There is a tremendous amount of development activity on University Avenue right now, some of it driven by the anticipation of light rail being built in the next 5-10 years. I too ride the 16/50 on a regular basis, and count on one or the other of them to come about every 8-10 minutes. But at most times of day the 16 is full, frequently standing room only, and sometimes the driver even has to turn people away who are waiting because there is no room to cram in any more bodies. The demand for transit in this corridor will only increase in the future as traffic congestion continues to worsen and thousands of new housing units are built along the university Avenue Corridor. Light Rail is needed to greatly increase the capacity of transit service. It can move a lot more people, and more quickly. Right now, leaving my office at University and Prior, I have to allow about 40-45 minutes to reliably get to a meeting downtown on time, between waiting for the bus and then the slow crawl of starts and stops along the way. I can (and occasionally do) ride my bike and get there significantly faster, and driving/parking also takes about half as long. From a transportation perspective, capacity and travel time are the too biggest advantages of light rail. The less tangible benefit is that for a variety of reasons, more people will ride the train than the bus. A recent survey found that about 40% of rush-hour riders on Hiawatha LRT previously drove alone to work.
As far as development on University, I certainly agree that there is value in the organic qualities of the street and its diversity of uses and cultures. University UNITED has been working over the past several years to ensure that development around the major transit nodes on the corridor is compact, mixed-used and transit-oriented. I think a lot of people don't understand that these goals are not about pointy-headed planning, but rather about making a more vibrant, livable, pedestrian-friendly community. The competitive advantage that cities have over suburbs is their density which tends to improve mobility and creates easy access to many if not all of the places that one needs to go. My quality of life is improved greatly by the fact that I can walk to work, to the store, to restaurants, to daycare, etc., and take the bus to many of the other places that I go on a regular basis. As far as development on the Avenue, the Rondo Library/Dale Street apartments on the former Faust site will be a great addition, and with no surface parking, with underground parking for the library, the library on the first floor, parking for the housing above on the 2nd floor, and 3 stories of affordable apartments above. New housing and commercial developments are also being planned for the northeast corner of University and Dale, and the southeast corner of University and St. Alban's. The brand new 2-story Western Bank building a block west also adds to the sense of investment in the area. On the far western end of University, Emerald Gardens (condos and ownership townhomes) and 808 Berry Place (apartments) have been so successful that Metro Lofts is now being added to the north on University, Carleton Lofts has just been announced in the old Johnson Bros. distribution center east of University and Raymond, and the US Bank at University and Raymond is going to be torn down and rebuilt with housing above. These 5 projects combined will have added about 1,000 new housing units. The skinny little park that Paul referred to is Dickerman Park on the north-side of University between Fairview and Aldine, and it is being redeveloped to look and feel more like a park. This new greenspace asset will complement the recent additions at Episcopal Homes, and the Midway YMCA hopes to rebuild in the coming years, possibly as part of a mixed-use housing development. The CVS (not Costco) is going in on the northwest corner of University and Snelling under the compromise brokered by Jay Benanav (unfortunately the building still will not face the corner and still will be one-story) and there are very active negotiations and discussions about the redevelopment of the former Snelling bus garage. At Lexington, a new Aldi's grocery store (1-story, facing the parking lot, now windows facing the street, boo-hoo) is going in, as well as a new 2-story TCF bank branch. The remainder of the site is still undetermined, but we're hopeful that it will include housing and be pretty dense and urban. On the northwest corner, Hoa Bien restaurant is rebuilding and adding banquet spaces. 2 blocks west, the school district is getting ready to build a new 2-story facility to house the Area Learning Center and other programs. Much of this development, though spurred by the strong housing and retail markets in the area, have been done in the context of community-based planning and participation, and in almost every case the projects have come out better for it. We'll continue to sharpen the points on our heads and work toward a University Avenue where transit, walking, and compact, mixed-use development will make for an even better community and city. Russ Stark Hamline Midway -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 2:57 AM To: stpaul@mnforum.org Subject: [StPaul] University Avenue Developments Hi All! During my bus travels on the well-served University Avenue corridor (light rail not necessary) I have observed that there are at least three prime corners cleared and ready to build upon, not to mention the huge Bus Barn site. I have to confess that I have not been up to speed on some things of late, so pardon me if this is a spent topic, but I am curious as to what is going in and what folks think about it. Snelling: Nice new little drive-up bank is gone, looks like adjacent Viking Village Smorgasborg (dating myself) is ready to raze. Is Costco going in? Did they compromise on the design? Lexington: I'm not quite old enough to remember Lexington Park, but one can see the original retaining wall to the behind the first base/right field line and imagine balls going out of the park to left field and hitting the extant strip of shops on the East side of Lexington. What's going in? Sure looks like a good spot for a Lowe's or a Super Target or Walmart, but Menards did a great job of building at Prior (sure miss the drunken teenage parties at the Twins Motel) and Target and Walmart are already just up the street. Maybe it will get one of those new "Old-looking" multihousing developments. You could make a pretty good sized neighborhood out of it. Dale: The Faust is gone and so is the open air market. What's next? I really love University. It has always been a crazy quilt of shops large and small, bars, wholesalers and manufacturers and the world's skinniest "park". It has been allowed to evolve without much pointy-headed "planning" and is a rich tapestry for it. It's a great symbol for the enduring vitality of St Paul. Paul Kuettel St Paul See my site! www.kuettels.com Read my blog! www.wogsblog.com ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: stpaul@mnforum.org 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/ ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: stpaul@mnforum.org 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/
