Heads You’re Racist, Tails You’re Destroying The Climate
By Mitch Berg
A friend of the blog emails, with an accompanying social media blurb from Saint Paul City councilwoman Mitra Jalali:
Our councilwoman- Yes, there is quite a bit of vacant parking, but that’s because the city and the owners of the property made the decision to not allow the business owners to repair, but rather evicted everyone so that the Major League Soccer team could have more parking. Remember?
Prior to that, the parking lots were rarely vacant because people came to the area to support those businesses. They came to the area by car, by bus, and by walking. Now, there really isn’t much for people outside of the neighborhood to drive into the Midway for- there are some good restaurants, but lots of places have good restaurants. Those who can drive will go to the suburbs for more choice, and thus cheaper, groceries and retail options. Complaining about parking lots that are owned by businesses are not exactly the words I would use to attract any type of business back to the area…
We know the riots expedited the decline of the Midway, but we also know that propaganda policies going back to Russ Stark and Chris Coleman also played a role in the decline of the Midway. If he were any more aware than Councilwoman Jalali, Eric Molho might realize that the anti-car, anti-parking, anti-business attitude of city leadership has led us to where we are now. https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2023/06/reflecting-on-one-minneapolis-two-realities-as-a-friend-plans-a-move-outside-the-city/ His editorial could have easily been written about Saint Paul as well.
And why are we concerned about the “intensity of heat” that these parking lots produce. If there were businesses there, and if there were people coming to the businesses, those lots would be wonderful to have. What is more concerning to the neighbors of the actual area is the constant congregation of people lying around getting sun strokes while passed out drunk there, or people doing drugs worse than drinking and of course the crime that comes with those activities. Amazing that Jalali was able to find an angle to photograph herself without those elements around her. Ignoring these elements of the current landscape is also not the way to attract investment into the area.
Molho ends his editorial with “We love celebrating our parks and bike lanes but appear clueless about public safety and thriving neighborhoods.” Perhaps that is some self reflection? Perhaps all at the city leadership area should recognize their cluelessness and actually talk to the businesses leaving and talk to the businesses who are staying/who want to stay and figure out what they need. I would guess the answers would be opposite everything people like Jalali and Molho want, and the only way we get back to a reasonable city with improved economics is if activists like Jalali and Molho are humble enough to listen and learn.
I suspect Jane Prince is the only person on the council who can spell, much less practice, humility and listening.
June 13th, 2023 at 6:24 am
well this IS after all what the Citizens of St Paul voted for, isn’t it?
June 13th, 2023 at 6:49 am
Me. Jalali doesn’t get that hot parking lots don’t change climate at all, but if a thermometer is placed in one and then used to “prove” global warming exists, small brained leftists will be persuaded.
June 13th, 2023 at 6:50 am
Thanks, autocorrect. It’s Ms. not Me.
June 13th, 2023 at 9:31 am
And what do mixed use housing and commercial properties need? Why parking. I suppose she believes everyone will take the choochoo or ride their bikes while shopping or going to and from work.
Just as an aside. I lived right near Kowalski’s on Grand for 37 years. I watched the bike people lobby for a revised Ayd Mill Road so it would be bike and pedestrian friendly and connect to Jefferson then to the Greenway in Mpls. (Remember Ayd Mill was supposed to connect I94 with I 35E) We visited St. Paul last year and walked down Summit and across the bridge that spanned Ayd Mill. No one. No bikes, no pedestrians and it was a beautiful June morning. Mitch, do you bike there? Or have you noticed that it is empty? Now i understand the bike people want to totally redesign Summit avenue for their convenience. And they will be taking out most of the trees.
June 13th, 2023 at 9:37 am
Having avoided Ayd Mill for years now due to the bomb craters pockmarking it last time I used it, is it driveable yet?
Oh yeah, never saw any bikers anywhere near it either.
June 13th, 2023 at 10:49 am
The car certainly has its uses. But it is not good for making cities liveable, healthy or attractive nor for helping humans to be more mindful of each other’s needs. It is an agent of the atomization of society — with the polarizing social and political consequences we have seen develop around the world in cities and countries where the car is dominant.
The standard answer for why this exists is that Americans love cars and have lots of space. But most Americans don’t live where the space is, and Americans love other stuff too.
Changing town planning that mandates parking can only be part of the solution. Surely a successful future must involve giving people incentives (road pricing and charging for externalities) and alternatives (safe, clean, reliable, convenient public transport).
June 13th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
“Now i understand the bike people want to totally redesign Summit avenue for their convenience.” – Well, having listened to all the activists who loudly push a certain agenda through, destroying all else in their path, I would say with 100% certainty, it is not “the bike people” who want to totally redesign Summit Avenue, it is “the bikes for other people” people- in other words, those who want to see other people on bikes while they continue to drive their luxury cars around town.
June 13th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Yes, Emery, the car is the end of all that is good, which is why small towns and suburbs, built around the use of the automobile, are doing quite well in comparison to big cities, which are built around transit.
Wait……I’m going to introduce a counter-hypothesis, which is that the automobile is mostly the addition of an engine to the wagon or carriage, and is thus actually the most natural form of transportation for human beings. It is also far more efficient in actual use than buses or trains, which is something that transit advocates seem to ignore for some reason.
June 13th, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Cars are bad because they allow serfs to travel where the serfs want to go, not where the overlords want them to go.
June 13th, 2023 at 6:35 pm
Violent, 80 IQ black savages certainly seem to love cars; yours.
June 13th, 2023 at 7:12 pm
The privately owned automobile is freedom.
If you have an automobile, you can live where you want, and go where you want to go when you want to go there.
This is why the left hates privately owned automobiles (for other people).
June 13th, 2023 at 9:54 pm
“Wherever we want to go, we’ll go. That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs but what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.”
Jack Sparrow. And maybe ,in another context, Henry Ford.