RCP's community partner for the 2013-2014 academic year was the City of North St Paul, Minnesota. As a fully developed first-ring suburb, North St. Paul has a rich history and small-town atmosphere, reflected in the spirit of its residents and the livelihood of community events. In recent decades, however, the city has faced a number of challenges, including a declining tax base, aging housing and infrastructure, ongoing competition for commercial and retail development, and lack of accessibility due to the recently completed Highway 36 reconstruction project. These challenges also present opportunities for the community to reenergize its residents and forge ahead toward a more sustainable and resilient community that both honors its past and anticipates its future.
RCP partnered with North St. Paul on 16 projects that engaged 35 courses across 11 colleges and 18 academic departments at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Duluth campuses, and provided hands-on, applied research opportunities to more than 300 graduate and undergraduate students. University and city personnel celebrated the partnership at an end-of-year event on May 9, 2014. You can view a brief summary of the partnership and projects, or learn more about individual projects and browse news items about the partnership below.
Projects
- Project Categories: Housing | Economic Development and Employment
Determine the potential for live/work housing as a means of enhancing livability, creating jobs, promoting equitable economic development, and increasing housing density, and identify implementation steps for making it happen.
- Project Categories: Infrastructure and Public Works | Environment & Energy
Design a prototype public participation process for the city to engage residents prior to and during reconstruction projects that implement North St. Paul's new living streets policy, which includes design recommendations for pavement street width, storm water treatment, underground…
- Project Categories: Environment & Energy
Identify strategies for dedicating revenue from the city's munipal-owned electric utility to support green energy initiatives such as wind, solar, and geothermal.
- Project Categories: Land Use and Population
Develop a strategy to increase involvement of underrepresented and disenfranchised populations in the city in neighborhood and community issues.
- Project Categories: Communications and Marketing
Provide design alternatives for a new graphic identity that the City can use for signs, business forms and marketing materials, communications media (website, Facebook account, newsletter), and other materials.
- Project Categories: Land Use and Population | Economic Development and Employment
Identify strategies to revitalize North St. Paul’s downtown business district in the context of the city's recently adopted Redevelopment Master Plan for North Saint Paul’s “diversified district.”
- Project Categories: Environment & Energy | Evaluation and Assessment
Evaluate existing conservation improvement and energy efficiency programs offered through the city's munipal-owned electric utility, and identify opportunities to to promote new energy efficiency/conservation rebate programs and conservation improvement projects to business owners and…
- Project Categories: Communications and Marketing | Community Outreach and Engagement
Evaluate North St. Paul's existing internal and external communications efforts and future needs, and provided recommendations for how to better engage residents in their local government and community.
- Project Categories: Education | Environment & Energy
Identify opportunities for North St. Paul to leverage Southwood Park—a 29-acre nature reserve that features a large wetland, restored oak savannah, and trail system—to educate residents about the local ecosystem and how to be good stewards of the natural resources in the community.
- Project Categories: Economic Development and Employment
Assess the city’s current development review process and regulations based on input from stakeholders, and provide recommendations for North St. Paul can enhance its process to signal that it is a “redevelopment-ready” community.
- Project Categories: Land Use and Population | Environment & Energy | Community Outreach and Engagement
Design a community engagement process the City can use to develop a community gardening policy, and identify best practices and key garden site opportunities in the community.
- Project Categories: Housing | Health, Human, and Social Services
Assess the economic, social, health, recreation, housing, transportation, and other needs of aging residents in North St. Paul, and identify programs or policies that will support residents aging in place in the city
- Project Categories: Economic Development and Employment
Assess current staff satisfaction among city staff, including incentives or educational opportunities would encourage them to continue working at the city; develop recommendations for improving staff morale and fostering staff development.
- Project Categories: Arts and Culture | Community Outreach and Engagement
Design a public participation process for developing a public art plan; propose a strategy for facilitating long-term community engagement around and support for public art.
- Project Categories: Environment & Energy
Conduct an inventory of trees in North St. Paul; develop recommendations for combating emerald ash borer in the city and gaining community support for the management plan; develop an outreach plan to communicate tp homeowners the risks of EAB on private property.
- Project Categories: Environment & Energy | Infrastructure and Public Works
Identify cost-effective solutions to remediate local flooding issues and reduce total suspended solids and phosphorus load to local and downstream lakes.
RCP–North St Paul Partnership in the News
- North St. Paul to Unveil New City Logo, Lillie Suburban News, January 14, 2015,
- 'Living Streets,' sustainability are plan goals, Lillie Suburban News, April 16, 2014
- The Resilient Communities Project Revisits a Living Streets Approach in North St. Paul, The Ripple Effect (Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District), February 17, 2014,
- Connecting with Communities, Discover (University of Minnesota Home Page), December 24, 2013
- RCP by the numbers, RCP Blog Post, December 16, 2013
- Fall 2013 Open House in North St. Paul, RCP Blog Post, November 8, 2013
- Kicking off the North St. Paul Partnership, RCP Blog Post, October 28, 2013
- Community Asked to Consider Possible North St. Paul Logos, Lillie Suburban Newspapers, October 18, 2013
- North St. Paul hosting open house on Resilient Communities Project, Pioneer Press, October 15, 2013
- Students, City Partner for Sustainability, Minnesota Daily, September 9, 2013, Students,
- North St Paul Selected for Resilient Communities Partnership (page 2), North St Paul Business Bulletin, April 2013,
- North St. Paul Gets Help from U Grant, Ramsey County Review/Lillienews, March 27, 2013,
- North St. Paul enters sustainability partnership with University of Minnesota, Pioneer Press, March 19, 2013
- North St. Paul Selected as 2013-2014 Community Partner, RCP Blog Post, March 14, 2013