St. Paul Seeks State Money for Parking Garage

Andy Singer provides commentary on a controversial project in downtown St. Paul, where state and local officials are pushing for an expensive project to replace River Center parking garage after deteriorating concrete recently send a large slab into a car and forced the garage to close.

As reported in earlier articles by Bill Salisbury and Emma Nelson (at the Twin Cities Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune, respectively), the city has so far been unsuccessful in lobbying the state to pay $58 million toward a new, $117.9 million parking garage with 2,200 parking spaces.

Singer's opinion of the project: "It’s a huge waste of public money at a time when Saint Paul has major budget shortfalls and many other human and infrastructure needs. What’s more, the city has more than adequate downtown parking capacity and excellent public transit."

The bulk of Singer's article is devoted to providing specifics on each of the claims in that thesis. Projects like this, Singer argues, are a measuring stick for the urbanist bona fides of young politicians.