Council members press consultants to prioritize equity and spread investments across neighborhoods in TOD asset scan

Council members pressed the consultant team to ensure the asset scan balances fiscal return with equitable geographic distribution and attention to long‑held, vacant HRA properties. A councilmember representing the East Side said, "I represent the East Side Of Saint Paul, so I represent Ward 7," and urged the team to consider how often the city has owned a parcel and whether redevelopment would be visible across neighborhoods.

Councilmember Coleman and others echoed the need to consider catalytic, neighborhood‑scale impacts rather than parcel‑by‑parcel outcomes. Erin Lanoff said the team is designing the prioritization to surface sites that advance the three guiding principles (fiscal position, equitable growth, city partnership) and noted that the grant requires more detailed analysis only for transit‑oriented sites but that a broader list of opportunities will be available for future city work.