What should be done about downtown St. Paul? Boosters sound off

Maybe if the mayor and city council spent less time worrying about non-issues such as smoking in bars and whether the Easter Bunny might offend somebody and more time worrying about doing their jobs something might get done other than having our taxes raised.

I would concentrate on family enteratinment options and emphasize that. Be what St. Paul is and go for that. Next would power washing clean up the pigeons and all of the pigeon poop on the sidewalks and
buildings would be a good start to getting St. Paul on the right track. You want to revitalize retail and restaraunts well then you have to get more people to live down there. That starts with having reasonably priced housing that includes parking spaces. Simple equation no bodies no restaraunts and retail that will be driven by the traffic. The Childrens museum area is a good place to start concentrate building the family desitination to St Paul. Tired of the panhandlers, there not going anywhere with Dorthy Day right there. You have to give them access to jobs and housing if you want to solve that problem. Problem is many of those guy's would rather hold up a sign and collect change.

It seems like city council are trying to please everyone but in the mean time everything gets stuck in limbo. They need to pick at direction and get something done. I agree that downtown needs a Target and a grocery store-- maybe in the Macy's location?

First, recall the mayor and city council. Get rid of the chamber of commerce. This is not a business friendly city. We import our crime. Homeowners are over taxed. People are fleeing for the suburbs. It's a very sad time for St. Paul. This city is on its death bed.

High crime and High taxes!

Diane 1 wrote:

At least the people at these meetings are being engaged and trying to come up with real, plausible solutions. The people here just keep saying Get rid of Thune, get rid of Coleman, get rid of the city council, etc. As though downtown was so lively before Coleman.....I've worked downtown for more than a decade - it wasn't. How about some REAL answers, instead of people sitting here griping? Go participate in the process!

Dear Diane1:

YOu are right on. So when the city of St. Paul is having problems we need leaders who will look inside and try to find solutions.

Just like when the city was having budget problems the Mayor did a wonderful job of....well blaming the governor for St. Paul’s problems.

So if you don’t like the blame game just remember we learned if form the mayor himself.

I would add that there is nothing wrong with the Chamber holding these meetings, but the reality is there is nothing wrong with the business community in St. Paul. In fact they are doing a tremendous job considering that lack of support from city hall.

But in order to bring new business to St. Paul lets remove the barriers that the City has put into place that makes it more expensive to operate in St. Paul versus Mpls or the first ring suburbs.

Diane 1 - I first moved to downtown in the early 90's and offer the following assessment:

- Night life / restaurants are actually more plentiful now - particularly around the Xcel and Rice park areas.

- During the business days things have gone off a cliff. Some many businesses have left downtown that I actually find it depressing during the day.

Personally, I don't think you can have a vibrant downtown without a healthy business community (which means I have a totally different view than the mayor/council).

Answer this question - why is Thune opposed to the development at Wabasha Court (skyway to nowhere)? The developer wants to put up a skyscraper (hotel/retail/condos), wants no money from the city (actually wants nothing from the city). I can't figure out for the life of me what mayor/council are opposed - other than supporting development will cost them votes.

A real grocery store in downtown would be towards the top of my priorities. Like someone said, Rivertown Market is alright, but something a little larger might be nice.

Maybe Thune and the Mayor aren't pleased with their take of the cutback. Remember what Thune did to get Mortenson Construction the contract to build the Xcel center? He was hired on as a consultant a month later.

Does anyone find it a bit fishy that the GovDelivery president who is writting a glowing review of St. Paul is making money from the city? His company delivers emails to me regarding infomraiton from city hall.

Hmmm do you think the reporter could find a less biased person? Me thinks so.

You all are nuts.... Getting rid of bad fruit like coleman,thune, mulholland and crew will just be replaced with more dfl liberal ineptitude. Let foster and finney straighten out this town, relieve the magic of 1981

The tax base has moved to the suburbs for more than a generation to escape taxes, minorities, and bigger homes. This city can't support a real and vibrant downtown with all the competition from both the burbs and Mpls. So dream on planners it isn't happening here. People like to park fro free and have a critical mass of entertaiment and shopping found in the malls and DT Mpls.

There are aalot of people DT for events but too few places to go.

Reopen GAltier cinemas as an art house.
Reopen Coney Island
More street level retail esp along Wabasha ,7th Place.
Turn Town Square in entertianment complex with nigh clubs,movie theatres.Cover it with large ads like Time sq to cover up the gray concrete(Dave Thume will oppose)

Lure Famous DAVE,Champs,Bucca dowtown
Lure VON MAUR dept store into TOWN SQ they want to expand here

Xcel put a Sport bar/health club
Roy Wilkin put a MEGA Nite club inside
Put a cinema next to ONMI theatre

ST THomas should expand with housing DT will bring more younger people DT.

Build hotels ontop of the ramps the city owned.Budget hotels DAYS INN,MOtel 6 .

more overpriced cobblestones!

move some old building around at the cost of millions!

ticket any car that dares come downtown!

Maybe if the city would allow bar/restaurant owners to be grown ups and make their own decisions about issues like smoking, I'd go back. I used to love St. Paul, go there 2-3 times per week. Now I take my wallet to Hudson, and New Richmond, where I am allowed to smoke when I drink my beer.

Diane 1 wrote:

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Well, I take the bus often, and I wait at 5th & Minnesota to catch my bus. I've never had a problem in 5 years. One time a white guy came into the shelter and asked if anyone wanted to buy some weed - that's it. And I'm a lone middle-aged skinny woman. If I can survive, I'm sure you can too - it's really not as scary as you think in big bad St. Paul!

Consider yourself LUCKY DIANE,I live Dt people scrap at the busshelter .I had 3 panhandelers within 15mins One guy was smoking pot infront of the police station.Maybe you forgot the raid when they picked alot of drug dealer at this bus stop last yr.

One thing I have never understand about both downtowns is why they have such outrageous parking lot fees. It is one of the main reasons people will not frequent these cities unless they work there. The public transit buses are a non issue with this as people don't want to be a crime victim riding or waiting at a stop for the Ghettro Transit.
At least with Mpls. there is a bit more activity. St.Paul on a weekend is like an old western ghost town full of weirdos wandering around.

As a resident of downtown St Paul, one of my biggest complaints would be the lack of shopping for necessary items such as groceries.

It's embarassing to have to many vacant storefronts in the city that I love. I would also like to see more affordable housing and more facilities for artists, who have been steadily trickling out of downtown.

Granted, the panhandlers are annoying, but so are the pigeons. They're easily ignored.

As for weekends and evenings, I feel like I live in a ghost town if a Wild game isn't being played.

However, my biggest complaint as of late is the constant construction at ridiculous hours. Being woken up by a jackhammer at 7:00am is not a quality of a neighborhood I want ot live in.

As a musician and frequent visitor to night clubs and concert halls, lack of night life is a very real issue. I love Saint Paul, and much prefer living here over Minneapolis, mostly because of the beautiful neighborhoods that are all close to downtown too! However, when I want to go see a band, I hardly ever find a single thing to do downtown. It is always on University at the Turf or Big V's or I have go all the way into Minneapolis to see something. The Artist's Quarter is cool, but what indie rock, hip-hop, etc. The pool of talent in the Twin Cities is second to NONE! Saint Paul should really embrace that.