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Editorial: Arising population in St. Paul —Twin Cities
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Editorial: A rising population in St. Paul
By PIONEER PRESS EDITORIAL BOARD
May 19, 2016 1 UPDATED: 8 hours ago
St. Paul's population has topped the 300,000 mark for the first time since the 1970s, according to estimates
last week from the Metropolitan Council.
That's great news for a town touting its vitality and livability and aimingfor more.
Our city's new estimated population is 300,353 —up more than 15,000, or 5.4 percent, from 2010 to 2015—
placing
015—
placing St. Paul among metro -area cities that added the most new residents during the period.
"It's an affirmation that we're on the right track," St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman told us. "Communities that
are investing in themselves are thriving; people want to be apart of a vibrant community," with access to
trans portation,jobs, housing and entertainment.
He asks: If we hadn't invested in light rail or amenities like CHS Field —if we didn't have a Lunds & Byerlys
grocery store downtown —would we seethe opening of the Custom House apartment -hotel -restaurant
development in the former U.S. Post Office?
"The answer is I don't think we'd be seeing the 300,000 people in the city of St. Paul," he said.
The gains also are a boon for business. Population growth drives key business decisions about where an
enterprise can grow both its workforce and customer base, explains Matt Kramer, president of the St. Paul
Area Chamberof Commerce.
"There will be businesses that we haven't even predicted yet that will take advantage of the fact that there
are more people in St. Paul," Kramertold us.
Our hometown's population peakwas an estimated 313,411 residents in 1960, a Pioneer Press report noted.
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5/192016 Editorial: Arising population in St. Paul —Twin Cities
A Met Council forecast calls for St. Paul to top that by 2020, reaching 315,000.
Are we ready fort he challenges and opportunities growth brings? That's why the city's racial equity work is
so critical, Coleman said.
Failure to create "the kind of community where all our residents are thriving," he told us, "would create
some real challenges to overall future success."
We heard some interesting Ramsey County perspective in a conversation this week with Deputy County
Manager Heather Worthington.
The upshot: If you want to see how diverse the entire Twin Cities region will be in 2040, just look around
Ramsey County right now.
The county in 2016 is about as diverse as the region is projected to be in about two and a half decades,
according to the Minnesota Demographic Center. "We are really on the leading edge of that diversity,"
Worthington observed.
According to the council, urban center communities— Minneapolis and St. Paul and the region's oldest
suburbs, including such cities as Maplewood and Minnetonka that experienced their peak development
before 2000 — have accounted for a third of the region's population growth since 2010. Urban growth is
attributed primarily to new multi -family developments that include apartments and condominiums.
Minneapolis added nearly 30,000 residents during the period, bringing its population total to about 413,000,
according to the Met Council estimates.
East metro communities joining St. Paul on the list of those adding the most people since 2010 are
Woodbury, up 5,000 to nearly 67,000, and Eagan, up 3,300 to 67,500.
We'll see more data Thursday, with release of information from the U.S. Census Bureau.
All of the numbers provide a useful report card on ourjob growth and development efforts and a road map
as we consider the future.
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