Our cities are a little like Charlie Brown.
Every time Lucy puts the ball on the ground, Charlie remembers all the times she’s pulled the ball away. And yet, he has faith; maybe this will be the first time.
Lucy’s back:
Let’s make sure we’re clear on this – the only “fans” of this idea are the members of the non-profit/industrial complex and the consultant class, who’ll benefit handsomely from it.
As they did from light rail, and the “urban reimagining” of which it is a part.
As they did from the Saint Paul Port Authority’s grandiose, costly, failed urban utopian visionmongering.
As they did from “Urban Renewal”, which did the opposite of renew urban life, replacing old downtowns with sterile, brutalist concrete canyons (see also – Downtown Saint Paul, from Minnesota to Jackson).
A friend of the blog emailed:
I94 was built to “revitalize” middle class Black neighborhood and poor white neighborhood. Historically, it is now said to have destroyed the Rondo neighborhood businesses.
But, people were not defeated. Black businesses persisted. Businesses by Immigrants from Asian countries also moved in. Perhaps I94 worked. It revitalized!
How dare they. So the Green Line was built to “revitalize” marginalized neighborhoods of working class Americans (of all races, ethnicities).
It kind of worked-businesses closed or left to areas that were no longer on Green Line. Many Black owned, Asian American owned, and immigrant owned businesses left.
Any hope of retail that appealed to work class neighbors was squashed by Allianz Field construction. It was further solidified once the remaining businesses were allowed to be destroyed in the 2020 riots.
Yet, our elites must believe there are still too many of the wrong people lurking around the neighborhood. We need to be further revitalized out of the community. Maybe Bill McGuire and his soccer fans are scared of us. Thus, people like Councilmember Mitra Jalali and urbanist activists propose to once again destroy what communities have built around.
In a city destroyed, over and over, by urban planning dilettantes, this is yet another fun project for the urban wonk class, which will be paid for literally by taxpayers, and figuratively by generations of the urban miserable yet unborn.
There is always taxpayer money available to build a better MN.
I know there are some (ex-)St Paulites here, but that sentence about how I94 was built to “revitalize” middle class Black neighborhood and poor white neighborhood. The follow-up sentence about Rondo I already know, but I was not aware of of the unintended consequences aspect.
jdm;
Whenever DemoCommies are involved, one must always expect “unintended consequences”. But then, after the whole plandemic, urban riots, stolen elections, the January 6 kangaroo court and the utter collapse of our economy, it’s hard to tell the difference between intended and unintended consequences.
Contrast and compare:
Big government planning big, spending big, failing big: Midway, Downtown Saint Paul, Nicollet mall (renewal #16)……
Versus
– A simple zoning change that turned Grand Ave into an end-to-end success.
Neither this “revitalization” plan or the “put a lid on 94” plan will provide “affordable housing”. They both would promote gentrification, meaning less affordable housing, at least initially. After the revitalized residents in the area realize that their mobility and access have been made more difficult and then move away, the gentrified homes can begin their descent into “affordable” status.
Sure, you can have an affordable house in the Rondo neighborhood. But not the land it sits on.
https://rondoclt.org/about-rondo-clt/how-does-it-work/
Keep wondering if MN DOT is really stupid enough to rip up I94. I guess they are if they listened to activists on the I35 construction in St Paul and made a section of it a “parkway” in order to “reduce speeds” and keep semi trucks traffic off the freeway. So, they probably are that stupid.
It may boil down to Walz’s election concerns- will he appoint an activist to be the new MN DOT Commisioner or will he appoint someone reasonable. Are there any reasonable candidates that even apply? Best to work hard for the Republican candidate who can best beat Walz…
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This is exactly the kind of project Pedo Joe’s handlers had in mind for their infrastructure program.
Remember the new tax for “Art, roads and transit”? How’d that work out for you? Lol…
Could i get some clarification here? Is the plan to: 1. rip out I-94 and replace it with a broad boulevard for cars and choo choos or 2. leave I-94 and build a massive parkland on top of it? I have heard both of those moronic plans. thanks.
Bettyboop- activists seem to have scrapped the “freeway cap” parkland on top of I94 in favor of ripping it out and replacing it with a broad boulevard for bicycles and sidewalks (and maybe cars if there is enough space?).
The goal is obviously to leave White suburban people no option but to share choo-choo trains with feral black thugs. It will work for awhile in a shithole urban area like the Twin Cities, until the supply of 8oIQ White leftists who are still able to walk dwindles.