{"id":444,"date":"2007-02-12T07:54:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-12T13:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php\/index.php\/2007\/02\/12\/whose-scale\/"},"modified":"2007-02-12T07:57:20","modified_gmt":"2007-02-12T13:57:20","slug":"whose-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=444","title":{"rendered":"Whose Scale?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Strib’s editorial this morning clucks about the way Saint Paul’s University Avenue strip <\/a>– one of the most successful areas in Minnesota, both in terms of big commerce (Midway Center, with its row of big-box retailers) and smaller enterprise (the two miles of Asian businesses that turned the Avenue, over a couple of decades, from a wretched decayed toilet to a generally decent place) is scaled.<\/p>\n

They have a plan, <\/span>you see:<\/p>\n

The plan, prepared by Urban Strategies of Toronto after months of discussions with residents, is extraordinary. It depicts clearly the challenges St. Paul faces in remaking one of Americas ugliest urban strips in a way that doesnt chase away immigrant shops or low-income residents but adds vitality, beauty, safety and convenience. The plan lists 90 initiatives, including the infilling of big-box parking lots with sidewalk-oriented businesses — a gradual transition from suburban to urban form. “The result will be stronger businesses, more vibrant neighborhoods and a more beautiful urban place,” the plan proclaims.<\/p>\n

One of the options they don’t <\/span>list, unfortunately, is “changing the type of transit chosen for the strip”.<\/p>\n

The Met Council has committed Saint Paul to “light rail” for the Central Corridor – the same big, fast trains used on the Ventura Trolley. This option will require University – Saint Paul’s backbone (forget about I94) to be torn apart for the better part of a decade.<\/p>\n

Leave aside the advisability of rail transit in a relatively low-density city like Saint Paul (I’m not dogmatically anti-transit, but the Met Council’s choices in this area give one plenty of room to be agnostic about the issue and still have plenty to rage against) for a moment; the Met Council had several options that would have done a vastly <\/span>better job of connecting the downtowns and <\/span>not gutted the middle of Saint Paul:<\/p>\n