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St. Paul's Localism

By
Real Estate Agent with Tangletown Realty

There's a new carnival in town and I liked the idea of a virtual tour of MY town!  Carnivals are not my thing.  It's probably because losing is not fun, but my honey and I are new residents of St. Paul (only 29 months now) and weekly say to one another, "Have I told you lately how much I like St. Paul?"  We are hooked.  We have no idea why we didn't settle here when we migrated from Chicago, but we didn't.  Now in our golden years, we see the lighted Capitol framed by our living room window every night as we eat supper.  We walk the dog around the neatly groomed Capitol grounds.  We admire the skill and ingenuity required to build the massive buildings that house our government.  The interiors . . . words fall short of describing them. 

But it's not just Capitol Hill that enthralls us.  We can walk all along the river and watch the barge traffic.  We can ride ON the river and go through the locks.  We can sit BY the river and relax. 

Every few blocks of downtown St. Paul has a park which smacks of the historic town squares.  The workers from the surrounding buildings often relax during lunch hours in the parks.  The hot dog vendor . . . ahhhh, there's nothing like a hot dog piled high with onions and relish, ketchup and mustard savored on a park bench in the shade of a big old tree! 

Nine photos on a virtual tour can hardly do justice to the grip St. Paul has on my heart.

green button with words view the tour     

Lisa Dunn
Edina Realty - Minneapolis, MN
www.TwinCitySeller.com
Beautifully written.
Jan 29, 2007 09:15 PM
Danny Smith
DISCOVER TEXAS HOMES - Round Rock, TX
Nice posting Bonnie! Do you use the virtual tour on your website? We have a video here ofAustin I've been thinking about using.
Jan 29, 2007 09:21 PM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

Is Charles Schultz a native?  Great tour. 

Where did you live before St. Paul? Out in a suburban area...

Jan 29, 2007 10:17 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
Of course my favorite is the bronze Lucy. St. Paul has an Old World feel to it, to me, as someone who has never been there. Very beautiful.
Jan 30, 2007 12:44 AM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN

Thanks, Lisa.

Danny, I have not yet put something like this on my website.  It is so small compared to the immensity of the story that it would take more than one tour to do St. Paul justice.

Charles Schultz is a native.  There are Peanuts characters scattered throughout the city.  They were sponsored by individual companies and individually painted.  There's a set in White Bear Lake that is all wrapped up for the winter or in preparation for shipping.  They migrate often, but the bronze Peanuts characters in this show are permanent residents of Rice Park which is surrounded by the beautiful James J. Hill library, the Ordway, the St. Paul Hotel, and the Landmark Center.  Rice Park was the home of the Winter Carnival ice sculptures until this year when they "localized" everything at Harriet Island.  Localizing the events has taken some of the fun out of the carnival for me as you have to go to a destination now whereas you visited St. Paul before.  

I lived in the northwest suburbs before:  Robbinsdale for 5 years, and New Hope for 28 years.  Ironically as I tried to describe each of the suburbs for my website, New Hope was the hardest for me to say anything about.  It was pretty boring!

Carole, My description of the "twin" cities is pretty personal especially since I lived on the "other" side (Minneapolis side) of the river for 33 years.  Others in print have tended to agree.  Minneapolis is cosmopolitan.  They feel like the "Minne-apple" of New York. They do a lot of tearing down to rebuild "bigger and better".  St. Paul is more European in its feel complete with roots.  It knows who it is and is happy with who it is.  It just enjoys being.

 

Jan 30, 2007 02:35 AM
Gena Riede
Riede Real Estate, Lic. 01310792 - Sacramento, CA
Real Estate Broker - Sacramento CA Real Estate (916) 417-2699
Bonnie, what a nice job. I especially loved the tribute with Lucy. Beautiful area with a lot of history.
Jan 31, 2007 03:57 AM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN
Thanks, Gena.
Jan 31, 2007 04:35 AM
S. Leanne Paynter ☼ Broward County, FL
United Realty Group, Inc. - Davie, FL
Davie, Plantation, Cooper City & Weston Specialist
The Lucy statue is adorable and I loved the photo of the walkway with the trees full of white lights... so festive!
Jan 31, 2007 05:06 AM
Boomer Jack Boardman & Carl McIntyre, the Codgers
Noted Curmudgeons - Saint Paul, MN

Bonnie: Very nice. My life-long home is St. Paul! I never tire of the vista from Mounds Park, the skyline view driving south on I35E, the framed-by-trees view of the Capital driving noth towards the High Bridge on Smith Ave, and the view from deck of the riverboat, Harriet Bishop, as we cruise up & down the river.

Jay 

Jan 31, 2007 09:31 AM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN
Jay, Had my honey and I started here we would never have left.  I am saving all kinds of things for my business blog that I like about St. Paul.  It's good to have an insider's view but that's also balanced by a newcomer's view!  Imagine that same Capitol framed by your living room window!  That's what I see every night!
Jan 31, 2007 09:37 AM
Boomer Jack Boardman & Carl McIntyre, the Codgers
Noted Curmudgeons - Saint Paul, MN

Newcomers often make old-timers stop and look at what is taken for granted, and regain our appreciation. I remember riding the streetcar through the Selby tunnel under Summit to and from downtown, I liked to ride in the front of the car, just to see the view as the car exited the tunnel.

Jay 

Jan 31, 2007 11:55 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Cool tour, Bonnie. I have fond memories of our time in St. Paul years ago, although we lived in White Bear lake. The ice festival was particular fun despite the cold, and Grand Avenue was a favorite haunt (Is Cafe Latte still there?).

Jeff

Feb 01, 2007 03:44 PM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN
I cannot imagine Grand Ave. without Cafe Latte, Jeff!  Grand Ave. has just gotten more Grand.  There's spill over to Selby which probably was a pretty rough territory when you lived here.  The neighborhood did their own clean up of the Selby Dale intersection and there are elite shops there now comparable to the Grand Ave. ones.  Grand Ave. now has big names like Pier 1, Caribou, and several others that escape my brain currently.  Was Bibelot there when you were haunting our town?  They had the first store by the St. Paul campus on Como and have a second one on Grand now. It just goes to show that people like to shop where it feels intimate even when the weather is cold!
Feb 02, 2007 01:19 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude
No, I don't recall Bibelot. Cafe Latte remains a fond memory - we were there often. So glad it is still there - we lived there 17 years ago! Sounds like the area has really grown. And we loved all the victorian mansions on Summit Avenue. Had friends who lived in one, and we actually almost bought one ourselves (coming from New England, that sort of thing really appealed to us), but it needed a fair amount of work and we had not sold the home in Circle Pines so we ended up in Dellwood, which, at least at the time, was a big 3M neighborhood.
Feb 02, 2007 02:01 AM
Teresa Boardman
Boardman Realty - Saint Paul, MN
Bonnie - we took a vote and you get to stay in St. Paul.  You will however be expected to make a contribution by going to public meetings and adding your voice.  Be sure to shop in your own neighborhood too.  those are the rules!
Feb 02, 2007 09:48 PM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN

Thank you, HRH (Her Royal Highness), for the grant you have stayed on my ostracism from St. Paul.  I shall forever be grateful for HRH's kind regard.  I must ask at this point if the following items meet the required criteria:

  • Faithfully attended each block club meeting since residency was established with the except of 2
  • Hosted all Christmas block club parties since residency
  • One on one breakfast with the councilwoman for our district
  • Getting over the fact that there are no Republican candidates on the ballot for some offices in St. Paul!
  • Choosing to shop at the local hardware stores over the big box when possible
  • Choosing to shop the local coffee shops instead of the chains
  • Choosing to eat at the locally owned restaurants when given an option (the husband likes Perkins!)
  • Choosing to bank at a local bank instead of one of the big guys!
  • Choosing a small local brokerage over a large nationally owned company
  • Loving all those triangle buildings
  • Proclaiming the praise of John's Antiques whenever lighting comes up
  • Knowing the names and having personal conversations with members of the CAAPB (Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board) which has jurisdiction over our little neighborhood
If it is within Her Royal Highness' power to accept these tokens of my conversion to St. Paulite, I will forever be in her debt!
Feb 03, 2007 12:41 AM
Rochell Heininger
Yellowbook - Pittsburgh, PA
Hi Bonnie, I am with RES and one of the judges.  Loved this tour as I used to live in Eagan for 8 years.  Does MNDOT no longer use the Ford Building for office space?  I sold them a TON of office furniture when I lived there.  And you didn't show my favorite part of St Paul--Grand Ave!  Love Billy's on a sunny day! 
Feb 07, 2007 11:40 PM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN
Thanks for the comments, Rochell.  Had it not been so cold I would have done Grand Ave. as well.  It truly is one of the fun places in St. Paul.  The plan also included Summit Ave., but I decided -13 was not good for strolling the avenues!  Zero I could have handled, but when it gets into the teens below zero, it's just not outdoor weather!
Feb 08, 2007 02:09 AM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate
I just went to see if the Codgers post from yesterday had Grand Avenue but it has a photo of  Summit Ave. Is Grand Ave. residential?  Someday... Jay or you can share all of this with the world.. when you don't have to get frost bite to do it.
Feb 08, 2007 03:17 AM