When the bikers who throng to Saint Paul's Smith Avenue on weekends reach the upper end of the High Bridge after a fairly strenuous half-mile climb, they may stop to enjoy panoramic views of St. Paul and the Mississippi River. But if they keep riding, they find a lot more on the bluff-top thoroughfare. lined with neat turn-of-the-century homes and clusters of small businesses, which cuts through St. Paul's West Side and into West St. Paul.

On the one-mile stretch of maple-shaded avenue from the High Bridge to Dodd Road, you can get a tattoo or a fancy espresso drink, deposit a check, frame a picture, have your bike tuned, buy an antique lamp, order huevos rancheros or a steak, grocery shop, and pick up your dry cleaning. 

For more than 100 years since a bridge first spanned the river joining the West Seventh and West Side areas, Smith Avenue has been both a residential street and an important business corridor with unique geographical features and views. Now local government, community groups, business leaders. and residents hope it will become not just a connector but a thriving destination.

A Plan to Brand

A task force plan released earlier this year presents ways to revitalize the avenue by cutting  its 20 percent commercial vacancy rate in half while supporting existing businesses, improving streetscaping and accessibility to different forms of transportation, fostering its character, and maintaining  its parks, housing, and historic nature.

By emphasizing Smith Avenue's local, eclectic, independent, and historic roots, as outlined in a new branding guide, business owners will seek to change the public's view of the avenue and persuade many to cross its most notable landmark, the High Bridge, to shop and spend time there.
 
"Our hope is that it's going to help a little bit to put Smith Avenue more on the radar screen for people outside of the West Side neighborhood and outside of the city of West St. Paul," said Roxanne Young, associate director of the Riverview Economic Development Association (REDA), which assists West Side businesses. "Our hope is that it's going to help it become a bit more of a destination for the broader Twin Cities metro area."

(The Draft Smith Avenue Revitalization Plan and Branding Guide can be viewed online here. The public will have a chance to weigh in on the plan on June 24 at a public hearing of the St. Paul Planning Commission.) 

A Unique Collaboration

The plan is a result of a first-of-its kind collaboration between REDA, the cities of St. Paul and West St. Paul, West Side Citizens Organization, the Neighborhood Development Alliance, and Smith Avenue business owners and residents.

Smith is attracting more young families to its housing, more bikers and more patrons to its niche businesses. Nonetheless, business owners and others are still proud of its local feel and unique commercial mix.

"It's kind of an eclectic little place," said Tina Bulach, who has run the Stoneflower Salon on the avenue for 20 years. "So many different kinds of businesses individualized. It's people who are here who are pretty committed. They want to make it work."

Unique food and services set Smith Avenue apart from the mall, said Gladys Tay, co-owner of Bubbles and Ecouture, a pink pet grooming boutique with brightly colored animal toys. Tay said although she wasn't familiar with the plan, she supports efforts to give Smith a facelift.

The avenue's geographic features, including its close proximity to parks, are a plus. Its height contributes to a strong bike culture, as cyclists take advantage of the grade to train, Young said. "I think that that's really unique and frankly impossible to replicate because of how geographic it is."

Changes Needed

But many hardcore cyclists ride past Smith Avenue businesses without stopping, said Alex Wong, who has sold new and used bikes and other items, and offered bike repairs at his shop, Capital Deals, for the past six years.
Still, bikers of all types might stop if they see improvements such as safety crosswalks, a bike route and landscaping, Young said.

As increasing the avenue's vitality will likely involve more vehicles, calming traffic on the already busy avenue is a goal. "We're a highway so what that means in terms of roads and so on I think that's one of the challenges we have to deal with," said Heidi Gesell, taskforce member and president/CEO of BankCherokee, which has been located on Smith for nearly 90 years. "Trying to get some traffic calming measures, making sure that people feel safe along here because of the high volumes of traffic, and just giving it a little facelift I think."

No Wal-Mart on Smith

Some say Smith would benefit from more restaurants or arts businesses and organizations, but most agree it should be a good mix to complement existing businesses.  "We're not going to put a Wal-Mart here," said Darlene Lewis, a West St. Paul city council member who has lived on Smith for nearly 40 years.  "No big box stores."

Said St. Paul City Planner Kate Reilly, "It's a nice street to walk along. It has great tree canopy. It would be great to have more restaurants. But really any small business I think would be viable with the high traffic count."

Smith is a great location but businesses must be able to adapt to the changing economic climate, Wong said. "I think there's really potential for businesses here, he said. "You have to be nimble."

One of the avenue's draws is its local appeal, said Rick Casper, task force member and owner of the Cherokee Tavern, a fixture on Smith since the 1930s. "Everybody wants this hometown feel," he said.

While its unique shops draw customers from surrounding communities and even other states, taskforce members would like to see Smith become a destination. "It will bring people to this area to shop and to eat and to do business," Gesell said.  "It will be a go-to destination. It would just really be good for the community all around."

Holding a community event would bring people to the avenue, Casper said, citing summer festivals that drew traffic during High Bridge reconstruction in the late 80s.  "A festival would be a good way to do some self-promotion or a community event," he said. "It's also a way to make some money during the slower time of summer."

The Benefits of Collaboration

One thing that sets the Smith project apart is that for the first time, the city of St. Paul is working with another city (West St. Paul) on a planning effort to create cohesion on the avenue, Reilly said.

"That's one of the things that makes this project unique and really kind of innovative and forward thinking--that we didn't want to stop at our border because it's not really where the real commercial part of the avenue ends," she said.

Casper said he hopes the two cities will align their codes and zoning to tie the avenue together.

While the plan outlines long- and short-term goals, implementation is the next challenge, task force members said. As budgets are tight, businesses and community groups will have to seek new funding sources, Lewis said.

Road improvements the plan calls for depend on MNDOT's and St. Paul's plan for repaving the avenue and may not be completed until after 2015, Reilly said.

REDA makes funds available to businesses to fix up their storefronts, Young said, and more funding may be available from other sources.

As they seek funding, business leaders are working to form a business association that may make small aesthetic improvements in the short run, such as putting up hanging flower baskets, Gesell said. 

Making Smith Avenue a more vibrant destination may be an uphill climb at first, task force members and business owners say. "I think we have to work a little harder in that respect," Bulach said. "We don't have fancy streets, bike trails.  I think it's going to get better."

Susan Klemond's last article for The Line was a behind-the-scenes look at Minneapolis' Holidazzle parade, in our December 15, 2010 issue.


Photos, top to bottom:

Rick Casper owns the Cherokee Tavern, one of Smith Avenue's oldest and best-known businesses.

Another neighborhood mainstay: BankCherokee, founded nearly ninety years ago.

Gladys Tay's Bubbles and Ecouture: dog grooming in pervasively pink surrioundings.

Tina Bullach cares for a customer at the Stoneflower Salon.

All photos by Bill Kelley