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Friends,
This week I had the opportunity to attend the Infrastructure Innovation Summit hosted by the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University and the Knight Foundation. Given the unprecedented levels of funding from the federal government for infrastructure, strong support from the state for infrastructure, and the recent city sales tax to support local infrastructure, it was a timely convening. Our work in creating the Downtown Investment Strategy clearly points to the need and opportunities to improve and enhance our streetscape in downtown and that often starts with the public infrastructure. Making sure our streets and sidewalks are well designed, and well maintained with good lighting, trees, and ample space, is essential. While the construction in downtown can be frustrating, it is also essential that we get caught up on these basic infrastructure projects. These inconveniences mean that we are heading in the right direction, but we have a ways to go in order to meet our full potential as a downtown. Of course, that’s only the beginning – but we are on the right track.
In the more immediate future, we have a lot of fun things going on in downtown. The Landmark Center Holiday Bazar continues today and tomorrow, the European Christmas Market has been getting tons of great recognition this year and is open for the next three weekends, and I’m excited to see Peter Pan at the Ordway when it opens next week. That's all just the tip of the Saint Paulidays iceberg so keep reading for more news from downtown this week and a look ahead at the week's events.
Take care,
Joe
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