Community Partners

in the Central Corridor

Carol Swenson, Executive Director District Councils Collaborative of

Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Minnesota Campus Compact December 7, 2011

Bethel College

District Councils Collaborative of Saint Paul & Minneapolis

Diversity in the Central Corridor

Civic/

Place-Based

Faith-Based

Local Issues-Based

Advocacy

Issues-Based Regional Advocacy

Community Development Corporations

Business Chambers & Associations

Labor

Rich Civic Infrastructure: Deep connections into the community

and with each other

Community-based Organizations

• District Councils Collaborative of Saint Paul

and Minneapolis (14 St. Paul & Minneapolis

neighborhood organizations)

• University UNITED

Local Advocacy

• Community Stabilization Project

• Got Voice, Got Power

• JUST Equity

• Preserve and Benefit Historic Rondo

• Saint Paul NAACP

• Saint Paul Urban League

Community Development Corps

• Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood

Development Corporation

• Model Cities, Inc.

Local Business Organizations

• Asian Economic Development Association

• University Avenue Business Association

Regional Advocacy Organizations

• Alliance for Metropolitan Stability

• Housing Preservation Project

• Hmong Organizing Program, Take Action

Minnesota

• Minnesota Center for Environmental

Advocacy

• Transit For Livable Communities

Faith-based Organizations

• ISAIAH

• Jewish Community Action

• MICAH

Labor

• UFCW Local 789

5

November 2007 Community Meeting

Transportation Equity / Stops for Us! Coalition Members

Central Corridor Community Summits — 2009

Taking Ownership of our Future

To be successful, the light rail line must not only improve mobility, but must also serve as a catalyst to strengthen and enhance existing and future neighborhoods, workforces and businesses along the line.

Community Summit Principles 1. Engage in Central Corridor processes and projects as

Community Stakeholders and Partners

2. Maintain and enhance neighborhood livability, diversity, and cohesion

3. Ensure equitable development and redevelopment and provide a range of affordable housing options

4. Provide transportation equity

5. Expand the number of persons of color, including women and persons with disabilities in the workforce and the number of DBE contractors

6. Sustain and grow small, local businesses

7. Place sustainability at the core of equitable development

Stops for Us!

Organizing for Equity

Along the Central Corridor

What is at stake? Shared Community Value:

Everyone must benefit equitably

• Access to jobs — Twin Cities racial disparities in employment among highest in the U.S.

• Economic Development Opportunity — Eastern University has greatest need for economic incentives.

• Equity for those who are transit dependent — Route 16 ridership among highest in system: serves low-income residents, households without cars, elderly, middle and high school students, yet project proposes to cut midday frequency by 66% when use is high — now every 10 minutes propose every 30 minutes.

• Long-Term Affordable Housing /Neighborhood Preservation and Livability— “naturally affordable”, safe, green space, education, and amenities. Plans called for area within ¼ mile of stations to receive the greatest attention, economic investment and public realm improvements leaving a half mile between stations vulnerable to disinvestment.

I-94 Construction Splits Rondo

Credjafawn Co-op Store 678 Rondo Ave.

In the 1960s, the construction of Interstate 94 destroyed Rondo Avenue and devastated the historic Rondo neighborhood. 70 businesses were lost and 400 families were displaced.

Thomas-Dale

(Frogtown)

Summit-

University

St. Paul

% Minority Households 73% 56% 36%

Thomas-Dale

(Frogtown)

Summit-

University

St. Paul

Poverty Rate 35.5% 32.5% 16.7%

No-Vehicle households 31.5% 27.7% 18.2%

Early Environmental Analyses

The University Avenue LRT Alternative would not cause disproportionately high or adverse effects on minority and/or low-income populations with regard to social factors.

Alternative Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement. 2006

“…concerns have been considered and the analysis determined that minority or low-income populations within the study area are not subject to any disproportionate impacts associated with the development of the Central Corridor LRT; furthermore, the benefits of the project are fairly distributed.” Supplemental Draft

Environmental Impact Statement. 2008

University Avenue Community Coalition — Outreach

In early 2007, advocacy organizations form coalition

Stops for Us campaign make sure communities had access to the proposed light rail line

UACC members at Rondo Days 2007

Used Research to Make Our Case

Campaign Kick-off Nov. 29,2007

• Corridor-wide Meeting

• Invited elected officials

• DCC Presented Research

• Community Discussion

• Community Report

• Present at Met Council

Developed Strategic Alliances

• Local Elected Officials

– Local

– State

– Federal

• Community Leaders & Foundations

• Staff: Project, County, and City

• Federal Staff — FTA & EPA

Participated in the Process New Starts Project Review • Track Key Decision Points • Attend Partner

Management/Policy Meetings

National Environmental Review Process (NEPA) • Public Hearings • Comment Periods • Community Advisory

Committee Local Municipal Consent • Public Hearings

St. Paul Land Use Planning • Central Corridor

Development Frameworkd

Organized & Carried Out Actions • Turn-out for official

meetings • Turn-out at community

events • Special community

meetings • Marches • State Legislative Hearing • Op-ed Articles • Letters to the Editor • Local Television, Radio,

and online media • On-going outreach to

allies

Flexibility & Room for Difference

• Flexibility within Stops coalition

• 2 Title VI Administrative Complaints – Preserve and Benefit Historic Rondo

– Concerned Asian Business Owners

• 1 Federal lawsuit against FTA and Metropolitan Council for failure to disclose and mitigate adverse impacts on the African American Rondo community – Preserve and Benefit Historic Rondo

Persistence & Focus • 2006

– Draft EIS release & public hearings — community members, City of St. Paul, Ramsey County Commissioners call for addition of 3 missing stations

• 2007

– 3 Stations in SDEIS scope

– DCC research report & community meeting

• 2008

– Supplemental DEIS: release & public hearings

– Met Council responds to community research; Add Station “stubs” to project scope

– Local agreement in principal to build 1 station

• 2009

– Title VI Transit Service Study finds census blocks with reduced service

– Title VI Administrative Complaint, Rondo Committee

– Final EIS: if no station at Western, service plan study and implementation required

– Record of Decision supports FEIS recommendations

– St. Paul commits to funding 1 stations

– Title VI Administrative Compliant filed by Asian Business Leaders

– FTA blocks strategy to include stations as additive alternates to construction contract

– Rail~Volution: community members secure meetings with Admin. Rogoff in Nov.

– Environmental Assessment of 3 stations initiated and completed

• 2010

– January 13 FTA announces change in CEI policy

– January 25 FTA and political leaders announce 3 stations will be built as part of the project

The Game Changer

• 2009 Rail~Volution Conference in Boston, members of our coalition talked with Peter Rogoff, Federal Transit Administrator.

• From our invitation, he came to our neighborhood and at our meeting we were able to elevate our issue and provide him with the human impacts resulting from the lack of these 3 stations.

"You've made a difference and we will use you as an example across the country...that if you hang together, have great projects that are for the people, and work with your delegation, you can make things happen."

Secretary Ray LaHood

From left to right: Congressman Ellison, Mayor Rybak, Commissioner Carter, Senator Klobuchar, Sec. LaHood, Commissioner McDonough, City Councilmember Carter, Mayor Coleman

Historic Press Conference — Jan 25, 2010

The Central Corridor project as it is now

Three Stations

Thank you from the

Coalition

Cornerstones of the Campaign

• Organizing & Action

• Research

• Participation in the Process

• Strategic Alliances

• Persistence over Time

Taking Ownership of our Future This is our once in a lifetime opportunity to design a transportation system that will shape the growth of our region and our country for the next 100 years.

• Frogtown Square / Kings Crossing

• Western Station / Little Mekong

• Victoria Station / Faces of Rondo

• Hamline Station

– Gordon Parks High School & Three Ring Garden

– Skyline Tower, Somali Community - Pedestrian Connections & Places out of Parking Lots

Saint Paul Development Strategy: Defining Areas of Change and Stability

Dale Street Station

St Paul Lowertown Master Plan

Frogtown Square & Kings Crossing Mixed-Use Development / Affordable Housing

Sunday’s Best

Episcopal Homes Senior Housing

Gordon Parks High School

Gordon Parks H.S.

Three Ring Garden

Creative Enterprise Zone

• Stabilize conditions in which creative enterprises, industry, artists, non-profits and residents flourish together.

• Connect creative enterprises, industry, artists, non-profits

and residents in an effort to foster collaboration, cross-pollination, and common-interests

Vision: Be a livable, mixed-use neighborhood, recognized as a center of creativity and enterprise

Prospect Park 2020

Trusted Advocate Pilot Project District Councils Collaborative & Metro Transit

Central Corridor Community Values and Activities

Equitable Development

Community Engagement

Wealth Building

Livability and Access

• Big Picture Project • Creative Enterprise Zone • Old Home Dairy Site

(ASANDC & HAP) • Model Cities at Victoria • Vacant home rehab

programs • Land Banking • Joint Partnership

Development

• Community Agreements Committee • District Councils Collaborative and

member organizations — community convening around corridor wide issues

• Place-based community organizations

• CCLRT Construction Communications Committees

• Organizing activities and programs in corridor

• Foreclosure Prevention • Save Our Homes • Business Resources Collaborative

– new economic development and small business focus

• LRTWorks • Central Corridor Training

Programs • Little Mekong • World Cultural Heritage District

• Transit Service Study – 2012

• Last Mile Walkability Survey – 2012

• Friendly Streets (Hamline Midway)

• Irrigate • Public Art Plan for the

Central Corridor • Energy Innovation

Corridor • Stops for Us — achieved • Health Impact

Assessment — completed but not entirely implemented

A Few Conversation Starters

• Small Business Entrepreneurs

• Managing Neighborhood Change

• Transit Service Planning

• Standardizing GIS Data Collection and Sharing

• Support Community Convenings

• Assist with Documentation and Evaluation

• Be a part of our neighborhoods