Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ I just want to chime in on previous discussions from the last couple of days:
>> The argument that West 7th St. owes its >> increasing vitality to the Xcel Center is I think >> open >> to question. > >Not to anyone who lives in the area. As much as I hate >to admit it (I was as adamantly against bonding for it >as I am for any public dollars for baseball), the Xcel >center has been a genuine boon to W. 7th. >Well it was promoted as a way to make ALL OF DOWNTOWN a more >attractive place. Yes it has helped some business in the W7th area, >but.... Where is all the nightclubs that were gonna benefit from it? >Where are all the new stores in DT that were supposed to open and >revitilize all of DT? Now that I have my own small business about 2.5 miles away from Xcel on West 7th Street, I have a much better perspective. During the Winter Carnival, with the Ice Castle and all the activity down there, we saw no noticeable increase to our business. The same goes for just about any other concert, event, Wild game, etc. Simply put, we are just too far from downtown to realize any tangible benefit from a structure like that. The benefits for us have come in largely intangible things. Since the opening of the Xcel Center, people from Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs are more familiar with St. Paul in general because they have been here or have a reason to come here periodically. Many of our customers come from places like Eagan, Woodbury, Minneapolis, etc. because we advertising in a few niche market publications. Invariably the comment that comes back to me from these customers is something like this, "Oh yeah, I know where the Xcel is. We went there for (fill in the blank) and your place is right on the way so you were easy to find. Now that I know you are here, I'll start coming in more often." People see Xcel as a place, a landmark, a point of reference and an event. They typically associate it with something fun and exciting and they overlay the fact that it is in St. Paul thereby giving them a positive view of the city. In short, it did give the city a much needed PR shot in the arm. I don't think that anyone can deny that. But I think it largely stops there. Businesses have done the rest of the work. >From my standpoint I see how ludicrous the argument is that the addition of another venue of this type within the city will add to *incremental* growth that is proportionate to the construction and operational costs. Rather, I think that the addition of such a facility will be primarily *dilution* in respect to bringing business to St. Paul. We have one facility to attract non-residents to our fine city, we don't need another one. Those who claim otherwise are also prone to the "bigger, faster, more" syndrome that captures far too many people in our society. More and bigger is not always better - and in this case, many argue that it could be worse. Both Steve and I have signed a petition of support to the 4 council members that voted against raising the bar and restaurant tax for the stadium. We did so based on the principle that businesses should not be the ones to determine taxes of citizens. Now as residents we are not against raising taxes to pay for basic city services, but also see a tax increase to benefit the construction of a stadium as something that is inconsistent with what the city needs to be focusing on for the long term. We have many other projects in this city that need a higher level of commitment and support. In short - is the Xcel a good thing? Yes, I believe it is. Would a new stadium in DT be 'more good'? I don't think so and am still waiting for someone to change my mind from a social, community AND financial standpoint. Paul Skrbec West 7th resident and small business owner _____________________________________________ 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/
