Macalester-Groveland- Affluent Early 20th century Neighborhood in the Westside of Saint Paul

Macalester-Groveland began to develop in the 1890s as streetcars were extended into the area. The neighborhood filled out in the 1920s with more autocentric friendly development as the Twin Cities continued to grow. Tangletown is the most suburban subdistrict with large single family homes situated on curvilinear streets. Charles Schulz , created of Peanuts, also grew up in the neighborhood.

Macalester-Groveland is similar to many Saint Paul neighborhoods. A comfortable leafy early 20th century neighborhood with mostly single family homes, some apartment buildings, and pockets of urban commercial. The best urban business district runs along Grand Avenue, which also serves as the business district for Macalester College. The neighborhood is generally affluent and Caucasian and has convenient access to Dwtn Saint Paul across all modes of transportation.

To elevate Macalester-Groveland into a high quality urban district it needs more density and in-fill housing especially along the more autocentric stretches of Snellings and Randolph Streets. The southern half of the district could also use more frequent public transit access.

Click here to view my Macalester-Groveland Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Convenient access to Dwtn St. Paul. Only 10 min drive and 30 min bike/transit trip. Dwtn Minneapolis is still pretty conveninet too..
• Good generation diversity thanks to the Unversity of St. Thomas students and plenty of family households
• Good dedicated bike lanes but not protected.
• Great connectivity. Very good sidewalks and ADA standard curb cuts on about 65% of all intersections
• Decent for-sale options but on the expensive side. A handful of 1-bedrooms that sell in the 100K & 200K, 2-bedrooms sell btwn 200K-550K and 3 & 4 beds sell between 300K-1M. Some mansions sell btwn 1-2 M.
• Good number of apts and pretty moderately priced. 1-bed rent btwn $900-1.7K, 2-bed lease in the 1Ks, and some 3-beds that lease btwn 1.5K-3K.
• Great riverfront park along the Mississippi running the north to south length of the neighborhood. Several smaller parks pretty well dispersed throughout the neighborhood and a couple recreation Center including a pool.
• Cultural amenities include a good number of restaurants, bars & cafes, the Macalester College Art Musuem and Performing Arts Center, and a historic movie theater.
• Very safe community.
• Execellent early 20th century historic homes. Urban infill is limited, a mixture of decent mixed-use & autocentric developments.
• Okay retail amenities including several supermarkets, several boutiques, plenty of salons, a Patagonia store, a butcher, a couple drug stores, a hardware store, a couple bookstores, a floristist, several bakeries, a local post office and library, several churches.
• Good urban massing and streetscaping along Grand Avenue.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Only a handful of schools and mixed ratings.
• So so economic and racial diversity.
• Dedicated affordable housing seems very limited.
• Good public transit access in the northern half of the district but so so in the southern half.
• Decent urban density but not great.
• No local public library of post office.
• Mix of good and autocentric urban form along the biz districts outside of Grand Ave (Snellings & Randolph).
• So so pedestrian activity.