Twin Cities, Minnesota

The receding of the industrial glacier in Saint Paul left behind a weak economic base and vast areas of obsolescent land along the Mississippi River. Responding to the opportunity inherent in this dramatic change in land use, the City of Saint Paul, the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation, and the Capital City Partnership retained Ken Greenberg (then a Partner in Urban Strategies) in 1996 to prepare a Development Framework aimed at revitalizing downtown St. Paul and reconnecting it to the Mississippi River.

The Framework grew organically out of a series of planning and design workshops involving hundreds of stakeholders and initially focused on four areas: the environment, urban structure, movement networks and the public realm. Once broad concepts were established, the focus turned to Precinct Plans for key areas of the downtown and the river corridor. Building on existing strengths, the Framework identified strategic development opportunities block by block that will lead to the flourishing of mixed-use neighborhoods. In conjunction with these targeted interventions, the major public infrastructure of streets, trails, new parks and vertical connections up the bluff faces to existing neighborhoods has been advanced through the creation of a Renaissance Project drawing on a broad range of public and private funding sources. The broad implementation strategy supporting the overall vision and the elaboration of detailed plans and specific initiatives within the Framework underscore the need for an integrated approach to stewardship combining clear but flexible guidelines, collaboration of key actors and strategic investments. The Framework recommended the establishment of the Saint Paul on the Mississippi Design Center, which continues to play this vital role. Ken Greenberg served as its Director for the first year of operations. He continues to be highly active in a broad range of activities spurring the revitalization of Saint Paul. The St. Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework was the 1997 Recipient of the American Planning Association's Distinguished Planning Project Award and the Waterfront Center's 1997 Top Honor Award.