The Mississippi riverfront is what makes the Ford Site truly special, and twice now the Planning Commission has tried to ensure that there is more density and access to the river road and the parkland along it. For some of you, the highly symbolic zoning for single-family homes along the best land at the Ford site might not seem like a big deal. After we’re talking about only 35 homes. But I believe that those homes would not be the right symbol to represent the future of Saint Paul, and we should insist on a better vision for the important seam between the riverfront parks and the new community.
During the long, trying, and intense debates over the Ford site master plan, the consistent verdict supported by both the City Council and the Mayor was to create a community that valued inclusiveness, equity, and balance. My worry is that some of the proposed changes to the Ford site zoning will lead to a community that is less equitable and more segregated. Two changes that are in the Ryan amendments seem to move toward that outcome. The first is removing connections between the east and west sides of the site, with the affordable housing and greater density on one side, and wealthier part of the community on the other. We need a more connected and seamless neighborhood, and that is especially true when thinking about the river.
The second is the single-family zoning, a type of housing which is abundant in the city and does not fit the changing needs of our metro population. During the Commission’s public hearing, Ryan spokespeople stated that single-family homes along the river are not needed economically but were included because of community pressure. This is the most valuable land on the site, and there are a dozen ways to develop it and make a more-than-healthy profit. By insisting on an antiquated housing model, I worry Saint Paul will repeat some of the mistakes that Minneapolis made as it developed its downtown riverfront land in the 1990s. If you walk around the North Loop or northeast riverfronts today, you find single-family homes with fenced-in yards, built in ways that make the public land along the Mississippi seem like private space. These kinds of designs are not welcoming or inclusive and I predict that, as in Minneapolis, people in the Highland community will quickly come to see the new buildings as planning mistakes.
The City Council should stick to its well-thought-out vision for the Ford site and not change zoning along the site’s most valuable land. In fact, ideally we would build even more housing along the river, as was passed by the Commission in our original 2017 amendment. The riverfront is the link between the community and the Mississippi River, and we should insist that this key part of the site reflects our city’s values. I urge the Council to be careful about which of the Ryan amendments we choose to support, and which we do not, and create a community that will reflect Saint Paul’s more equitable future.
See more on this topic here and here.
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