Elections 2015: All St. Paul, All The Time

[naomikritzer]

I have been dragging my feet on this one, in part because (despite having lived in St. Paul for almost three years now) I know Minneapolis politics better and Minneapolis isn't having an election this November.

Here in St. Paul, we're having a very local set of elections. Citywide, we're voting for school board. We're also voting on our City Council reps, although mine is running unopposed. There's no primary: we have instant runoff for the City Council seat, and it's "pick four, top vote-getters win" for the School Board race. (Both Minneapolis and St. Paul implemented instant runoff for the city offices, but my understanding is that they can't do that for School Board because that process is set by the State Legislature.)

But! It's October 11th, and it's time I start figuring out who the heck I ought to vote for in the school board race, at the very least. (Also, I had a special request for some commentary on the Ward 5 City Council race, plus parking meters are a big issue this year and I would like to take the opportunity to complain about all the stupid stuff St. Paul does with parking restrictions. The Grand/Victoria neighborhood should've had parking meters installed YEARS ago, people. Suck it up.)

Comments

[yarram.livejournal.com]

I just happened to see a local TV news segment on it minutes ago. One restaurateur was complaining about potential lost business due to the meters, but I'm willing to bet good money business will increase because people can actually count on finding parking in the neighborhood. Even more so for any business in the area that lacks its own dedicated parking.

[naomikritzer]

If I could reliably find on-street parking, there are a lot of Grand Ave businesses I would be vastly more likely to frequent.

Or if I could reliably park on Lincoln or or Goodrich, again, there are a lot of Grand Ave businesses I would be vastly more likely to frequent. (I can't park on Lincoln or Goodrich because the entire goddamn block is signed for residents only, they make you have permits.)

I went to the Yarnery once (that's on Grand, a half block down from Victoria) and parking was such a collossal pain in the ass I have never gone back. There's a parking garage on the corner of Grand and Victoria, but holy crap, I do not want to have to drive through (and pay for) covered parking just to pop into a freaking yarn store. I will tolerate it for Cafe Latte, but only when my parents insist. (They're very fond of Cafe Latte, and I almost never go there, because parking is such a collossal pain in the ass!)

There is a post office in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis with a teeny tiny parking lot and angle parking around the corner that was almost always full. Finally they put up meters. They are dirt cheap meters, like one quarter gets you an entire half hour, but LIKE MAGIC once they put those up the people who were going to sit there all day parked a half block away and for my five-minute runs into the post office, I COULD ACTUALLY PARK (not in the teeny tiny parking lot, which seriously was always full) but in the parking around the corner, and it was so very much worth the 25 cents to be able to consistently find a parking space.