Partnering Community 0rganizations & Institutions
   Dayton's Bluff District Four Community Council
   Dayton's Bluff Elementary Achievement +
   Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services
   Metropolitan State University
   Upper Swede Hollow Neighborhoods Association
   3M

Working Group Participants

Bertha Asmus    Harvey Asmus    Julie Benick    Mary K. Boyd    Carol Carey    Donavan Cummings    Karin DuPaul    Jim Erchul    John Fahey    Nancy Frick    Susan Giguere

Susan Hurlbut    Don Johnson    Dan Kirk    Virginia Kressin    Kathy Moriarty    Ken Meter    Michael Moua    Joanie O'Brien    Tom O'Connell    Laverne Shepard    Ed Szalopski

Consultants
Greater Saint Paul Tomorrow Urban Partnership Initative
    Mary Grace Flannery, Ken Peterson
Close Landscape Architecture
   Bob Close, Bruce Jacobson

Funding Provided by
   Greater Saint Paul Tomorrow Urban Partnership lnitiative
   3M Foundation
   Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services
   McKnight Foundation
   The Corporation for National Service: Learn and Serve America Through 
      Minnesota Campus or Compact and the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office
   W.W. Kellogg Foundation

Special Thanks
   To all community members who have participated in planning discussions, meetings, 
     surveys and workshops. Your input has formed the foundation of this document.

The Partnership 
Late in 1996, Dayton's Bluff District Four Community Council, Upper Swede Hollow Neighborhoods Association, and Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services, along with Metropolitan State University and 3M, began a collaborative process to involve residents and institutions in the design and implementation of a plan for comprehensive neighborhood improvement. They were later joined by representatives from Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School. The neighborhood organizations had already been meeting as a task force to address housing issues in Dayton's Bluff. Members wanted to develop stronger relationships in order to be more effective in defining strategies and securing resources for Dayton's Bluff improvement. 3M and Metropolitan State University have been long time sources of support for a variety of neighborhood initiatives, and Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School recognizes that neighborhood health is key to improving educational outcomes. 

Believing that such collaboration was in their mutual self-interest, representatives from all these organizations and Dayton's Bluff residents established the Dayton's Bluff Urban Partnership and now comprise a Working Group. The Partnership's commitment to broad and inclusive membership of institutions and individuals is based on its belief that the diverse institutional, business, and residential viewpoints and resources of this urban community must be at the planning table, reflecting their interests and identifying shared goals. The collaborative was assisted in their efforts by consultants working with Greater Saint Paul Tomorrow's Urban Partnership team. 

Mission 
The Dayton's Bluff Urban Partnership is a collaborative of neighborhood groups, residents, institutions and businesses who share a long term commitment to the social, economic, and physical health of the Dayton's Bluff community. Working together, the partners seek to build strong relationships, create common goals and priorities, speak with a unified voice on issues of common concern, and identify human, technical, and financial resources to implement neighborhood initiated plans that will ensure a high and sustainable quality of life for Dayton's Bluff residents. 

Partnership Goals
1. Maximize the capabilities of organizations and institutions in Dayton's Bluff to achieve shared development and livability goals.
2. Establish an inclusive process and framework for neighborhood development. 
3. Develop new strategies and find new sources and partners for achieving community development goals. 
4. Cooperate with human service providers in identifying service needs within the community and in developing strategies to fill program and funding gaps.

Each member of the Partnership has committed significant time to this process, meeting bi-weekly for over a year. Member organizations have provided staff and in-kind or financial support to the effort. The group has sponsored two community events. The first provided the larger community with information about the Partnership goals. The Partnership reviewed past and present plans for physical, economic and social renewal, and improvement. The group then held its second community event, at which the Partnership reported on its planning progress and secured additional input from Dayton's Bluff residents. This additional input informed and helped shape the Partnership's recommendations for target areas and intervention strategies. 

In September 1997 the Partnership engaged Close Landscape Architecture (CLA) to help document their work and to prepare this Working Paper. CLA also helped Partnership members analyze the neighborhood and develop a framework for understanding the physical characteristics of Dayton's Bluff and how the Partnership's goals might be implemented within that context 

The Working Paper completes the first phase of planning for improvement in Dayton's Bluff. The Dayton's Bluff Urban Partnership will use this Working Paper to develop consensus on goals and priorities for improvement and on plans for implementation. 

A welcoming, safe environment that:
supports healthy community activities 
o  provides public and private green spaces to meet aesthetic and recreational needs of the community 
o  acknowledges local and regional parks and open spaces as amenities for residential, commercial, and industrial segments of the community 
o  identifies neighborhood connections to open space and neighborhood amenities 
o  provides for safe areas and corridors connecting schools, parks, commercial and residential areas 
o  uses strategies for calming vehicular traffic, creating a balance of pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular uses, and encourages use of mass transit 

Employment opportunities that: 
o build on and enhance skills and talents of Dayton's Bluff residents, creating a mix of jobs for individuals with varied levels of experience providing wages and employment benefits that meet basic needs 
o involve strategies (including an improved transportation system) connecting Daron's Bluff residents to jobs outside District Four 

A solid core of goods and services within Dayton's Bluff that: 
o maximizes community capacity in meeting its own needs and will appeal to brooder markets 
o reflects the ethnic diversity within Dayton's Bluff.

A broad range of quality housing that: 
o features quality materials and amenities to appeal to a mixed income market 
o  is compatible with the historic character of Dayton's Bluff 
o  builds on and supports efforts planned and/or underway by neighborhood organizations 
o  maintains a balance of owner - occupied and rental housing opportunities, affordable to a range of incomes 
o  reflects the ethnic diversity within Dayton's Bluff 
o  includes a variety of building types, styles and densities 

The Partnership Role 
o  Participate with Partnership member organizations in developing and implementing strategies that meet neighborhood goals. 
o  Mobilize broad-based resident participation in comrnunity development initiatives. 
o  Promote high quality neighborhood supported schools. 
o  Encourage current property owners to participate in improvement strategies that support private investment in Dayton's Bluff 
o  Encourage homeownership incentives for employees of institutions, corporations, and businesses located in Dayton's Bluff, adjacent neighborhoods, and downtown St. Paul. 
o  Promote culturally appropriate, neighborhood based job training programs. 
o  Encourage start-up businesses; support expansion of existing microentrepreneur training and support organizations. 
o  Participate in marketing of the community to potential businesses by creating and maintaining on inventory of buildings and sites available for business development. 
o  Encourage strategies that emphasize specific goods and service needs within the Dayton's Bluff/East Side market area. 
o  Support clustering of compatible businesses that supply and support one another. 
o  Advocate for resident preference for jobs created through public/private initiatives on the East Side.

Located immediately east of downtown, Dayton's Bluff extends to Mounds Park and the Mississippi River on the south, to the I-94/I-35 interchange on the west, to the Phalen Creek/Swede Hollow ravine on the northwest, the proposed Phalen Corridor to the north, and east to Johnson Parkway and the Harding High School complex. The neighborhood is separated from the downtown business district, adjacent neighborhoods, and the river by a combination of bluffs, ravines, active rail lines and freeways. This relative isolation has helped to strengthen the neighborhood's identity and 'sense of place', but it has not limited its accessibility Situated close to downtown, major natural features, regional parks and trail systems, the interstate highway system and mass transit, Dayton's Bluff offers 'close in' convenience to urban amenities as well as access to regional employment, cultural, and recreation opportunities.

After experiencing a 20% population decline between 1970 and 1980 Dayton's Bluff's has stabilized at close to 15,000. Even though the percentage of the employed population has remained constant, the number of higher paying manufacturing jobs available for Dayton's Bluff residents has declined by half, from 2,587 in 1970, to 1,330 in 1990.

Accompanying this trend, Dayton's Bluff's median family incorne as a percentage of the St. Paul median in 1990 was 81 %, as compared with 105% in 1970. In 1990 21 % of all Dayton's Bluff residents and 32% of children under 17 lived in poverty. Of the 2,050 households with children under 18, single parent families accounted for 43%, up from 27% in 1980 and 17% in 1970.

Housing in Dayton's Bluff is characteristically old, most of it constructed in the first half of the century. Much of it has suffered from deferred maintenance and is in need of rehabilitation. Lots are typically small and many do not provide for off street parking. The percentage of housing in good repair as judged by a 1996 Exterior Conditions Survey by Dayton's Bluff Housing Task Force is estimated as 36.9%. This compares with a similar estimate of 68% in good repair in 1988. Perhaps the most dramatic change in Dayton's Bluff can be seen in the faces of its population as it becomes home to new Asian immigrants and increasing numbers of African American and Latino families.

Green Structure  refers to the sweeping parkland at the perimeter of Dayton's Bluff and the smaller interior parks and playing fields, as well as the 'natural' spaces (drainage basins, steep slopes, etc.) that exist throughout the neighborhood. Green structure also includes the connections between these spaces - pathways and streets.

The Situation
There are few green spaces developed and maintained within Dayton's Bluff that meet the needs for a tranquil experience. First, the interior parks are smaller and actively programmed for athletic use. Second, there is an abundance of park land at the edge of the community; Mounds Park sits on the bluff top and Swede Hollow is a deep gorge with a rich natural and cultural history. But limited accessibility to both of these areas prevents the surrounding community from maximizing their potential as premiere natural and recreational amenities.

Strategies/Opportunities
o  Redesign and reinvest in the interior parks to accommodate a wider range of uses and a broader range of the neighborhood population, particularly seniors and families with small children.
o  Create linkages that connect interior 'natural' spaces and existing larger parks.
o  Develop more pedestrian/bicycle friendly streets to connect the perimeter parks and open spaces, use traffic calming techniques such as wider sidewalks, boulevard tree plantings, and bumpouts at crosswalks.
o  Recognize and promote parks and open space in Dayton's Bluff as amenities for residential, commercial, and industrial segments of the community.
o  Plan for greening of commercial streets and nodes.
o  Maintain public open spaces for environmental education activities.
o  Promote development of natural areas as ecological assets for the community.
o  Advocate with policy makers and city staff for program, staffing, and improvement needs of Dayton's Bluff parks.

The Situation
In Dayton's Bluff, commercial uses occur on East 7th Street, and remnants of commercial nodes exist at key intersections within the neighborhood. Industrial uses are generally separated from other uses, although there is housing adjacent to the former Hamm's Brewery complex. There is a commercial node essentially connecting it and the 3M plant near Arcade and East 7th Street. Institutional uses, such as churches and schools, are dispersed throughout the neighborhood. Dayton's Bluff Elementary School and Metropolitan State University occupy large sites and are important neighborhood identifiers.

Residential areas comprise the majority of land area in Dayton's Bluff, much of it constructed by 1939. Approximately two thirds of the dwelling units are in single family or duplex structures and about 50% are owner - occupied. As the neighborhood continues to rehabilitate its housing stock, homes in good condition have seen increased sustainability in value over the last ten years. Neighborhood-based rehabilitation and redevelopment activities have had a major impact on targeted blocks and on individual properties throughout the neighborhood.

Strategies/Opportunities
o Strengthen the 'front porch' of Dayton's Bluff, an important gateway.
o Adopt local control strategies to keep rental properties stable (e.g., land trust, leasehold cooperatives.)
o Support the developing Achievement Plus program at Dayton's Bluff Elementary School which offers opportunities for cooperative planning for neighborhood livability and housing improvements.
o Collaborate with other Dayton's Bluff organizations and public agencies - Dayton's Bluff Elementary School, Neighborhood Housing Services, USHNA, St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development - to support and strengthen current efforts and identify new strategies for improving housing quality and neighborhood livability.
o Support block clubs and their strategies to keep neighborhoods safe.

Neighborhood Nodes are the planned or unplanned gathering places and/or focal points that occur throughout a community. These areas can be commercial or mixed use hubs, green spaces that serve as recreational or social gathering places, or institutions that provide spaces for formal meeting and dialogue around community issues.

The Situation
There are few easily identified gathering places within Dayton's Bluff:
o  Dayton's Bluff Elementary School is a gathering place that will become more significant as the Achievement Plus initiative continues to develop.
o  The developed parks are significant focal points for recreational activities.
o  The commercial cluster at Earl and Hudson draws area residents and workers to restaurants such as Leo's Chow Mein and the Tuscany Grill.
o  The Swede Hollow Cafe, along with an adjoining neighborhood garden on East 7th Street, has become a gathering place along the neighborhood's major commercial street.  However, gaps in commercial development along 7th Street contribute to a continuing image of decline.
o  Metropolitan State University is a visual and educational focal point in the neighborhood, and frequently host to community meetings.
o  The office of the Dayton's Bluff District 4 Community Council provides meeting space for a variety of community organizations and is a source for information regarding a number of neighborhood services and issues.
o  Other local institutions such as Marian Center and Mounds Park School are used as meeting areas for local residents and civic groups.

Strategies/Opportunities
o  Cluster compatible businesses that support and supply one another, emphasizing and supporting small and start up businesses owned by community residents.
o  Participate with Metro State as it plans for a community/university library to ensure that the new facility fulfills its promise as a resource and focal point for this community.
o  Plan for development of public and private realms that address safety and security issues, including visual connections achieved through appropriate lighting, plantings, walls, and fences, as well as pedestrian connections between parks and adjoining neighborhoods and schools.
o  Work with 3M to determine opportunities and identify sites for locating businesses meeting the corporation's outsourcing needs in Dayton's Bluff.
o  Implement improvements planned for the Earl and Hudson intersection to enhance the existing commercial services and provide an attractive gathering place connecting Mounds Park to the rest of Dayton's Bluff.

Traffic and Circulation    addresses all movement issues including vehicular (buses, cars and trucks) and non-vehicular (pedestrian and bicycle). Ease and safety of movement and creation of strong connections within the neighborhood and to the region are key to strengthening the vitality of Dayton's Bluff.

The Situation
Major regional vehicular and recreational corridors pass through Dayton's Bluff, providing important access as well as land use/traffic conflicts.

Interstate 94 physically divides the neighborhood. East Sixth Street provides access to and from the neighborhood to the freeway system; it also brings spillover and through-traffic into the heart of the neighborhood. East Seventh and Third Streets also carry significant vehicular traffic in/out and through the neighborhood between downtown, the suburbs and other neighborhoods. The dominance of vehic ular traffic has compromised the quality and safety of the local street network in Dayton's Bluff.

The Phalen Creek Regional Trail runs through Swede Hollow and connects at Lake Phalen to the Gateway Trail as it heads north. This trail will ultimately connect to Duluth as well as to riverside trails along the Mississippi River.

Strategies/Opportunities
o Work with St. Paul Public Works to plan and implement appropriate street improvements that consider pedestrian as well as vehicular requirements for safety and convenience.
o Participate in planning for the Phalen Corridor initiative to ensure that employment and neighborhood revitalization goals of Dayton's Bluff are reflected in overall planning, and that appropriate transit, pedestrian, and green space connections are included.
o Initiate conversations with transportation professionals and elected officials regarding strategies for reducing and/or mitigating the negative impacts of heavy traffic through Dayton's Bluff and rebalancing the vehicular and non-vehicular uses of East Seventh, Sixth and Third Streets.

A - Bates and Maria Improvments

Located on the western edge of the community, the Bates/Maria corridor holds a key geographical position in the neighborhood. This mixed-use corridor is primarily residential and contains many of the oldest structures on Dayton's Bluff.

The area has been the subject of several planning efforts, and in the past decade has experienced significant public and private investment. In spite of the positive impact of these efforts, the dominance of east-west vehicular traffic, the concentration of deteriorated and poorly managed properties, and lack of connection among commercial, institutional, residential and open space uses has hindered cohesive community revitalization.

Strategies/Opportunities
Continued implementation and improved integration of planned public investments for the area, include:
o lighting and street improvements
o construction of a new recreational center adjacent to Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School
o development of a new Metropolitan State/Community library
o mixed-use commercial/rental development on Maria and Sixth Street.

As in all of the target areas identified in this study, effectiveness of investments planned and in place depend upon the attention given to the balance of pedestrian and vehicular needs, creation of strong physical and social community connections, and the engagement and integration of a broad spectrum of residential, business and institutional partners in planning and implementation efforts.

The Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus program is a partnership of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Saint Paul Public Schools, City of Saint Paul, State of Minnesota, Ramsey County, and Saint Paul neighborhoods. Its primary goal is to improve student academic achievement. In addition, Achievement Plus schools are designed to provide integrated services to meet academic, family, health, social, and recreational goals. Parent and community involvement in planning and implementation are key components of Achievement Plus.

Strategies/Opportunities
The Achievement Plus philosophy of community involvement offers an opportuaity for cooperation in the planning, funding, and implementation of a variety of community improvement strategies. Dayton's Bluff parents expect more affordable rental housing and preservation of important housing stock, creation of safe pedestrian corridors for school children, and coordinated job training and career counseling programs that meet the needs of Dayton's Bluff families.

City plans for street improvements near Dayton's Bluff School are imminent opportunities for public/private partnering in the community's interest, particularly focusing on improving Bates Avenue and creating a pedestrion-friendly and safe north-south corridor.

The Earl and Hudson commercial node is one of the few remaining active commercial nodes in Dayton's Bluff, serving the daily needs of residents living in the Mounds Park and  Hudson Road/Earl Street areas of Dayton's Bluff. Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services, Mounds Park Business Association, and neighborhood block clubs have developed a plan for strengthening the commercial viability of this area, improving the physical appearance of existing structures, adding streetscape amenities, and improving pedestrian access.

Strategies/Opportunities
Using the planned redevelopment activity as a catalyst, the opportunity exists to strengthen the connections between Mounds Park and the Earl/Hudson area, and to plan for improved livability and increased investment in adjoining residential neighborhoods. Housing redevelopment and rehabilitation and green connections would support the planned investments in the commercial node, which include facade improvements to commercial structures and infill housing construction

Metropolitan State University occupies a gateway position on the Bluff and is a major presence and key partner in the physical and social development of the Dayton's Bluff community. Its physical and programmatic plans, including a joint university-community library, expands its presence on East Seventh Street. Growth in enrollment and educational programs will continue to bring more people to the campus and community, and is a potentially powerful economic stimulus for the neighborhood.

Metro State's projected growth across East 7th Street, provides a strong connection to the commercial and economic activity along that street. The Maria entry to the campus from East 7th, 6th and 3rd Streets offers additional opportunities for cooperation. Current truffic levels have a significant impact on the safety and livability of this historically residential street. The university and residents share a stake in an attractive, safe entrance corridor.

Strategies/Opportunities
Metropolitan State's plans for campus expansion, the plans for lighting improvements along East 7th Street, and the desire of the Dayton's Bluff community for residential improvements within the surrounding neighborhood, present opportunities for cooperative planning for improvements sensitive to the needs of all of the uses and interests in this distinctly urban space.

Important considerations:
o establish an inviting commercial and neighborhood environment, encouraging both property and landscape improvements.
o establish key crossing points along heavily traveled streets, implementing appropriate traffic calming and streetscape improvements to improve pedestrian safety.
o provide safe pedestrian access to the new library at street level and future pedestrian access to Swede Hollow Park.
o promote development of compatible commercial activity as campus activity grows.
o consider housing production and preservation needs of community, students, staff, and faculty as campus plans proceed.
o plan for green connections through campus from Swede Hollow, connecting the residential area surrounding Maria with that amenity.

E - Neighborhood Connections to Phalen Corridor lnitiative

The Phalen Corridor, a major community and economic development initiative on the East Side of Saint Paul, is designed to create an industrial corridor that will act as a job creator, neighborhood beautifier and unifier. The Initiative, which has the potential for significant impact on the neighborhood economy and intersects the Dayton's Bluff community at a number of key points include:
o the former Hamm's Brewery complex,
o East 7th Street and Arcade,
o East 7th Street and Atlantic,
o Swede Hollow/lower Phalen Greenway

Stategies/Opportunities
o The opportunity exists at the historic Hamm's Brewery site for a careful community planning process to determine its appropriate reuse. Community stakeholders should consider preserving portions of this important community landmark, ensure that the scale of any new buildings buffer the adjoining park and residential areas, and provide good connections between park/residential/industrial areas.
o The commercial node at East 7th and Arcade is positioned to meet consumer and service needs of people in the industrial corridor, 3M, and the adjacent residential community.
o East 7th Street and Atlantic is a mixed-use area with industrial, commercial, and residential uses. The industrial uses overwhelm the residential character, and the commercial area is uninviting. The St. Paul Port Authority's interest in reinvigorating the area provides on opportunity for collaborative planning that will consider the needs of the various land uses, and the potential for mutual gain.
o Careful storm water management and landscaping within the planned industrial corridor is needed to provide an important link connecting watershed, habitat, and wildlife projects throughout the Phalen watershed district.

The Situation
Culturally and physically significant, this ravine on the northwest edge of the community provides dramatic and secluded open space and a regional trail connection for the neighborhood. Plans are underway for a watershed management project that will connect Swede Hollow Park and the Mississippi River and repair the area's environmental and ecological features.

Strategies/Opportunities
In addition to environmental and ecological benefits, the Greenway project offers the opportunity to improve connections between the Mississippi River and adjacent East Side neighborhoods and to stabilize and improve property values. To take advantage of this activity, the neighborhood should plan for improving pedestrian and bicycle access to the trail through the neighborhood, further enhancing this neighborhood amenity. Neighborhood plans should also encourage recreation-related small business development in Dayton's Bluff that will provide entry level jobs and goods and services to local residents.

The members of the Dayton's Bluff Urban Partnership understand the need for securing broad community consensus for the values, goals and strategies suggested in this document. Thus, the next essential phase of the Partnership's process involves the following steps:

1) Distribute the document to:
     o members of the Dayton's Bluff community
     o Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Saint Paul Port Authority
     o elected officials
     o foundations, lenders
     o potential partner collaborators
     o Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation
     o Saint Paul Public Works
     o other interested parties

2) Engage community and other stakeholders in discussion of Partnership goals and recommendations.

3) Secure public and private support for continuation and completion of the planning process.

4) Establish development priorities; create implementation plan.

5) Develop an action plan based on priorities.

6) Follow through on the action plan.