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First of all, the credit for stopping a Home Depot store on the corner of Lexington and University should really go to Home Depot themselves. This company had at least two different purchase agreements for the site, but would not go forward without significant public assistance (I forget the amount). However, they were not interested in working with the community or the city, and failed to proceed without this money being handed to them. The Lex-Ham Community Council and University United (among others I am sure) did not support the auto-focused, big-box, single use building for this corner. I believe that Home Depot realized that they would have an uphill battle to get city money, and they just gave up. That is a good thing. And on this, I may disagree with my neighbors. It is still debated whether putting up the wrong building is better than the current blight. Many in my mixed economic neighborhood take their car to Woodbury or Eagan, and wonder why we can't have a Home Depot of our own. However, the fact is that this corner is special, and a lack of patience is why the corner is the way it is. University Av. is a great street, and has always been a targeted boulevard for big projects. Unfortunately, many of those projects have been big on flash, but lacking any vision or planning. Lexington, with the parkway characteristic south of I-94 and its connection with Como Park, is a beautiful thoroughfare that should be carefully preserved. It has been planned, and development along it should continue to respect that planning. Unfortunately, a Home Depot store is completely wrong for the corner. A huge parking lot between the street and the store, a lack of potential transit riders or density, suburban building aesthetics and huge automobile traffic would be the recipe for a temporary building. Many of these types of development don't last 30 years, but I think it is reasonable to predict that a Home Depot would not last 10. University Av. is a transit corridor. It has the highest transit potential of any corridor in the country without LRT. Soon, some version of fixed path transit (LRT or BRT) will be instituted. Lexington is one of the nodes of this transit network. In order to take advantage of the benefits of transit, you must have a density and variety of ridership. Luckily, transit often encourages that type of development. Where low-density development occurs along transit corridors, either the development or the transit system fail. In addition, as a major intersection, the corner will be more successful if it is built pedestrian and urban friendly. Some of that means that the corner should be built up, we should avoid large seas of asphalt, pedestrians should have windows and doors to look into, and entrances should be closer to the street, and bus and LRT stops. Anyhow, I am happy that Home Depot was "stopped" (at least for now). I would rather wait another 5 years than be forced to do this again in 10. I will use my second post to update the list on what I know about potential development of the corner. Jim Mogen Past President Lex-Ham Community Council Board Member, University United St. Paul _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
