Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ St. Paul is not the only city where a downtown stadium is causing controversy. NY is also considering a proposal to build a stadium for the Jets on Manhattan's Westside. A letter to the editor of the NY Times today about that proposal seemed to me to apply to the St. Paul situation as well. It is as follows:
"To tie up several viable Manhattan [or St. Paul] blocks with monolithic structures that will only support conventions and sports events ignores the lessons learned from the urban renewal era, when intricate blocks of varied uses were cleared for sterile and generally single-function complexes in cities across the United States. One need only to look at the barren sidewalks that surround the present Javits Center [or River Centre] to get a sense of what either or both these projects would add to the West Side. The city would be better off developing these blocks with a mix of apartments, offices, retail and institutional space � uses that will draw people at all times of the day, week and year and be of greater value to a broader range of city residents and visitors. DANIEL CAMPO Philadelphia, March 2, 2004 The writer is a lecturer in the department of city and regional planning, University of Pennsylvania. The above seems worth considering in our own stadium debate. Also, I was in The Glockenspiel last night and it was packed. Had to wait a while for a table. It was not crowded with people who came downtown for an event elsewhere, just people enjoying themselves on West 7th Street. The argument that West 7th St. owes its increasing vitality to the Xcel Center is I think open to question. Charlie Swope Ward 1 _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ 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/
