Solar Car Charging station opening  
Councilmember Russ Stark's Ward 4 E-News

February 2013
Like us on Facebook
In This Issue
Need your input
Learning from Los Angeles
Affordable Housing & the Green Line
Events  
& Opportunities    

 In the news

 

Ginkgo Coffeehouse celebrates 20 years this month! 

 

Mosaic on a Stick will move into the Hamline Park Building at 1564 Lafond on April 2, 2013

 

MNDOT's Multi-modal study of Snelling Avenue is complete -- final report here!

 

 Resources

 

 

Energy Wise Rental Rebate Program 

 

Home improvement grants/loans from Sparc AND small business/commercial assistance 


Community Guide to City Services 

 

Want to make sure paramedics have your medical information in the event you need to call them?          

 

How to be the smartest renter on your block

 


Like me on Facebook 

Quick links

 
Opportunities for you to weigh in
 
Recycle It Forward logo
  • The Citywide recycling & waste assessment process is underway!  Surveys will be mailed out to a statistically valid sample, and everyone can weigh in online using our "Open Saint Paul" tool.  More information on the process and timeline here. Please do share this with friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
  • In Mac Groveland, the City is conducting a zoning study on West Grand Avenue. Concurrently, the District Council is organizing a "Corridor Development Initiative" process that will engage neighbors in conversation about development on Grand Avenue and more broadly in the neighborhood. The next workshop is February 13 -- more details here.
Learning from Los Angeles
     Guest commentary from Samantha Henningson, Legislative Aide   
 SRH headshot
In October, I was fortunate to attend the annual "Railvolution" conference in Los Angeles to learn from communities across the country about how they're using various transportation options to improve livability, increase choices, and protect the environment. On the whole, I was very impressed with what the car mecca is doing to reduce congestion and make getting from point A to B easier for its residents.
 
The conference offered several examples of how political leadership matters. In the opening session, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke about a voter-approved levy to build out the region's transportation system, wherein voters chose long-term growth over shorter term concerns. He painted the ballot measure as a choice between connected communities or smog-filled streets.  
 
Another noteworthy example was Mayor Villaraigosa's leadership in the build-out of bicycle infrastructure. Having sustained serious injuries after  being hit by a car while riding his bike, the Mayor quickly moved to improve the safety and visibility of bicycling in the city. I was privileged to tour L.A.'s downtown area on bicycle with staff members from the city's Department of Transportation and see the improvements firsthand. L.A.'s bike plan was approved in March 2011 -- 1600 miles of a mix of facilities. Between July 2011 and June of 2012, they built 51 miles of facilities. And all of this because staff said they started approaching the work with the question of, "what could we do if we didn't say no?"
bike facilities LA
I explored the city through a few mobile tours, and was able to learn how their transit agency proactively addresses safety issues around transit facilities and rail lines. A colleague from our Met Council was also on the tour, as she prepares to work with a team to do education about safety around the new Green Line.

Russ and I are working with many partners locally, including the Trust for Public Land, to implement the Central Corridor Development Strategy's vision for parks along the Green Line. I was able to visit a new park in downtown Los Angeles - where some sort of dog event and youth activities were happening simultaneously that day in different parts of the park - and it was inspiring to imagine how green and open spaces along the Green Line could become true neighborhood and City gathering places.   
    
LA park

One of the best things I learned about was the entity "Move LA" -- a coalition of businesses that are advocating on behalf of a fully built-out transit system. To get a flavor for that effort, I would direct you to this whimsical video.

During the conference's closing plenary, speakers addressed the connection between health, transit, and housing. And Charlie Zelle, the head of MN's Jefferson Lines -- and as of recently, our state's Commissioner of Transportation -- spoke eloquently about the connections between our state's economy and our transportation system. He explained that companies making location decisions are looking at 1) human capital, 2) transit system, and 3) cost of doing business. These comments were in the context of the Itasca Project's (a CEO-led alliance) recent Return on Investment study for a Regional Transit System, which influenced Governor Dayton's budget proposal to the legislature.

In closing, I'm excited to report that the Twin Cities will host Railvolution in 2014, right around the time that our Green Line starts carrying passengers. I can't wait for the opportunity to show people from across the country all of the great work that is happening here in Saint Paul, and for us to continue to learn from our peers how to constantly keep improving.
Affordable Housing on the Green Line

Late in 2012, I helped spearhead two major actions on the part of the City regarding affordable housing. In November, acting as the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), my colleagues and I approved the allocation of $2.5 million to an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Councilmember Carter and I championed the Trust Fund, which was created in 2011 using unspent funds from the City's Sales Tax and Revitalization (STAR) program. After much discussion about the best use of these resources, the HRA gave highest priority to programs and projects aimed at keeping existing homeowners in their homes, and a high priority to helping to preserve existing affordable rental housing. We reserved 20% of the funds to help finance the construction of new affordable, multi-family apartments.
Hamline Station PPL
Project for Pride & Living's planned Hamline Station mixed use affordable housing project.
 
The second major action was the HRA's adoption of a set of recommendations for new affordable housing goals along the Green Line (the new name for Central Corridor). For the past 18 months, I have been involved in an effort called the Big Picture Project. The group, made up of representatives of government, philanthropy, private developers, community-based organizations, and affordable housing advocates, developed specific targets for the preservation and creation of affordable housing along the corridor. The thinking behind this work is that over time, as a result of the $1 billion investment in light rail, property values and rents in the neighborhoods along the corridor will increase. This upward pressure on prices may eventually price lower-income households out of the market, unless we as a City and community take steps today to ensure that a portion of the existing and new housing units along the corridor remain affordable to low- and moderate-income households. The neighborhoods along the Green Line have long been home to people of all incomes, and it is our collective vision to preserve the mixed-income nature of the community. The investment in light rail, while also an important part of the regional transit system, should benefit the people who live here today -- with improved access to jobs, services, recreation, etc. -- not displace them.

Over the years, some community members have feared that light rail was a stalking horse for gentrification and the wholesale redevelopment of the surrounding area. On the contrary, I believe strongly that light rail can and will improve our existing community, AND open the door for the redevelopment of vacant and under-utilized properties along University Avenue -- benefiting current residents and businesses while also attracting new, additional residents and businesses.
Tracy Moos home art
Painting by Tracy Moos for Family Housing Fund's Home Sweet Home exhibit.

Some have argued that we have enough affordable housing in the City and that new affordable housing should all be built in the suburbs. While I agree that every part of our region should provide housing opportunities for people across the income spectrum, this does not change the fact that we want to remain a diverse, mixed-income community that provides opportunities for all.

One of the basic definitions of "affordable housing" is that no more than 30% of household income is required to cover housing expenses, leaving remaining income available for food, transportation, health care, etc. Yet a substantial share (one recent analysis based on 2009 data suggests 45%) of renters along the Corridor today are already "housing burdened," meaning they are spending 30% or more of their income on housing.  This housing burden is somewhat offset by lower transportation costs associated with living in the urban core near good transit service  More info on this here.

Given that even today, with moderate prices, many renters are "housing burdened," one could reasonably conclude that what's needed is higher incomes, not subsidized housing.  Family income for the bottom 60% of households has stagnated or even declined in this country over the past 40 years. Federal policies such as the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit are part of the solution. The City does have some levers on wage fairness when it helps funds development projects, but we generally have more leverage in the area of housing policy and finance than we do in the area of income inequality.

NOTE: The Family Housing Fund, an organization for which I serve as a Board member, has great resources on Affordable Housing, including this fact sheet that outlines a variety of jobs, their respective pay, and the proportion of that pay necessary to pay for housing.
Questions, comments?                                                                             Like me on Facebook

Reply to this email, email us here or call 651-266-8640.

 

Photo credits: .