Streets, parks and houses : Case study of a pedestrian neighbourhood

This case study describes the results of an urban design process involving faculty and students from the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota, an urban neighbourhood community group (Phalen Small-area Task Force) and the City of St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development. This multi-layered process examined: (1) the remains of the neighbourhood's ecological structure; (2) the existing infrastructure (including storm water, sewers, streets, etc.); (3) transit improvements and needs; (4) land use and zoning; (5) issues of crime; and (6) housing needs (especially problems in existing 2 storey apartments). The analysis led to three major physical design proposals which integrate new streets, parks and houses to create a safe, convenient and pedestrian-oriented neighbourhood through: (1) removing a deteriorating shopping mall and re-building a pre-existing wetland. The park created through this intervention reconnects the neighbourhood ,14to its ecological structure and creates a neighbourhood amenity, attracting new investment interests; (2) building a neighbourhood transit node with limited bus way to downtown and commercial niche, which attracts new development and balances the needs of people, transit and cars; and (3) inserting distinct neighbourhood streets which act as armatures to focus the rehabilitation of existing apartments and the development of diverse new housing types.