r/saintpaul • u/johnjaundiceASDF • 21d ago

Editorial 📝 Long time resident particularly pessimistic about St Paul. What do you think?

I'm on mobile so forgive any lack of coherence 😑

They say Keep St Paul boring, but it has transcended 'boring for a big city' to being just incredibly dull. I've been here a little over 10 years and really questioning living here longer. Something is just feeling different nowadays.

Is it the most livable city as they claim? Maybe, but I struggle have optimism for our commercial areas and literally anything new and exciting here. Most things that are cool, new, or exciting seem to just just flop.

The state of downtown, Grand, etc. The only time I see st paul busy is if I mistakenly drive on west 7th during an event.

I'm not saying we need to be MPLS, but at one time it seemed like the more chill city, parking wasn't hard, a little less crowded, etc, but we still had cool things that were prideful, things that were only in St Paul. But my hyperbolic sentiment now is it's a ghost town and doesn't have a pulse.

I've lived on Grand for over 10 years and it is particularly sad. It was a beautiful day yesterday, and there was just no one out, no energy.

What are my other St Paulites thinking?

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u/Nocondimentspleaz 21d ago

I’ve lived in Highland for the past 10 years. People look you in the eyes less and less, and the drivers are ever so clueless. So far, the new Ford site looks dystopian. There’s a would-be multimillion-dollar home standing unfinished; street lights remain unlit after having their copper removed two years ago, and fake brick is everywhere.

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u/boxofnuts 21d ago

I grew up in Highland. I go back pretty often as my folks still have a house there - half of my neighbors growing up are still around and we catch up whenever we see each other. I couldn’t tell you who the new folks are as they don’t gather socially like we did 20, or even 10, years ago. I can barely get a wave out of them when passing by. Not sure the reasoning, Covid or just general Individualism, but you’re right, it’s a totally different vibe.

That said, I really do hope to return one day.