TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………………………………………. 2
SECTION BY SECTION SUMMARY ………………………………………………………………………………………... 4
CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Eco-Industrial Park and Ecovillage Development (Katie Dietrich) ……..……………………………………………………….. 8
Brownfields Development (Katie Dietrich)……………………………………….…………………………………………….. 10
Planning, Zoning, and Incentives for Sustainable Development (Erik Hankin)………………………………………………… 11
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT
Urban Forest Protection and Enhancement (Katie Dietrich)……………………………………………………………………. 12
Open Space Protection and Enhancement (Hanne Eastwood) …………….….………………………………………………… 14
Mississippi River Protection and Enhancement (Erin Schobe)………..……….……………………………………………….. 16
Watersheds, Creeks, and Drinking Water (Anna Sumchenko) ………..….…………………………………………………….. 17
Water Conservation (Anna Sumchenko) …………………………..……….…………………………………………………… 19
POLLUTION PREVENTION, REDUCTION, AND CONTROL
Lead Abatement Programs (Erin Schobe) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 20
Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Nora Hilty)…………….………………………………………………………. 21
Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling (Nora Hilty) ………………….………………………………………………………… 22
CITY GOVERNMENT AS A MODEL
Governance for Sustainability (Erik Hankin)…………………….………………………………..……………………………. 23
Public-Private Partnerships (Sjon Swanson) ……….…….……………………………………………………………………... 24
Environmentally Friendly Purchasing Policies by City Government (Erin Schobe) ……..…………………………………… 25
Green Building Programs (Anna Sumchenko) ………………….……………………………………………….……………… 25
KEY SECTORAL STRATEGIES: TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY AND FOOD
Transportation Issues: Public Transit, Biking and Walking (Ana Murteira and Sjon Swanson) …….………………………… 28
Renewable Energy Use by City Government and the Public (Hanne Eastwood) ……………………………….………..…….. 32
Energy Conservation Programs (Hanne Eastwood)
……………………………………………………………………….. 34
Urban Agriculture and Food Policies (Nora Hilty) ……………….…………………………..………………………………… 36
CROSSCUTTING ISSUES
Education for Sustainability (Ana Murteira) ……….………………………………………………..………………………….. 38
Environmental Justice (Brett Smith)………….……………………….………………………………………………………… 40
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 42
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
This report on “Environmental Sustainability in Saint Paul” was prepared by members of the Macalester College
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar in the spring of 2005. Our goal was to assess the state of environmental sustainability
activities in Saint Paul and to make recommendations as to how the city might improve its performance. While sustainability is
a broad term that includes environmental, economic, and social aspects, this report focuses on the environmental aspect of
sustainability.
We began our analysis using a book called Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously, by Kent E. Portney. This book provided us with
a set of programs which Portney believes to be important in assessing a city’s commitment to environmental sustainability. We
then modified and added to Portney’s list to come up with a set of 21 programmatic areas for evaluation.
Much of our research on Saint Paul and other cities was web based. We also had class presentations by several representatives
of the city and spoke by phone or exchanged e-mails with many other persons from city government, neighborhood councils,
and non-profit organizations. Several class members also attended two “Street Beat” type community sessions with Mayor
Kelly. We appreciate the cooperation that we received. A full list of contacts will be found at the end of the report.
Students wrote most of the chapters and are identified in the table of contents. The instructor, Dr. Brett Smith, provided
editorial and other assistance and wrote some sections. Each program section provides background information, discusses “best
practices” from other cities, describes and evaluates current activities in Saint Paul, and makes recommendations for
improvement.
Principal Findings and Recommendations
Saint Paul has much to be proud of in the area of environmental sustainability. Our research identified a number of programs
and initiatives that stood out as being worthy of particular recognition. While this does not mean that further improvement here
should not be pursued, we feel that high quality is already present. The following is a sampling of these programs:
Successes – Where Saint Paul meets or exceeds the performance of the “greenest” cities in the country:
1. Phalen Creek and Corridor Development
2. Brownfields Redevelopment Program
3. District Energy System for providing efficient, renewable heating, cooling, and electricity
4. Waste Reduction and Recycling Programs
6. Grass Roots Activism: Community Councils, NGOs, Public-Private Partnerships
7. Saint Paul on the Mississippi Planning Framework
8. Education for sustainability – inside and outside formal classrooms
9. Watershed and drinking water programs
10. Kyoto Protocol compliance for greenhouse gas reduction
We also identified a number of programs where we felt significant efforts were being made, but for which more could and
should be done to improve Saint Paul’s record on environmental sustainability. Some of these programs are:
Programs with mixed success - Saint Paul is doing some good things, but could improve performance considerably to
move into leading ranks of sustainable cities:
1. Open space protection and enhancement
2. Urban forest protection and enhancement
3. Lead Abatement
4. Air pollution and greenhouse gas reduction
5. Green building programs
6. Promotion of energy efficiency, conservation, and renewables
7. Development strategies: eco-villages, planning, zoning, and tax incentives for sustainability
Finally, we identified some programs which are important for sustainability where Saint Paul is clearly lagging behind leading
cities and where significant improvements could and should be made. These programs include:
Problem Areas – Where Saint Paul is significantly lagging in comparison with other “green” cities:
1. No sustainability plan, indicators, language, initiatives, or clear priority
2. Fragmented, disjoint approach to environmental programs
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3. Failure to communicate successes and strategies: e.g., web site
4. Lack of “green purchasing” program in city operations
5. Transportation systems: inadequate public transit and other options
6. Weak support for urban agriculture (community gardens) and urban food policy
7. Lack of attention to environmental justice issues (distribution of environmental risks and amenities)
We make specific recommendations for improvement in all of these areas in the body of the report. In this introductory
summary, we want to emphasize some general findings and recommendations which we feel are important to move Saint Paul
closer to environmental sustainability. Three central problems emerged from our study:
First, Saint Paul has not adopted the approach or language of sustainability. Thus it has not explicitly integrated the
concerns of environment, economy, and equity in its approach to long term policies, planning and programming (except in very
piecemeal ways), nor has it adopted any kind of comprehensive “sustainability indicators.” This sets it apart (in a negative way,
we believe) from other cities which seek to be considered “green” such as Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, or Chattanooga.
This makes it very hard for citizens or others to measure progress, assess performance, identify priorities, or make comparisons
with other progressive cities.
(As a parenthetical note, we did find two documents which provided some overview of sustainability activities in Saint Paul.
One was a speech by Mayor Kelly in Minneapolis in January of 2004. In this speech Mayor Kelly reviewed some of Saint
Paul’s accomplishments in the area of sustainable development and identified future directions and projects. A second report,
entitled “Examples of Neighborhood Sustainability Activities in Saint Paul” was compiled jointly by the City of Saint Paul and
the Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium (NEC) and was written by NEC staffer Holly Hinman. This report describes
about a dozen neighborhood initiatives.)
Second, environmental programs are fragmented and are scattered widely throughout city government. There is no
attempt, as far as we could tell, to provide a comprehensive approach to the City’s environment. Unlike many cities, Saint Paul
has no “Environmental” department even as a spot to link up the disparate environmental programs underway. This makes a
well coordinated, unified and prioritized approach to environmental sustainability extremely difficult.
Third, the City’s web site exacerbates the problems of fragmentation and lack of coordination. Our class of fairly
experienced web site browsers experienced significant frustration with the difficulty of finding information about Saint Paul’s
environmental programs and policies from the web site. Thus, for example, important programs like the EnvironmentalEconomic Partnership toil on in relative obscurity without obvious recognition on the web site.
We recognize that these observations have more to do with how Saint Paul organizes itself and tells its story than with actual
programs and policies. While these factors may seem to be a relatively unimportant finding when compared with details on
what Saint Paul is actually doing for the environment, our conclusion is that these “organizational” or “rhetorical” or
“informational” findings are, in fact, quite important, in at least three ways:
First, Saint Paul’s approach makes it very difficult for an ordinary, even relatively savvy, citizen to get a comprehensive (or
even partial) picture of how Saint Paul is doing in terms of sustainability. This discourages citizens and leads to suspicion and
cynicism. It should not be so hard to understand the city’s overall environmental performance.
Second, the lack of well organized “front and center” environmental information about city sustainability could be interpreted
as reflecting a low priority given to this area of city business. This surely does not create a highly energized and motivated staff
effort in this area. The saying that “we value what we measure” is applicable here. Saint Paul’s relative silence on sustainability
is carrying Minnesota’s “shy person” syndrome a step too far.
Third, these observations provide a caveat for the findings that follow. We frequently had difficulty finding information to
evaluate performance and compare it with other cities or to prioritize activities and actions. We may have underestimated the
effectiveness of some programs, overestimated others, and perhaps missed important elements. Thus, the information that we
present in the rest of the report must be understood as preliminary findings to be refined through the give and take of dialogue.
Our strongest conclusion and principal overall recommendation is that the City Government of Saint Paul needs to better
organize its efforts in the area of environmental sustainability. As a first step, we would recommend that the City hire
something like a “Sustainability Coordinator” to begin to pull together, coordinate, and prioritize the currently fragmented
efforts in this area. The City is missing a tremendous opportunity, given the level of community and grass roots activity, to
improve its performance and move clearly into the ranks of the greenest cities in the U.S. This “sustainability coordinator”
should work closely with existing departments, community groups, and especially, at first, with the City’s web site as a place to
better communicate priorities.
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A second overall conclusion and recommendation is that the City should build on its strong record in greenhouse gas reduction
by raising the priority and profile of its CO2 emissions reductions program by endorsing and implementing the “U.S. Mayors
Climate Protection Agreement” being circulated by Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle and others. Minneapolis Mayor Ryback has
already endorsed the agreement. Further information on this “Agreement” will be found at
http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate/cpaText.htm.
Saint Paul took early and effective action in 1992 and 1993 by joining an international effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. This project was coordinated by the United Nations affiliated International Council of Local Initiatives (ICLEI).
This gave rise in Saint Paul to the Environmental-Economic Partnership Project (EEPP) which was charged with the task of
implementing the CO2 reduction project. Along with principal partners such as District Energy Saint Paul, Xcel Energy, the
Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium, and Eureka Recycling, the City of Saint Paul has seen important reductions in
CO2 emissions over the past 12 years. However, we believe that much more can and should be accomplished as we move
forward and that this will only happen if the City raises the priority level and the resources devoted to the EEPP. Endorsing the
Mayors Climate Protection Agreement will serve as an important symbol of this new commitment. (More information on the
EEPP will be found at www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/co2rednsumy.html)
More specific findings and recommendations will be found in the detailed discussion of program areas.
SECTION BY SECTION SUMMARY
We researched 21 areas of city activities related to environmental sustainability. While many of these areas are closely related
and have synergistic impacts, for purposes of organization we have grouped the activities into six categories: development
strategies, natural resource protection and enhancement, pollution and waste reduction and control, city governance policies,
key sectoral activities, and cross-cutting issues.
CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Eco-Industrial Park and Ecovillage Development: Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) and ecovillage developments constitute two
increasingly common smart growth initiatives. EIPs include industry clusters which are environmentally friendly and/or reuse
and recycle the wastes of their industry neighbors. EIPs can provide a variety of benefits including cost savings for businesses,
cleaner environments for communities, and reduced demands on environmental resources. EIPs range from virtual systems of
product exchange, to smaller systems like the Minneapolis Green Institute, to self-contained industrial complexes like that
found in Kalundborg, Denmark. Saint Paul appears to be just beginning to utilize such concepts and should continue to
increase efforts in this area. One specific example relates to a shift in the energy source for the Rock-Tenn industry near
Midway. Councilperson Lee Helgen, from Ward Five, has expressed particular interest in EIP’s.
An ecovillage is a community which strives for a low-impact lifestyle through public transit, cluster housing, community
gardens, green building, and mixed land use zoning. There are over 70 such villages in the United States and they range from a
self-contained community located just outside Ithaca, NY to a method of reconsidering the urban environment as found in
Cleveland, OH. Saint Paul has not explicitly pursued this form of development or use of the term, but the Phalen Corridor
Project generally fits the model and includes green space development, industrial job creation, workforce development, housing
development, and transit improvement. The Upper Land Housing Project also could be considered an ecovillage. Saint Paul
should pursue this discourse more aggressively.
Brownfield Redevelopment: Brownfield development programs include the identification and clean up of abandoned or
underused industrial or commercial properties often restricted for redevelopment by the presence of hazardous substance,
pollutants, or other contaminants. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides grants and programs utilized by
local agencies for the clean-up of the areas. Brownfield redevelopment programs include private-public partnerships,
community involvement, research, outreach, and incentives. The Saint Paul Port Authority is in charge of Saint Paul
brownfields. The Port sells a brownfield site for $1 if the business follows requirements for job creation, community
involvement, and building size. Major projects include the Phalen Corridor Initiative and the Great Northern Corridor. The
brownfield redevelopment program in Saint Paul is involved and dynamic and should be praised; however, they could also
provide more outreach and research.
Planning, Zoning, and Tax Incentives: It is important for a city to use land use planning and zoning as mechanisms to
influence the directions of development. A city can use a comprehensive land use plan to establish environmentally sensitive
growth areas and help preserve the environment within the city limits. San Francisco is an example of a city that uses zoning
to delineate environmentally sensitive growth areas. The city has a Commission on the Environment that sets policy for the
Department of the Environment and advises the city on environmental concerns. Also, the city’s Planning Department
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promotes the orderly and harmonious use of land and works to improve the quality of life for San Francisco’s diverse
communities and for future generations. The Department of the Environment and the Planning Department work together to
use zoning to outline environmentally sensitive growth areas.
Saint Paul has a central land use strategy concerning development along the Mississippi. The strategy is to capitalize on the
new relationship between downtown and the river through the creation of opportunities for a more diverse mix of uses and
encouraging a greater number of people to live and work in the downtown area. In Saint Paul’s zoning laws, it is stated that no
buildings can affect the landscape or aesthetics of environmentally protected areas. Also, Saint Paul has indicated that
concerning development on the Mississippi, future development will not be discouraged, but efforts should be made to redress
the imbalance that now exists between the natural and built environments. Recommendations for Saint Paul in dealing with this
element of zoning concern making the exact zoning laws dealing with environmentally sensitive growth areas easier to access
and research.
In addition to planning and zoning, a city can use local tax or other incentives, including fee waivers, to influence development
towards less environmentally sensitive areas. Seattle is a city that provides incentives for environmentally friendly
development. Many of Seattle’s incentives are for residential development. These include incentives on dual flush toilets,
bathroom faucet aerators, and high efficiency clothes washers. Also the city is willing to provide sustainable development
consultations for developers with projects interested in certifying through the Built Green program. These professional
consultations are provided at no charge for project applicants. Consultations typically involve a brief workshop with the project
architect and developer and covers incentives, cost-effective energy and water technologies and design considerations,
materials, construction recycling and indoor environmental quality measures. Saint Paul does not appear to provide any tax
incentives for environmentally friendly development. Seattle would be an excellent city for Saint Paul to model itself after in
respect to this element of sustainability.
Resource Conservation and Enhancement
Urban Forest (Tree Canopy) Protection and Expansion: the urban tree canopy or forest is widely recognized as necessary
green infrastructure with several benefits, including improving water and air quality, providing shade cover and aesthetics,
controlling air temperature, and reducing noise pollution. On a city level, these programs vary from solely tree maintenance on
city streets to heavy promotion of tree planting, care, and incentives for tree protection. Cities may work with non-government
organizations like the City of Palo Alto, establish tree ordinances regarding tree damage during construction as in Toronto, or
participate in extensive research of tree canopy to be integrated in city decisions like Cincinnati. Saint Paul participates in a
planting and maintenance program along city streets, downtown beautification programs, and a tree preservation ordinance.
The City also collaborates with non-profit organizations for tree planting programs. While Saint Paul does fairly well in this
area, there are a number of areas, including research and outreach, that should be more aggressively pursued.
Open Space Protection and Enhancement: For a developed city, the level of protection of open space in Saint Paul is
excellent. A “no net loss policy” in the City Charter ensures that Saint Paul will always have at least as much open space as
currently exists. Additionally, Saint Paul has a higher percentage of existing open space than cities such as Minneapolis. Saint
Paul could improve its work in protection of open space by examining whether any environmental justice issues exist in the
location of open space, and focus on increasing open space in low-income areas. Finally, to continue the good work, Saint Paul
must ensure that the Parks and Recreation Department is well funded, as increasing open space means increased operating
costs.
River Development and Protection: Saint Paul is currently trying to find a good balance between the creation of economic
development along the river and protection of its delicate ecological system. The City has made a concerted effort to reconnect
itself to the river through developments such as the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Xcel Energy Center. Future
developments are possible along the West Side Flats and at the Island Station Power Plant. There is some opposition to this
development, however. Community organizations have expressed concerns about the scale of the development, mainly
regarding the height of the buildings. Zoning restrictions help prevent development from exceeding limits.
Non profits in the Saint Paul area do a considerable amount of work to protect the land near the river. They organize
community events and volunteers to help clean up trails, streams and land that are part of the river’s ecosystem. It is important
that the city remember that the viability of development along the river is dependent on the river’s health and vitality, and to
continue to take into effect the potential dangers of its development plans.
Watersheds and Creeks: The City of Saint Paul currently has a watershed protection program through the Saint Paul
Regional Water Services (SPRWS). SPRWS established its watershed protection program as a response to the complaints about
taste and odor in the drinking water that they supply. The SRPWS determined that the odor was occurring due to increased
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algae growth in the watersheds where the drinking water is drawn from. As a result SPRWS determined methods to restore the
water levels to near-natural conditions in certain wetlands. Even though the initiative put forward by the SPRWS is valuable it
deals mainly with drinking water rather than with watersheds in general. Therefore, our recommendation is that the City should
establish more citywide initiatives that would be primarily targeted at protecting local creeks and watersheds.
The City of Saint Paul is currently involved in an initiative of reviving one of its creeks, Phalen Creek. The Phalen Creek
project has been successful so far in achieving a number of positive outcomes. The Lower Phalen Creek Organization is
currently setting new goals for the future, upon completion of which the Phalen Creek area should be more accessible to the
general Public. The Lower Phalen Creek Organization is also currently working with the City and other local organizations on
establishing a remediation project for another creek in the area, the Trout Brook Creek.
Water Conservation: The City of Saint Paul apparently does not have a City based water conservation program. Nevertheless,
the City is part of the initiative put forward by the Metropolitan Council to work on a Water Conservation Policy Plan for the
Twin Cities. The objective of the Plan is to address water availability, management, and use to ensure a sustainable supply for
future generations. Our study recommends that in addition to the current water conservation plans with the Metropolitan
Council, the City of Saint Paul should work toward establishing some city-wide initiatives. Through these initiatives the city
could establish a program to offer cost-effective advice and strategies to reduce household and business water consumption.
Pollution Prevention, Reduction, and Control
Lead Abatement Programs: Much of Saint Paul’s work to lessen the public’s exposure to lead is done with the help of
Ramsey County. The County’s Health Department recently ran a small pilot program to determine the costs of potential lead
regulations and found that cost was less than had been anticipated. Ramsey County also received a grant from the Department
of Housing and Urban Development that will be used largely in the West Side area of Saint Paul. While some programs do
exist, we believe that the City should move more aggressively to remove this threat to the health of its citizens.
Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Reduction: While air pollution is a difficult problem to address at the city level because
of the complications of surrounding area pollutants and issues of jurisdiction, there is much that Saint Paul can do to affect its
air quality. The city is actively pursuing air pollution reduction, particularly through CO2 emissions reduction program
organized under the Environmental Economic Partnership program. This program should be given a much higher profile in City
government and additional resources. Further, Saint Paul could still benefit by working more closely with the small business
sector to increase access to information and resources for pollution reduction and by aggressively working to reduce auto and
diesel traffic within the city. Xcel Energy’s recent decision to convert its metro area coal plants to natural gas is a real plus for
air quality in Saint Paul.
Waste Reduction and Recycling: Service providers in the city of Saint Paul, and Eureka Recycling in particular, are actively
pursuing a comprehensive set of programs in the areas of waster reduction, reuse, and recycling. The city should continue to
provide its support and cooperation in the efforts of these service providers, and should increase its own participation in waste
reduction, reuse, and recycling practices through the drafting of city policy.
City Governance Structures and Processes
Organizing the City for Sustainability: Little information on Saint Paul’s city governance for sustainability is easily
accessible on the City’s web site. The site is difficult to navigate and the search engine is inadequate. To make matters worse,
sustainability issues are severely fragmented into many divisions. Saint Paul should consider structures like those of cities like
San Francisco. San Francisco has a single Department of the Environment that governs nearly all issues of sustainability. Not
only is this more useful, but having all environmental issues held within a single department makes it much easier for citizens
to find out what their city is doing in terms of sustainability. One issue of governance where Saint Paul does do well is public
participation in neighborhood sustainability. Neighborhood organizations, like the West Side Citizens Organization, work hand
in hand with the city’s departments on issues like development along the Mississippi and community environmental health.
Mayor Kelly’s Street Beats are another example of the city government working with community groups on sustainability in
Saint Paul
Public-private partnerships are a growing means to promote sustainable community development. We found Saint Paul to be
quite rich in these types of partnership. We also consider in this section examples from other cities from which Saint Paul might
take a lesson or two.
Environmentally Friendly Purchasing by City Government: Taking environmental factors into account when purchasing is
a basic element of sustainability behavior because of its symbolic and educational value as well as its importance in creating
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new markets for environmentally beneficial goods and services. The City of Saint Paul currently does not appear to have a plan
for environmentally friendly purchasing. Other cities, such as Seattle and Berkeley, provide good examples of how this can be
done by incorporating environmentally friendly purchasing policies into their operations. Saint Paul should incorporate such
policies in its purchasing decision process.
Green Building: Upon conducting research on green building practices in Saint Paul it was found that there are various City
Departments that have set up their own department-specific programs for sustainable building. All of the programs and
guidelines provided by different departments are comprehensive and upon implementation act toward promoting greater
sustainability. Nonetheless, it is the recommendation of this study that the City make an effort to connect all of the individual
programs into one City-wide mandatory green building initiative. This will promote greater efficiency in implementing the
regulations and in overcoming any redundancies that might occur when different departments are running similar programs.
Sectoral Policies and Programs
Transportation Issues: Transportation is underdeveloped in Saint Paul, particularly if it aims to be in accord with
sustainability. Although bus routes are generally available throughout the city, there are concerns with the frequency and hours
of bus service. The proposed service reductions in service and fee increases are a product of regional under-funding imposed by
state legislators with interests that may not reflect those of Saint Paul. In addition to the transit system, we also examined other
elements of transportation including bicycling, parking, and pedestrian traffic. In most areas, there is substantial room for
improvement. Therefore, some recommendations are presented to address the aforementioned issues. In short, parking caps,
local control of transportation funding and photo-enforcement of red light running are some avenues that the city should pursue
to improve transportation in accordance with sustainable goals.
Renewable Energy Use by City Government and the Public: The city of Saint Paul is a leader in renewable energy use by
city government by virtue of the District Energy biomass heating and cooling plant in downtown Saint Paul. Use of renewable
energy by the city government is comparable to other leading cities such as Santa Monica, Portland, and Austin. Saint Paul
could improve its renewable energy use by requiring more direct use of renewable energy in city buildings (solar panels, for
example). Residents of Saint Paul also have an option to purchase green energy through the Xcel Windsource program.
However, the city could improve residential use of green energy by working with Xcel Energy to improve the fee structure of
the Windsource program to more fairly reflect the cost and benefits of green energy, and by implementing a rebate program to
encourage residents to install technologies such as solar panels. Saint Paul can follow the models of Austin and Santa Monica
in this area.
Energy Conservation Programs: Through the Saint Paul Environmental-Economic Partnership Program, which aims to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in Saint Paul, a number of energy conservation programs (separate from green building
initiatives) have been implemented. While the city’s efforts to improve energy conservation within the city operations are to be
commended as comparable to other leading cities, programs to further encourage improvement in residential and commercial
energy conservation are necessary. This could range from supplying simple energy conservation ideas to residents via the city
website, as is done as part of a wider education program in San Jose, to providing energy efficient light bulbs to the energy
monitoring program provided to Los Angeles industries through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Saint
Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium provides an excellent service to the city of Saint Paul and its residents, and should
continue to be supported so its energy conservation efforts in residential buildings can be expanded.
Urban Food Policies and Community Gardening: Community gardening is gardening in a space owned by a group or
organization, which provides other individuals or groups with access, usually for a small fee, to the garden. Community
gardens can be decorative, productive, or mixed-use. Urban agriculture refers to the cultivation of food crops in an urban
environment. These activities provide many benefits to the neighborhoods in which they take place, making them safer and
more beautiful, increasing the sense of community, and increasing access to fresh foods. The city of Saint Paul should increase
the accessibility of the resources and information related to community gardening and urban agriculture that are already
available from city departments, programs, and committees, and develop a more coherent, active, and comprehensive
relationship with citizens, community groups, and organizations working in the areas of community gardening and urban
agriculture in Saint Paul.
Crosscutting Issues
Education for Sustainability: Education for Sustainability can exist in various forms ranging from education on efficient
energy use to sustainable development. Education for sustainability can be achieved by offering workshops and classes, by
providing resources and/or by building coalitions for information exchange. Some Saint Paul departments such as the Saint
Paul Public Schools and the Parks and Recreation Department host programs for environmental education. However, the
majority of sustainability education programs are provided by local non-profits, or by regional and state organizations such as
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the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance. Around the region and in the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Sustainable
Communities Network, SEEK, the Green Institute and others offer services such as sustainability guides and connections with
other groups. In Saint Paul, the Neighborhood Energy Consortium and Eco-Education are examples of groups that have an
education component, which involves teaching children and adults, communities, businesses and other organizations about
ways to develop a sustainable lifestyle and sustainable communities. The Living Green Expo is an excellent event that promotes
education for sustainability and has a multitude of exhibitors who focus on sustainable issues. Despite being home to such
education oriented organizations and the Living Green Expo, the City of Saint Paul does little to advertise education for
sustainability initiatives and could significantly improve its performance in this area.
Environmental Justice: Concerns regarding environmental justice respond to the historic reality that in many instances the
distribution of environmental risks and amenities has been differentiated on the basis of race, ethnic background, or class. A
considerable body of research has shown that environmental threats such as air, water, and land pollution have been
disproportionately imposed on minority and poor communities. It is thus very important in developing, implementing, and
assessing sustainability programs to note and correct any differential impacts of either risks or amenities such as parks, open
space, transportation access, etc. This includes both outcomes and process evaluation; e.g., consideration of the
ethnic/class/age/gender makeup of decision making or advisory bodies. Given Saint Paul’s growing ethnic diversity, this is an
important factor to include in evaluating sustainability performance. We found no evidence of a concern with this issue within
St. Paul’s environmental programs and recommend that issues of justice be incorporated into the city’s approach to
sustainability.
ISSUE BY ISSUE ANALYSIS
CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Eco-Industrial Park and Ecovillage Development
Smart growth initiatives represent an increasingly popular method for developing urban areas. Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) and
ecovillage development constitute two of these initiatives. EIPs include industry clusters which are either environmentally
friendly and/or circulate and recycle industry products and wastes. An ecovillage is a community which strives for a lowimpact lifestyle through public transit, cluster housing, community gardens, green building, and mixed land use zoning. Each
of these initiatives is discussed in more depth below.
Eco-Industrial Park Development: An Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) includes a number of businesses or industries within a
common area which strive for enhanced performance environmentally, economically, and socially through the collaborative
management of resources (Indigo Development Website). The ultimate goal of an EIP is improving economic performance
while minimizing environmental impacts. EIPs can occur in two forms. The first includes a cluster of environmentally
friendly industries within one area. The second pushes this concept further to promote the recycling of waste products from
one industry to another (Portney). Therefore, the byproducts of one industry are used in the production of another product
from a different industry. Indigo Development, a consulting firm, is recognized for creating the Eco-Industrial Park concept
(Indigo Development Website). They describe four benefits to EIPS:
• Business derives cost savings and new revenues; shared services; reduced regulatory burden; and increased
competitiveness.
• The community enjoys a cleaner, healthier environment; business and job development; an attraction for recruitment;
and an end to conflict between the economy and the environment.
• Government receives increased tax revenues; reduced enforcement burden; reduced costs of environmental and health
damage; and reduced demand on municipal infrastructure.
• For the environment there is reduced demand on finite resources; decreased local and global pollution; increased use of
renewable energy and materials; and an overall renewal of natural systems (Indigo Development Website).
EIPs consider many strategies to successfully implement their program. These include integration into the natural system,
recognizing water and energy systems, considering the materials flow and water management for the whole site, emphasizing
pollution prevention, and implementing effective management and integration. Other components include green design of
infrastructure, cleaner production, energy and water efficiency, and inter-company partnering (Indigo Development Website).
Further research into the issue, particularly as noted on smartgrowth.org, suggests that eco-industrial parks range from virtual
to 7000 acres covering industries from manufacturing to harvesting second growth forests and can be found all over the world
(smartgrowth.org). The most notable EIP is located in Kalundborg, Denmark. This EIP participates in industrial symbiosis as
a coal-fired power plant, refinery, pharmaceutical and industrial enzyme plant, wallboard company, and the town’s heating
facility work with one-on-one deals to trade steam, hot water, and materials (Indigo Development Website). Prominent EIPs
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occurring in the US include Chattanooga’s plan for a hybrid car manufacturing park and Brownsville’s development of a site
for shared use as well as a virtual network (Portney). The virtual network includes a variety of business from across the USMexico border that identifies potential resource exchange links (smartgrowth.org). On a similar note, the Triangle J Council of
Governments in the Research Triangle of North Carolina recently conducted an in-depth survey of industries in the area. This
project titled “Industrial Ecosystem Development” was funded by the US EPA and the State of North Carolina to better
facilitate the sharing of industrial byproducts. Once the surveys were collected, potential partnerships were identified and
meetings were convened to explore these partnerships (Triangle J Council of Governments Report). Finally, the Green
Institute in Minneapolis is also considered a small EIP.
Discussion of eco-industrial development is just beginning to arise in Saint Paul. Ward Five City Council Member Lee Helgen
raised the notion in a recent Saint Paul City Council meeting this past March, opening up the possibility for an EIP focused
around the production and use of wind turbines or hydrogen and fuel cell technologies (March 23rd City Council Meeting
Video). Helgen has hopes for a new business center in Saint Paul which could serve as part industry cluster and part incubator
for new initiatives through renewable energy, pollution clean-up and highly efficient consumer products (Helgen Email).
Additionally, the city has been working with Rock-Tenn Industries and University UNITED, a local non-profit, to discuss the
possibilities of a biomass plant to provide energy for Rock-Tenn. The transformation of Excel from coal to natural gas will
limit the energy, currently in the form of steam, available for Rock-Tenn’s paper and cardboard recycling and manufacturing
facility. Without a new energy source, Rock-Tenn threatens to close creating the loss of 500 plus jobs. Rock-Tenn is the
largest industry employer in the Midway area. The City and Saint Paul Port Authority are working with Rock-Tenn and local
industries and residents on the possibility of converting a nearby oil and gas plant into a biomass plant (University UNITED).
The combination of a biomass plant and paper recycling industry certainly fits the ideals of an EIP.
Eco-industrial parks exist all over the world, but are certainly not a prominent part of today’s industry and culture. However,
Saint Paul should continue to pursue some sort of eco-industrial park as it continues to grow and develop. The Rock-Tenn
initiative or redevelopment in the Phalen Corridor which includes new business and industry would provide a perfect
opportunity to consider the trading of industrial waste materials and/or services. While this would require convincing both the
community and industries involved, it would enhance Saint Paul’s standards as a clean and environmentally friendly city. On
its most basic level, the City of Saint Paul could facilitate a virtual EIP similar to Brownsville or the Research Triangle study in
which communities throughout Saint Paul can come together to make Saint Paul more sustainable. This includes, but is not
limited to, a collection of information about the products, services and wastes produced in all industries which can be used to
build trading relationships.
Sources:
Smartgrowth.org: http://www.smartgrowth.org/library/eco_ind_case_intro.html
Indigo Development Consulting: http://www.indigodev.com/
1000 Friends of Minnesota: http://www.1000fom.org/
Helgen, Lee. Email Conversation. April 18, 2005
Krause, Michael. “Re-Engineering the Midway Industrial District for the 21st Century Competitiveness: Results of
the April 24, 2004 Eco-Industrial Workshop.” Obtained through Brian McMahon of University UNITED
Portney, Kent E. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously: Economic Development, the Environment, and Quality of Life
in American Cities. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003.
Triangle J Council of Governments. “Industrial Ecosystem Development Project Report.” May 1999. Obtained
through Brian McMahon of University UNITED
Ecovillage Development: An ecovillage represents an urban or rural community working “to integrate a supportive social
environment with a low-impact way of life” (Global Ecovillage Network). These communities focus on sustainability through
green building, public transit, mixed land use zoning, community building, and urban food systems. Ecovillages are
recognized by the United Nations as an effective and reasonable way to combat the social, ecological, and spiritual
unsustainability of our environment. In fact, ecovillages were listed on the 1998 United Nations top 100 listing of best
practices for its model of sustainable living (Global Ecovillage Network). According to the Global Ecovillage Network,
ecovillages build on various combinations of three dimensions: social and community, ecological, and cultural and spiritual.
The Ecovillage Network of the Americas recognizes 70 ecovillages located within the United States. Like Eco-Industrial
Parks, ecovillages can take a variety of forms and intensities. The Ithaca, NY ecovillage serves as a relatively self-sustaining
small neighborhood on farmland outside the city. The village focuses on “creating a unique village which includes cohousing
neighborhoods, organic agriculture, an education center, and natural areas, preserving and restoring over 80% of the land as
green space” (Ecovillage at Ithaca Website). However, the ecovillage in inner-city Cleveland concentrates on the rejuvenation
of an old neighborhood through green building, transit oriented development, and urban life lived in the most ecologically
friendly manner (The Cleveland EcoVillage Website). Other programs revolve around efficient housing projects where wastes
are recycled and housing is compact as seen in Austin, TX (Oak Village Commons Website).
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Saint Paul does not use the term ecovillage in their planning and development programs nor does the city appear to be
aggressively utilizing the principle of an ecovillage. However, there are two developments in the works which have some
similar notions. The first, and more prominent, is the Phalen Corridor Project on the East Side of Saint Paul. This project is
working on five areas: green space development, industrial job creation, workforce development, housing development, and
transit improvement. They have already created a business district of six non-polluting businesses on top of a brownfield.
Additionally, the Phalen Corridor Initiative has restored a wetland and built outdoor recreational facilities. The project is
organized by the City of Saint Paul, but receives funding from a variety of private organizations including the McKnight
Foundation, Xcel Energy, Wells Fargo, 3M Foundation, the Saint Paul Foundation, etc (Phalen Corridor Project Website). The
second project is the Upper Landing Project along the Mississippi River by West 7th Street. This might have components of an
ecovillage because of the heavy emphasis on cluster housing, increased access to the riverfront, and pedestrian-friendly
development (Upper Landing Project Website).
Saint Paul could pursue an ecovillage through the Phalen Corridor Initiative with a just few changes. First, the discourse
around the development needs to change. This area can be marketed as a sustainable project where green space is being
restored and transit and housing are creating a community oriented, environmentally friendly area. Second, green building
should be considered for the area. Since the site is an old brownfield, the Saint Paul Port Authority already places building
restrictions on the land; however, these could be pushed to include green building initiatives, including energy efficiency
ordinances, mixed land use programs, EIPs, etc. Finally, the program already includes transit and community building, but
also needs to add more environmental components, such as urban food systems in open areas. The initiative has already won
the 1000 Friends of Minnesota Award for “Most Heartwarming Revival of the Metro Area in 2004.” The Phalen Corridor
Initiative can certainly fulfill the role as an ecovillage and as the initiative already receives tremendous praise, the standards
could be raised all that much higher.
Sources:
Ecovillage Network of the Americas: http://ena.ecovillage.org/English/index.html
Global Ecovillage Network: http://gen.ecovillage.org/index.html
Phalen Corridor Project: http://www.phalencorridor.org/RunScript.asp?p=ASP\Pg0.asp
Ithaca Ecovillage: www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us
The Cleveland Ecovillage: http://www.ecocitycleveland.org/ecologicaldesign/ecovillage/intro_ecovillage.html
Oak Village Commons, Austin, TX: www.oakhillcohousing.com
Schultz, Kurt. Presentation on April 6th, 2005 regarding the Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development and Phalen Corridor.
Brownfields Development
Brownfield development programs include the identification and clean up of abandoned or underused industrial or commercial
properties for redevelopment. These areas are often complicated by actual or potential environmental contamination by
hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Such contamination must be considered to prevent environmental liabilities
during or after redevelopment. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that over 450,000 brownfields exist in the
US. Cleaning up and redeveloping in these areas provides many benefits including increasing local tax bases, job growth, open
land, taking development pressures off of undeveloped land, and improving and protecting the environment (US EPA
Website).
The Environmental Protection Agency established a brownfield program in 1995. Since then all levels of government have
participated in some form of brownfield redevelopment in all states and major cities. The EPA provides several grants and
pilot programs for assessment, clean up, and jobs creation in local brownfields. Most states also provide funding and their own
regulations for brownfield development. However, all of these programs are implemented at a community level (US EPA
Website).
Cities throughout the country use their federal and state grants in a variety of ways to pursue brownfield development. Dallas,
TX participates in public-private partnerships particularly with universities for research. Additionally, Dallas has a
comprehensive public outreach program. City legislation requires that redevelopers meet with the community before
determining the clean up method and development. They host a “Dallas Brownfields Forum” every year where over 100
stakeholders gather to discuss projects. Finally the city offers tax breaks and incentives to developers. East Palo Alto,
California created an ambitious city-wide redevelopment plan with particular emphasis on the Ravenswood Industrial Area, the
region’s largest tract of industrial land. The plan includes the creation of 4000 jobs and a nearly complete change of the
aesthetic and economic situation in the area. This plan is unique for its consideration of brownfields as part of a city-wide
problem. Finally, the City of Los Angeles used some of it grant money to create a database of parcel information, as well as a
clean up and marketing plan, to better facilitate the redevelopment of its city’s brownfields (US EPA Success Stories Website).
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The Saint Paul Port Authority is responsible for the recycling and clean up of brownfields within the city limits. The Port is
recognized by the EPA and the Brownfields National Partnership as a leader in brownfield redevelopment for its emphasis on
forming partnerships, involving the community, and providing incentives. As of 2004, they have cleaned and redeveloped 18
business centers and spent over 60 million dollars in 2004 alone, funded through the state and metropolitan council. Areas
using this funding include Arlington-Jackson, Crosby Lake, Williams Hill, Great Northern Phase 1 and 2, River Bend, and
Westminster Junction (Saint Paul Port Authority). Saint Paul was recognized as a Showcase Community by the EPA
Brownfields National Partnership in 1998. This distinction is awarded to communities who show that brownfield
redevelopment can stimulate economic development, revitalized communities, and restore the sites (US EPA Website).
The two most recognized redevelopment programs in Saint Paul include the Phalen Corridor Development and the Great
Northern Corridor (GNC). The Phalen Corridor Initiative includes the involvement of the local community in workshops to
develop reuse plans for 11 brownfields along the railroad tracks. Potential buyers are given the incentive of cheap land. The
purchasing price for a brownfield in the corridor is $1 if the business follows requirements for job creation and building size.
These requirements include quality buildings of at least $38 per square foot, at least one job per 1000 square feet of building
space, a living wage of at least $9.50 an hours plus benefits, and 70 percent of the new jobs must be filled by local residents.
GNC is following similar programs including the $1 retail price for this previous rail crossroad. A collaboration of local
organizations led to “The Great Northern Corridor: A Community Vision” which proposes developing a previous steel plant
into a light industrial park. For both projects, the State will provide Certificates of Completion for businesses participating in
the Voluntary Investigation and Clean Up Program funded through the state. Additionally, the city is providing new utilities
and access roads to the cities and Northern States Power offers reduced electrical rates for five years. The State also provides a
tax incentive for land owners to recycle hazardous land by deducting the amount spent for clean-up proposes (Saint Paul Port
Authority Website and US EPA Success Stories Website).
Saint Paul already supports one of the most involved and dynamic brownfield redevelopment programs. The City should be
praised for its success and willingness to pursue a community and industry friendly approach to a real urban problem.
However, there are a few areas where we might see improvement in this area. The first is community awareness and outreach
throughout the whole of Saint Paul. While the current program successfully works with the community closest to the
brownfield, the City of Saint Paul should strive for education of all people on the development of brownfields. This can most
especially be done through the City or Port website which provides little information about the brownfield program. Second,
all cities, including Saint Paul, would benefit from a redevelopment plan for the whole of the city as done in East Palo Alto.
This would aid outreach and create a coherent plan for the focus and direction of the city. Also, research and data about the
brownfields and their current state should be available to city officials, businesses, and communities to enhance awareness and
development possibilities for these areas.
Sources:
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “Brownfields.” www.pca.state.mn.us/cleanup/brownfields.html
Saint Paul Port Authority. www.sppa.com/harbor_index.asp
US EPA. “Brownfields Success Stories.” http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/success/success_scss.htm
US EPA. “Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment.” http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/index.html
Planning, Zoning, and Incentives for Sustainable Development
Central to the issue of sustainability is the broad issue of land use planning and the use of zoning. According to Portney, cities
endeavor to use zoning to manage their growth, and as with other smart growth initiatives, to try to take a comprehensive view
of how the land in the city is developed into the future. There is a significant amount of debate over whether the use of such
land use controls represents an effective mechanism for achieving sustainability. However, there is certainly a need to change
the ways that development currently takes place in cities.
Zoning Used to Delineate Environmentally Sensitive Growth Areas: Portney believes that a city must engage in
comprehensive land use planning that explicitly delineates environmentally sensitive growth areas. San Francisco is an
example of a city that uses zoning to delineate environmentally sensitive growth areas. The city has a Commission on the
Environment that sets policy for the Department of the Environment and advises the city on environmental concerns. Also, the
San Francisco Planning Department promotes the orderly and harmonious use of land and works to improve the quality of life
for the City's diverse communities, and for future generations. The Department develops and maintains the City General Plan,
and formulates planning policies to ensure a quality living environment for all San Franciscans. It is involved in transportation
planning, administers environmental review requirements pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, and reviews
and certifies individual development proposals. The Department of the Environment and the Planning Department work
together to use zoning to outline environmentally sensitive growth areas. In the zoning laws for Saint Paul, it is stated that no
buildings can affect the landscape or aesthetics of environmentally protected areas. Also, in the executive summary of the
Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework, the first chapter indicates that future development will not be
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discouraged, but efforts should be made to redress the imbalance that now exists between the natural and built environments.
Recommendations for Saint Paul in dealing with this element concern making the exact zoning laws concerning
environmentally sensitive growth areas easier to access and research.
Comprehensive Land Use Plan: Portney examines whether a city uses zoning as a mechanism to influence the directions of
development. An example would include, does the city’s zoning ordinance establish environmentally sensitive growth areas.
The city of Richland, Washington (a city that was not examined by Portney) has its own comprehensive land use plan. The
plan contains six basic elements. These include economic, land use, transportation, utilities, capital facilities, and housing
elements. Saint Paul does not appear to have a specific plan but it does have a central land use strategy concerning
development along the Mississippi. The strategy is to capitalize on the new relationship between downtown and the river
through the creation of opportunities for a more diverse mix of uses and encouraging a greater number of people to live and
work in the downtown area. Saint Paul could make their land use strategy into a plan by developing elements to achieve their
strategy much like Richland.
Tax Incentives for Environmentally Friendly Development: Portney also assesses whether a city attempts to use local tax
incentives or other financial incentives, including fee waivers, to influence development towards less environmentally sensitive
areas. Seattle is one of the relatively few cities that use such incentives. Many of Seattle’s incentives are residential. These
include incentives on dual flush toilets, residential bathroom faucet aerators, and high efficiency clothes washers. Also the city
is willing to provide sustainable development consultations for developers with projects interested in certifying through the
Built Green program. These professional consultations are provided at no charge for project applicants. Consultations
typically involve a brief workshop with the project architect and developer, and covers incentives, cost-effective energy and
water technologies and design considerations, materials, construction recycling and indoor environmental quality measures.
Saint Paul does not appear to provide any incentives for environmentally friendly development. Seattle would be an excellent
city for Saint Paul to model itself after in respect to providing incentives for environmentally friendly development.
Sources
The City of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Capital City: http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/
St. Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework Executive Summary. 2003.
Smartgrowth.org: http://www.smartgrowth.org /library/eco_ind_case_intro.html
Portney, Kent E. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously: Economic Development, the Environment, and Quality of Life in
American Cities. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003.
Seattle.gov: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/
San Francisco: http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT
Urban Forest (Tree Canopy) Protection and Enhancement
Urban tree canopy or forestry is recognized as the green infrastructure in today’s cities. Like the essential gray infrastructure of
sidewalks, roads, parking lots, and buildings, trees, shrubs, and other urban plants serve an important function in an urban
setting (Funder’s Network). Cities recognize green infrastructure as valuable for six reasons.
• Urban forests protect and improve water quality as they intercept rainfall, absorb water, reduce erosion and runoff,
filter pollutants, especially nitrogen, and shade waterways.
• Shade and cover provided by trees reduces air temperature and energy use by decreasing the “urban heat island effect”
created by impermeable surfaces.
• Plants remove pollutants from the air improving the city air quality.
• Urban forests provide additional habitat for wildlife, including both residential and migratory species.
• In general, trees improve the quality of urban life by providing shade and recreation activities, absorbing carbon
dioxide, reducing noise pollution, improving aesthetics, increasing property values, and saving energy costs.
• Urban trees, and the programs associated with them, serve as education and community building opportunities, most
notably by creating a connection between the natural environment and the city (Chesapeake Bay Program Office
website).
Urban forestry programs have been around since at least the 1980s. American Forests, which recently celebrated its 126th
birthday, remains the most prominent nonprofit citizen’s conservation organization for such initiatives. In 1988, the
organization created the Global ReLeaf program. This initiative serves as an education and action program to help individuals,
organizations, agencies, and corporations improve the local and global environment by providing grants and other funds for the
planting and caring for trees (American Forests). Since 1991, Minnesota has used several ReLeaf grants for projects under the
jurisdiction of the Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee. In 2001, 200 Minnesota communities celebrated a decade of
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accessing, planting, and protecting community forests through ReLeaf grants totaling over 2.7 million dollars (American
Forests). Tree City USA, established 27 years ago, is another national program in which cities can become a member of by
fulfilling four standards: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a community forestry program with an annual
budget of at least $2 per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation (Tree City USA).
Urban forestry programs at the city level are varied. Some are limited solely to tree maintenance on city streets while others
heavily promote tree planting, care, and incentives for tree protection. Cities may work closely with a non-governmental
agency to promote tree programs or may provide all the services as a government organization. The following are some
examples of these programs, followed by a discussion of Saint Paul’s urban tree canopy efforts.
The City of Palo Alto has a citizen oriented and extensive tree program through collaboration between Canopy, a non-profit,
and the City of Palo Alto. Included in this collaboration are seven programs. The first three programs fall in the category of
basic tree care with heavy emphasis on involving community members. The tree care program is a summer survey of tree
health, the planting program supports community planting, and the fungus fighters program includes volunteer workdays to
remove ivy and fungus. The next set of programs focus on education, including the tree talk program which provides public
lectures and the tree walk program which offers heritage and species walks. The right tree in the right place program covers
issues of utility lines. Finally, the oakwell project focuses on inventorying and protecting native oak trees (Canopy: Trees of
Palo Alto). The City of Palo Alto also has a city ordinance, the Tree Preservation Ordinance, which protects particular species
of trees on private property from damage during development. Palo Alto’s unique city and non-profit collaboration offers a
more extensive consideration of urban trees and their care (City of Palo Alto)
The City of Toronto offers another distinctive urban forest program. They practice three areas of management activity:
renewal and planting, maintenance and management, and planning and protection. While these areas are typical of most
programs, Toronto has pursued some unique by-laws and regulations for tree protection. Most noteworthy is a 2004 city-wide
by-law which protects private trees. The by-law restricts injury or removal of privately owned trees which measure 30 cm in
diameter. Removal of a tree under this protection requires a permit. Additionally, Toronto is working under a goal for 35
percent tree canopy cover. They are currently at 20 percent (City of Toronto Urban Forestry Services).
The Parks Department in Cincinnati, Ohio uses aerial photography and GIS to measure tree canopy. This information is shared
with all departments in hopes that the importance of tree canopy will be incorporated in air quality and storm water decisions.
GIS offers a program which provides the tools necessary for tree canopy analysis (Parks Department, Cincinnati, OH). The
city of Albany practices basic Tree City USA standards; however, they do also have a Heritage Tree Program. Under this
program, trees can be given heritage status as a way to connect the present to historic trees. This provides protection for future
generations (City of Albany (OR)).
The Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department is in charge of the maintenance of city owned trees in Saint Paul parks and
boulevards. Boulevards are defined as the area of ground located between the curb and the sidewalk. The Parks and
Recreation Department plants, trims, and removes trees, as well as deals with disease and pests. Wastes from trimmings and
removals of close to 12,000 tons are recycled at the Pig’s Eye Wood Recycling Center. Additionally, starting in 2003, the next
three years have been devoted to covering one third of Saint Paul’s boulevards with tree cover, filling in present gaps and
ensuring neighborhoods with fewer trees are provided opportunities for additional planting. Each neighborhood is designated a
year for planting, but areas outside each year’s zone may request an early planting. Finally, Parks and Recreation also provides
information on its website for appropriate tree planting methods and care (Saint Paul Parks and Recreation website).
In addition, Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with other City of Saint Paul Departments, maintains two other programs in
Saint Paul. The Citywide Tree Planting Program included the planting of 5000 trees in downtown by 1999 and additional 1200
trees plantings per year throughout the rest of the city public spaces. This effort was part of the CO2 reduction plan for the
City and partially funded by the Minnesota ReLeaf Grants. The ReLeaf grants also included the Saint Paul Neighborhood
Energy Consortium who organized workshops and plantings in more treeless neighborhoods for this citywide program
(Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee). Additionally, the Blooming Saint Paul program, launched in June of 2002,
encourages the beautification of Saint Paul through flowers, shrubs, etc. This collaboration between the Mayor’s office, Parks
and Recreation, and downtown businesses includes the placement of planters in front of downtown businesses which partners
maintain through mid-August. As incentive, the program includes a competition with guidelines, judges, and prizes for the
best planters. While this does not directly link to forestry, it has the same positive effects (Citizen Service Office).
Through the Office of License, Inspections, and Environmental Protection (LIEP), Saint Paul supports a Tree Preservation
Overlay District. The intent of this district is to “preserve the essential character of those areas that are heavily wooded and in
a more natural state by encouraging a resourceful and prudent approach to their development that includes minimal tree loss
and mitigation of tree removal resulting from development” (LIEP). There are three main regulations in this program. First, a
tree preservation plan must be developed for the site which includes the location, size, and species of all existing trees larger
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than six inches in diameter, the location of existing and proposed building, a description of tree protection efforts, and location
of trees being removed and areas proposed for replacements. Second, the contractor must propose a mechanism of replacement
for trees over 12 inches in diameter lost to construction where the number of trees required for replacement is based upon the
size of the lost tree. Finally, the city will certify the plan and perform a series of inspections before, during, and after
construction. Currently, Saint Paul south of Lower Afton Road is designated as a Tree Preservation District (LIEP).
Like Canopy in Palo Alto, Saint Paul also collaborates with non profit organizations, including Great River Greening and
Friends of the Parks and Trails of Saint Paul and Ramsey County. Great River Greening works to restore native trees and
shrubs along the river banks and valleys of the Mississippi and Saint Croix Rivers. As of 2001, Great River Greening has
planted over 35,000 trees and shrubs over 1200 acres, including areas in Saint Paul with the help of over 10,000 volunteers.
Currently, the program is participating in 16 projects within the Saint Paul city limits. Great River Greening has been
recognized by the city for its contribution to the CO2 reduction plan, as well as its constant effort to beautify Saint Paul on the
Mississippi River (Great River Greening). The primary focus of Friends of the Parks and Trails is the preservation and
maintenance of parks and trails; however, they also provide a commemorative tree program for open spaces and basic tree
planting services for open spaces.
Saint Paul could further their urban forestry program through community outreach. Since Parks and Recreation only maintains
trees in public spaces, more effort needs to be made within the city to protect private trees. First, the City must clearly state
and advertise their target or goal for the amount of tree coverage in the city so actors are working towards a similar goal. The
city should also ensure that tree coverage research, such as GIS projects or tree surveys, is available to all city departments,
neighborhood organizations, non-government organizations, and concerned citizens. Urban forestry, in general, needs to be
more visible in Saint Paul. In fact, the City needs to recognize trees as a public utility, worth upgrading, maintaining,
preserving, and enhancing. Finally, Saint Paul should strengthen its collaborations with Great River Greening and Friends of
the Parks and Trails of Saint Paul and Ramsey County, two non-government organizations, to better serve the community.
Sources:
American Forests. “Global ReLeaf Program.” http://www.americanforests.org/global_releaf
Citizens Service Office. Saint Paul City Update. June 28, 2002.
Chesapeake Bay Program. “Urban Forests”
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/forest_urban.cfm
Canopy: Trees of Palo Alto. “Ongoing Programs.” http://www.canopy.org/programs.html
City of Toronto Urban Forestry Services. “Trees on Private Property.”
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/trees/private_trees.htm
City of Albany (OR). “Albany’s Urban Forest.”
http://www.cityofalbany.net/publicworks/urbanforest/index.html
Friends of the Parks and Trails of Saint Paul and Ramsey County. http://www.friendsoftheparks.org/index.html
Funders’ Network. “Urban Forests: New Tools for Growing More Livable Communities.”
Great River Greening. http://www.greatrivergreening.org/
Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee. “Minnesota ReLeaf Grant Program: 1991-2001.”
http://www.mnstac.org/WWA/Legislature/minnesota_releaf_grant_program.htm
Saint Paul Energy Conservation Project. “Summary of Saint Paul CO2 Emission Reduction
Plan.” http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/co2rednsumy.html
Saint Paul Parks and Recreation. “Forest and Tree Guide.”
http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/parks/forestry/
Tree CityUSA. http://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa.cfm
Open Space Protection and Enhancement
A community can express commitment to protection of open space in a variety of ways and on a variety of levels.
Commitment can range from having a parks and recreation department that places a priority on maintaining the integrity of
existing open space to a much more defined commitment of an open space provision that places regulations on development.
Open space “is an extremely valuable commodity for communities because it contributes to natural systems preservation,
recreation, education, cultural heritage and aesthetics” (Smart Communities Network website). Due to this, a strategy for
protecting open areas and incorporating open space in to a city development plan is a key part of making a city more
sustainable.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a sustainability plan with a particularly strong commitment to open space protection. The plan
focuses on development in metropolitan Philadelphia, which immediately distinguishes the case from the city of Saint Paul
because Saint Paul is already developed, and does not have jurisdiction over surrounding areas. Philadelphia formed the
GreenSpace Alliance, which seeks to unite government agencies that have a part in preserving open space. They used a system
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known as jointures, which changes the way zoning is done. With jointures, distinct communities are allowed to combine to
distribute zoning of land, preserving larger sections of open space. Therefore, if one community has a section of open space
and an adjoining community has an adjacent section of open space, the communities can harmonize their zoning to preserve the
open space. Other open space zoning initiatives approach zoning by requiring higher density development while leaving more
open space. This results in the same net amount of development (Planning Commissioners Journal website). Although
Philadelphia’s model has been successful in increasing open space, and the metropolitan area is seeing the benefits from
increased open space, this model is not compatible with the already developed city of Saint Paul.
An approach adopted by the city of Arlington, Virginia is the community greens concept in which a public open space is
located in the interior of a residential block. The owners of the homes that surround them are in charge of collectively
managing the green. If the community green is well managed, its benefits include “development of a strong sense of
community, provision of a safe and easily accessible play space for children, higher property values, cooling of surrounding
homes, and a reduction in storm water runoff.” However, the key is that the space must be well managed. An example of a
community green is the Hope Community in Minneapolis. The green is located in a poor area of Minneapolis, and since its
completion crime has decreased, property values have increased, and residents report a greater sense of community
(Community Greens website).
The Trust for Public Land is a leading group in spearheading movements for preserving open space. The website highlights a
variety of initiatives in the Twin Cities area, including the Twin Cities River Program, the Minneapolis Community Garden
initiative, and the Minnesota Greenprinting program. The Twin Cities River Program is an attempt to protect 72 miles of the
Mississippi that runs through the Twin Cities metropolitan area. This initiative includes protection of the Phalen Creek Area
and the Bruce Vento Sanctuary in Saint Paul. The Trust for Public Lands is assisting in the neighborhood driven attempts to
protect Phalen Creek (Lower Phalen Creek Project website). In Minneapolis, Trust for Public Lands (TPL) is helping
neighborhoods and residents create public gardens in currently vacant lots. TPL has been working with the Minneapolis
Community Development Agency, which owns foreclosed lots in Minneapolis, to buy the lots and create gardens. The Green
Institute and Sustainable Resource Centre are also working on this initiative (Trust for Public Lands website). In Saint Paul,
lots returned to the state when no tax has been paid are placed in the care of Ramsey County, which then auctions the lots.
Currently, there are ten lots in Saint Paul listed for the May 4, 2005 auction (Ramsey County website). The final project TPL
is working on the in the Twin Cities metropolitan area is the Greenprinting program. TPL is actively fundraising and being an
advocate for the Metropolitan Council’s Regional Blueprint 2030. With a grant from the McKnight Foundation, TPL has been
increasing protected open space in areas such as Dakota County.
In the year 2000, Saint Paul had 4,765 acres of space designated as parks, preserves or recreational areas. This accounts for
thirteen percent of the total land area of Saint Paul. The amount of designated parkland has grown slightly since 1990, when
there were 4,238 acres of parks. Additionally, Saint Paul has 2,036 acres of undeveloped space (6%) and 2,360 acres of open
water (7%). Based on 2000 census data, Saint Paul has .015 acres of open space per capita. As a comparison, the city of
Minneapolis has 3,754 acres of parks, preserves or recreational areas, accounting for ten percent of the total land area in
Minneapolis, and .009 acres of parks per capita (Metropolitan Council website). Saint Paul is doing better in terms of amount
of open space, but as will be discussed later, Minneapolis does have some innovative programs designed to increase open space
in poor areas.
In Saint Paul commitment to open space is quite high, although there is no goal for a percentage of space that should be
preserved as open space. Saint Paul currently has a no net loss policy contained in the city charter. This means that once a
park is created, it is very difficult to open the land up to development. Trading of park space between areas is allowed, but the
total acreage of park space cannot shrink. While this means that Saint Paul will not lose open space, it makes the creation of
parks more complicated because that open space cannot revert to another use in the future. In the 1999 Saint Paul
Comprehensive Plan, the city outlines a commitment to maintaining a diversity of land uses, and recognizing the city’s unique
urban ecology. However, most of this focus falls on areas that lie along the Mississippi River. While this area clearly is an
important part of Saint Paul to protect and preserve in the form of open space areas and the creation of a greenway, the singleminded focus on the Mississippi River misses the importance of open space in other neighborhoods of the city, particularly
low-income areas. Focus on open space protection radiates from the river along river tributaries, such as the Phalen Corridor
(City of Saint Paul website). The executive summary of the “Saint Paul on the Mississippi” development framework states,
“Parks, recreation and open space are necessary to a vital urban core. High-quality public facilities provide a
central focus for new development, contribute to a coherent network of public spaces, and stimulate private
investment. The Framework seeks to develop a mixture of urban villages organized around a series of green
squares or small parks, and connected by a network of "green" streets, pathways and natural corridors.
Greening is achieved through a variety of approaches, including street tree planting, development of new
public squares and pocket parks, and the reclamation of derelict or underused spaces” (City of Saint Paul
website).
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Although there appears to be an expressed interest in preserving open space in Saint Paul, it is unclear how much action has
been taken towards achieving these goals. That said, the city has a well established and active Parks and Recreation
Department that has over 160 parks and open spaces (City of Saint Paul website). Additionally, the nature of the area along the
Mississippi means that protection does not only fall to the city, but also the county, the state, and federal agencies. Open space
along the Mississippi River corridor is protected by a combination of these entities, which relieves some of the pressure on the
City of Saint Paul. However, it remains unclear how much activity there is around open space protection in other areas of the
city.
What the case studies ultimately reveal is that approaches to open space vary greatly by the area and level of development. It
also demonstrates that the governmental level on which open space should be managed varies. While Saint Paul recognizes the
importance of open space, it needs to develop a more encompassing plan that includes areas of the city not along the
Mississippi or its tributaries. As an already developed area, Saint Paul can increase its open space by reclaiming abandoned
lots, using approaches such as those demonstrated in Minneapolis. The key here is to address environmental justice issues and
ensure that open space is not concentrated only in affluent areas. Finally, Saint Paul can consider how it fits in to open space
planning in the greater metropolitan context. Overall, however, considering that Saint Paul is an already developed space, the
city appears to do well in valuing open space, with the no net loss policy. In the future, Saint Paul needs to ensure that the
Parks and Recreation department has the resources necessary to maintain the quality of the existing open space.
Sources
Smart Communities Network, www.sustainable.doe.gov/landuse/open.shtml
Metropolitan Council, http://gis.metc.state.mn.us/landuse2k/charts.asp?c=58000
City of Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan, /www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/ped/compplan/
Saint Paul on the Mississippi Framework, www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/stpaulonthemiss/frame/execsumm.html
City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department, http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/parks/
Planning Commissioners Journal, http://www.plannersweb.com/articles/are015.html
Community Greens, www.communitygreens.org
The Trust for Public Land, www.tpl.org
Lower Phalen Creek Project, www.phalencreek.org
Ramsey County, http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/prr/tfl/auctionlist.asp
Mississippi River Development and Protection
Approaches in Other Cities: Cities that are fortunate enough to be situated along rivers can sometimes find themselves in a
difficult situation. The riverfront and surrounding areas provide attractive locations for development because of their high
aesthetic quality, but they are also parts of delicate ecosystems that must be protected. The key to successful land use is to find
the appropriate balance between the two. Two cities provide examples of how to manage development and protection.
In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, various organizations came together to discuss common goals for protecting the area. They
identified seven key issues that were part of making future planning sustainable: recognize the interdependence of
communities, economics, and the environment; raise public awareness; create a shared vision; improve the ability to control
destiny; create a framework to support the shared vision; identify communication and cooperative approaches; and present land
as a resource, not only a marketable commodity. The first step of action was to complete a case study of the counties' key
environmental, social and economic issues. A bi-county committee was then formed and charged with the task of creating a
common vision and consensus for planned land use, economic growth and the conservation of natural resources. Such a plan
was urgently needed to control the rapidly developing areas.
The second city is Portland, Oregon. Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services protects public health and monitors water
quality and the environment. In their mission statement they say, “We protect the quality of surface and ground waters and
conduct activities that plan and promote healthy ecosystems in our watersheds.” They list many programs designed to reduce
industrial wastewater that ends up in rivers, such as Erosion and Sediment Control, Emergency Response and Spill Cleanup
Plans and Outside Container Storage and Waste Disposal. A city mandate has given Environmental Services the legal
authority to control discharges into the sewer system. The Water Pollution Control Laboratory is an important part of the
Environmental Services mission to protect water quality and public health. Lab technicians sample and analyze treatment plant
effluent, industrial waste discharges, stormwater, rivers and streams, and soil excavated during construction projects. Their
work helps Environmental Services meet federal, state and local regulatory requirements.
The city also provides free education classes to schools in an effort to teach kids how their actions affect the rivers and how
they can help prevent pollution in water. Overall, Portland seems to have a very comprehensive program that is defined by an
obvious commitment by the city to fund water protection and conservation activities. Their website provides in-depth
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information regarding the large number of specific programs that the city sponsors. (Sustainable Communities Network
Website).
Saint Paul Approaches: In April of 2004, the city released “Saint Paul’s Comprehensive Strategies for Urban Vitalities.”
Among the five stated goals of the report was a desire to reconnect the city to the Mississippi River. Each year, the city has
designated one staff member to help run public investment programs aimed at improving possibilities for future development.
Past projects have included the flood wall on the West Side and the Wabasha Street Bridge. In conjunction with the Riverfront
Corporation, the city has helped to public and private investment into downtown and riverfront projects like the Science
Museum of Minnesota and the Xcel Energy Center. Potential future projects include the development of the West Side Flats,
the renovation of the Island Station Power plant and contamination cleanup at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. In a lot of
ways, management practices for the Mississippi are collaborative in the same way that practices for the Chesapeake are. Due
to the geography of the area and where cities are located, management of the Mississippi is necessarily a function of the greater
metropolitan area. Non-profits in the area help to coordinate and make recommendations for the river’s restoration and
protection at a broad level. Many grants for restoration and protection are given by the Metropolitan Council. Saint Paul
should make sure that it continues its participation in group-decision making and partnerships with fellow municipal
governments to ensure that its interests and the interests of the river are met. (Sustainable Communities Network Website).
It is hoped that reconnection of Saint Paul’s urban fabric to the Mississippi River that drew the area's original inhabitants will
promote a balance between urban and natural systems throughout Saint Paul. However, there is fear that Saint Paul could be
too eager to spur development along the river. Irene Jones at Friends of the Mississippi, a non-profit dedicated to the
protection of the Mississippi, has said that the potential exists “to love the river to death.” Community organizations such as
the West Side Community Organization have been resistant to development along the river that would exceed certain height
limits. Zoning restrictions do help to ensure that buildings do not go over stated height limits. (Personal communication from
Irene Jones at Friends of the Mississippi).
In terms of conserving land near the river, the Big Rivers Partnership allows people who own land in the river valley to work
with the government and non-profit organizations in order to protect their land and the river. Funds are available so that
landowners are able to map land features, develop restoration plans, plant native trees and shrubs, and recruit volunteers to help
carry out these projects. Many organizations are part of the partnership, including Friends of the Mississippi, the Metropolitan
Council, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Trust for Public Land. (Friends of the Mississippi Website).
Water quality is protected through various means. The Shoreland Buffers Program offers competitive grants to purchase
easement land along the Mississippi for up to one hundred percent of its value and cost-share grants that allow landowners to
restore vegetation on their land. There is also the Volunteer’s Monitoring Project in which a partnership of non-profit
organizations helps organize community members to check the water quality of the creeks in their neighborhoods. This project
is funded by a Metro Environment Project grant from the Metropolitan Council. (Friends of the Mississippi Website).
The city seems to be focusing its sights on developing the river so as to attract both people and businesses to Saint Paul.
Protection of the Mississippi Watershed is a project that involves the cooperation of the region as a whole. The most important
watershed management seems to be done by non-profit groups such as Friends of the Mississippi. This group does stenciling
in urban areas asking people not to dump dangerous materials down storm drains. They also encourage city residents to get
involved in activities in their own neighborhoods, maintaining trails, removing invasive species and leading nature walks.
Sources:
City of Saint Paul website: http://www.stpaul.gov/depts/water/.
Friends of the Mississippi Website: www.fmr.org.
Sustainable Communities Network Website: www.sustainable.org/casestudies/MARYLAND.
City of Portland, OR Website: http://www.portlandonline.com/bes.
Watersheds, Creeks, and Drinking Water
Watersheds: “A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley
Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is: ‘that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all
living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become
part of a community.’ Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. No matter where you are,
you're in a watershed!” (EPA:http://www.epa.gov/win/what.html).
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The EPA assigns every watershed a specific watershed address. According to the EPA Saint Paul is located in the “Twin
Cities” watershed with a numeric address of 07010206 (http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=07010206). According to
the EPA reports, there are no current restoration projects within the
Twin Cities watershed.
The primary drinking water source for Saint Paul is the Mississippi
River. The water is drawn from the river and is then pumped
through a natural chain of lakes. The Saint Paul Regional Water
Services (SPRWS) reports that the available water supply when the
lakes are at their optimum elevations is around 3.6 billion gallons.
In past years SPRWS has received complaints about the odd odor
and taste of the water. This has become a great concern for the
SPRWS and upon investigation it has been determined that the odd
odor and taste of the water was caused by the ecological imbalance
in the watershed. It has been determined that the odor and taste were created by excessive nutrients in the lake reservoir
system. As a response to this identified problem the utility, in cooperation with the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management
Organization (VLAWMO), began a comprehensive program in 1984, which included watershed management and reservoir
restoration.
Water sampling was established in various locations within the watershed to identify the basic problem. The total number of
monitoring sites established was 22 and with their help the SPRWS was able to determine that nutrient enrichment was the
main problem and was caused mainly by: water from the Mississippi River and Rice Creek, recirculating reservoir
sediments, runoff from the local watershed, and rainfall (http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/water/pages/shedresvrest.htm).
The SPRWS reports that excessive nutrients or “phosphorous loads” – another common name used to refer to this problem,
lead to an increase in the population of the blue-green algae which then impacts the taste and odor of water. Several measures
were taken to reduce the growth of the algae and to in turn address the taste and odor problems previously mentioned. The
measures included the following things:
•
•
•
installing ferric chloride feed systems
installing aerators
restoring water levels to near-natural conditions in certain wetlands
The goal of these measures was to reduce the phosphorus concentration in the Mississippi source water and the lake sediment
loads to 25 micrograms per liter. The actual results of the measure were reported to have reduced the concentrations from
approximately 60 to 80 micrograms per liter to 20 to 40 micrograms per liter. This watershed and reservoir management has
led to reduced odor and taste complaints as well as to more effective treatment techniques within the utility
(http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/water/pages/shedresvrest.htm).
The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) reports that there are over 4,000 local watershed organizations in the U.S. The
CWP suggests that these local watershed protection organizations are the best organizations in conserving our watersheds
“because they're usually unencumbered by political boundaries, government regulations, and local politics. However, training
opportunities, technical support and resources have historically been scarce for these smaller groups.”
(http://www.cwp.org/Community_Watersheds.htm). It is important to establish these kinds of organizations and the CWP
provides some assistance in helping to establish these bodies and to help them with their technical development. The technical
areas that are worth concentrating on are:
•
•
•
•
Subwatershed delineation/estimating impervious cover
Stream assessment field training
Stormwater retrofitting
Stream restoration
Creeks: “The ability to take action, to try to transform the river and the city, requires new kinds of alliances” (Gottlieb, 2002).
Recently this kind of action has been taken in Saint Paul. Since 1997 Saint Paul has a comprehensive restoration program
taking place in one of its creeks, the Phalen Creek. The Phalen Creek located in the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary flows
18
together with the Trout Book creek to join Mississippi river. Historically the area of the Vento Sanctuary has been very
important for Dakota people who gathered in the area for trade and ceremony and for European settlers. Unfortunately, due to
an intensive industrialization the area became subjected to industrial use for more then a century. The industrial activity in the
sanctuary led to destruction of the wetlands, removal of trees, and contamination of the soil. This area was left abandoned for
several decades until finally in 1997 the local community set a goal of restoring the land and creating a nature sanctuary that
would combine restoration of riverfront habitat with public access to the natural world. The Lower Phalen Creek Project
Organization was created in order to execute the objectives of restoring the area. The organization is steered by a community
committee and has partnerships with other local groups and organizations. Some of the partners are Capitol Region Watershed
District, Capitol River Council, City of Saint Paul City Council, City of Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation, City of
Saint Paul Office of the Mayor, City of Saint Paul Department of Public Works, City of Saint Paul Department of Planning and
Economic Development, etc. (www.phalencreek.org).
The Lower Phalen Creek Project Organization submitted a “Community Vision” report along with the Natural Resources
Management Plan to the City of Saint Paul which was adopted by the city in 2002. Following this the land was purchased from
the railroad and conveyed to the City of Saint Paul. After the transfer of land to the city the area underwent a major
transformation. Numbers of volunteers helped to remove 50 tons of debris from the sanctuary, which included such
contaminants as asbestos, mercury and others. Clean soil was used to cover the re-mediated site. With the help of Dakota tribal
representatives, National Park Service, and the Lower Phalen Creek Project plans for excavating and recreating the wetlands in
the re-mediation area and creating viewing areas and walking paths were revised. More recently, during the summer of 2004 a
group of volunteers along with help from several companies and local organizations cleared buckthorn off of the landscape and
initiated the restoration of oak savanna and prairie. The bluffs were sprayed with seeds and new vegetation was planted in the
fall of 2004. It was one of the goals of the project to have the sanctuary land ready for safe public use by creating pedestrian
paths and regional bicycle trail loop. Another goal was to finish excavation of a series of three wetlands that should capture the
spring water and have a creek meander along the toe of the bluff and over a toe foot waterfall (www.phalencreek.org).
The goals of the Lower Phalen Creek Project for the next year include the following activities:
•
•
Completion of the site planning for the sanctuary entrance;
Work to ensure that any new development adjacent to the sanctuary complement the ecological and cultural assets of
the area;
•
Continue efforts to raise the funds required for remediating the land’s floodplain forest, wetland and prairie
ecosystems;
The Lower Phalen Creek Project recognizes the support of the City of Saint Paul’s government and of the City Council’s staff
members. Currently with assistance for the City Government and the City council the Lower Phalen Creek Project is discussing
plans for conducting a restoration project along the Trout Brook creek corridor. The City Government has been supportive of
this project by helping to do some of the fundraising activities and the Major has been attending the meetings related to the new
project.
The project in the Phalen Creek can easily be compared to such well-known remediation projects as the one done in Los
Angeles for the L.A. River. The L.A. River project was also conducted with intent to reclaim the natural environment in and
around the river. The project sought to return the river to its historical, pre-industrial, state by conduction ecological
restoration, tearing up some concrete, making the river and the surrounding area available to the public through making such
activities as biking walking, and kayaking possible (Gottlieb, 2002).
Center for Watershed Protection: http://www.cwp.org/Community_Watersheds.htm
Gottlieb, Robert. Environmentalism Unbound. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachussetts, 2002.
The City of Saint Paul: http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/water/pages/shedresvrest.htm
The U.S. EPA: http://www.epa.gov/win/what.html
The U.S. EPA: http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=07010206
The Lower Phalen Creek Project: http://www.phalencreek.org
The Metropolitan Council: http://www.metrocouncil.org/environment/Watershed/planning/index.htm
Water Conservation
Water is one of the most essential resources that we use daily. As the global fresh water supply is not infinite and can be
exhausted very easily it is important that we conserve water on local level. Through local water conservation programs we can
make sure that we safeguard the global, national and local supplies of fresh water at sustainable levels. Therefore it is important
19
that cities establish water conservation programs. There are many cities in the U.S. that have outstanding water conservation
programs. As can be expected some of the best and most comprehensive programs belong to cities that face current water
shortages, mainly cities in the Southwest. Unfortunately, Saint Paul does not have a city wide water conservation initiative;
nevertheless it is part of the water conservation program established by the Metropolitan Council.
An example of a city with a successful water conservation program would be the City of San Diego. The City of San Diego has
an award-winning water conservation program. This program has subdivisions that encompass residential, commercial, and
industrial water use and promote greater awareness about water as a scarce resource. Some of the individual programs within
the water initiative of San Diego are: Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Water Conservation Survey Program;
Commercial Landscape Survey Program; Guaranteed Water Program; High-Efficiency Clothes Washer Voucher Program;
Kids Water Conservation Corner and Poster Contest; Landscape Watering Calculator; Plumbing Retrofit Ordinance
Compliance; Residential Water Survey Program; Ultra Low-Flush Toilet Voucher Program; Water Conservation Garden; and
Water Conservation Survey (The City of San Diego).
The City of Saint Paul does not have a specific Water Conservation project. Nevertheless, the issue of water supply is currently
being investigated for the metro area of the Twin Cities. The Metro Council has proposed to look at the water supply in the
city and develop a plan for water supply management. The council states that since two-thirds of population gets its water from
groundwater sources as opposed to the river, it is important to protect the groundwater supply (The Metropolitan Council).
The Metropolitan Council is currently working on a comprehensive development guide for the metropolitan area. This new
Policy Plan will replace the current one and will include policies and strategies for water supply, surface water management
and wastewater treatment and collection (Water Resources Management Policy Plan, iv). The Water Supply section of the
Plan identifies potential limitations on Twin Cities’ water supply. These are: “population growth in areas not served by highyielding aquifers; competing demand between groundwater withdrawal and protection of surface water features; reduced
recharge caused by potential drought conditions and by an increase in impervious surface; and aquifer contamination” (Water
Resources Management Policy Plan, 1). The objective of the Plan is to address water availability, management and use to
ensure a sustainable supply for future generations.
The Council’s goals are to update the regional water supply plan; review local water supply plans as required by state law;
establish and facilitate sub regional task forces as needed among communities that face water supply limitations; participate in
regional planning efforts for drought and emergency events; promote water conservation and development practices that help
protect the water supply; work with partners to develop an institutional framework for coordinated regional and sub regional
supply planning and management; and investigate reusing wastewater effluent.
In addition to the current water conservation plans with the Metropolitan Council, the City of Saint Paul should work toward
establishing some city-wide initiatives. Through these initiatives the city could establish a program that would offer costeffective advice and strategies to reduce household and business water consumption. Setting the City of San Diego’s water
conservation program as an example, the city could offer financial incentives to households and businesses for implementing
retrofits that help to conserve water.
Sources
The City of San Diego: http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/
The Metropolitan Council: http://www.metrocouncil.org/directions/water/waterplan_outreachJan05.htm
POLLUTION PREVENTION, REDUCTION, AND CONTROL
Lead Paint Abatement Programs
Federal law now requires that lead be tested for and removed if necessary for housing units that are renovated with federal
funding. At the local level, the city of Baltimore has made a concerted effort to coordinate with state agencies in order to better
enforce regulations set by the Maryland Department of the Environment. In Minneapolis, the non-profit Sustainable Resources
Center runs a program in which low income and high risk populations (children and women of childbearing age) are eligible to
have their homes tested for lead at no cost. They will test anyone’s home for a moderate, sliding-scale fee. This forces
landlords to renovate their properties so that their tenants are not exposed to lead. In 1997 in Milwaukee, the city’s Health
Department Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program allocated funds for four community-based groups located in
neighborhoods known to have high lead contents. These groups have helped to educate their community members through
health fairs, canvassing and community meetings. They helped to create the Primary Prevention Ordinance in the city which
requires landlords of high-risk properties to fix the problem before children are poisoned from lead exposure. (Sustainable
Resources Center Website, City of Milwaukee website).
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Lead abatement programs in Saint Paul are largely completed in conjunction with Ramsey County. The County recently
received $1,800,000 from the federal Housing and Urban Development Program to reduce children’s exposure to lead. The
money will partly be used to expand the focus in the Westside neighborhood of Saint Paul. Separately, a very small pilot
program was developed to see what kinds of costs would be incurred if lead regulations were enacted. Lead removal occurred
at three “typical” rehabilitation projects, and the cost was relatively minimal considering the payoff. The sponsors of the
program, the Ramsey County Department of Health and the city’s Department of Planning and Economic Development hope
that this will lead to better legislation regarding lead. (HUD website).
In 2005, Rep. Keith Ellison of the Minnesota House authored a bill that would eliminate tax increases if a property owner was
to remove lead from his/her property, increasing incentive for owners to clean up their buildings without requiring funding
from the state level. (MN House Bill 1836).
Saint Paul should continue to try to find sources of funding for lead abatement, such as the grant given to Ramsey County by
HUD.
Sources
City of Baltimore website,
http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/health/leadstat/phase1.html.
City of Milwaukee website,
Health Department Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
Minnesota House Bill 1836, accessed from: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/.
Sustainable Resources Center website
http://www.src-mn.org/SRC_cc_leadtest.htm
United State Department of Housing and Urban Development website,
http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/leadsaferule/successstories.cfm
Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Reduction
According to Environmental Defense’s pollution information site www.scorecard.org, which generates scores by aggregating
data from scientific and governmental sources, Ramsey County, which contains Saint Paul, ranks among the worst 10% of
counties in the country in terms of health risks related to hazardous air pollutants. Ramsey County also consistently scored
badly in terms of health risks, emissions, and exposures pertaining to smog and particulates. The scores are relative, so they do
not provide an absolute assessment of the quality of the air in Ramsey County. However, it is useful to compare Ramsey with
other urban counties. For example, in the two categories mentioned above, Ramsey scored slightly better than the New York
City area and slightly worse than Boulder County. While this does not tell us specifically the quality of Saint Paul’s air, it does
indicate that there is room for improvement.
Air quality is a difficult issue to address at the city level due to the aspects of air pollution that are not within the city’s
jurisdiction to control. Much regulation of transportation modes, polluting industries and of some specific pollutants, for
example, falls to the state or federal government. Moreover, since there are no barriers separating Saint Paul from Minneapolis
and the surrounding metro area, it will never be possible for the city to completely control the quality of its air.
Nevertheless, there are many ways in which Saint Paul can influence its air quality, and the city is actively working toward air
pollution reduction. The Saint Paul Environmental-Economic Partnership Project (E-EPP), which began in 1993 as part of the
city’s Urban CO2 Reduction Plan, continues to operate. The plan is part of Saint Paul’s participation in the International Urban
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Reduction Project, a global effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases coordinated by
the United Nations affiliated International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). The Project consists of six
Strategies: a Municipal Action Plan, Diversification of the Transportation Sector, Urban Reforestation, Energy Efficiency,
Energy Supply, and Recycling and Waste Prevention. (See website below for descriptions of the Strategies.) Currently, three
Strategies are exceeding their CO2 reduction targets: Municipal Action Plan, Energy Supply, and Recycling and Waste
Prevention. Two—Urban Reforestation and Energy Efficiency—are operating below their goals, and the contribution of the
last, Diversification of the Transportation Sector, to the reduction of CO2 has not been determined. The largest shortfall has
been in the Energy Efficiency Strategy, which has met only 18% of its reduction target. All in all, the project has achieved
40% of the total CO2 reduction target. (http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/co2rednsumy.html)
Saint Paul, in its city code, adopts the Air Quality Standards of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The code also makes
reference to a “director,” “the person who is designated as the administrative head of the air pollution abatement program in the
City of Saint Paul” (http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/code/lc232.html). It is unclear, after initial inquiries, who currently fills that
position. One person suggested was Bill Gunther, Environmental Health Manager for the city of Saint Paul (Person, personal
communication). However, Gunther works within the Office of License, Inspection, and Environmental Protection (LIEP),
21
which deals more with public health than environmental—mostly with health standards for restaurants and pools. In fact, LIEP
was originally created from a division of the Public Health Department. At one time, there was a Saint Paul Air Pollution
Control department, but in the mid 1970s most of those working in the department were transferred to the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency, which takes primacy in regulatory issues regarding air pollution—which is perhaps why many of the city’s
programs to decrease air pollution seem to involve encouraging voluntary change. (Gunther, personal communication)
There are models for pollution reduction in other cities that could possibly increase the effectiveness of Saint Paul’s efforts—
for example, the city of Boulder’s innovative Partners for a Clean Environment (PACE) program, “a voluntary, non-regulatory
program that offers free pollution prevention education and technical assistance to Boulder County businesses,” and “focuses
on small- and medium-sized businesses that are typically too small to be regulated by the state, and may not have the time and
resources to investigate and implement pollution prevention measures on their own” (Portney, 2003; p. 117). Saint Paul
already operates initiatives that involve bringing together the resources of the public and private sectors. A program directed at
the small business sector could make Saint Paul’s efforts more inclusive.
One favorable development is the recent decision by Xcel energy to convert its coal burning plant in Saint Paul (as well as one
in Minneapolis) to natural gas.
Sources
Environmental Defense. “Air in Your City: The 50 Worst Cities.”
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/cleanairforlife.cfm?subnav=aiyc_50cities, viewed April 24, 2005.
. “Hazardous Air Pollutant Report: RAMSEY County, MN.” http://www.scorecard.org/envreleases/hap/county.tcl?fips_county_code=27123#rankings, viewed April 22, 2005.
. “Criteria Air Pollutant Report: RAMSEY County, MN.” http://www.scorecard.org/envreleases/cap/county.tcl?fips_county_code=27123#air_rankings, viewed April 22, 2005.
Saint Paul Department of Technology and Management Services. “Summary of Saint Paul Urban CO2 Emission Reduction
Plan.” http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/co2rednsumy.html, viewed April 22, 2005.
Saint Paul Legislative and Administrative Codes. “Chapter 232. Air Pollution Control Regulations.”
http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/code/lc232.html, viewed April 25, 2005.
Person, Rick—Environmental-Economic Partnership Project, Program Administrator. Peronal communication (telephone),
April 25, 2005.
Gunther, Bill—Office of License, Inspection, and Environmental Health; Environmental Health Manager. Personal
communication (telephone), April 25, 2005.
Portney, Kent E. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously: Economic Development, the Environment, and Quality of Life in
American Cities. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2003.
Solid Waste Recycling and Reduction
Saint Paul has a healthy household solid waste recycling program. Eureka Recycling, in partnership with the city of Saint Paul,
with which the organization operates under long-term contract, provides recycling service for apartments, townhouses, and
condos with more than ten units and curbside recycling for buildings with fewer units. Eureka also offers recycling services
for businesses and schools, and operates a recycled paper co-operative that provides 100% post-consumer recycled office paper
at reduced cost. (http://www.eurekarecycling.org/recycling.cfm)
In addition, Eureka offers information and educational resources on reuse and recycling. Their Lawnsign Volunteers program
was designed to strengthen community involvement, participation, and access to information about recycling. Participants in
the program display lawn signs a few days before recycling pick-ups to remind their neighbors to put out their recycling and
answer questions their neighbors might have about recycling. This program will come to an end, however, on Earth Day, April
22, 2005. After that date, recycling will be picked up weekly, so recyclers will no longer need to be reminded when to put out
their recyclables. (http://www.eurekarecycling.org/)
In addition, as noted above, one of the Saint Paul Environmental-Economic Partnership Project’s six Strategies is “Recycling
and Waste Prevention.” Among the program’s initiatives are curbside and multi-family recycling programs, city buildings
recycling programs, yard waste composting—which provides residents with “finished” compost and wood chips, and
expansion of the Eureka Recycling Materials Recovery Facility and collection system. Currently the project is exceeding its
goals for carbon dioxide reduction; the project’s documented reduction is 89,900 tons of carbon dioxide per year, while its
reduction target is only 10,800. However, this does not tell us how much of Saint Paul’s recycling potential is being utilized.
Perhaps the high degree to which the “Recycling and Waste Prevention” strategy exceeded its goals indicates that the capacity
for Saint Paul to benefit from recycling programs has been underestimated. According to Eureka Recycling, the city has
maintained a recycling rate of approximately 45% for several years. Eureka anticipates that switching to weekly pickup of
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recyclables could increase recycling rates by as much as 20% (http://www.eurekarecycling.org/pdfs/weekly.pdf). The
organization plans in addition to begin composting organic wastes, including food scraps and papers that cannot currently be
recycled, in 2006, increasing the recycling rate by perhaps another 20% (Eastwood, personal communication).
Although Eureka’s recycling programs are extensive, recycling is not Eureka’s highest priority. Eureka’s policy is to promote
reducing waste, then reusing it, then recycling what cannot be reused. To that end, Eureka advocates and educates about waste
reduction, and offers services such as the Free Market, an internet-based exchange program that links people who have free
reusable goods with people who want them. (Danovitch, personal communication) (For more on the Free Market, see
http://www.twincitiesfreemarket.org/.)
The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (MOEA) also maintains a waste reduction program, “Reduce Waste: If
Not You, Who?” The program’s website offers advice on how to reduce waste at the office, in the yard, at home, at school,
and in other places and situations. The MOEA also funds the Minnesota Materials Exchange—a network similar to Eureka’s
Free Market—which connects businesses with materials they no longer need with those that can use them.
Although there might be some waste reduction and recycling programs not presently being utilized to their full potential—for
example, there have been requests for increased event recycling—the various service providers in Saint Paul, and in particular
Eureka Recycling, seem to be actively and aggressively pursuing means to reduce waste generation and improve rates of reuse
and recycling in the city. The city should continue to provide its support and cooperation in the efforts of these agencies—with
emphasis, perhaps, in the area of waste reduction—and to increase its own participation in waste reduction, reuse, and
recycling practices through the drafting of city policy.
Sources
Eureka Recycling. http://www.eurekarecycling.org/recycling.cfm, viewed April 8, 2005.
http://www.eurekarecycling.org/, viewed April 8, 2005.
Eureka Recycling. Press release, March 24, 2005. http://www.eurekarecycling.org/pdfs/weekly.pdf, viewed April 8, 2005.
Eastwood, Hanne—Intern, Eureka Recycling. Personal communication (e-mail). April 6, 2005.
Danovitch, Alex—Eureka Recycling. Personal communication (telephone). April 20, 2005.
The Free Market. http://www.twincitiesfreemarket.org/, viewed April 20, 2005.
The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance. “Reduce Waste: If Not You, Who?”
http://www.moea.state.mn.us/campaign/index.html, viewed April 21, 2005.
CITY GOVERNMENT AS A MODEL
Governance for Sustainability
Little information on Saint Paul’s city governance for sustainability is easily accessible on the web. The Saint Paul city site is
extremely difficult to navigate and the search engine for the site is not particularly helpful. To make matters worse,
sustainability issues are fragmented into many divisions. The Department of License, Inspection, and Environmental
Protection deals with issues of environmental protection and zoning. The Department of Neighborhood Housing and Property
Improvement deals with sick buildings and property maintenance. The Parks and Recreation Department works with
environmental education. The Department of Planning and Economic Development deals with zoning and environmental
assessment. They also deal with development along the Mississippi and reducing the environmental impact of such
development. The Department of Public Works along with Eureka Recycling work on the city’s recycling and trash pickup.
Saint Paul Regional Water Services deals with water quality, water conservation, and watershed restoration. And finally, for
some reason, carbon dioxide reduction programs are buried under “Real Estate” on the city site. As seen, Saint Paul’s
sustainability issues are incredibly fragmented throughout the city’s departments.
Saint Paul should consider an approach such as that used by San Francisco. San Francisco has a single Department of the
Environment that governs nearly all issues of sustainability. Not only is this more useful, but having all environmental issues
held within a single department makes it much easier for citizens to find out what their city is doing in terms of sustainability.
One issue of governance for sustainability where Saint Paul does score well is public participation in sustainability.
Neighborhood organizations, like the West Side Citizens Organization, work hand in hand with the city’s departments on
issues like development along the Mississippi and community environmental health. Mayor Kelly’s Street Beats are another
example of the city government working with community groups on sustainability in Saint Paul.
Sources
The City of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Capital City: http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/
City of Minneapolis Home page: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/
St. Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework Executive Summary. 2003.
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Public-Private Partnerships
Public-private partnerships are increasingly being recognized as a key approach to achieving environmental sustainability.
Saint Paul’s Farmer’s Market is an example of a public-private partnership that pursues sustainable goals. It is run by the Saint
Paul’s Growers Society and has bylaws to ensure that there are no middlemen and all food is produced within 50 miles of Saint
Paul. This market serves to foster local agriculture and keep money local. It provides economic opportunity for many of the
city’s Hmong farmers, who according to the Hmong Times are “the key to Saint Paul’s Farmer Market success
(www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com).”
Another example from Saint Paul is the Brewery Breakthrough project, located near the Minnesota Landmark Brewing
Company on West Seventh Street. Its success managed to bring residents back to the neighborhood after years of decline and
neglect. This project was the 2003 winner of the Smart Growth Design awards given by the 1000 Friends Minnesota
Organization for the residential category. This public-private partnership received the award for “development patterns that
reflect a positive vision for the future," and "includes protection of the environment, principles of social equity and a
commitment to sustainable economic growth (http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/mayor/newsroom/jun1203.html)” It is the
brainchild of the nonprofit West 7th/Fort Road Federation, one of Saint Paul's 17 District Councils set up to include residents
in decisions affecting their neighborhoods. The first phase of the project was a buyout of over one third of the three-block
districts homes that were almost all owned by one landlord. Some of the homes were demolished and high-end town homes
were rebuilt over them. 29 of the homes were rehabbed and sold to new owners for prices ranging from $65,000 to $125,000
approximately double their pre-buyout value. Other areas in the district received a face lift including: an ornate transit stop at
the intersection of West Seventh and Jefferson, some fancy landscaping, a public park along the Mississippi bluffs, and a
pedestrian/bike trail running from Duke Street to the river. The project cost over $11 million, half of which came from public
funds (http://citypages.com/databank/19/922/article5721.asp).
One interesting program was in Chicago, though it may be applicable in Saint Paul. Across the nation it is commonplace for
large companies and facilities to buy and sell pollution credits, but there is a unique element in 3M’s case. The 3M
corporation has a policy not to profit from environmental protection so when their facility had pollution credits that they were
not using they donated them instead. By selling the pollution credits a significant amount of funding can be attained for
various organizations. In this example the donation was to the State of Illinois and to a community foundation run by the
center for Neighborhood Technology. The reason this may be especially helpful to Saint Paul is because the 3M corporate
headquarters and many labs are in the Saint Paul area.
Green Map and Green Business Directories may also be a way to showcase public-private partnerships for sustainability.
Residents and visitors that may be conscious of sustainability may find these a useful tool to better live in accord with
sustainable goals. By providing a directory of green businesses within the city, it would be easier for citizens and visitors do
so. Examples of these programs are New York City’s Green Apple Map and Copenhagen’s Wonderful Ecopenhagen map
(Roseland 1998). In Vancouver, B.C. a local entrepreneur published a directory of green businesses that included coupons as
well as other environmental information. (Roseland 1998).
Another means for Public-Private Partnerships for sustainability may be a joining of forces in accord with other environmental
goals. For example, in Thousand Palms, California a local gas company joined forces with a suburban bus company to operate
a fleet of alternative-fuel buses. The project received funding from federal, state, county sources. This is similar to
examples in Portney’s book where the city’s interest in alternative fuels spurred economic growth as companies specializing in
development and construction of electric vehicles there. If a commitment is made that will generate a demand, it would be
natural for the city to form partnerships with private industries. Alternative fuels for public transit in Saint Paul may not be the
most easily applied concept of sustainability because of the cold winter and a metro council controlled transit program that is
cutting currently cutting back. Nevertheless, those do serve as important case studies.
In New York, The National Resource Defense Council and Banana Kelly are working with Affordable Housing Development
Corporation in a partnership to create a facility within the city to recycle waste paper and remanufacture it for newsprint.
Banana Kelly is a non profit organization committed to the growth and independence of individuals, families and to the selfsufficiency of the community as a whole with a vision to satisfy the community's need for self-reliance so that the community
itself can realize its ideals (http://www.synergos.org/usa/banana1.html). The process used also reduced pollution and makes
use of reclaimed water by working with the city’s municipal sewage treatment facility (Roseland 1998).
Another program in Chicago involved a community development corporation that partnered with the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Argonne National Laboratories to create a technology transfer program. The main success for the program was a
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project that trained local residents in environmental analysis and clean up, a skill that could then be applied to abandoned
industrial facilities in the area and provided job opportunities and economic growth.
Source
Roseland, Mark. Towards Sustainable Communities. New Society Publishers, 1998. Gaboriola Island BC, Canada.
Environmentally Friendly Purchasing by City Government
“Green” purchasing by city governments involves cities making a concerted effort to buy products that are environmentally
friendly and/or come from reused or recycled products.
Seattle has specific programs dedicated to buying environmentally friendly products, including recycled products, based
around their “Environmentally Responsible Purchasing Policy.” The city takes into account waste generation, energy
consumption, recycled material content, depletion of natural resources, potential impact on health and nature when making
decisions about purchasing. In San Francisco, new city buildings are required to maximize the use of reused and recycled
materials. The city purchases only paper of at least 50% post-consumer recycled content. (City of Seattle Website).
In Berkeley, California, the city has recently made a pledge to buy environmentally friendly products. They argue that the long
run, the switch to products such as green cleaners will be cost efficient because they last longer and are less likely to cause
allergic reactions or other health problems. Their director of public works stated that “We thought the change would cost more
money and take more time, and in fact, found quite the opposite,” (City of Berkeley Website).
As part of its CO2 reduction program, the city of Saint Paul has included buying recycled products for city office and public
use on a limited scale. Saint Paul should follow Seattle’s lead to include responsible purchasing practices for all its
departments. It does not appear that Saint Paul has incorporated this practice into its overall buying practices. If it used
recycled paper in all city offices, the city would surely cut down on the amount of trees consumed. This seems an easily
achievable goal for the city. It could also convert to environmentally friendly cleaners for use in its offices. Lists of these
products, including how they compare to one another, can be found on the internet at www.worldwise.com.
Sources
City of Seattle Website, http://seattle.gov/environment/purchasing.htm.
City of Berkeley Website, http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/2004/11Nov/111704greenpurchasingpolicy.html).
Sustainable Resources Center website, http://www.src-mn.org/SRC_cc_leadtest.htm
Saint Paul Public Works website, http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/co2rednsumy.html.
Green Building Programs
The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (OEA) defines “green building” as any building that has significantly
reduced its impact on the Earth’s resources compared to conventional building. Sustainable building, as it is sometimes
referred to, conserves such resources as energy, water, raw materials, and land and decreases generation of toxic materials and
waste in its design, construction, landscaping, and operation. Historic preservation and access to public infrastructure systems
are also considered in green building (OEA).
It is important that a city has an established green building program as this will move the city towards greater sustainability and
reduce its impact on the environment. The Transportation and Public Works Committee of Minneapolis reports that
Worldwide, buildings account for: 40% of total energy consumption, 40% of SO2 emissions, 33% of CO2 emissions, 16% of
fresh water consumption, 25% of virgin wood harvesting, and 40% of landfill volume (construction waste) (The City of
Minneapolis). Sustainable building is a way to preserve many of the resources that we consider important and are striving to
save today. Programs and regulations for sustainable building can be enforced on various levels: federal, state, county, or city.
In the U.S. Green Building programs are usually implemented on the city level and below are some examples of cities that
have good sustainable building programs. Saint Paul has a number of green building initiatives through the various city
departments which work on incorporating sustainable construction practices for residential, commercial and municipal
structures. Nonetheless, it is important for the City to move toward a single more coherent green building program that will be
mandatory. It is also important to recognize that Saint Paul is also involved in the Green Building Initiative coordinated by the
OEA on a state level.
Examples of cities with successful green building programs are San Francisco, Boulder and Portland. San Francisco issued an
ordinance that places strict regulations on the design and construction of municipal buildings. These regulations require that
specific attention be paid to resource efficiency and conservation, indoor environmental quality, material efficiency, occupant
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health and productivity, transportation efficiency, minimized use of toxic materials and minimized production of hazardous
waste (Portney, 119). In Boulder a new building plan can only obtain a building permit if the proposed design complies with
environmentally sound building practices. Every new plan is evaluated in great detail and a point system is used to determine
whether a construction project is sustainable or not. Points are assigned based on such characteristics as environmentally
friendly land use, framings, plumbing, electrical, insulation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, use of solar and indoor
air quality (Portney, 121). Points are also assigned based on the building materials and techniques that are being used. In order
to be approved a design plan is required to get 10 to 25 points depending on the size of the new building.
Portland is another city that has a successful Green Building Program. The city uses a green building rating system adopted
from the Leadership in Energy and environmental Design (LEED) rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building
Council, and provides technical assistance to the construction industry (Portney, 209). The LEED grading system “is a
voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings” (U.S. Green Building
Council). LEED was created with the following objectives: “define ‘green building’ by establishing a common standard of
measurement; promote integrated, whole-building design practices; recognize environmental leadership in the building
industry; stimulate green competition; raise consumer awareness of green building benefits; and transform the building market”
(U.S. Green Building Council). LEED offers a framework that provides assistance for executing more sustainable building
practices through better site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental
quality improvement techniques.
The city of Saint Paul does not have a single mandatory green building program as does, for example, San Francisco.
Nonetheless, many of the city departments have various criteria and initiatives that they use to encourage businesses,
municipalities, and facilities to switch towards more sustainable building practices. The Saint Paul Real Estate Division is one
of the city departments that has developed green building criteria for remodeling or constructing facilities and municipal
buildings. The sustainable building framework was developed in collaboration with the city, design architects, and property
managers. The main reason for implementing the criteria is that it could help change the way people currently think about
building developments.
The Real Estate Division emphasizes that in the process of planning a new project the things that should be given attention in
terms of sustainability are pre-planning, neighborhood issues, site location and its orientation, and selection of the right
architectural properties. Along with promoting new development projects that are sustainable the Real Estate Division gives
much attention to the remodeling of office spaces and this is also done in a sustainable manner. The Division emphasizes that
in those cases it is important to recycle materials that have been removed from sites (an example of this would be carpeting or
furniture recycling) so as to reduce landfill inputs. Operation and maintenance of the facilities is another important issue which
the Division is making more sustainable. Greater sustainability is achieved when cleaning products that are more natural and
contain fewer chemicals are used. The Division also believes that it is essential to reduce the amount of building demolition by
introducing more remodeling practices and by reusing buildings. Energy efficiency has been an important issue for all of the
building developments administered by the Real Estate Division since the early 1990’s. The Division reports that the majority
of buildings were retrofitted through installation of new heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems, as well as through
improving insulation of facilities by installing new windows and roofing (Saint Paul City Council Meeting – Policy Session).
Along with all of the above mentioned sustainability guidelines the Real Estate Division also relies on the Sustainability Guide
prepared by the State and the University of Minnesota. Another criterion that is used for many of the projects is the LEED
program. The LEED criteria are used to provide guidance on how close the building projects, administered by the Real Estate
Division, are getting to a reasonable cost effective approach proposed by LEED. Unlike the City of Portland, the City of Saint
Paul does not use the grading system proposed by LEED as a mandatory evaluation criteria of building developments.
Two examples of recent projects administered by the Real Estate Division are the projects on the Phalen Creek Recreation
Center and the Southwest Maintenance Building. The former building was retrofitted to become more sustainable through
addition of windows that allowed for sunlight-lighting inside and thus helped to reduce energy use. Also, many of the materials
used in the initial construction of the building were replaced with those that were easier to maintain in the long term and were
environmentally friendlier to people who were in the building; an example of that would be switching from “gym floors” to
wood floors. The Southwest Maintenance Building was a new development and a lot of sustainability criteria were
implemented in its construction. Some of the things that were given attention related to: siting, drainage on the site making sure
that there is drainage for storm water and that the water that drained was clean, planting plants that require less fertilizers, using
insulated glass panels to allow light to come in and for heat to be retained in the building, and making the structure more
flexible so that over time it is easier to do remodeling on the building (Saint Paul City Council Meeting – Policy Session).
Another City department that works on implementing more sustainable building practices is the Saint Paul Port Authority. The
Port Authority encourages developments of high performance buildings that are energy efficient. The main component of the
Port Authority’s program is to encourage businesses that purchase a parcel within Port Authority business centers to create a
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balance between what is being required of them in terms of sustainability and what the businesses can actually afford to do.
The main guidelines the Port Authority uses for sustainable building include the following points:
• Site design review which is done by architectural consulting firms, and which considers the exterior qualities
of the site, planting of native species, and storm water drainage.
• Building design and productivity review considers such qualities as energy efficiency of the building,
efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, the presence of skylights and motion detectors,
and decreased use of the volatile organic compounds through using appropriate carpeting, paint etc.
• Energy design assistance involves working with Xcel Energy to get additional assistance on insulation, use of
recycled materials, and maximizing the daylight strategy.
A sign that the Port Authority has been doing well in its initiatives is that its efforts in using the green building guidelines have
been recognized by a resolution that was passed by the American Institute of Architects (Saint Paul City Council Meeting –
Policy Session).
Saint Paul Planning and Economic Development is yet another City department that is currently in the process of implementing
a Sustainability Initiative with an objective to “make future development projects in Saint Paul more sustainable in nature by
identifying proven tested practices that demonstrate significant measurable results and return on investment, and to encourage
incorporation of those practices into the projects” (Kurt Schultz, Saint Paul City Council Meeting – Policy Session). There are
three main parts to this initiative that need to be acknowledged. The first part requires all developers who plan to construct
residential or commercial buildings of 50,000 square feet or greater to meet with the Xcel Energy’s Level 1 Energy Design
Assistance Custom Consulting program and learn about the program’s proposed energy conservation techniques. This
consultation is a free service for the businesses, is conducted in the presence of an architectural and engineering team, and
includes a follow-up service with a business. The implementation of any recommendations is, however, not mandatory.
The second part of the initiative states that “all developers of residential buildings under 50,000 square feet are required to
meet with a certified and independent ENRGY STAR consultant” to learn about the ENERGY STAR program and consider
implementing it (Saint Paul City Council Meeting – Policy Session). And the last part of the initiative requires that on every
city-funded project within the District Energy service area, District Energy and Xcel Energy place bids on the provision of
heating and/or cooling services when the design is still being discussed to avoid the extra costs of retrofitting after the
construction takes place (Saint Paul City Council Meeting – Policy Session). As can be seen this initiative mainly focuses on
the topic of energy conservation but the Saint Paul Planning and Economic Development is planning to incorporate other
building sustainability criteria to this initiative in the future.
The License Inspection and Environmental Protection Department of the City is also promoting sustainable building projects.
The Department proposes preservation and remodeling of buildings that already exist and pays attention to the sustainability of
building processes for new projects. The guidelines that the Department follows in terms of promoting greater building
sustainability in new developments include: site review process, compliance with the zoning process, conserving land and
energy, establishing water drainage ponds, and decreasing erosion. For interior designs of the construction plans the
Department uses the Minnesota State Wide Building Code that can not be amended by the city. The code encourages use of
alternative materials that are more sustainable, creation of better insulation within the buildings, energy conservation, provision
of clean and healthy indoor air, and a safe and a durable design. The Department also follows the provisions of the Mechanical
Code, which deals with ventilation, heating, and air conditioning systems of a project; the Plumbing Code, which promotes
safe water usage and disposal; and the Building Code, which states that buildings should be reused. The Department is also
currently working with the Architecture School at the University of Minnesota which established a new sustainable building
program through the Wilder Foundation. Through this collaboration, the Department is able to promote development projects
that are more energy efficient, more sustainable and more durable (Saint Paul City Council Meeting – Policy Session).
It is also important to note that the city is part of the Green Building initiative put together by the OEA. The program that OEA
has is very extensive and provides detailed Minnesota-specific guidelines on sustainable building. Current design guidelines
combine economic, environmental and social considerations to create buildings that are: durable and flexible, conserving of
resources, conducive to human health and productivity. The state now requires the use of guidlines for any new building that is
being funded by the state. The Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines are the ones that need to be used during the
construction. These guidelines are designed to document the actual costs and benefits of sustainable building. There are five
main sections to the guidelines: performance management, site and water, energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental
quality, and materials and waste (OEA).
Overall, it can be seen that there are many initiatives within various City Departments that currently have or are planning on
implementing guidelines on green building. In addition to that, the City is a part of the OEA’s Green Building initiative,
whereby it is required to comply with the OEA’s building regulations in cases when construction is financed out of the state’s
27
funds. Therefore, it can be concluded that the City is doing a lot for promoting sustainable building. Nevertheless, the City’s
initiatives in this area can be improved by combining all of the individual programs that are currently run by numerous
departments into a one mandatory program. Doing this will make the regulations and the building practices more efficient and
will eliminate any redundancies that might occur when different departments are running similar programs.
Sources
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistence: http://www.moea.state.mn.us/greenbuilding/index.cfm
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistence, Sustainable Building Guidelines:
http://www.moea.state.mn.us/greenbuilding/design.cfm
Portney, Kent. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts:2003.
Saint Paul City Council Meeting (Policy Session), held on March 23rd, 2005.
The City of Minneapolis: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/2005meetings/20050114/Docs/11_Green_Buildings_Presentation.pdf
U. S. Green Building Council: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19
KEY SECTORAL STRATEGIES: TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY, AND FOOD
Transportation Issues: Public Transit, Biking and Walking
Since Saint Paul is not a very dense city, having an efficient transportation system becomes a difficult task. However, with the
projected population increase for the Twin Cities (30% by 2025), careful planning will be necessary to improve the public
transportation system and increase its effectiveness. There is a recent initiative to expand the light rail system throughout the
Twin Cities. Currently, the Hiawatha line runs just through Minneapolis . However, there is a proposed LRT (Light Rail
Transit) line called the Central Corridor to run on University Avenue with the goal of connecting the downtowns of
Minneapolis and Saint Paul. An environmental impact study has been conducted in anticipation of this project. Saint Paul
Mayor Randy Kelly is a strong supporter of the estimated $800 million Central Corridor, as well as other public transportation
initiatives. With respect to this he says, "I think the bonding bill reflects a strong commitment to Saint Paul and east metro
transportation needs, and the funding for the vitally important Central Corridor is long overdue” (twincities.com). The regional
transportation system increases Saint Paul’s dependency on agencies such as the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota
Department of Transportation for funding and planning.
Public transportation in the Twin Cities consists of a bus system and a developing light rail system. Although Metro Transit is
the major organizer of public transportation in the Twin Cities and in Saint Paul, there are also a few programs that are targeted
at serving the disabled and elderly population, such as Metro Mobility and Dial-a-ride service. The public transportation
system of the Twin Cities, which includes the previously mentioned services as well as regional contract services for the
greater metro area, is all run by the Metropolitan Council.
In Saint Paul, bus service is dispersed fairly evenly across the city and runs with some consistency. According to Barb
Thoman, of Transit for a Livable Community, 100,000 people ride the bus daily in the Twin Cities, and 18% of the trips to
Saint Paul are done by bus, compared to 40% of trips to Minneapolis. Lack of service is a concern for people who work night
shifts, generally low-income people in entry-level jobs, because only two bus routes with sparse service run throughout the
night. According to the Metropolitan Council, “low-income people have traditionally been a strong market for transit” (Met
Council 2003). A Job Access Study conducted in 2001 shows that people on welfare tend to be more dependent on transit as a
mode of a travel to work, and that frequent transit service is concentrated in the inner-city. However, with the majority of entry
level jobs scattered throughout the region, people on welfare and other low-income residents have a difficult time finding a job
or commuting to work without a vehicle. In fact, “if transit were not available, 28% of people would not have been able to
make their trip” (Met Council 2003).
Although the Met Council tries to promote transit ridership, car use in the Twin Cities is much higher. Of the total trips made
in the seven-county area, two-thirds are made by auto drivers, 2.3% by public transit, 5.6% by walking, and 1.5% by bicycle.
The remaining trips are made by other forms of travel such as taxi, motorcycle, school bus, and passenger travel. (Travel
Behavior Inventory) Subsidies for roads, parking and driving are considerably larger than those for public transportation.
According to Transit for Livable Communities, whereas driving is subsidized at about $885 per capita annually, the subsidy for
public transit is only $47 per capita annually. The breakdown of subsidies per capita for driving consists of $202 for roads and
bridges, $67 for miscellaneous costs such as property taxes, $89 for government parking and drives and $527 for business
parking, roads and driveways (Transit for Livable Communities).
Inadequate funding for the Metropolitan Council and for transit in particular makes it problematic for the Twin Cities to
revamp their public transit system. This year, the budget cuts may significantly impair the transit system. The Metropolitan
Council is facing a “$60 million funding challenge” and is responding by proposing to increase fares by 25 cents and also
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reduce regular-route service by 10%, affecting 70% of Metro Transit and regional routes (Met Council 2005). These service
changes will result in “a 3.7% ridership decline and would save $15.9 million in annualized service costs” (Met Council 2005).
The Metro Council also offers a few programs for encouraging transit use and relieving parking shortages in the Twin Cities.
For example, employers can enroll in the Metropass program and sell the passes to employees at a discounted rate. The rate is
cheaper when a greater number of riders use it per company. Employers also receive a tax break for joining the Metropass
program. The City of a Saint Paul is a member of this program. The Transit Schools program offers discounted passes to
students and staff of post-secondary education institutions.
Twin Cities transit comparison with peer regions: A 2003 Transit System Performance Audit was conducted by the
Metropolitan Council. While it is an evaluation of the transit system for the Twin Cities area as a whole and not particular to
Saint Paul, it does reflect the transit patterns within Saint Paul. In many ways, analysis at this level is appropriate because
control of the transit system is not particular to Saint Paul. In the report, a peer group of cities with similar population and
transit system characteristics was identified in 1996 to use for comparison. The peer group included the urban areas of
Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, Cincinnati Denver, Houston, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis.
By 2002, most had added modes of service such as heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, trolley bus, or monorail, with only
Houston, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and the Twin Cities relying strictly on buses. However, Houston has since opened a light rail
line and Milwaukee and Cincinnati both have plans to pursue other modes. The opening of a light rail service in the Twin
Cities in 2004 is in sync with the trends of the peer group, but it lags behind them. Seattle, for example, uses trolley bus,
monorail, light rail, and bus as modes of transit.
Twin Cities transit is below average in statistics comparing service. One way to compare service between cities is to look at the
miles of transit service per capita. In 2002, there were 17.8 miles of transit service per capita in the Twin Cities. This is below
the average of 19.7 miles in the peer group, implying that funding will need to be increased in order to improve service.
Seattle, which has excellent public transit, has 34.7 miles of transit service per capita, almost double that of the Twin Cities.
According to the report, the level observed in the Twin Cities is consistent with the funding provided for transit. An additional
way to compare service is to examine the number of rides per capita. The peer group average in 2002 was 39.3 rides per capita,
and the Twin Cities was once again below average with 31.4. Portland, Baltimore, and Seattle reported the highest rates of
rides per capita at 67.4, 55.8, and 54.6 respectively, while Cincinnati was the lowest with a rate of 19.2. The report found that
below average rides per capita in the Twin Cities is also consistent with the low amount of government spending, once again,
implying that funding should be increased to achieve parity with peer group regions.
There are additional factors that may contribute to the below average service statistics. One is that, as the report pointed out,
the Twin Cities has a lower population density than most of the areas in the peer group so transit is less efficient. Another
reason pointed to was that in the Twin Cities the proportion of the budget that is recovered through fares is unusually high and
therefore contributes as an economic disincentive. The report seems to imply that a decrease in fares would be warranted, not
the increase that is going to be instituted.
Transit funding in the Twin Cities is significantly lower than the average of the peer comparison group. In 2002, Seattle had
an operating funding per capita rate of $260, the average was $130, and the lowest was Cincinnati with $59. The Twin Cities
had below average operating funding per capita with a rate of only $105. One component of low transit funding is a result of
low subsidy levels in the Twin Cities. For operating subsidy per capita, the average of the peer comparison group was a rate
of $109, and the Twin Cities was $76. Seattle had the highest rate of $225. State and local funding support for transit in the
twin cities is also below the average per capita rate of $98 at $71. An increase of 37% in funding would be needed to meet the
average, which is not even half of Seattle’s rate of $208. The Twin Cities relies heavily on farebox recovery for funding. The
Twin Cities ranks at the top of the peer group for the percentage of total operating costs recover by passenger fares with a rate
of 28.8%, the average is 21.4%, and the lowest, Dallas, is 10.6%. This implies that fares are disproportionately high, and as
mentioned earlier, contributes negatively as an economic disincentive for ridership.
The low levels of funding for transit in the Twin Cities may be attributed to unusual funding sources for transit. The funding
in the Twin Cities comes from the motor vehicle sales tax as well as the state general fund. Most of the other cities in the
comparison group, including ones with excellent public transportation like Seattle, receive funding primarily from a local sales
tax. A major implication of any funding source is what body controls the funding. 8 of the 11 peer cities have local control
over the funding, one shares control between state and local government, and only the Twin Cites, Milwaukee, Buffalo and
Baltimore are subject to state funding control (Twin Cities Transit System Performance Audit 2003).
Limits on downtown parking spaces: The Saint Paul Transportation Management Organization (TMO) has a few initiatives
for better parking management in Saint Paul. Parking is a finite and expensive resource, and the TMO encourages more
efficient use of existing facilities with programs like preferential parking, reduced rate parking for carpools, parking cash-out
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for employees and encouraging transportation alternatives for SOVs. Saint Paul has approved a new zoning district called
Traditional Zoning Design (TZD) encouraging compact, mixed-use development and discouraging excessive on-site parking.
(Transit for Livable Communities)
Alternatively Fueled Vehicles: The city of Saint Paul operates a number of E85 equipped vehicles but does not fully utilize
their potential. Only the less environmentally sustainable E10 is used because of concerns for storage of E85 in cold
temperatures. To utilize E85 year round, the city needs to build a special storage container for the fuel. E85 could be utilized
during warm weather months. The city’s recycling contractor, Eureka Recycling, operates 17 trucks fueled by a 20% biodiesel
blend. (Rick Person)
Bicycle ridership program: MN/DOT has a Bicycle Modal Plan to plan bike trails and encourage biking. They also sell a
Twin Cities Bike Map with the extensive bike trail system. Locally, Saint Paul also tries to promote bicycle use. There are a
variety of trails running throughout the city. Saint Paul has 16 miles of striped and signed on-street bicycle lanes, 18 miles of
striped but not signed lanes and 68 miles of off-street bicycle trails. (Transit for Livable Communities) Some neighborhoods
maintain and create their own bike trails, but coordination between communities to connect bike trails may be limited,
according to Dave Vessel from the Metropolitan Council.
The city has shown some interest in bicycling initiatives. For example, the Bicycle Advisory Board consists of members
appointed by the Mayor to manage and promote bike-use and trails in Saint Paul. Projects that were accomplished by the
Bicycle Advisory Board include the Saint Paul Classic Bike Tour, a bikeway planned in conjunction with the Department of
Planning and Eco-Development, bike lane stripping on Summit in conjunction with the Department of Public Works, and the
extension of the Munger State Trail to the Capitol with the MN Department of Natural Resources. The Board continues to
work on projects that advocate for and assist in creating a safe and attractive environment for bicycling (Saint Paul Bicycle
Advisory Board).
Eric Thompson is the Saint Paul’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator and the Director of Parks Security for Parks and Recreation.
Eric works on each position approximately half-time. His job includes staffing the Bicycle Advisory Board, managing their
appointments and serving as secretary for monthly board meetings. Eric is the main contact for anything that involves bicycling
or pedestrian issues, and he also works with the engineering staff of Public Works, the planning staff of Planning and
Economic Development and other City staff members. One of his tasks is to “identify missing elements in the City that prevent
Saint Paul from becoming a more bicycle-friendly community” (Eric Thompson).
Eric Thompson says that “the City tries to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements in all projects”.
However, the main obstacles include funding, physical changes, and lack of community support. Putting down new stripes,
planning for traffic lane changes and widening roads are generally costly and sometimes physically impossible. Much of the
funding needs to come from state or federal transportation funding programs, and it is generally not easy to acquire. In
addition, projects for widening roads may involve cutting part of people’s yards or boulevards, so they are not well-accepted.
(Eric Thompson)
Despite Saint Paul’s extensive 1997 Transportation Plan that calls for an impressive bike plan, the city has done very little to
implement many of the plan’s recommendations. (“Sharing the Road”, TLC) On a positive note, the Bicycle Advisory Board is
working on the bicycle section of the Transportation Plan, which will require about a “year’s worth of planning and public
meetings”. Eric Thompson will be in charge of setting these up.
Another program that promotes bicycling in addition to other sustainable transportation uses is run by the Metro Commuter
Services sector of the Metro Council. Their biking commuter program provides services such as a guaranteed ride home for
bikers in case of an emergency, bike racks on all the new transit buses, bike lockers and bike jerseys (Metro Commuter
Services). By facilitating bicycling for Twin Cities commuters, the Metropolitan Council is contributing to the development of
sustainable transportation options.
Pedestrian Safety and Promotion: Saint Paul has considerably greater authority over pedestrian programs than it does over
transit and other transportation related issues. The city has shown some commitment to creating a more pedestrian-friendly city
and has documented a few initiatives. For instance, the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board is charged with
enhancing and developing the area around the Capitol, and making it accessible to pedestrians and transit. Some specific
actions that the Board is taking are to “improve pedestrian crossings on University Avenue at Capitol Boulevard with special
pavement texture and pedestrian-actuated signalization” and to “encourage the development of marked, educational walking
tours between the Capitol Building and downtown Saint Paul”. (Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board) However,
concern over pedestrians around the Capitol under the Comprehensive Plan for the Minnesota State Capitol Area leaves out the
rest of the city. Yet, Saint Paul has shown some commitment in that respect as well.
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In 2003, Mayor Kelly promoted a Pedestrian Safety Awareness Campaign in conjunction with Saint Paul Police and a number
of other groups. The campaign aimed to make city employees, businesses and the public aware of pedestrian laws and safety.
Eric Thompson began training city employees on pedestrian and crosswalk right-of-way laws, while the Saint Paul Police
Department focused on stricter enforcement of important intersections. In addition, Saint Paul is a member of the Wait, Wave
and Walk Program that encourages communication between pedestrians and drivers. (“Newsroom” of Saint Paul website)
Pedestrian awareness should not be the sole solution to making streets safer. City planners should shift their focus toward
actually created pedestrian friendly neighborhoods in Saint Paul. The Saint Paul Development Framework intends to revitalize
the downtown area and make it pedestrian friendly. Generally, this is accomplished with wider sidewalks, narrow roads and
creating a network between currently disconnected parts of downtown. One goal is to connect the downtown parks such as
Mears and Rice Parks with pedestrian walkways. This is one step toward making Saint Paul more pedestrian friendly, but much
work remains to be done. Downtown Saint Paul has an extensive amount of space dedicated to parking lots. For example, the
area around the Excel Energy Center is particularly difficult to maneuver around on foot with the abundance of traffic and
vacant lots.
Transit for livable communities has documented some specific actions that Saint Paul has taken to become more accessible for
pedestrians. These include changing “the lane configuration of a number of municipal roads to reduce vehicle speed and
crashes” and converting some roads from four to two lanes with a center left-turn lane (Sharing the Road”, TLC). “Since 1999,
when Fairview Avenue was changed from four lanes to three, accidents declined by more than 50 percent and speeding was
reduced by more than 40 percent” (“Sharing the Road”, TLC) The City’s Public Works Department has an informal traffic
calming program where sidewalk extensions, speed bumps and traffic circles can be “installed at neighborhood request as
funds allow, or in conjunction with local road projects” (“Sharing the Road”, TLC).
The concern over many of the pedestrian-friendly and pedestrian-safety initiatives is that many occurred prior to 2003. Reports
on recent actions are not readily available, making it seem that the momentum created by the Transportation Plan in 1997 and
the Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming Summit in 2001 has been tapering off. Still, the presence of a city official dedicated
to bicycle and pedestrian safety does not completely dismiss efforts that continue to take place.
“HOURCAR” Car Sharing Program: This new program, being launched by Saint Paul’s Neighborhood Energy Consortium
(NEC), is an important new approach to improving transportation accessibility while simultaneously reducing air pollution,
congestion, and fossil fuel consumption. The program will make new model, fuel efficient vehicles available for sharing by
members. NEC has already purchased a dozen hybrid gas/electric Toyota Priuses to make available at central locations in
Minneapolis and Saint Paul that are convenient to users by bike, walking, or public transit. Information regarding this program
is available at www.hourcar.org. The City of Saint Paul should take whatever steps it can to promote and support this exciting
new program.
Additional Recommendations for Saint Paul: Despite some progressive programs, Transportation in Saint Paul is not as
consistent with sustainability with options available in peer cities. Despite a few transportation initiatives, which include a
proposed LRT line and the promotion of bicycling and existing programs, under-funding has limited the effectiveness of
sustainable transportation in Saint Paul. Some possible improvements that the city should consider as priorities are as follows:
• The Bicycle Advisory Board should continue with its promotion of biking, expand attempts to plan, connect, maintain
and create bike lanes by coordinating with the District Councils.
• Photo-enforcement of red light running to make pedestrian and bike traffic safer and therein, to promote the use of
pollution-free forms of transportation.
• Parking charges at municipal parking facilities and meters should reflect the full cost of providing parking. Tools
such as setting a parking cap, taxing parking usage, or charging fees in lieu of parking should be considered. The city
should review commercial zoning laws and consider discouraging the construction of parking lots.
• Saint Paul should pursue means to retain control over funding for public transit within the city. For example, the city
of Seattle runs its own monorail transit system separate from the regional transit bodies. Local sales tax that fund the
transit systems in many other cities also allow for local control of funding. Federal funding for light rail may be
available to the city directly that could potentially bypass regulation by the state that may not coincide with the city’s
interests.
Sources
Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board
http://www.caapb.state.mn.us/specific_actions/pedestrian.htm
City of Saint Paul “Newsroom”
http://www.stpaul.gov/mayor/newsroom/jul0103.html
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Metro Commuter Services: Biking
https://www.metrocommuterservices.org/chaingang.htm
Metropolitan Council News Release. http://www.metrocouncil.org/news/2005/news_491.htm
Metropolitan Council “Transit System Performance Audit 2003”
http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/transportation/Audit2003/Audit2003.htm
Metropolitan Council “2000 Travel Behavior Inventory”
http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/transportation/TBI_2000.htm
Metropolitan Council Transportation Planning
http://www.metrocouncil.org/services/transportation.htm
Nelson, Tim. “State Steers Funds to Transit” Pioneer Press, April 1, 2005
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/11280881.htm
The Saint Paul Bicycle Advisory Board
http://www.stpaul.gov/mayor/committeeinfo/bicycle/
Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework, September 2003. CD
www.riverfrontcorporation.com/designcenter
Saint Paul Transportation Management Organization
http://www.saintpaulparking.com/index.cfm
Rick Person, Saint Paul Department of Public Works
Eric Thompson, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator and Director of Park Security. City of Saint Paul
Transit for Livable Communities “Sharing the Road: Encouraging Biking and Walking In MN”
http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Reports/Sharing_the_Road.pdf
Transportation Plan
http://www.stpaul.gov/depts/ped/HousingPlans/Transportatn%20plan%204-05.pdf\
from: http://www.stpaul.gov/depts/ped/
Dave Vessel, Transportation Planner, Metropolitan Council
Renewable Energy Use by City Government and the Public
When a city government commits to using renewable energy, it serves as a model for its citizens, and contributes to improving
markets for renewable energy. Additionally, the city reaps the benefits of cleaner energy in reduced air emissions. As fossil
fuels are a finite resource, renewable energy use will have to increase at some point. These factors are why renewable energy
use by city government is an indicator of sustainability in a city. Forms of renewable energy include wind, solar, hydro and
biomass. While it is significantly cleaner than coal, natural gas is not included as a renewable energy. While city government
can set an example by using renewable energy, it can also provide incentives and options for citizens to use renewable energy.
Programs that give the public access to renewable energy can be provided by electric utility companies, or as incentive
programs by the city to use renewable energy directly (solar panels on the roof, for example).
The primary approach of cities to use renewable energy in city buildings is to include renewable energy requirements as part of
green building standards. For example, energy standards may require use of solar panels. Cities that have chosen this
approach include Scottsdale and San Jose. Cities that go beyond including renewable energy systems as a part of city
buildings to providing a more extensive source of renewable energy for the municipalities include Santa Monica, Boulder,
Portland, and Austin. Santa Monica has been able to take full advantage of the unique California energy market by contracting
to purchase 100% renewable energy for the city through the California direct access system. The city does not produce the
renewable energy, but elects to buy renewable energy from northern California geothermal sources and solar installations in the
Southwest. As the California system attempts to reflect a fairer market value, buying renewable energy for the city of Santa
Monica has proven cheaper than conventional energy sources. Santa Monica is also a leader in promoting direct use of solar
power in its municipal buildings (City of Santa Monica website). The city of Boulder currently operates five hydroelectric
plants, with two more planned. Boulder supplements its hydropower sources by encouraging use of renewable energy such as
solar in its municipal buildings through its green building code (City of Boulder website). Portland has developed a
comprehensive energy plan for the city, which gives goals for the municipality, residents and industry. Part of the goals for the
municipality is to examine the feasibility of a renewable energy facility for district heating and cooling. At this time, Portland
is in negotiation to buy the electric utility company, Portland General Electric, which declared bankruptcy (City of Portland
website). Austin’s District Energy receives power from a variety of sources that includes wind power, providing the
municipality with some power from renewable sources. In total, Austin Energy receives 89 megawatts of wind energy and 13
megawatts of landfill methane gas generated power. Austin Energy produces a total of 2600 megawatts of energy per year
from all its energy sources, making it the tenth largest community owned utility with one of the top performing renewable
energy programs in the nation (City of Austin website).
While the city of Saint Paul does not have a fully integrated program of renewable energy use for city buildings, city buildings
that are located in the downtown are heated by a hot water system that originates at the District Energy biomass plant.
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Additionally, the new Como Observatory uses photovoltaic cells. The combination of these resources shows that the city of
Saint Paul is making a commitment to renewable energy use in city buildings.
District Energy Saint Paul, Inc. is a private, nonprofit, community based corporation, founded in 1979. Currently, 80% of
Saint Paul’s downtown building space is heated through the largest hot water heating system in North America. This includes
the State Capitol Complex and 300 single-family residences. The combined heat and power biomass plant was completed in
April 2003, and is the largest of its kind in the US
serving a district energy system. President George W.
Bush recognized the plant for its efficiency and
affordability in 2001. The system is particularly
impressive as it is an almost closed loop system. The
plant no longer uses groundwater, and disposes of
wood waste that was becoming a problem for the
community. Additionally, District Energy began
selling twenty-five megawatts of energy from the
biomass plant to the Xcel Energy grid in 2002. District
Energy continues to expand its service area, now
providing heating services to Saint Paul’s West Side
and the Phalen Corridor. District Energy continues to
be a leader in its area; this year it will be hosting the
International District Energy Association’s annual
conference and trade show. The location of the
biomass plant adjacent to the Science Museum of Minnesota also allowed the development of an interpretive program that
educates visitors about the biomass plant and its benefits. District Energy is continuing to cooperate with community
organizations to expand its outreach program (District Energy website).
In 2003, the city of Saint Paul accepted a $300,000 grant from Xcel Energy to install a photovoltaic system in the remodeled
Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park (Como Park Observatory website). The complete opening of the new
observatory will not happen until May 2005, meaning the impact of the photovoltaic system is unknown at this point. The
combination of photovoltaics at Como Park, and the exemplary District Energy system in downtown Saint Paul mean that the
municipality is making a commitment to using renewable energy. However, renewable energy use should be expanded beyond
the downtown area and the isolated instance at Como Park.
One way for Saint Paul to increase renewable energy use in city buildings would be to include renewable energy requirements
as part of a systematic set of green building requirements for city buildings. This would increase renewable energy use in city
buildings that are not part of the downtown core served by District Energy. A more comprehensive step that Saint Paul could
take is to follow the example of Santa Monica and contract to buy 100% renewable energy from Xcel Energy. However, as
Minnesota’s electric utilities are structured differently from California, this is likely to be prohibitively costly in the current
system. If the city of Saint Paul is committed to increasing renewable energy use in city buildings it should publicly state its
commitment, and become involved in energy issues at the state level to create climate more congenial to renewable energy use.
Despite improvements that could be made, Saint Paul must be commended for its commitment to renewable energy and its
partnership in developing the District Energy plant, which is a nationwide example of renewable energy use at the city level.
The city should promote its achievements to receive the recognition deserved.
For residents, renewable energy use can be more complicated as the scale is not as large and costs can be prohibitive without
seeing a long-term savings. However, there are programs that allow residents to purchase green energy from their electric
utility. Electric utilities are increasingly offering an option to purchase renewable energy, and cities with such programs
include Santa Monica, California, and Austin, Texas. Saint Paul residents also have an option to purchase renewable energy
through Xcel Energy. The focus here is on how this program could be improved to more accurately reflect the costs and
benefits of renewable energy.
Austin Energy is a community owned electric utility and part of the city of Austin. Austin Energy operates a green energy
program for consumers called GreenChoice (Austin Energy website). GreenChoice is the most successful program of its kind
in the nation, with 370 million kilowatt hours of subscriptions in 2003. Austin residents can purchase wind energy and energy
from a biogas plant near San Antonio. Participants pay 3.30 cents per kilowatt-hour to purchase green energy, versus a
standard energy cost of 2.796 cents per kilowatt-hour. On average, a subscriber pays about five dollars more per month.
GreenChoice also has plans that target businesses directly, and provides them with public recognition for participating. Austin
Energy also has one of the leading solar rebate programs in the country. The rebate program will cover between 50 to 80% of
the cost of installing solar panels on a house or business (Austin Energy website). The Santa Monica program was available to
residents in the same way that the city of Santa Monica purchases 100% green energy. This program did cost more to
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residents, but due to changes in California law, residents are no longer allowed to direct purchase, unless they were previously
enrolled in the program. However, Santa Monica does have a program that waives the permitting cost for residents and
businesses that choose to install solar power in their homes. Information about tax rebates that are available for people who
install some type of renewable energy is available on Santa Monica’s website for citizens and businesses to access (City of
Santa Monica website).
The Xcel program, known as Windsource, allows consumers to pay an additional fee to buy wind energy. The smallest amount
is $2.00 per month for at least a year in addition to standard energy charges, which purchases 100-kilowatt hours of wind
energy each month. Wind energy can be purchased in blocks of 100-kilowatt hours, each costing $2.00, meaning a consumer
can purchase 100% green energy if they desire (Xcel Energy website). Although this is not a specifically city program, it does
provide an alternative to Saint Paul residents. This would be a difficult requirement for a city to fill without cooperation from
the local electric utility company.
The negative aspect of this plan is that it does not price wind energy at a competitive price. Consumers pay for wind power in
addition to their standard utility payment. This does not provide much incentive for residents to sign up for the option.
However, it seems that this is at least as good as other high-performing cities. Saint Paul could improve the accessibility of
renewable energy to residents by instating a rebate program for installing solar equipment such as in Austin and Santa Monica.
Sources
Austin Energy, www.austinenergy.com/Energy%20Efficiency/Programs/Green%20Choice/index.htm
www.austinenergy.com/Energy%20Efficiency/Programs/Rebates/Solar%20Rebates/index.htm
City of Santa Monica, http://pen.ci.santa-monica.ca.us/epd/residents/Energy/solar.htm
http://pen.ci.santa-monica.ca.us/epd/residents/Energy/green_energy.htm
Xcel Energy, www.xcelenergy.com/XLWEB/CDA/0,3080,1-1-2_735_11612-3320-5_538_973-0,00.html
City of Boulder, www.ci.boulder.co.us/publicworks/depts/utilities/about/renewable.htm
www.ci.boulder.co.us/comm/pressrelease/2003/0623.html
City of Portland, www.portlandonline.com/index.cfm?&a=36237&c=31220
www.portlandonline.com/index.cfm?&a=54355&c=34835
City of San Jose, www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/natural-energy-resources/gb-san-jose.htm
City of Scottsdale, www.ci.scottsdale.az.us/news/2005/March/03-24-05b.asp
District Energy, www.districtenergy.com
Como Park Observatory, www.comozooconservatory.org/conservatory/fernroom1_25.pdf
Energy Conservation Programs
This section addresses efforts toward energy conservation programs that are separate from green building standards. Such
programs vary widely, from signal lamp conversion to education programs to reducing heat island effects. Although it is
difficult to compare cities due to the wide variety of initiatives, Saint Paul appears to be among the best in energy conservation
efforts. Although Saint Paul is performing well, the range of programs being employed in other areas provides the city with a
wealth of ideas to continue to improve its energy conservation efforts.
High-performers in this area are San Jose, Boulder, and Los Angeles. The city of San Jose was recognized in 2004 by
California’s energy efficiency and outreach campaign, Flex Your Energy. By installing variable speed drives on water pumps,
retrofitting buildings, and encouraging energy conservation, the city has saved 107,252,097 kWh since 2001, which equates to
$13,479,657 (Flex Your Power website). Additionally, San Jose participates in the Silicon Valley Energy Program with
Pacific Gas and Electric. Through the program, small businesses are provided with cash rebates to retrofit lighting to be more
energy efficient and to optimize thermostat systems. The program also runs classes in energy conservation, offers grant
incentives for energy efficient design, and conducts municipal building energy audits (Pacific Gas and Electric website). The
San Jose city website has a list of ideas for residents and businesses to improve their energy efficiency (City of San Jose
website). Boulder has offered incentives for residents to improve their energy efficiency, such as offering all residents a free
compact fluorescent light bulb, and providing lists of energy conserving products that are available at local hardware stores.
The Boulder Partners for A Clean Environment program also provided rebates to small businesses for efficient lighting (City of
Boulder website). The city has a web page that provides information on how to be more energy efficient, and links to a local
nonprofit organization, the Center for Resource Conservation, which provides extensive information on energy conservation,
and is actively promoting energy conservation specifically in Boulder County (Center for Resource Conservation website).
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power uses rebate programs to encourage energy conservation in residential
buildings, and provides a monitoring program that focuses on medium to large commercial and industrial users. The
department works with these users in its Energy Load Monitoring program that helps with data collection to identify patterns of
energy use and determines how to reduce energy use. Los Angeles residents can receive rebates on certified Energy Star
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appliances they purchase. For example, an energy efficient air conditioner qualifies for a fifty-dollar rebate (City of Los
Angeles website).
Saint Paul has a number of programs that are aimed to conserve energy as part the Saint Paul Environmental Economic
Partnership Project, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions to twenty percent below 1988 base year levels. All information,
unless noted, comes from the Saint Paul Environmental Economic Partnership brochure, available on the city website. The
programs that are being included in the project that also result in significant energy savings are:
1. City building retrofits: City buildings have been retrofitted to make them more energy efficient. The city task force
developed the Conservation Improvement Project (CIP) to identify ways to reduce energy use in city buildings. Northern
States Power/Xcel Energy 0% loans were used to purchase durable money-saving equipment for the 130 city buildings. This
equipment improves both energy use and the work environment. The agreement with Xcel Energy that provided the loans has
now expired, but with renegotiation of Xcel’s franchise agreement occurring, programs such as the 0% loan program could be
reinstated (Saint Paul City Council meeting)
2. Street Lighting and Signal Lamp Conversion: Streetlights have been converted to high-pressure sodium lighting that is
both cheaper and more energy efficient. Signal lamps have been converted to LED lights that are very energy efficient,
resulting in a reduction in energy use of 2.15-megawatt hours each year.
3. ENERGY STAR: Saint Paul uses the federal ENERGY STAR program that identifies ways for individuals and business to
increase energy efficiency. Appliances are rated for their energy efficiency, and rebates are available on purchases of energy
efficient appliances. The website, www.energystar.gov, provides a wealth of information to residents, businesses, and local
governments on how to be more energy efficient (ENERGY STAR website). Saint Paul requires ENERGY STAR ratings on
equipment purchases. New equipment purchasing, replacement or maintenance must be completed following Xcel Energy
filing and the Sustainable Decisions Guide for City of Saint Paul Facilities (Rick Person, personal communication).
4. Pumping Electricity Real Time/Peak Demand Pricing: Xcel Energy and the Water and Sewer Utilities have an
agreement where Xcel provides hourly pricing to both utilities. This allows the utilities to model operations to be as efficient
as possible (Rick Person, personal communication).
5. Minnesota Energy Code Compliance: In the future, Saint Paul will attempt to comply with the Minnesota Energy Code.
The energy code primarily addresses insulation efficiency, but also considers such issues as lighting.
6. Energy Audits: Through its partnership with the Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium, the city of Saint Paul offers
energy audits to residents and businesses who wish to know how energy efficient their building is and how they can improve
energy efficiency. The Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium is a non-profit group that operates a number of programs
related to energy. In 2002, it had completed more than 2,800 audits as part of a contract with Xcel Energy. In an audit,
“NEC energy auditors spend one and a half to two hours inspecting homes from attic to basement and talking with residents
about their energy use. At the end of the audit, homeowners are left with written recommendations describing which measures
to take to save money, ensure safety, and increase comfort.” Energy audits link with the ENERGY STAR program, as auditors
help builders and owners identify ways to qualify as ENERGY STAR and the Neighborhood Energy Consortium’s Peak
Performance Homes program (NEC website).
While Saint Paul has an extensive set of projects dedicated to energy conservation, it can look to other leading cities for other
innovative ideas. At this point, the city has primarily focused on improving energy efficiency in city buildings, providing
minimal efforts for residential consumers, and nothing for commercial and industrial consumers. Saint Paul could work with
Xcel Energy to provide Saint Paul businesses with more information about their energy consumption and how to reduce
consumption, as has been done in Los Angeles. It could also follow the examples of San Jose, Boulder and Los Angeles to
provide rebates or incentives for businesses and residents to purchase energy saving lighting and provide education on how to
be energy efficient. Xcel Energy provides some information on how to reduce energy consumption on its website, but the city
of Saint Paul could supplement this information. Another important issue in this area is weatherization, due to our severe
winters. Saint Paul could work with the federal weatherization program to ensure that low-income households are properly
weatherized, saving the residents money while reducing energy use (Federal Weatherization Program). Finally, Saint Paul
should promote its energy conservation programs better so that the community knows what is being done, and what resources
are available to them to increase their personal energy efficiency.
Sources
Flex Your Power, www.fypower.org/feature/awards/2004_descriptions.html?recip=sanjose
Pacific Gas and Electric, www.pge.com/rebates/alliances/svep.html
City of San Jose, www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/natural-energy-resources/energyresources.htm
35
City of Boulder, www.ci.boulder.co.us/comm/pressrelease/2003/1203.html
www.ci.boulder.co.us/environmentalaffairs/energy/index.htm
Center for Resource Conservation, http://conservationcenter.org
City of Los Angeles, www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp003154.jsp
www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp000478.jsp?
Saint Paul Environmental-Economic Partnership Project, www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/co2rednsumy.html
www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/realestate/e-epp.pdf
Xcel Energy, www.xcelenergy.com
Neighborhood Energy Consortium, http://www.spnec.org/energy_programs.shtml#energyaudit
http://www.spnec.org/peakperformancehomes.shtml
Energy Star, www.energystar.gov
Federal Weatherization Program, www.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/
Urban Agriculture and Food Policies
There are many ways in which urban agriculture initiatives would complement the stated goals of the city of Saint
Paul. For example, several articles of the Department of Planning and Economic Development’s Ten Principles for
City Development, which appear in General Policy 1 of the Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan, describe a goal that could
be furthered by urban agriculture programs. (See the Principles at
http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/ped/compplan/#principles. Articles 1-4 and 7 are of particular interest in
considering the issue of urban agriculture.) General Policy 5 of the Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan supports
“recognition of the variety of physical forms that make for good neighborhoods in Saint Paul”—and there are strong
arguments that one of these is urban agricultural space (http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/ped/compplan/, viewed
March 30, 2005). It would be difficult to argue that supporting urban agriculture is not in keeping with the city’s
professed objectives.
Community gardening is gardening in a space owned by a group or organization, which provides other individuals or
groups with access, usually for a small fee, to the garden. Community gardens can be decorative, productive, or
mixed-use, although this document is concerned primarily with those that have some productive capacity. Urban
agriculture refers to the cultivation of food crops in an urban environment. Both practices provide many benefits to
urban communities. Community gardens beautify neighborhoods, strengthen community ties, and provide
environmental activities, experiences, and education for adults and children alike. When practiced in a community
garden, urban agriculture provides the same benefits, and whether done privately or in a community garden it
increases access to fresh produce among inner-city residents, for whom such access is often lacking. Indeed, access to
fresh, healthy foods has been identified by some researchers as a key issue for inner-city neighborhoods. (See for
example Robert Gottlieb’s Environmentalism Unbound.)
Furthermore, there are many ways in which community gardening and urban agriculture initiatives complement the
stated goals of the city of Saint Paul. For example, General Policy 5 of the Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan supports
“recognition of the variety of physical forms that make for good neighborhoods in Saint Paul”
(http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/ped/compplan/, viewed March 30, 2005). As noted above, there are strong
arguments that one of these is community gardening and urban agricultural space.
There is already an active community gardening and urban agriculture community in Saint Paul. Farm in the City (FITC) is a
non-profit community gardening organization in Saint Paul that acquires and rents plots for cultivation. The American
Community Gardening Association is also active in the Twin Cities. Each of these groups—along with the Minnesota
Horticultural Society’s Minnesota Green program, the Green Institute’s Green Space Partners program, the Youth Farm &
Market Project, and other Twin Cities greening activists—participates in the Twin Cities Greening Coalition (TCGC). In
addition to these groups, there are community gardening groups in many neighborhoods throughout the city. Some ethnic
groups, such as the Vietnamese and Hmong, have been particularly active in urban agriculture and community gardening.
There is also a healthy farmers’ market network in Saint Paul, with an easily navigable and informative website
(http://www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com/) that offers information and links related to participating growers, their products, and
market news and special events. Much of this information can be found in the Twin Cities Community Garden Resource
Guide, edited and made available by TCGC, which is full of information needed to start and operate a community garden
successfully.
The city of Saint Paul does offer institutional support for this community of organizations and citizens. In 1987, the Saint Paul
Food and Nutrition Commission drafted a Municipal Food Policy. Many of the goals and objectives of the Policy seem to
support community gardening and urban agriculture. For example, among the major goals of the policy are to “assure that all
36
Saint Paul citizens have access to safe, affordable and nutritious food,” and to “protect and strengthen the region’s capacity to
supply safe, nutritious and affordable food to Saint Paul citizens” (Saint Paul Municipal Food Policy, 1987, p. ii). However,
the Commission was “sunsetted” in 1997, when the Saint Paul Division of Public Health, under which the Commission had
operated, merged with the Ramsey County Public Health Department. One former member attributed the Commission’s
dissolution to a sense of a “lack of mission and direction” (Lantry, personal communication).
The responsibilities that once belonged to the Saint Paul Food and Nutrition Commission now fall to various divisions of the
Saint Paul/Ramsey County Public Health Department. The Saint Paul/Ramsey County Community Health Services Advisory
Committee hears citizens’ agendas and makes recommendations for action directly to county commissioners. The Committee
has dealt with issues—such as land use and fresh foods in public schools—that are related to urban agriculture. However, the
Committee does not determine policy, and has no specific responsibility to deal with community gardening and urban
agriculture issues. (Ackerman, personal communication)
The Saint Paul Department of Parks and Recreation has a Community Gardens environmental program, which partners with 75
community gardens, of which one can access a map on the Parks and Recreation website (see Resources for address). The site
provides the addresses of the gardens and most of the names of the community organizations responsible for them. There is
also a staff person assigned to assist community members in becoming involved with the gardens whose contact information
appears on the site. However, no additional information is currently provided on the site, making it a relatively bare resource.
According to Mark Granlund, the current staff person for the program, additions to the site are in the works, as are expansions
of the program’s activities. Representatives from Parks and Recreation have been attending meetings of Green Saint Paul, a
group of mostly Saint Paul residents that meets to discuss local greening policy, issues, and actions. Parks and Recreation
plans to hold meetings over the next year to work on guidelines for garden clean-up, water access, and general maintenance, in
the hopes of developing a policy on space for community gardening for 2006.
Although Saint Paul does offer some resources to community gardeners and urban agriculturists, there seems to be little
coordination among the bodies whose work pertains to community gardening and urban agriculture issues. In addition,
information about existing programs is difficult to access. There seems to be a considerable amount of information that is not
available online, for example, such as “works in progress” and even contact information for various persons and bodies that
deal with community gardening and urban agriculture issues. In contrast to Saint Paul, the city of Hartford, Connecticut, seems
to have a very coherent and accessible body, the City of Hartford Advisory Commission on Food Policy. One of the primary
responsibilities of the Commission has been to bridge the gap between “government agencies (local, state and federal)
delivering food assistance in the form of benefits (such as food stamps) or meals (such as school breakfast)” and “dozens of
private organizations providing everything from free food to community garden plots” (City of Hartford, see Resources for
address). The Commission’s website is navigable and extensive, offering such topics as the Commission’s history, mission,
policies, duties, members, meetings, and how to get involved. Saint Paul would do well to emulate the model established in
Hartford.
The city could also potentially draw some useful ideas to strengthen its own urban agriculture community from programs in the
city of Seattle—for example, the P-Patch Community Gardens project.
The City of Seattle's P-Patch Program is open to any resident of Seattle and works closely with the nonprofit
“P-Patch Trust ” to provide community garden space for residents of 44 Seattle neighborhoods. Over 1,600
plots serve more than 4,500 urban gardeners. Special programs serve refugees, low-income, disabled and
youth gardeners, while the Lettuce Link project coordinates delivery of tons of fresh donated produce to food
banks every year. In support of a strong environmental ethic, the P-Patch Program is organic gardening only.
(http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/gardening.htm, viewed March 30, 2005)
Participants in the program can grow any vegetables, small fruits, flowers, or herbs they choose. Produce can be
shared with friends or donated to food banks, but not sold, and participants are required to give at least 8 hours of “PPatch Community Time” per year. The P-Patch Program is operated in cooperation with the non-profit P-Patch Trust,
a community gardening land trust. Saint Paul could assist the efforts of already existing community gardening and
greening organizations through a similar partnership, providing funding, resources, and staff support to community
gardening and urban agriculture programs to engage city residents, perhaps by working with the Trust for Public Land
(TPL). However, establishing a trust can be a complicated process; experts from TPL would need to evaluate the
situation with representatives from the city government and community to determine whether such a program could
indeed benefit the city.
Sources
Gottlieb, Robert. Environmentalism Unbound. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001.
37
Saint Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development. “The Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan.”
http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/ped/compplan/, viewed March 30, 2005.
Saint Paul Food and Nutrition Commission. “Saint Paul Municipal Food Policy,” 1987. Available in hardcopy from
the city clerk, or as Word document from Nora Hilty ([email protected]).
Lantry, Kathy—Saint Paul City Council President; former Food and Nutrition Commission member. Personal communication
(e-mail). April 11, 2005.
Ackerman, Mary—Saint Paul/Ramsey County Community Health Services Advisory Committee Chair. Personal
communication (telephone). April 20, 2005.
Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, Community Gardens Program.
http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/parks/environment/comgardens.html
Granlund, Mark—Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, Community Gardens Program. Personal communication (telephone).
April 18, 2005.
City of Hartford Advisory Commission on Food Policy, History.
http://www.hartford.gov/government/FoodCommission/Commission.htm, viewed April 20, 2005.
City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. “P-Patch Community Gardens.”
http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/gardening.htm, viewed March 30, 2005.
CROSSCUTTING ISSUES
Education for Sustainability
Education for sustainability is a topic that can be defined in different ways. For the purpose of this study, I have looked into
what organizations or the city of Saint Paul have done to teach the public and other organizations about sustainable issues
ranging from development to energy use to sustainable ways of living. Although the city government has not explicitly
documented any work on education for sustainability, some departments, such as Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, do host
activities that may be considered an educational step in the right direction. Generally however, other regional and local
organizations such as non-profits play the major in education for sustainability in our region. Some of the organizations are
based in Minneapolis, but their work still spans the Twin Cities. Others are regional or state-wide, but nonetheless, Saint Paul
is affected by their outreach. I will begin by referencing the initiatives for sustainability education that function on a broader
scale and work down to the educational efforts that are specific to Saint Paul.
A variety of state-wide groups have been established for education on sustainability. Their goal is to provide information, tools
and networking for those interested in pursuing sustainable endeavors such as starting sustainable energy or food initiatives in
their community. Agencies such as the Institute for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, and the Institute for Social, Economic
and Ecological Sustainability are examples.
The Minnesota Sustainable Communities Network is another organization that provides links and tools for sustainability and
education. One such link provides a list of resources on achieving sustainability from the MN Office of Environmental
Assistance. These resources include the “Neighborhood Sustainability Indicators Guidebook” and “Thinking like a Sustainable
Community”. Yet another state-wide agency, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board has a Sustainable Development
Initiative with information guides such as “Urban Construction: Tools and Techniques for Local Planning”. These resources
and tools focus on building sustainable communities. On a more local level, SEEK (Sharing Environmental Education
Knowledge), has a section dedicated to the metro region that includes a list of resources and a community calendar of events.
Other than SEEK, which provides resources and links for the entire metro area, there are organizations that focus on specific,
smaller-scale aspects within the community. Some Twin-Cities based organizations target certain parts of the Cities or specific
topics in sustainability. For instance, The Green Institute in Minneapolis creates economic opportunities through sustainable
community development. It also houses the Green Resource Center. The Center’s mission is to “create and develop a site-based
collection of information, materials and design tools in a variety of media related to sustainable design, new construction and
rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of buildings, both residential and commercial, and green space practices” Both the
public and professionals can use the resources available to do community outreach in the areas of green building and green
technologies.
Another non-profit that provides resources for citizens is the Twin Cities Green Guide. The Twin Cities Green Guide maintains
an updated website and produces a guidebook every four years that contains information on education and resources that
motivate people to pursue a sustainable lifestyle. It gives tips on living sustainably in areas like transportation, business,
gardening, food and community. This non-profit is dedicated to creating a guide that introduces “issues of sustainability to the
community”, brings in the ideas of community residents, and encourages teamwork.
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On a different note, Great River Greening focuses on ecological education. Its goal is to education citizens on how to restore
natural habitats, and thus to create a more sustainable environment and a community of responsible individuals. Great River
Greening also provides greening strategies for its clients.
Friends of the Mississippi River is a group that aims to engage citizens like Great River Greening. With workshops, programs
and education events that include learning about sustainable gardening and lawn care, FMR’s mission is to advocate a new
vision for the Mississippi River and Watershed and to teach people about the restoration and preservation of the Mississippi.
Like Great River Greening and Friends of the Mississippi that emphasize a particular environmental issue, the Saint Paul
Energy Consortium is a non-profit that works with neighborhood groups to provide “environmental information, services and
programs”. The objective of the NEC is to expand energy conservation programs. NEC’s focus is on energy-efficiency
education in the community, and it provides energy audits and insulation programs, promotes bicycle use and is introducing a
car-sharing program. Aside from energy issues, NEC ran a recycling and waste-reduction program that became Eureka
Recycling. Both NEC and Eureka Recycling provide award-winning programs to the Saint Paul community.
Eco-Education is also responsible for offering programs in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, but with a focus on school children.
Schools can become a part of the Eco-Education model that teaches students about environmental issues and helps them put
their knowledge into action. Through their City Connections, Urban Stewards and Eco-Outreach programs, school-age children
are exposed to an environmental curriculum, problem-solving and community activities, and a variety of speakers who draw
awareness to environmental issues.
The Saint Paul Parks and Recreation department hosts a variety of educational programs to restore and provide access to the
city’s “natural resources”. These programs include volunteer opportunities, education and research with help from partners
such as “Eco-Stewards” and “Park-Stewards”. These groups coordinate volunteer opportunities to care for the park system,
which range from park clean-ups to vegetation monitoring. Classes are also available at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
for teachers, adults and children, but they teach topics related to the biodiversity, the animals at the zoo and art.
The Saint Paul Public Schools also offers a variety of Community Education programs. However, they are not specifically
geared toward sustainable education. Yet, they do provide programs such as family education, with workshops that involve
learning how to cook for your children if they are vegetarians and how kids can cope with asthma and still be active.
Community Education programs may not directly address sustainability issues, but they no encourage community programs
and involvement that support the creation of a healthy community.
Lastly, one resource for sustainability education in Saint Paul is the Living Green Expo. It is held at the Minnesota State Fair
Grounds, where hundreds of exhibitors present information about their organizations, products and sustainable concepts. The
Living Green Expo hosts a whole section titled Sustainability Education, which “seeks to empower households, businesses and
communities toward the long-term ideal of sustainability” (Living Green Expo). In addition, the Expo’s website contains a
myriad of resources and links that teach about moving toward a more sustainable lifestyle through conscientious choices,
product use, and community involvement. The Living Green Expo and Eco-Education have perhaps the most straightforward
agenda on sustainability education within the community. Unfortunately the Living Green Expo, it only occurs once a year, but
its web resources are posted year-round to provide information on education for sustainability. Eco-Education is a beneficial
resource for Saint Paul because it empowers children and adults to make sustainable decisions and provides learning tools that
they may carry with them throughout their lifetimes.
Sources
Institute for Urban Ecology and Sustainability
http://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/index.html
Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability
http://www.fw.umn.edu/ISEES/publcty/sustbib.htm
Minnesota Sustainable Communities Network
http://www.nextstep.state.mn.us/
MN Office of Environmental Assistance sustainability resources
http://www.moea.state.mn.us/sc/resources.cfm
Minnesota Environmental Quality Board: Sustainable Development Initiative
http://www.eqb.state.mn.us/SDI/index.html/
SEEK (Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge)
http://www.seek.state.mn.us/region_detail.cfm?region=Metro
The Green Institute
http://www.greeninstitute.org/aboutus.html
Green Resources Center
http://www.greeninstitute.org/grc/grchome.htm
39
Twin Cities Green Guide
http://www.thegreenguide.org/
Friends of the Mississippi
http://www.fmr.org/
Great River Greening
www.greatrivergreening.org
Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium
http://www.spnec.org/
Eureka Recycling
http://www.eurekarecycling.org/
Eco-Education
http://www.ecoeducation.org/
Living Green Expo
http://www.livinggreen.org/
Environmental Justice
Background: Many analysts date the beginning of the environmental justice movement in the United States from the 1982
activities in Warren County, North Carolina, when a local NAACP chapter organized citizens to oppose the siting of a solid
waste incinerator in the County. This grass roots action, pointing to the disproportionate impact of siting decisions on minority
populations, was soon supported by a number of broader studies by governmental and non-governmental organizations which
provided clear evidence that unequal risk burdens were being borne by people of color. (For a very brief summary of this
history, see Portney, pp. 162 ff.)
Over the last 25 years the environmental justice movement has expanded to incorporate additional environmental factors and
additional social groups. Thus, as a community pursues environmental sustainability, one question it should ask itself is
whether the environmental risks and/or amenities already existing in the community or being created by new community
initiatives are being disproportionately distributed along racial, ethnic, or economic lines. Put simply, environmental justice
asks the question as to whether environmental “bads” and environmental “goods” are being distributed fairly across social
groups. Three aspects are worth distinguishing:
1. Are the health and other risks that may arise from environmental factors such as air pollution, land use decisions, water
pollution, toxic chemical impacts, transportation systems, etc. being disproportionately imposed on minority or low income
groups?
2. Are public services such as recycling or environmental permit enforcement, or amenities such as parks and open space being
shared proportionately by different racial, ethnic, and/or income groups?
3. Are the decision making processes and institutions that determine sustainability initiatives fully representative of different
racial, ethic, economic or other groups which may be impacted differentially?
Cities, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice: In 2002, Kee Warner, a professor in the Sociology Department and the
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, set out to investigate the linkages between local sustainability efforts and
environmental justice. He used a web based search methodology to review the activities of the 77 largest cities in the U.S. as
depicted on their web sites. He found that “more than 40% of the largest cities (33 of 77) had sustainability projects on the
web, but only five of these dealt with environmental justice on their web pages.” (Warner, p. 37)
Warner then went on to describe the activities in the five cities identified as having environmental justice initiatives. He
divided the types of activities into those which provided educational content (e.g., definitions, examples, historical material),
those which had policy statements regarding environmental justice, and, finally, those which had implementation content
which “…specified ways that environmental justice was promoted, including appropriate design and use of indicators and
participatory planning.” (Warner, p. 39)
The five cities which Warner identified were Seattle, Albuquerque, Austin, Cleveland, and San Francisco. A discussion of all
of the different approaches is beyond the scope of this report; however, a brief consideration of key elements in the San
Francisco initiative is appropriate. Warner concluded that the Sustainable San Francisco web site “represented the most
comprehensive treatment of environmental justice as a part of sustainability. (p. 41). Portney also cited San Francisco in his
review of cities which had incorporated environmental justice concerns into their sustainability plans.
40
A key element of the San Francisco initiative is a set of goals designed to address concerns related to environmental justice.
(http://www.sustainable-city.org/Plan/Justice/strategy.htm) These goals are as follows:
goal 1
To establish meaningful participation in the decision-making
processes that affect historically disadvantaged communities of
San Francisco.
goal 2
To create a vibrant community-based economy with jobs and
career opportunities that allow all people economic selfdetermination and environmental health.
goal 3
To eliminate disproportionate environmental burdens and
pollution imposed on historically disadvantaged communities and
communities of color.
goal 4
To create a community with the capacity and resources for selfrepresentation and indigenous leadership.
goal 5
To ensure that social and economic justice are established as an
integral aspect of environmental well-being and sustainability.
Each of the goals is then followed by detailed long term objectives, five year objectives, and specific actions to achieve these
objectives and then a set of indicators to measure progress in achievement. At about the same time the plan was adopted, the
city created a new Department of the Environment. As described on the web site,
“One of the main responsibilities of this new agency will be to begin implementing the sustainability plan. This central focus
within the structure of the city itself will go a long way toward ensuring that the plan is more than a community writing
exercise…The fact that a new agency has been created, however, should not minimize the importance of the work of the City’s
older environmental agencies, many of which participated in the drafting process. They are already implementing some of the
actions proposed here, and plans for more are in the works. Several of the City’s agencies are on the cutting edge of
environmental program leadership, and it is hoped that the focus on sustainability issues provided by this plan will help secure
them the resources and support they need to move forward even more aggressively on an agenda for San Francisco’s future,
and will make them role models for agencies that have been slower to share this common vision.” http://www.sustainablecity.org/Plan/Intro/intro.htm. A recent review of San Francisco’s web site identified the city’s Department of the Environment
to still be at work on a number of sustainability issues, including environmental justice.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/environment_index.asp.
A final point concerning other cities’ efforts to address environmental justice relates to the July 2004”Minneapolis
Environmental Report: Towards Sustainability.” This report states an overall goal with respect to environmental justice:
“Reduce exposure to Toxic Chemicals in Homes and Neighborhoods.” The report then reviews steps that the city already has
taken and sets three targets regarding blood lead levels in children, incidences of children with aggravated asthma conditions,
and arsenic levels in yards in the East Phillips neighborhood. Each target is followed by a list of “What we’re going to do.”
This Report is available at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/environment/
Saint Paul and Environmental Justice: The City of Saint Paul is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. According
to data provided from the U.S. Census by the Wilder Research Center, between 1990 and 2000, the White population decreased
from 81% to 64% while the populations of Asians (7% to 12%), Blacks (7% to 11%) and Latino (4% to 8%) all grew. The
Native American population remained at 1% and 3% of residents were multi-racial.
(http://www.communitydataworks.org/StPaul/data.php.)
Just as important for environmental justice concerns is the fact that minority populations are not spread evenly throughout the
city, but can be found in differing proportions in different neighborhoods. Minority populations vary from a low of 8% in MacGroveland to a high of 76% in Thomas-Dale. Asians range from 3% to 38% across neighborhoods with Blacks ranging from
2% to 36% and Latinos ranting from 2% to 33%. (http://www.communitydataworks.org/StPaul/data.php.) As Portney points
out (p. 165), the geographical concentrations of minority populations is critical for environmental justice because it raises the
key issue of where particular kinds of environmental activities are to be located- be they environmental “bads” or “goods.”
41
Our limited review of environmental justice concerns in Saint Paul did not identify key vocal groups working from this
perspective. In Minneapolis, a new group called Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota, is beginning to raise justice
concerns around such issues as air pollution and asthma, lead contamination, arsenic contamination, and contaminated site
cleanup. (http://www.ejadvocates-mn.us/) While our research did not turn up explicit environmental justice concerns in Saint
Paul, we do not doubt that there are concerns out there. Conflicts between local neighborhoods and citywide policy and
programs are not unusual. Eventually, given continued growing diversity and geographic concentration, these conflicts will
take on aspects of environmental justice.
Saint Paul has the opportunity to take proactive steps to address environmental issues now, before they become heated and
polarizing. Some of the steps the city might take include:
1. Adopt a set of policies such as those adopted by San Francisco. Commit the city officially to the pursuit of environmental
justice.
2. Review the makeup of environmental decision making or advisory groups to assure that all is being done to make these as
inclusive as possible.
3. Conduct a review of current city policies and programs to assess any potential conflicts with justice concerns and to identify
potential opportunities for advancing both environmental and justice goals.
4. Invest extra resources in areas known to be susceptible to justice concerns such as lead paint removal, neighborhood air
quality, toxic pollution cleanup, transportation equity concerns, etc.
Sources:
Agyeman, Julian, Robert D. Bullard, and Bob Evans, eds. Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World.
Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2003.
Bullard, Robert D. Dumping in Dixie. 3rd Edition. Boulder, CO.: Westview Press, 2000
Bullard, Robert D., Glenn S. Johnson, and Angel O. Torres, eds. Highway Robbery: Transportation Racism and New Routes to
Equity. Cambridge: South End Press, 2004.
City of Minneapolis, Department of the Environment. 4 May 2005. <http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/environment/>
City of San Francisco Web Site. 4 May 2005. <http://www.sfgov.org/site/environment_index.asp.>
City of San Francisco Sustainability Plan. 4 May 2005. <http:www.sustainable-city.org/Plan/Justice/strategy.htm>
Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota. 4 May 2005. <http://www.ejadvocates-mn.us>
Portney, Kent E. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2003.
Warner, Kee. “Linking Local Sustainability Initiatives with Environmental Justice.” Local Environment Vol, 7, No 1, pp 3547, 2002.
Wilder Research Center. 4 May 2005. <http://www.communitydataworks.org/StPaul/data.php>
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to the following people who provided us with helpful information through email, phone, or in person communication.
Mary Ackerman, Chair, Saint Paul-Ramsey County Community Health Services Advisory Committee
Alex Danovitch, Director of Business Development, Eureka Recycling
Keith Ellison, State Representative, District
Mark Granlund, Community Gardens Program Coordinator, Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department
Tim Griffin, Manager of the Design Center, Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation
Bill Gunther, Saint Paul Department of License, Inspections, and Environment Protection
Lee Helgen, Saint Paul City Council Member, Ward 5
Irene Jones, Outreach Director, Friends of the Mississippi River
Bob Kessler, Policy Analyst, Saint Paul City Council Research
Kathy Lantry, Saint Paul City Council President
Brian McMahon, Director, University UNITED
Amy Middleton, Project Manager, Lower Phalen Creek Project
Dave Nelson, Saint Paul Real Estate Department
Rick Person, Saint Paul Public Works Department, Program Administrator, Environmental-Economic Partnership
Barb Thoman, Program Director, Transit for Livable Communities
Eric Thompson, Bike and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator, City of Saint Paul
Lucy Thompson, Saint Paul Planning and Economic Development Department
Kurt Schultz, Saint Paul Planning and Economic Development Department
Dave Vessel, Transportation Planner with the Metropolitan Council
42