Neighborhoods in Saint Paul, Minnesota

A map of neighborhoods of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Saint Paul neighborhood markers.

Saint Paul, Minnesota, consists of 17 officially defined city districts or neighborhoods.

In its history, the city has been called "fifteen small towns with one mayor", owing to the neighborhood-based life of much of the city, though the city is partially governed by not 15 but 17 City Districts.

On Saint Paul's largely blue-collar East Side alone there are more than two dozen well-known, historically significant neighborhoods within four City Districts. District 4, for example, has three historic neighborhoods: Dayton's Bluff, Swede Hollow, and Mounds Park. The most populous districts, 2 and 5, have more than a dozen neighborhoods between them.

While Saint Paul has long been recognized for its citizen activism, some neighborhoods receive more individual planning attention[citation needed] than others, because tax funds are doled out to annually elected volunteer neighborhood boards based on City District boundaries, not neighborhood boundaries. These boards are called District Councils.

The District Council system was established in 1975 to encourage grassroots involvement.[1] The Councils were also created to help spend federal funds through the recently created Community Development Block Grants. The District Councils share $1.2 million from the city of Saint Paul. In 2015, community participation funds given to the District Councils ranged from $51,873 to $109,475.[2] The councils also have other revenue streams, such as grants and donations.[3] Most councils have significant power on land-use issues.[4]

Besides providing advisory recommendations to city officials on development issues, district councils also identify neighborhood needs, initiate community programs and recruit and nurture neighborhood leaders and volunteers.

Many of St. Paul's neighborhoods began as rail-line commuter suburbs, including Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park, Macalester Park, Desnoyer Park, Hazel Park, Union Park, Warrendale, and Burlington Heights.[5] Burlington Heights was south of downtown along the Burlington's tracks to Hastings. The Heights had two train stations a mile apart. The Highwood station was close to where Highwood Avenue ran into the rail line.[5] The remnants of that early 1880s development are discernible. The neighborhood boundaries were Lower Afton Road, Burlington Road, Ogdan Avenue and the Burlington train track.[5]

  1. ^ McClure, Jane (2007-09-26). "LMV report seeks more support and supervision for city's district councils". Villager. 55 (9): 1, 2.
  2. ^ Nelson, Tim (2007-09-11). "Report: Councils 'Need Some Help' Citizen Group Makes Recommendations". Saint Paul Pioneer Press. pp. B3 Local.
  3. ^ Medcalf, Myron P. (2007-09-11). "St. Paul's neighborhood councils scrutinize their financial status". Star Tribune. pp. B4 Local.
  4. ^ "Saint Paul Participation". Citizen Participation Project Case Studies. Citizen Participation Project. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  5. ^ a b c The Street Where You Live, a guide to the place names in St. Paul, Donald L. Simpson, University of Minnesota Press, 111 Third Ave So. Minneapolis, Mn, 2006, p. 88, 285