The April 10 meeting of the Boys Totem Town Workgroup involved a lengthy discussion of the March 25 community workshop, which is summarized in an earlier blog. Each of the four groups' facilitator teams reviewed the discussions in their groups and then commented on what worked and didn't work in the format and process of the workshop. We also outlined what type of information still seems to be either lacking or misunderstood about the objectives and process of this work. Our summary of the workshop tries to address the misunderstandings that remain.

​The rest of the meeting was a presentation about housing issues in the Metropolitan area, and goals for meeting future housing needs by the City of Saint Paul. The purpose was to educate the work group members on housing issues, NOT to say that we are looking at housing for the BTT site specifically. We heard a history of the interaction of race, poverty and housing and how this history has resulted in the concentration of low income and "affordable housing" within certain neighborhoods. We reviewed the results of the predatory lending practices of financial institutions during the housing bubble and its aftermath on communities of color and low income communities. We looked at the City's Comprehensive Plan (2010 version) related to housing, at the District 1 Community Plan related to housing, and at data in the City's Consolidated Plan that sets HUD housing goals. The latter identifies roughly 50 new low income housing units needed in District 1 as a whole, with an emphasis on such housing being along transit corridors. Looking at people's housing AND transportation needs in combination is vital to creating successful housing.

​This presentation was one of many that provide background to the work group as it assesses input it gets from our community workshops. Previous presentations have included one on the Highwood Plan and on demographic change in District 1.

For the March meeting of the Boys Totem Town Work Group, we spent about a third of the meeting with updates about the neighborhood and outlining what we know and what we do NOT know about the site... the rest of the meeting was spent planning for the upcoming Community Workshop on Saturday, March 25 from 12:30p to 2:30p. The workshop will be held at Boys Totem Town in Koehler Hall (follow the signs to the hall...) and will include an opportunity to tour a portion of the grounds and the buildings. Staff has been working with Totem Town staff to make this event a fun and informative one.

​The most recent news from the County is that they have not made - and are not ready to make - a decision about the direction they take with regard to how they will configure programming, and, from that, how they will need to site new facilities. However, they reiterate that their decision about Boys Totem Town will be based on what is best for the youth they are responsible for in the juvenile justice system. They also reiterate that they have heard from juvenile justice advocates that smaller facilities embedded in the communities from which the youth come are the ideal.

​In terms of what happens to the Boys Totem Town site itself - the future potential use of the land (which is determined by the City, not the County) - this focus by the County means that if they retain the current site, they will be unlikely to need the full parcel.

​So we proceed with our visioning and community building, thinking about what is best for all the people who live in this area. Any changes at the site including any construction would not even start for several more years. There is a lot of time and a lot of community building still to be done.

​We hope to see people at the workshop on the 25th. There will be pizza and there will also be activities for children, if families attend.

What we were formerly calling the Boys Totem Town Task Force is now called the Boys Totem Town Work Group, to try to help clarify what the group does...

​The group met on Monday, February 13, to assess the input of the first community workshop and to plan for the next workshop, coming in March. The notes to that meeting are listed here.

​The tentative plan is to hold the next community workshop at the end of March. An exact date and location is currently being negotiated. Check back here for an update.

 Thanks to Crystal Rogers for her work transcribing the attached notes. The participants were asked 4 questions - 1) what do you leave the neighborhood for to find elsewhere? 2) what issues and challenges do each of us face living in this neighborhood? 3) in a perfect world, what do you want to see in the neighborhood? 4) in a perfect world, what do you want to do in the neighborhood?

​The responses varied and did not always correspond to the questions asked. No attempt has been made here to analyze the results - that will be the work of the Task Force. There were several groups of people answering the same questions. The notes are presented for each group.

We have uploaded summaries of the Task Force meetings that have already been held. This project page was originally set up so that these were not retained after each new meeting. We have archived them here now that this is a blog, so there is an on-going record of what is happening during this process.

​The model of a task force being used for this project is the same as that used when we created the first-in-the-city neighborhood Transportation Plan - a task force that pulls together resources and inputs from the broader community. The difference this time around is that we have an explicit focus on equity for this work.

​Any questions? Contact our office - 651-578-7600, or by email [email protected]

On Monday, January 9 at Highwood Hills Elementary School, neighbors congregated for small group discussions about their visions for their neighborhood. About 80 - 100 people attended. The full coverage of the discussions are still being processed, but 4 major themes emerged:

• ​Preserve the natural character of the area
• Increase accessibility within the neighborhood
• Create community (both gathering spaces, activity spaces, and learning spaces)
  
• Include all ages
  

​Additionally, there were comments about the desire for increasing small scale economic development and opportunities for residents' jobs.

​After the small group discussions, participants had an opportunity to hear from Ramsey County about their work around the BTT site, from D1's UM intern about equity and access to parks, and from the City of Saint Paul about its Comprehensive Planning process.

​There will be ANOTHER meeting on January 23, 6:30p at Battle Creek Rec where we will hear directly from Ramsey County Commissioner McDonough about Ramsey County's process to decide how to deal with the need to replace the current BTT facility.  Another community workshop to further discuss a common vision for the neighborhood will happen in March.

​If you want to hear the TRUTH about what is happening about this site, please contact our office to get on the email list for announcements, call our office with questions, or check back here. There are far too many misleading, inaccurate reports floating around the neighborhood about what is happening... Talk to US if you have questions - [email protected], [email protected], 651-578-7600.

We met as the Boys Totem Town (BTT) Task Force for our third meeting on December 14. We present summaries of each meeting here. In previous meetings, we have focused on process and our goals, and hearing about background work that has been done in the area around planning. We also wanted to announce the FIRST Boys Totem Town Community Vision Workshop, Monday, January 9 from 6-8p at Highwood Hills Elementary School gymnasium.

For this meeting, we first met our newest Task Force member, who represents the greater District 1 area, then we heard from Paul Sawyer, D1 President, about the changing demographics of the area.

In 1970, the neighborhood around BTT was 99.3% white. In 1980, this percentage was 95.7%, and by 1990 the neighborhood was still 90.9% white. In 2010, however, the area was 46.7% white, 32.9% black (African American and African immigrant), 10.3% Asian, and 6.3% Latino. In 2010, 72.6% of the children in the area were people of color. This number tells us what the future of the neighborhood will be. The median age of the area is 30.6 years old, which is younger than the city median age.

56.7% of households are owner-occupied, and 43.3% of households are renter-occupied. There is a difference of 11 years in the median ages of the heads of households of these two groups, with the owner-occupied head of household being the older. But even more striking than this difference is that 83% of owned households have a white head of household, while only 27% of rented households have a white head of household. And the median household income for homeowners is $78,182 while the median income of renters is $33,843 (the City’s median income is $50,885). About 77% of homeowners moved into a home in the area since 1990 (when the Highwood Plan was adopted) whereas 99% of renters moved into a unit in the area since 2000.

These demographic changes and the differences between the homeowners and the renters of the area are the fundamental reason it is important for us to “check back in” with the community about a vision for the area.

For a large part of the rest of the evening the Task Force went through a visioning exercise of its own. They were asked 3 questions:

1. When you think about your neighborhood, what comes to mind other than Boys Totem Town?
2. What do you think we need in order to make this neighborhood a better and more livable place?
3. Knowing about the demographic changes of this neighborhood (and without trying to think for someone else) do you think neighbors not present would have different ideas to make their lives better??

Most of the discussion centered on the possibilities that the natural feel of the neighborhood provided to people, especially young people. There was also a lengthy discussion about the need for gathering spaces and just how many different ways “gathering spaces” could be defined. Finally, there was some discussion about potential partners for creating our perfect neighborhood.
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The last portion of the meeting focused on planning for the January 9 Community Visioning Workshop, at Highwood Hills Elementary School.
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REMINDER
This task force is not the group that will determine the City's position of land use for the BTT site. This task force will help formulate the position that the District 1 Council will present to the City as D1 fulfills its ADVISORY role to the City on land use issues in our area. We hope that leaders from this group, and from the broader community will participate in the official City process when the City's BTT Task Force is created, probably spring 2017. A history of planning for the BTT area is attached here, as well as the demographics presentation.

​Keep coming back here for more information about what is happening and who is involved AND how you can be involved. You can always contact the D1 office with questions about this project - either [email protected], or [email protected]. You can also call 651-578-7600.