Donate Today! The West Side Solidarity Fund: Emergency Relief for Tenants is a grassroots fundraising effort to provide economic relief for renters in Saint Paul, MN's West Side Neighborhood (zip code 55107) who are otherwise unable to access state/federal resources due to immigration status and for low-wage renters who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WSCO Has Launched a Podcast!

Our Podcast, "Saint Paul Stories", will focus on bringing you a variety of topics covering all things West Side & Saint Paul.

St. Paul Parks and Recreation Project Updates

Two projects on the West Side are continuing improvements. The Cherokee Regional Park will continue a connecting trail addition and the Ohio Street curve will receive new lighting this spring. A presentation was made at our March West Side Voices Forum.

Saint Paul Parks and Recreation - Presented by Brett Hussong

Cherokee Regional Parks Trail Connection

• Connects regional trail (that follows bluff) to the facilities (bathroom and drinking fountains
• Received $300,000 to construct trail
• Question about adding concessions/ food trucks/ vending
• Question about who the trail will serve, will it increase equity of parks?
  • There isn’t an answer, they don’t know who it will serve
• Comment that a path is helpful for ADA and elderly folks

Ohio Street Lighting System

• 12 lantern style  lights going in from Isabel to Plato, planned to be installed in April. Trail will be closed for about a week to do work. New LED lights. 
• Will send out warning about when the trail will close, put signs up a week in advance.

POSTPONED To the FALL OF 2020

CNU UPDATE: Due to the various recommendations for shelter-in-place and restrictions on non-essential travel related to the outbreak of COVID-19, the CNU 28.Twin Cities Legacy Projects have been postponed. New dates will be announced once regular business travel has resumed.

Each year, in conjunction with its annual Congress, CNU (the Congress for the New Urbanism) invites municipalities and neighborhood organizations within the Congress's host region to apply for pro-bono technical assistance from leading urban design firms. Each expert-led Congress Legacy Project is aimed at empowering local leaders, advocates, and residents in underserved communities to implement New Urbanist principles that help people and businesses in their communities thrive. Through public engagement and collaboration, CNU’s Legacy Projects strive to demonstrate the power of great urban design beyond the boundaries of each selected community, and targeted communities experience both short-term progress and long-lasting momentum.

The West Side was selected as one of the few recipients of a legacy project. This means, all eyes will be on the West Side from a national standpoint! 

Join us at 88 Cesar Chavez - 6 - 9 PM on date TBA to participate in the community discussion. Discussion continues 9 AM to 9 PM on Dates TBA, same location.

Join is as we celebrate the West Side Equitable Development Scorecard.
The Scorecard centers the question "Who benefits?" when new developments come to our neighborhood.

CANCELED FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE

LEGAL CLINIC:
RESOURCES FOR RENTERS

If you have concerns about your rental unit, we can help.
What are my rights as a tenant?
Every last Saturdays of the month, 2:30-4:00
at Beautiful Laundrette, 625 Stryker Avenue

The City of Saint Paul is working on a Request for Proposals (RFP) for future development on the city-owned "Fox Lots" at 149 and 171 Robert St South on the West Side Flats.  An RPF asks interested developers to send their plans of what they would build if the city were to sell them the lots.  Currently the City is asking for the suggestions, priorities and general feedback for what the West Side community would like to see built here.  City staff will use community feedback to craft the guidelines of the RFP.

3/18/20 - City Council passes Amended West Side Community Plan - Link to City site.

68 RES PH 20-26 Amending the West Side Community Plan to add the WSCO Equitable

Development Scorecard as an appendix.

Sponsors: Noecker

Adopted

Yea: Councilmember Brendmoen, Councilmember Thao, Councilmember Tolbert,

Councilmember Noecker, Councilmember Prince, Councilmember Jalali

and Councilmember Yang

7 -

Nay: 0

The first Public Hearing on the amended West Side Community Plan to add the Equitable Development Scorecard, will be December 6th, 8:30 AM Room 40 City Hall (basement) - Click Here for details.

View the Scorecard and the history of its development here.

View the current West Side Community Plan (2013) here.

Applications are being taken to join the Equitable Development Scorecard Review Group. These eight West Side Community members will oversee the implementation of using the scorecard to rate future development proposals on the West Side.

Elections for the WSCO Board took place at our annual meeting on October 3rd.  Congratulations to the five people who won seats for the WSCO board starting in 2020.

Cha-cho Estrada and Icy Cup have won West Side awards at this years Annual Meeting!