From:
Mary C. Zanmiller
Date:
Nov 27 16:49 UTC
Short link
I fully welcome and support the soon to be relocated Shalom Home. People
who make Shalom Home their home will have a beautiful campus with beautiful
views of the river bluffs. Transportation will be ideal for residents with
mobility, for their families coming from the airport and for employees that
earn their living by providing care.
I fully welcome Trader Joes. Finally, after 30 plus years of that troubling
corner, a new vitality added to the West Seventh Community. Healthy
food and possibly even living wage jobs.
Even as construction proceeds way past the point of no return, I hope that
we can learn from these projects. Both projects totally obscure the
beautiful river bluff views from strategic locations. The corner of
Randolph and Lexington had the most beautiful panoramic view of the bluffs.
Over the past 30 years, each time I passed through this intersection, my
spirits were lifted by the beauty all around me. The breathtaking views of
the bluffs balmed and nurtured my spirit. Trader Joes, three stories high,
sited right next to the sidewalk, totally obscures the natural amenity of
the river bluff views. It did not have to be that way. The Trader Joe's
site could easily have been pivoted so as not to obscure the public
good/the amenity of the site. The same is true of placement of the building
on the Shalom Home site. Shalom Home now blocks the view of the bluffs. The
West Seventh Community, with her streets connecting to the diagonal West
Seventh at right angles, has spectacular views of the river bluffs from the
streets of West Seventh, no matter how far from the river. I use to be able
to walk out of my house, walk to the end of the block of Watson and Milton,
and see the river bluffs. The awe at this natural beauty never failed to
astound me. Now the building juts right up to the sidewalk and totally
obscures the river bluff view. Two of the best reasons for living in the
Middle Ground neighborhood of the West Seventh community are gone forever.
Two more sacred spaces gone, sacrificed for development. The unfortunate
thing is it did not have to happen this way. Two terrific projects that
could have just pivoted the location of the buildings and not have led to
this loss.
Saint Paul needs to consider amenities like river and river bluff views
when considering/approving site plans. These views are lost. All that is
left is learning from these sitings and incorporating these lessons in any
future siting.
I give thanks on this thanksgiving for the beauty all around us and for our
human capacity to learn from mistakes. I give thanks for the opportunity to
dialogue in our contemporary new public square, the cyber commons. I give
thanks for Shalom Home and TJs, and extend my welcome to both.
m@ry
Mary C. Zanmiller