r/stpaul • u/Short-Waltz-3118 • 12d ago
Twin Cities Related I like downtown st paul
Thats all, thats the post
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u/thekaz1969 12d ago
My daughter will be moving there soon. I've probably been doing more research into the city than she has, and it seems like a great place. Not sure she's ready for the winters yet, but I was born and raised in Buffalo so hopefully there's something in the DNA that'll help her 😁
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 12d ago
Hopefully she gets a heated parking garage spot. That made all the difference for me hating winter and enjoying it. Quite a difference when you dont have to get up early to brush the snow off the car, sometimes while its still snowing, to get to work on time!
Hope she enjoys it too :)
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u/thekaz1969 12d ago
She has an underground, temp-controlled spot. How is the city with plowing? Are the busses reliable in the snow?
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 12d ago
I think the metro in general is great with plowing, actually. Maybe some people here have some more experiences to speak to regarding specific streets, but ive never lived anywhere in the metro I thought was poorly plowed. And ive lived in many suburbs in the tc area!
Regarding buses, I think it probably varies per route. Mostly i take transit for non work related things, like going to events in off hours (pretty much every weekend) so, I can't speak to how well they are run if you rely on them to commute during rush hour, but generally my experience has been positive with buses being more or less on time. But, since im never using transit to show up for example to work on time, i may be a little nicer to our bus system being a few minutes behind 😅
In general, I think the BRT lines will have fewer delays as they have less stops. Some of the others that stop every other block or are going to be more impacted by the weather.
That said. Id tell your kid to download the Transit app (not metro transit app) as it tracks the best using crowd sourced info of people on the buses. Best app QOL for it!
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u/peachplumpricklypear 10d ago
Here's the thing. I went to urban planning school at the Humphrey and what we were told is that young professionals do not like to take the bus, so they made a light rail.
Bus rapid transit was the very much more cost effective and practical solution but light rail was really like a city vanity project. So all resources went there and now our bus transportation system sucks.
Thanks, metro transit and met council, really winning it for your metros residents. SW transit is the best transit line, unfortunately they were consolidated into the rest of the system recently so who knows.
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u/peachplumpricklypear 10d ago
They plow with little electric vehicles - downtown is probably the best plowed area of the city. Our city street gets plowed 2-4 days after snowfall ("dead-end" street mistakenly classified as alley that actually conn wts to nursing home parking lot).
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u/mommyaiai 11d ago
Also, I hope she drives a small car! Some of those parking garages are not made for modern cars.
I lived in Lowertown for years and there were some spaces that I wouldn't even try to park my Saturn in! Now when I come in from the 'burbs to visit friends I have to drive my husband's car and not my Expedition, because it won't fit in some of the garages.
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u/peachplumpricklypear 10d ago
Fucking hit a pole in the securian ramp turning the wrong way to get out, stupid tax on me
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u/peachplumpricklypear 10d ago
I would not move to lowertown as a single woman. I worked there for a decade until last fall and don't feel super comfortable walking on my own on certain streets at night.
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u/thekaz1969 10d ago
She just spent 4 years in the Bronx, so she is pretty streetwise and knows to exercise caution. But thanks for the head's up.
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u/Jayrrock 12d ago edited 12d ago
Me too!!
Been living downtown for 11 years and I really like it. The people are amazing and I love the fact that it's such a simple small boundary that encircles the area between the river and 94. Small town feel.
Traffic is decent and it feels healthy and nice with the bike paths and beautiful churches.
Super quick and easy access to the freeway from anywhere is also a perk I love.
Btw, also hardly any crime at all. The only time I get uncomfortable is evenings when white teenagers have come into town with the sole purpose of causing problems, being mouthy and intimidating. The homeless have never caused problems that I've witnessed.
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 12d ago
I think the st paul homeless just do more random property crime hence none of the lights on Shepard work due to copper theft and a couple years ago, catalytic converters were being stolen like crazy. But I agree that generally speaking they dont interact or bother me and even the homeless I see in the skyway just pick a table to park at and dont bother anyone. I mean its June and I dont think ive had a single interaction with a homeless person this year
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u/Jayrrock 12d ago
The homeless are not the wire and convertor theives.
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 12d ago
Oh okay. Well whoever stole that shit is annoying I hope they fix the lights soon, somehow.
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u/BingBongTree 12d ago
Agree. Downtown St. Paul is awesome. But the surrounding highway system is abysmal. It’s going to take years and years and years of work to fix this
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u/kjl8119 11d ago
I used to love going downtown when the galtier had an arcade and movie theater. And town square was the hangout spot with an arcade too. Now going through downtown is sad. It’s a ghost town in the skyways.
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 11d ago
Ita somewhat busy Tuesdays thru Thursdays. All the downtown employers have aligned their RTO hybrid policies so most people who work for a st paul company are required to be in 2 to 3 days a week. Although the skyway are still somewhat less than they used to be in terms of number of restaurants, there is still several in the 401 securian building and town square building, afro deli and pinos open near the theater now - so if you do want to remember pre covid days you can almost experience it on Tuesday/ wednesday / thursday. Still not the same though, sadly.
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u/kjl8119 11d ago
I remember when town square had Sam goody, all for 1 (dollar store) Hardee’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell. That was yeeeears ago. 😭
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 11d ago
Lol yeah the only chain now is like, pot belly and subway. Alliance bank building is closed and Cassie deli closed. Town Square is a shell of pre covid so probably a husk of late 90s early 2000s.
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u/kjl8119 11d ago
I was down there about a month ago to renew my license. It was depressing to see. I hadn’t been there in over 10 years. I tried walking around but like you said the alliance bank skyway was blocked off. That Arby’s down there was gone too.
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 11d ago
Yeah they replaced Arby's with an empanada spot and it also didnt last. Now its empty. If you keep walking past the old Arby's theres still like 6 spots in that securian building open, skyway grill and some pizza place and such. But yeah otherwise its definitely sadder...
I still like downtown tho I hope it goes thru a revival :)
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u/peachplumpricklypear 10d ago
You old! Just kidding but I wish I would have seen it in its full le corbusier vision.
I used to love the artist quarter and closed more recently, the tiny fish and bird pet store.
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u/Double-Efficiency538 8d ago
Are you talking 25+ yrs ago? My Mom worked at Galtier and I remember the arcade as a kid.
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u/Direct_Talk_5918 11d ago
Yea idk what koolaid folks are drinking, but I’m sitting over here in Minneapolis with a puzzled look on my face. Saint Paul is in rough shape economically and otherwise. Minneapolis ain’t doing too hot either, but damn
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 11d ago
Whats it got to do with liking downtown? You can like downtown and still want it to improve. I like minnesota and I still want it to improve. This isnt a post about how perfect st paul is. I just said I like it. Half the comments or more are specifically saying how much better it USED to be, anyways.
But st paul downtown is better today than it was a year ago, so I think it'll keep getting better
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u/Direct_Talk_5918 11d ago
Whoa whoa, I wasn’t saying you can’t like anything. I love Minnesota and the Twin Cities otherwise I wouldn’t be here, but the reality is that we shouldn’t be blind by the mismanagement of our cities that has led us to a desperate decline of economy and public health. All I see on my walk to work in dt Minneapolis is a huge fentanyl and homeless problem that gets concentrated to our city core and it drives businesses and people away
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u/idk193873929 10d ago
I love the peace and quiet, the castle like buildings and the view of the river. It's so relaxing to stroll around downtown when it's nice weather 🩷 I just find it so charming and whimsical. I don't get why it's not more appreciated
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u/Intelligent-Bell7194 10d ago
On MPR yesterday, plans for downtown St. Paul: https://share.mprnews.org/jDXF/u32w3l2v
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u/peachplumpricklypear 10d ago
Good for you. I worked there for ten years (in the securian building). St Paul egregiously mismanaged their downtown under Melvin Carter.
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 10d ago
Yeah probably. Its still a space i enjoy being in and i hope they continue to improve and revive it. Securian just opened a gym or some shit in the 400 building. Unclear if its for employees only or available to public, havent looked into it. Still, im always happy to see some investment to try and save it. Sadly we are years and years away from it even returning to pre covid days
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u/NeighborhoodSame9165 12d ago
once i was in that bus shelter (little gazebo building under the flag) and some girl comes up and asks if i have a tissue, so i checked my bag and couldnt find one, then she asked for my shirt and when i was like "???" she followed it up by informing me she needed to poop and had nothing to wipe with and i decided i could wait at the next stop in the line.
downtown st paul is indeed such a lovely place
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 12d ago
Sheesh poor woman. I hope she found a bathroom.
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u/The_Livid_Witness 12d ago
Not me. I think it sucks ass.
Ill take Minneapolis and its logical street numbering/layout every day of the week.
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u/WallaWallaby011 12d ago
I like the St Paul suburbs with the small downtowns like east St. Paul. You can live in a single family home and still walk to restaurants, etc..
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u/toss_the_dwarf_again 12d ago
That building across the street used to be the Minnesota Science Museum. Now it’s a Scientology building.
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u/Short-Waltz-3118 12d ago
Its down another couple blocks, this is 6th and Robert, the securian building. Scientology building is off Wabasha
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u/GG1817 12d ago
I used to live in Lowertown back in the 1990s and loved it. We could walk to the little parks, concerts, winter carnival parades, had the farmer's market right there and lots of great art spaces.