Parking ramps

The conventional wisdom on the reason downtown St. Paul has been able to retain many of its historic buildings while Minneapolis bulldozed them over, is that nobody has wanted to be in downtown St. Paul and hence no demand for modern buildings over the past few decades. The demand was in Minneapolis. The fact that St. Paul continues to be marred by high office vacancy rates (26% compared to Minneapolis's 16%) underscores this notion.

The upside for St. Paul, is that they have an historic downtown. It looks very nice and quaint.

One of the downsides is that it makes fitting modern needs into downtown a little more difficult. Parking ramps being one of those highly desirable modern conveniences.

Downtown St. Paul does have parking ramps. You just can never find them. But if you do find one, it will be full because of a Minnesota Wild game, an opera at the Ordway, or some high school tournament at the Xcel Center. Or, it may simply closed because it is the weekend or after 5:00 PM when the downtown officially closes.

Once in a St. Paul parking ramp, you may have to wander around a bit. Fitting the ramps among the historic buildings must have been a fun challenge for the architects, but it's a not-so-much-fun challenge for the people parking their cars. As you read this, you can be certain there are at least a dozen people driving around St. Paul ramps in circles, uncertain whether they will find an exit before they run out of gas. There are at least another three dozen people, who having parked their cars, are now desperately trying to find a doorway out of the ramp before they choke on the fumes of the cramped, poorly ventilated ramp.

If you have the good fortune of finding a ramp that is open, parking a car, being able to leave the ramp and return from your destination without getting lost, and have had the good sense to fill up on enough gas to be able to reach the exit, be sure you have cash. St. Paul ramps are also kickin' it old school in that they don't seem to believe in credit cards.

Over in Minneapolis, you should have a much easier time finding a ramp. The ramps are easier to navigate and the vast majority have the capacity to take your credit or debit card. This is good, as because people want to be in downtown Minneapolis, the parking rates are much higher than in St. Paul.

It's getting embarrassing. Minneapolis wins again.

Minneapolis: [6] / St. Paul: [3]