Local Culture

A new co-living duplex in St. Paul, where each unit will have six bedrooms and six bathrooms. Credit: MinnPost photo by Bill Lindeke
MinnPost Article 8 min read , ,

New St. Paul co-living ‘duplex’ cracks the code of affordability and low-carbon housing

It’s easy to feel hopeless about the housing crisis, especially if you live in St. Paul, where any hint of new housing on the horizon seems to fade like a mirage. But I have seen it with my own eyes: Little Mod, a (mostly) market-rate project providing 12 homes affordable at 50% of the area median income (AMI), built by a new development team called GRO. It’s a lovely, modern “net-zero” infill project, with solar panels providing all of its energy. Halfway between West 7th Street and the Mississippi River, the new homes are close to transit and a dozen small businesses.

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Tim Johnson 3 min read ,

The Air We Breathe

The kayaks sat on top of our car. Tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, food and everything else one needs for four days in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness were packed inside. The weather forecast was perfect, sunny days with temperatures in the mid 70’s. We anticipated fishing, exploring the lakes with our kayaks, summer evenings around a campfire and in general enjoying the beautiful outdoors. Unfortunately the morning our permit gave us permission to enter, we turned around and headed back to St. Paul. The entire BWCAW was experiencing the same extreme air quality alert that folks were experiencing throughout Minnesota, including St. Paul. The reading registered at 170 or in the color coded alert system, purple, which means very unhealthy for everyone, not just the elderly or folks with health issues. 

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