Post in Shhh!... Legislature's $371 Subsidy Undermines Central Cities

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Spaulding [mailto:<email obscured>]
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 8:18 AM
To: St. Paul Issues Forum
Subject: Re: [SPIF] Shhh!... Legislature's $371 Subsidy Undermines Central
Cities

Dean suggests I forgot about a subsidy of hundreds of millions to the
Twins in downtown.  I didn't, because that subsidy is qualitatively
different:

First, Legislators didn't decide to subsidize the Twins outside of
public view - as this subsidy is happening.  We had ten years of very
public debate, not DFL and Republican caucus leaders striking a
backroom deal.

Second, the Twins subsidy went to something that did not directly
compete with a comparable facility in a neighboring city - we have
just one Major League Baseball team.  The Mall's proposal for hotels,
office space, retail space, community theater, all directly compete
with facilities we have developed.  The Twins pathetic rationale that
their team would move if they weren't subsidized by the state actually
provides stronger justification for the subsidy than is warranted here.

Third, and I will get into this in a subsequent post, this $371
million subsidy actually is coming from a decades-old pool of money
that local cities use for property tax relief - so St. Paul is harmed
even more than is first apparent.



John asked, "why hasn't the mall then had the same effect on places
such as rosedale, ridgedale, maple grove or woodbury?"

Two reasons: those locations are farther away from the Mall than the
downtowns, and the mall competes strongly for tourist dollars, which
in most cities is a key role downtowns play.

And to clarify John's post, downtown Minneapolis has lost much retail
as well - retail developments like City Center, Gavidaae Common, and
the (short lived) Conservatory all have gone from filled with 3+
stories of retail in 1992 to largely devoid of retail now (or in the
case of the Conservatory, torn down).  And as I mentioned, Riverplace
and St. Anthony Main expeirenced a loss of retail and entertainment as
well.  Minneapolis leaders are now wringing their hands over the
departure of Borders Books and Crate & Barrel, and struggling to
attract new retailers.



Finally, as proof this issue is rapidly evolving, I erred, but in a
way that makes the project's basics even worse.  The state subsidy to
the mall is actually $371 million - I had wrongly said in the last
post it was a mere $200 million.

$371 MILLION IS DECIDEDLY MORE THAN THE STATE WILL EVER SPEND
CONSTRUCTING THE CENTRAL CORRIDOR!!  And how much public discussion
has there been about this????

This is a terrible way to make public policy.



Here's my original post:
-------------------------------------

Having both a conscience and a general understanding of urban
development, I feel some obligation to make note of grim milestones
once in a while, futile as it may seem.

And such is the case with the Legislature's recent and sad backing of
a $371 million subsidy to the owners of the Mall of America, against
the wishes of many civic leaders in Bloomington and elsewhere
(http://tinyurl.com/4psg34
).  Why this enormous giveaway did not engender more opposition is in
part a mystery to me, and in part the story of coalition politics.

But first, let's take a quick trip back in history.  Most objective
and professional observers blame the emptying out of retail within
downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis in major part on the
opening of the first phase of the Mall of America in 1992.  I've
spoken with tenants in Minneapolis' Riverplace and St. Anthony Main
who describe the destructive effects of the Mall's opening on the area
as both immediate and evident to even casual observers.  The once-
booming retail and Mississippi Live nightlife was directly undercut by
the Mall's enabling subsidy.

Downtown St. Paul has many times less retail today than it did in
1991.  According to a 1991 retail directory, downtown had forty-two
clothing stores in 1991, now we have 2.   Five bookstores in 1991, now
we have 0.  Again, many cite the mega-mall (made possible by a mega-
sized subsidy) as the overarching factor.

So today, the Legislature poured yet another $371 million of public
money into the Mall.  Wittingly or not, the Legislature has continued
to enable the Mall's long-term work sucking away at the economy of our
core cities.  The state will help subsidize hotels to compete with our
convention hotels or compete with Hyatt at the Penfield, or a future
hotel in the Midway.  The state will subsidize an office space project
to compete with downtown's 25% vacancy.  The state will subsidize a
project with a skating rink to compete with the one proposed for Seven
Corners in St. Paul.    The state will subsidize creation of a
performing arts venue to compete with the other third-rate theaters
across the metro.  Visitors that once visited our downtowns will stay
in Bloomington.

We get all that for a $371 million subsidy.  That's right.  The always-
maligned Central Corridor is expected to cost the state about $300
million when all is said and done.  And that Mall expansion that you
haven't really heard about?  $371 million.

So why did this clearly damaging measure advance so quietly?  A
bipartisan coalition, and two beleaguered central cities provide the
explanation.  There is the do anything for business mentaility (even
it it means destroying our core cities) that too often sways
Republican leaders.  And there is the all construction jobs are always
equally good mentality that often sways DFL leaders.   DFL House
Speaker Maraget Anderson-Keliher yesterday, in a momentary display of
extreme shallowness, commented: "I can think of no better way to top
off this jobs session than with this bill becoming law."

If that's the case, Madam Speaker, then with all due respect, you need
to think a little harder.  In this increasingly eco-conscious age, as
we seek to address the threat of global warming, and related patterns
of urban growth, we're subsidizing sprawl as never before.  Our cities
struggle to get by on their limited budgets, and now you took $200
million more from them.  Really, how short-sighted was your action?
Why don't we hear more about this?  And if Minnesota is this
fundamentally short-sighted, what does that say about the future of
our world?

This deal may have been unstoppable.  It's still important to think
about, as my teachers have made eminently clear that the regional
effects will be real, but it really is outside my sphere of influence.

And yet a different politics is possible, a politics that benefits
people clearly and broadly.  We can grow our economy, and provide
many, many construction and other jobs, and a strong business
climate.  We can do it in a way that will meet many more of our
objectives than projects like this.   We all of have needs that must
be met - and I believe there is a new way to meet all of them, if we
put all our minds to it.  And spend less time battling one another.
More time seeking common ground, and cooperating.

I know a different politics is possible because here and in plenty of
other communities, we already have obvious examples of doing better.
In our present state of affairs, there's no time like the now to begin
working together to ensure a better future.  A shared future.  Then,
and only then, St. Paul will begin to fully lay claim to its rightful
place in the regional economy.  A future we ALL will have reasons to
be hugely, truly happy about.

Bob Spaulding


Bob Spaulding
Downtown, St Paul
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