Mayor Coleman on St. Paul: 3 major projects, 1 big obstacle

In less than three weeks, St. Paul residents can get a new view of their city by riding the Green Line from a renovated Union Depot, past a Capitol getting a facelift and along a University Avenue experiencing millions of dollars of new housing construction. A grocery store and ballpark are helping change the image of a sleepy downtown, and the huge Ford Plant site is ripe for redevelopment.

On The Daily Circuit Thursday, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said he's looking at the changes as a lifelong resident.

"I've watched it change over the years," he said. "I've watched plants like the Schmidt Brewery and the Hamms Brewery close, Ford leave St. Paul and 3M... In my mind, it's really an unprecedented period in my life in the city of St. Paul and it's just fun to see it all happening."

The city is capitalizing on the revived nationwide interest from younger people and empty nesters who want to live in walkable and transit-accessible core cities.

But St. Paul still has a lot of work to do to support the new developments and build infrastructure to get people to the destinations.

3 St. Paul developments to watch

1. Central corridor, light rail

There has been more than $2 billion in investment along the new Green Line through St. Paul's Central Corridor, Coleman said. That includes private resources.

"What you're seeing is literally people reinvesting in neighborhoods across the city," he said.

2. Ford Plant site

The former site of the Ford Plant in the Highland Park neighborhood is one of the most exciting development opportunities in the city, Coleman said. The prime real estate along the Mississippi River, minutes from the airport, could become a major draw for new residents, he said.

But don't expect anything to happen quickly. Coleman said the 130-acre site is still in a cleanup phase and won't get into the hands of developers until mid-2015. Depending on the amount of pollution and cleanup required, it's realistic to expect the site to be a 20- to 30-year project.

A caller who lives in the neighborhood expressed concern about how the development will change the neighborhood's dynamic.

"One of the things we have to be careful of is not overwhelming the existing neighborhood," Coleman said.

The development will likely incorporate additional transit options to alleviate traffic concerns, he said.

3. Neighborhood development, Arlington Hills Community Center

On St. Paul's East Side, Coleman hopes the $15 million investment will help anchor all of the additions along Payne Avenue. The community center includes a library and recreation area.

1 major obstacle: Crumbling roads, infrastructure

Despite all of the developments, several callers expressed concern about the major arteries that get residents to the new destinations.

It would cost $20 million a year to fix the problems plaguing the city's roads, Coleman said. Many of the city's arterial streets need to be completely rebuilt, because they've deteriorated to the point that repairs are ineffective.

"We can patch them; we can seal-coat them; we can do all kinds of things to them," he said. "But everything that we do is really just a very short — sometimes even for a season — fix to a problem."

Coleman said roads across the state are suffering from the same lack of upkeep.

He argues that paying for the necessary road construction locally would be impossible and unfair. In St. Paul, it would mean a 20 percent hike in city property taxes. Instead, he'd like to see an increase in state gas and wheelage taxes.

In the meantime, Coleman says he's asked city budget and public works officials to come up with a plan to rebuild what he's dubbed the "terrible 20" worst miles of pavement in St. Paul.

Learn more about the latest St. Paul projects:

• List of St. Paul construction projects (Pioneer Press)

• Tracking development along the Green Line
The Met Council tracked 121 new construction and redevelopment projects planned, under construction or completed within a half-mile of the $957 million line. The $2.5 billion total could be higher because the investment figures for about 43 projects haven't been made public. (Finance and Commerce)

• What to do with St. Paul's Ford site: Lots of fuzzy ideas, but no plan
In kicking off last night's session, Mayor Chris Coleman urged the audience to help develop "a new vision for the Ford site and do it in a way that enhances the river and this wonderful neighborhood." (MinnPost)