May 2, 2013

Last November, Elizabeth Wampler and Allison Brooks from Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit-Oriented Development authored a memo to the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative on making the critical connection between jobs and transit.  They note that the Central Corridor contains a significant share of the region’s largest industries, including some with the most potential to be transit-oriented.  Numerous benefits of making the jobs and transit connection are described in the memo including:

• Transit lines that connect more jobs have higher ridership.
• Development along new light rail lines tends to follow jobs.
• The cost savings provided by transit can be translated into regional economic benefits.

Already, before the Green Line opens, the Central Corridor provides better job access via transit than the region on average.  However, the Twin Cities region is behind its peers in providing transit connections to jobs.  Only 11% of jobs in the region are located hear fixed-guideway transit which ranks 30^th in comparison to other metro areas of similar size. 

So how do we make this important connection?  Transit won’t attract jobs alone, but can work as an organizing principle.  Elizabeth and Allison make the case that an integrated, regional transit network is key and that job centers that have a mix of uses are more likely to support transit users.  They cite examples of state policies to encourage business growth and development as well as examples of private firms making location decisions based on transit availability.    

Read the full memo to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of making the link between jobs and transit in the Central Corridor.

Thanks to all who attended the 4th Annual Investing Beyond the Rail annual stakeholder meeting at Wilder Center. Your feedack is invaluable and we'd greatly appreciate if you can take a few minutes to complete a short evaluation of the meeting. It will only take a few minutes to answer and responses will be aggregated to ensure anonymity. Feedback will be used to help in the planning and coordinating of future events. Responses will be collected through Thursday, May 2. Please click here to take the survey.

We hope you enjoyed learning about the Signs of Opportunity and meeting with others working in and around the Central Corridor. Here are links to resources from the meeting. Please feel free to share with others who may be interested. 

• 2012 Annual Report
• 2013 Tracker
• Online Map where investments are making a difference beyond the rail
• Signs of Opportunity video:

             

Thank you!

March 27, 2013

In the first quarter of 2013, the Funders Collaborative awarded eight grants totaling nearly $700,000. The grants support two of four Funders Collaborative goals: Strong Local Economy and Vibrant Transit-Oriented Places.

by: Carol Gronfor, Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA)
March 20, 2013

Public projects, such as the Central Corridor LRT, usually contain specific goals for including small and disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE) as subcontractors. Thanks to the numerous nonprofits and government agencies that assist and monitor the prime contractors in their efforts to meet these goals, many DBEs got the opportunity to bid successfully on construction work for the Central Corridor LRT. 

DBE businesses are often less experienced with lighter balance sheets than the larger majority owned contractors.  To promote a vibrant inclusive economy, small and disadvantaged businesses may need specialized, caring and confidential support behind the scenes.  Contracting for Success, a program of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), has successfully assisted DBEs in overcoming a variety of obstacles by working diligently behind the scenes.

For example, one DBE client of our program bid successfully on a $450,000 project recently. This client was approached because a significant portion of the Central Corridor DBE goal was in jeopardy due to the closure of a company originally contracted to perform the work.  The prime contractor was seeking a new contractor that could meet the original budget, meet the expected deadlines, and still help the project meet DBE targets.

The DBE owner is an exceptionally gifted salesperson, knowledgeable in the field, a highly capable manager of workers, and well liked within the industry.  Yet for all these strengths, the company has growing pains and infrastructure gaps. These gaps could have prevented successful performance on the contract, and potentially undermined the business overall had the DBE not received support. 

To meet the $450,000 project budget limit, the DBE had proposed a series of changes to the design.  These engineering level changes were accepted but had not been updated in formal design specs, leading to communication challenges and the potential of serious liabilities issues for the DBE. MEDA helped the DBE connect to legal counsel and ensure that contract language was updated to protect the client from later charges and responsibilities to meet specs.

Then the client’s bonding was pulled, leading to a business crisis. Without bonding, union labor was no longer allowed to be on job sites. The DBE lost his workforce, and was suddenly unable to perform on a series of contracts. If he lost the contracts, his company would have folded. Yet the causes of lost bonding were manageable. MEDA helped address management issues and through our business partnerships, successfully advocated for renewed bonding. In less than 48 hours, the workers were back on site.

This is just one example of the DBE success stories that MEDA can credit to the Contracting for Success program.  The program has helped many disadvantaged businesses not only engage with the economic opportunities provided by the CCLRT project, but to also use their successful experience as a springboard for new and larger opportunities. 

When we as a community began envisioning what the Central Corridor could become, we had collective goals and a map of the route. Today, our community is starting to see the signs of opportunity from our collective investing beyond the rail. Join Funders Collaborative leadership and partners for a look at the progress unfolding across the corridor and to renew our energy for the work ahead.

by: Caryn Brooks, The Cornerstone Group
Special thanks to Corridors of Opportunity where this story first appeared on January 18, 2013

Prospect Park’s dedicated neighborhood group, PPERRIA (Prospect Park East River Road Improvement Association) has been working for years to ensure that future Central Corridor LRT riders will be greeted by a modern urban village when they enter Prospect Park, inspiring citizens of all ages and backgrounds to live, work, and play in this Minneapolis neighborhood just east of the University of Minnesota.

Teaming up with socially responsible developer The Cornerstone Group and architects Close Associates and Cuningham Group, the partners are working to create a potential master plan for the 4-block Station Area from 29^thAvenue to Malcolm Avenue and University Avenue to north of the Intercampus Transitway. 

This key area off University is currently home to several vacant industrial buildings and worn out roads.  The project team’s vision involves adding open space to the LRT station area that will greet visitors, and having a mix of walkable uses including new housing, commercial, retail, and cultural centers. 

Because of its high-profile location just east of TCF Bank Stadium and the University of Minnesota, the team is also looking at rebuilding 4^th Street SE (which is in need of major repairs) as a pilot project for a green, or living, street coined “Green Fourth.”  Green Fourth would integrate storm water management, urban gardens, and pedestrian and bicycle uses, while still allowing for some vehicular traffic but in a much safer way.

“We are very excited about the potential pilot project for Green Fourth and demonstrating how vibrant a street can be with pedestrian access to housing and retail, as well as unique focal points such as parks, public art, and functional areas like dog walks, rain gardens, and urban agriculture,” says Colleen Carey, President of The Cornerstone Group. 

The project team is talking with potential partners including the City of Minneapolis, Central Corridor Green Infrastructure and Storm Water Study (a Corridors of Opportunity project), and Green Corridor Parks and Commons (part of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative). 

“This is a unique opportunity to enhance an area of critical importance to Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the University and to create an innovative gateway to the University of Minnesota,” stated Carey.

The team’s master planning work is funded by a grant from Corridors of Opportunity’s Local Implementation Capacity (LIC) fund.  Planning and design work on the project will continue through next fall.

By: Brian Pittman, Wilder Research
2/28/13

In the fall of 2011, the Business Resource Collaborative and Central Corridor Funders Collaborative invited Wilder Research to partner on a research study to investigate the service use and business loss mitigation efforts of businesses and support organizations on the Central Corridor. Wilder Research worked with these two groups as well as other organizations—including the City of Saint Paul, Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), the Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA), and the University Avenue Business Preparation Collaborative (U7)—to develop a survey and a sample of businesses on the corridor. During the spring of 2012, Wilder Research interviewers set out across the Central Corridor to talk with business representatives about their experiences with the construction and services. In total, 201 Central Corridor business owners and managers completed surveys in person and over the phone.  These surveys provided rich information about the types of assistance and mitigation efforts the businesses were using, how effective those services and efforts were, the improvements that could be made to services and assistance, and the lessons learned that can help to inform future efforts.

How were businesses being affected by construction?

As part of the survey, representatives were asked a series of questions about the impact of construction on their business in the previous year, and from their responses, it is clear that businesses experienced disruptions in relationship to the construction. Common disruptions included reduced sidewalk access, street closures, and loss of on-street parking. Business representatives also felt that the disruptions led to negative impacts on business or customers including customers having or perceiving difficulty navigating construction, fewer customers coming to businesses, less automobile and pedestrian traffic in front of businesses, and excess noise, dust or other disruptions.

What mitigation efforts are used and effective?

The mitigation services and assistance offered by organizations on the Central Corridor fall in to two categories; those that are intended to increased traffic or customers to the business and those that are intended to compensate for revenue loss due to decreased customers or traffic. While more than one-third of the businesses in the study participated in at least one of the services asked about in the survey, this number is high because the study intentionally chose businesses identified through the services in order to get better information about experiences with those services. Business representatives reported general effectiveness and satisfaction with the services they received and indicated that the services were user-friendly and well designed. Businesses participating in the revenue replacement programs also reported that those programs met specific needs for their business and that the terms of the programs were favorable.

More than one-half of businesses also reported implementation of their own strategies to mitigate the effects of the construction; these businesses spent an average of $2,311 on those mitigation strategies. About one in three businesses spent money on additional signage or promotional offers. About one in five businesses purchased additional advertising. In general, these strategies were seen as effective in increasing customer traffic.

What is the future outlook for businesses?

Business representatives were also asked questions about their prospects for the future of their business. Three-quarters of the business representatives expect that their businesses will be operating at the same location in five years. Outlooks were more positive among larger businesses and businesses operating in space that they own. About two out of three business representatives expect their business’s sales and profits to increase in the next five years. For the business representatives reporting that they may not be operating in the same location in five years, the primary reasons were general uncertainty, significant financial losses, and not wanting to stay in the area.

What did we learn?

One of the most important things learned in this study is that outreach is critical to participation in services. Outreach can help business become aware of services, identify the services that are best for their business, and help businesses successfully apply for and implement those services. It is also clear that businesses prefer revenue compensation (e.g., loans or grants) over services intended to increase customers. While the flexibility and simplicity of revenue compensation is understandably appealing, the advantages of technical assistance-oriented services should not be overlooked. Mainly, that because they are generally more “hands-on” they can be effective in identifying and addressing structural or systemic concerns within the business in a way that loan programs may not. Finally, the study also shows that the services offered in the Central Corridor were reaching businesses in greatest need, and provided a diverse range of options to meet the varied needs of those businesses. This is excellent in the short term, but the true measure of success will be during the coming years as the light rail trains begin running, and the businesses, organizations, and service providers shift focus from mitigation strategies to building a thriving business corridor.

For more information about this study, please refer to the full report or contact Brian Pittman at Wilder Research. 

By: Christine Podas-Larson, Public Art Saint Paul
February 20, 2013

In 2011, we engaged a national planning consultant team: artist Cliff Garten, Urban Planner Todd Bressi, artists The Rebar Group, and Via Partnership.  This has been a highly collaborative process, drawing upon the knowledge and resources of Partners and the community to understand the conditions and aspirations of the Central Corridor.  A Core team of local artists worked with our consultants to illuminate models of public art practice and cross-disciplinary collaboration, and to provide insights and writings.  Over two years, the consultants met with members of the community, artists and cultural leaders, planning and development specialists, funding partners, and public officials.  They pored through existing plans and development frameworks for both cities as well as the programs of community and cultural organizations.  The plan was posted online and the community was invited to comment throughout the process.  The team held community workshops and roundtable dialogues and team member Rebar invited the community and artists to join a two-day bike ride, visiting sites of the Corridor’s “Fantastic Future”.  A series of Community Gardening videos in neighborhoods along the Corridor revealed the poetical aspiration of those who understand deeply that this is their civic home. 

Artistic practice is a foundation of the Central Corridor Public Art Plan.  Further, the plan is founded upon broad languages of the urban future such as water, food, waste, infrastructure, creative sparks, and gathering places.  Finally, the plan is “living”, with projects building within and across those languages over time.