Computer images pose futuristic glimpse for 6 communities

Dan Wascoe Jr. / Star Tribune

It was makeover time Wednesday for six communities in the spread-out Twin Cities area: Not mascara or trendy hairdos, but computer-enhanced images of homey main streets, compact neighborhoods, bike riders, and lots and lots of trees.

But translating those imaginary images into real-world scenes will require city officials and private developers to plan, rezone, finance and build what they see in the pictures.

The before-and-after images, presented in the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater, show how the six communities might look if they applied the smart-growth recommendations of the Metropolitan Council and its Berkeley, Calif., consultants, Calthorpe Associates.

The idea is to promote compact development that encourages walking, bicycling, shopping, and bustling activity around plazas and village greens.

The six communities are Stillwater, North St. Paul, Lake Elmo and Oak Park Heights in Minnesota and New Richmond and St. Joseph Township, both in Wisconsin. The Calthorpe team, headed Timothy Rood, called them "opportunity sites."

The computer images show bicyclists and walkers framed by blooming flowers and leafy trees -- not a snowdrift or ice chunk in sight. Some scenes show cobblestone streets, houses with front porches and new buildings made to look like old ones, to blend with existing businesses and neighborhoods.

A glimpse of the possibilities
Computer images show how communities could apply ideas from the Metropolitan Council and its consultants, Calthorpe Associates, to encourage walking, bicycling and shopping around plazas and village greens.  In downtown Stillwater, for example, at right is the current view up Nelson Alley from Main Street toward 2nd Street.  Below, a computer image adds trees, streetlights and brick sidewalks, with a cobblestone street closed to cards.  On 2nd Street is a new brick building with a clock tower.
Photos and computer images provided by Calthorpe Associates

"Local communities themselves will decide whether and how to use the design ideas" in the prototypes, said the Calthorpe study's authors.

The Met Council, which is paying Calthorpe $111,000 for its work, supports compact development to slow sprawl, including the faster growth it expects in western Wisconsin if a proposed freeway-style bridge is built over the St. Croix River.

Bob Mazanec, the council's project manager, said the recommendations might be more useful in New Richmond and St. Joseph Township because "we're getting to their problems early enough where we can have some impact."

The Met Council has official jurisdiction only in the seven core Twin Cities-area counties, not in Wisconsin.

The project has won praise for Council Chairman Ted Mondale from some local officials who previously have criticized the agency.

William Sandberg, mayor of North St. Paul for 22 years, joked that his city once considered the council "a secret, subversive organization" but that "I can't say enough about them coming out to us," seeking ideas on how to redevelop and paying for the computer illustrations.

Lake Elmo Mayor Lee Hunt said the study proved to be "a refreshing change" in working with metro planners, even though he first thought it would be like "selling our soul to the devil."

After seeing the computer images, he said: "I love the results." He said many ideas in the study would be incorporated in Lake Elmo's comprehensive plan and would be used to evaluate developers' proposals.

Peter Calthorpe, founder of the consulting firm, said such steps will encourage developers to offer compatible proposals. Without such clear guidance, "their tendency is to do standard stuff," he said.

Calthorpe's Rood said that if a few such developments succeed financially, they'll lead to others around the Twin Cities area.

Illustrated enhancements in the report include the following:

• North St. Paul: Low planters and hedges would screen a parking lot along the west side of 1st Street, and a new mixed-use complex could include a library, city offices, public plaza, apartments and offices. The computer image shows blooming crab apple trees and ornamental streetlights to spruce up the scene.

• Oak Park Heights: Ten acres of vacant land that was cleared for a previous bridge alignment offers "an unparalleled opportunity" for a horseshoe-shaped neighborhood green framed by two-story houses and townhouses, many with front porches overlooking the common space. A landscaped buffer would try to block noise from a neighboring highway.

  Mayor Dave Schaaf said something like the Calthorpe concept could be built 18 months after the property is acquired from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

• Lake Elmo: A new built-up intersection at Lake Elmo Av. and Hwy. 5 would feature a redesigned car dealership on one corner, across from a new commercial and office building with a traditional cupola. In the distance is a view of a new village green and an enlarged city hall.
  
  
• Stillwater: Nelson Alley between Main and 2nd Streets could be closed to cars and repaved with cobblestones flanked by brick sidewalks to "recreate the character of a historic downtown street." The computer image shows a new, traditional-looking, four-story brick building with a corner tower with a clock with Roman numerals.

Mondale said the council could help cities implement such ideas with grants and support for tax-increment districts. Such districts enable cities to provide front-end financing for a project by tapping higher property taxes that it would generate later.

© Copyright 2000 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.