by Elicia Flom

Created on: May 01, 2009   Last Updated: May 14, 2009

St. Paul, Minnesota, "Where Minnesota Adventure Begins" is a rock-solid city for families who value friendly and diverse neighborhoods, plentiful "indoor" activities during rugged winters, professional sports teams (Minnesota Vikings-football, Minnesota Wild-hockey, Minnesota Twins-baseball) and cultural entertainment throughout the year. Mayor Coleman refers to St. Paul as the most "livable city in America" and beckons visitors to enjoy the city that "makes him proud" to be its mayor.

THE CAPITOL

St. Paul, the state capitol, shares its borders with Minneapolis; the "Cities" also known as the "Twin Cities" or "Minneapolis-St. Paul" offer a synergy of services, businesses and activities as they straddle the Mississippi River. St. Paul is home to 3M and is surrounded by more than 15 Fortune 500 companies such as Target, Best Buy, Land-O-Lakes, Hormel, US Bancorp and General Mills Inc.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Commercial properties are leasing at approximately $24-25 per square foot; $10 per square foot less than the national average. An increasing vacancy rate has made it more attractive for new buyers and current tenants to lease larger spaces for the same cost.

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

St. Paul possesses unique neighborhoods such as Selby Avenue offering a JazzFest in the fall, District Del Sol featuring authentic Mexican Cuisine and Summit Avenue showcasing Victorian homes spanning the distance between the Saint Paul Cathedral and Mississippi River and includes the Governor's mansion. In the last two years, bungalow and ranch style, single family homes with 2-3 bedrooms and 1-2 bathrooms sold from $55-$185,000 and two-story, single family homes 3-4 bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms sold from $135,000 to $275,000. "Show-stopper" Victorian homes start at $350,000 and have sold for upwards of $550,000.

Foreclosure rates increasing in St. Paul and its sister city brought both mayors together supporting the "Live MSP" program http://www.livemsp.org/index.php designed to attract new home buyers. According to "The Skinny," the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS blog, new home buyers have the benefit of lower than average prices coupled with government programs to spur on purchases. April 18, 2009 the area housing market pending sales activity was 20 percent higher than during the same week in 2008.

EDUCATION

Education is a major concern for families and in the St. Paul Public Schools 2008 Annual report, Superintendent Carstarphen takes "ownership" of improvements like graduation rates increasing from 80.5 to 82.4 percent and improving PSAT participation from 24 to 82 percent while candidly sharing that schools need to improve in areas of math and reading for college-bound students.

Even in a tough economy, St. Paul provides stability diverse industries, features variety and affordability in the commercial and residential housing markets and offers plentiful indoor and outdoor sports, educational and cultural activities. It is a great place to earn, live and learn.

Sources:

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories /2009/04/20/daily43.html

Real Estate Home Pages, http://www.realestatehomepages.com/mlssearch/search_ sold.asp?i=11371&p=13102&typ=res

St. Paul Public Schools (2008 Annual Report), http://choicecatalog.spps.org/

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories /2009/04/20/daily4.html

Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS blog, http://mplsrealtor.typepad.com/theskinny/

St. Paul City Website, http://www.stpaul.gov/index.asp

St. Paul Convention and Visitors Authority, http://www.stpaulcvb.org/

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