urbanMSP

Metro State University is planning to expand greatly on the east side.

http://www.metrostate.edu/msweb/resourc ... jects.html

Much of the new buildings are planned on the surface parking lot due east of the main hall buildings.


First up is a new five level 895 space parking ramp that will be situated in the NE corner of the lot. Funding for it is expected to come in a bond sale next February, with construction from Jun '13-Aug '14.

A Science Education Center across the street just south of the main campus buildings is planned next.

A new Student Center is in the works for the western side of the parking lot. Two other classroom buildings are planned, one in the NW corner, the other in the SW. A second parking ramp is planned for the SE corner of the parking lot. The school still has not acquired the homes that are located there, nor the pizzeria that is in the NW corner of the block.

Here's a render of the Science Education Center.


A full site plan.

The Pizzeria you mentioned was/is the first Carbone's in the metro. Grew up on the bluff and still know the number by heart 771-5553. Metro State is the old St John's Hospital for those who do not know. Thanks for all the St paul updates! I don't know if it is mentioned in the transportation thread but MDOT is starting a total reconstruction of 35E from downtown to 36 in 2013. This will have a dramatic effect on the lower east side but should improve access to Beacon Bluff(3M), Hamm's etc.. Should see a lot of development along and around the Phalen Blvd/35E corridor.

Isnt' Carbone's supposed to be super yummy (traditionally "yummy", not this pizza nea Italiana stuff you see everywhere now with stone ovens and such -- real Americanized pizza!)?

I thought the first Carbones was on Randolph near Fairview.

Wouldn't it be great if a campus could sort of fit around existing commercial buildings?

Finally, I wish there was a way to bring great transit to the east side. Too bad the neighbors vehemently opposed LRT. Based on an email I got from a MetroTransit planner, arterial BRT might be interlined between West 7th and East 7th someday.

It would be nice to see LRT expand at least out to the campus. It's such a logical stop.

I ate at the Carbone's on Randolph a lot growing up. Great pizza!

Carbone's on Maria and 7th was the first. There was an article in the Highland Vil. a few months back when the one on Randolph had their aniversary. Interior hasn't changed in decades. Super thin crust. Like the Savoy down 7th and Yarruso's on Payne they have a loyal cliental base. Would hate to see it removed.

I have fond memories of that Carbone's too, as well as the old Sambo's across 7th. Not so fond memories of the Lutheran indoctrination camp farther down Maria.

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_ ... tons-bluff

Seeing as how this is St. Paul, of course neighbors have a problem with Metro State's expansion plan

We thought the ramp design was lacking (Levinson does as well) but it gets worse... Metro State wants to have all students and staff subsidize the parking structure: https://streets.mn/2013/04/08/structuring-parking/

I kinda saw that coming, and yeah...that is insane. Online-only, other-campus, and bus/bike/walk commuting students should organize and protest this ridiculousness. But who will organize them? Will they even care?

With Central Corridor (2014) and interlined 7th St aBRT (2016-7) on the immediate horizon, you think maybe they would reduce their parking needs a bit. The St. Paul Planning Commission would have to sign off on this ramp, no? The planning commission and city council probably cannot dictate whether the ramp charges its users, but they certainly can regulate the size of it (and design, to a lesser extent).

Is Metro State's expansion receiving any funding from the City of St. Paul, either in the form of grants or infrastructure improvements?

Construction will soon commence and be firing on all cylinders for the Parking Ramp, Student Center as well as for the Science Education Center which has finally received the required finding move ahead. Although there is a slight delay in construction due to soil cleanup due to contaminated soil found on site, the funding has come through and soon all three will be able to move ahead simultaneously.

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_ ... il-cleanup

When I think of beautiful college campuses, I immediately think of parking ramps.

There's something a little surreal about halting construction on a parking lot so that you can remove soil previously contaminated by cars (by the sound of it).

When I think of beautiful college campuses, I immediately think of parking ramps.

Probably because you understand that, unlike the boring pastoral campuses of elite liberal arts colleges, a community college needs to serve a population that can't afford to live in on campus housing. As a result, many of the students need to commute in from their parents' houses, which may be located in the god-forsaken suburbs that aren't worth extending transit to.

Therefore, the beauty and functionality of a parking ramp.

I thought it was a four-year college, not a community college. I don't know too much about it. Whatever it is, I hope they charge for parking to make sure students and faculty are making market-informed decisions regarding whether to drive/carpool/bike/walk/bus.

Metro State is decidedly a commuter campus which heavily draws students from local community colleges. Taking into account the geographical draw of the students as well as the fact that there are a lot of night and weekend classes, it isn't possible or convenient for many students to use public transportation to the campus if they have a choice.

I think it's much easier to focus efforts of improving transit ridership at the more traditional schools. Students at these schools are looking at transit commute times of less than 30 minutes each way, which significantly increases the chance of using transit.

That isn't to say that transit *shouldn't* be used at Metro State or the community colleges, it most certainly should. But the dynamics are different; ridership will be lower, riders will travel farther. There isn't really a good clear cut paradigm of how to integrate transit into these types of colleges, but the effort should certainly be made.

At most traditional schools, the vast majority of students bike or walk within the immediate neighborhood. Most liberal arts colleges have residency requirements, some requiring on-campus or school-approved housing for all four years.

I understand if this is a commuter campus, there's a need for parking. But it shouldn't be free.

Probably because you understand that, unlike the boring pastoral campuses of elite liberal arts colleges, a community college needs to serve a population that can't afford to live in on campus housing.

At most traditional schools, the vast majority of students bike or walk within the immediate neighborhood. Most liberal arts colleges have residency requirements, some requiring on-campus or school-approved housing for all four years.

I understand if this is a commuter campus, there's a need for parking. But it shouldn't be free.

And this, folks, is how structural inequity happens.

The more-well-off kids get easy access to transit with discount passes and the less-well-off-kids have to pay for parking because there's no bus.

Most people don't intend this to happen. In fact it happens in spite of efforts to craft policy that seems to advance a generally good goal -- in this case, supporting more people-friendly environments.

Since they're building two buildings in addition to the ramp, it seems that it was a design failure not to screen the parking with more active uses. This design strikes me as insensitive to the traditional urban context of the neighborhood.