently lands among the most-searched markets in the nation. The region was No. 1 in RentCafe's monthly rental activity report in August. The following month, it was No. 3. The report's authors concluded that the rankings indicate interest in renters from within the state and from outside its boundaries.

• Construction is slowing down. Builders put together nearly 10,000 new apartment units in 2022. So far this year, Minneapolis and St. Paul have opened just over 1,800.

• Rents are already rising. The average rent in the Twin Cities metro during the third quarter of 2020 was $1,293. Now? It tops $1,500.

You can read the rest of the story here.

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Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune

It’s been an eventful week for the Taste team, with a flurry of restaurant news and openings. Highlights include the debut of Minari, the latest from Daniel del Prado’s restaurant group, and news that Jester Concepts has snapped up Rustica bakery and has plans to expand. (South of the river, please!🙏 ) There’s more news to come, but we can’t talk about that yet.

We’re also starting to set the table for holiday entertaining. Today's installment has everything you need to know about curating your home bar, with recommendations that get the most bang for your buck on wines, beer, spirits and glassware. We didn’t forget NA beverages, and there’s also a primer on serving THC beverages. Hint: Read the labels.

If you’re a cocktail fan and a music lover, pick up the forthcoming “Bury the Lede” cocktail book by Dessa and master mixologist Marco Zappia. The book pairs recipes with songs from her current album — also called "Bury the Lede" —  with bonus essays from Dessa. Nancy Ngo talked to them about the endeavor, and it's a work of art.

Coming next week: We go all in on Thanksgiving recipes, so don’t finish that holiday menu just yet.

- Nicole Hvidsten, Taste editor

@lgmitchell via Bluesky

Minneapolis, we need to talk.

There was a time when I would attempt to bike home from my side gig at the University of Minnesota's Murphy Hall. That was until I kept finding myself pedaling toward motorists driving inside the protected bike lane on 20th Avenue between Riverside Avenue and S. 8th Street. So I was glad to see Laura Mitchell bring up the same concern on Bluesky the other day.

If you do this, could you please just ... I dunno. Stop? And if you know someone who does this, it's long past time to stage an intervention.

Eder Campuzano, reporter

David Taintor, editor