Pioneer Press Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:42:53 -0700
St. Paul / Streetscape renewal finally gets dollars
The money is now ready to start flowing through St. Paul's marquee program to try to turn around rows of shabby houses and eyesore businesses. On Wednesday, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority approved a $4.2 million spending plan targeting six pockets throughout the city as part of Invest St. Paul, a broader, $25 million effort to prop up struggling sections of the city. It's been a year since the program, conceived by Mayor Chris Coleman, was announced and five months since funding was approved. Although it wasn't pitched as a response to the spikes in foreclosures and vacant houses, the areas being targeted are some of the hardest-hit by the falling housing market. And so far, the program, which uses sales-tax proceeds to pay back loans, is among the biggest financial tools the city has to pour money into neighborhoods where it's been draining out. Since Coleman announced the program, the city's vacant-housing list has nearly doubled, while no money to buy homes has been spent. And it'll still take a few months before the city actually buys any property and undoubtedly longer before change is visible.
[[keywords: LandUse;Housing;Metro;]]
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