Over seventy Selby Avenue area community members participated in a forum to jumpstart more revitalization on Selby Avenue. Residents, business owners, and public officials shared ideas for developing and enhancing Selby Avenue's look, lots and landscape. The following pages summarize the day's events by capturing participant feedback on Selby Avenue development.

For more information/ideas on next steps contact
Selby Area Community Development Corporation at 651-291-7704

During this large group session participants responded to the following questions:
What do you like about Selby Avenue? How Would You Improve Selby Avenue?
The following section presents a collective summary of responses.

"Dale Street has been a divider and in the past the name Selby Avenue didn't get a lot of positive feedback. Let's bring more city events to the neighborhood on Selby Avenue like the Winter Carnival. Today is a good effort to get started to form a common bond in the neighborhood."

"What I like about Selby Avenue is its staying power. In the past there were movie theaters, retail services, businesses were thriving. I like the multi-cultural make-up of the communities that have been here. In the past, before Penumbra we had an art gallery at Selby & Victoria and opportunities for young people to learn martial arts and video production. What I would like to see is the return of more businesses, like the new coffee shop and what Stacy Robinson is doing."[Robinson purchased a mixed-use building in 900 block Selby Avenue]

"I love this neighborhood. I remember the history of four years ago when several of us looked at Selby Avenue development plans. I think it's important to relook at them and improve them. Arts are important on Selby. I want the 94 corridor exit, the bridge, on Dale down to Selby to look as nice as other corridors."

"I like the small businesses. I live here and do a lot shopping at them. I want more transit opportunities, maybe a bike lane. Selby Avenue should be more like a promenade and we need cleaner quieter buses. We also need more training for small businesses, more arts.... an arts movie house. We should maintain a mix of housing and maintain the diversity of people. Let's add more green space."

"I live in the 300 block of Selby and I work in the 900 block. I like being able to walk to work but I'm always getting offered a ride because I see somebody I know. I like the spirit of Selby Avenue. My vision is that Selby Avenue is the 'EPCOT' center for multiculturalism. My concern is that property values will go way up forcing seniors and others to leave."

"What I like about Selby Avenue is that the work is not done yet. There is great opportunity and a chance to do more. Let the renaissance continue, with a multicultural focus, and more business development."

"The opportunity for me to purchase the old People's Choice building [former business located in 900 block of Selby Avenue] came about by sitting in a coffee shop across the street. That [coffee shop] has made a big difference on the avenue. I don't want to see people sectioned off ethnically on Selby Avenue. Maintain it as multicultural."

"Selby Avenue's assets include the diversity of businesses and the diversity of the neighborhood, the architecture and more. We need to make the pedestrian space more friendly. The traffic flow on Selby and Dale is dangerous. And parking is a big issue."

"I want to thank Mayor Kelly for the King renaming initiative [renaming of a St. Paul street after Dr. Martin Luther King]. We have to remember that Selby Avenue history is important and we need more resources here. Dale St. remains a dividing line. We need more façade improvements. There's still a perception problem, that Selby Avenue is dangerous and people will take out-of-the-way routes to avoid it."

"We have to look carefully at the definition of diversity. There is equity of difference versus respect for difference. This is important. It troubles me that it's hard for Penumbra theater to find a space."

"I've been a resident of Selby for 20 years. We need to improve Selby Avenue by making it a more beautiful street. We should have design revisions down Selby. We also need to push the values, the people and the community. Jazz could be good or bad. Diversity can be our biggest strength or weakness. We can't get divided or we will grind to a halt. I like the openness of Selby and the way people talk and shout across the street. The negative "Selby image" from the past conveys despair and has really taken a long time to fade, but reality is very different."

"I want to be a part of the development and not find out about it after the fact. Like the construction company, I didn't know about that, what is it? [Jet Construction, a new business in the 1000 block of Selby Avenue.] I want to see small businesses that don't compete too much with each other. I'd like an art gallery, bookstore, and an artistic cultural kind of street. I want newcomers to put down roots."

"I want to know what you are going to do to help people buy homes and come back to the neighborhood. I once owned a home in the 900 block of Dayton and now rent. I pay $1,800 a month. Affordable housing is a problem. Also, youth need mentors; I used to mentor youth at my home and sometimes was under suspicion because the young people coming in and out made some people thing it was a drug house. Whatever happens in this community youth need mentors and to feel valued."

"Integration is better than segregation. We need a pedestrian friendly corridor because people get to know one another by being on the street. We need nicer lighting, trees, a boulevard maybe, parks, and places for the children. The facades along Selby need improvement. We should build more retail, a small theater, cultural places and places that people can use. We need to create more continuity and an image."

"I feel very positive about the community. I recently returned to where I grew up and renovated a house on Marshall. We must have a positive philosophy about area and commitment to investing in it."

"We must dispel the myth of Selby, the negative image. I want more live/work space on Selby Avenue. We need to get more resources like STAR [City of Saint Paul's Neighborhood Sales Tax Revitalization program funds] for improvements."

"We need to hold standards in place and accountabilities for i.e. for land use. We need to change city's codes and policies and we need to hold each other accountable."

"I live on Marshall. I am dismayed at the change in housing where rental units have declined and people have lost their houses and homes. I want the community to be more representative of the mix of people here. I am dismayed by the imbalance of what the community looks like. Let's have more aid and effort for African American businesses."

"Building a Selby Way" Session

During this small group session participants joined different tables representing different portions of Selby Avenue. An architect was at each table to take visual and written notes on participants' ideas for strengthening the commercial corridor. All tables had a copy of the 1997 Selby Avenue Small Area Plan and The Public Right of Way Framework as guiding documents.

Here's the list of tables where participants worked with volunteer architects.

A week after the March 9th, session two of the volunteer architects, Gerald Christopher and Duane Perry, met with Selby Area CDC in a three-hour session to review all sketches and notes that were generated. There were many common themes across the different sections of Selby Avenue as well as some specific ideas for certain portions of the avenue. The rich input and information generated on March 9th has been consolidated into four themes for this summary: Business, Residential, Streets & Sidewalks, and Specific Sections.

Each of the following pages in the summary contains bulleted notes accompanied by selected renderings produced at the session. The compilation of information reflects participants' ideas and lays groundwork for more renderings and hopefully a detailed development strategy.