The Public Realm committee will continue discussing issues that have been identified as the top priorities (at the March committee meeting):

1. Parks, green space, green things (planters, other ways of adding plants instead of concrete) and public art
2. Public safety, issues related to security cameras, and other police / public safety issues
3. Large-scale projects such as the proposed River Balcony

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting is to discuss each of these priorities, take inventory of what the CapitolRiver Council and other organizations have done, and identify questions to ask that will help the committee develop recommendations on each topic.

For example, questions might include:
• What is good green space?
• Should we compare the attractiveness / usability of our parks to those of other cities? What value would this provide?
• What do people need to feel secure?
• Are LRT issues like smoking on trains under CRC purview?
• Policing around Central Station -- can we engage the police and / or transit users more effectively?
• Scooters will be hot topic again soon – what changes have been made since we provided feedback last fall?
• Downtown districts / wayfinding / signage: are there things we can do to solicit feedback and / or collaborate with the CRC Development Review and Skyway committees, City of Saint Paul staff, and Downtown Alliance?
• What is the current plan for the River Balcony? (https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-economic-development/planning/river-balcony) When the Ramsey County River Bluff project is built, will the River Balcony be part of that? If so, are there any updated planning docs / drawings / design sketches?
• District 17 has a fair amount of “randomness” (scattered parks, navigating one-ways, accessibility to the river or toward the capitol, etc.). To what degree does this create charm, or to what degree does it sabotage identity? It seems like making some organizational sense out of the whole of District 17 from spatial network sense would be a valuable (but massive) undertaking. Where and how can we work toward this most effectively?