St. Paul MN Archives - Page 2 of 180 - St. Paul Real Estate Blog

Senior Housing
...
- St. Paul MN

Affordable housing for seniors

Posted on April 21, 2025April 21, 2025by Teresa Boardman

I was going to write about affordable housing for seniors, but there isn’t much, if any, 0n top of that, the city of St. Paul likes to condemn the houses seniors live in and fine them $5000 a year to register their home as vacant. There are no senior discounts when it comes to fines which become a poverty tax. The City of St. Paul can be a cruel place for seniors.

Homelessness among seniors is a growing problem in the United States, with older adults (aged 55 and up) making up a significant portion of the homeless population. About 146,000 older adults were experiencing homelessness in 2023, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The trend is expected to continue, with projections suggesting a near tripling of homeless seniors by 2030.

As our population ages, there will be more seniors living and dying on the streets. Look for more people suffering from Alzheimer’s trying to keep the city inspectors at bay. Everyone who is alive today may one day be elderly, homelessness is just one more thing to look forward to.

Housing isn’t just for young people. Everyone deserves housing.

St. Paul MN

The Median age of St. Paul houses is 103 years

Posted on April 3, 2025April 3, 2025by Teresa Boardman

The wonderful thing about houses is that they can be retrofitted. I live in a house built in the 1850s. It didn’t have Wi-Fi back then, and there was an outhouse in the backyard. Central heating and a water heater were added at some point, and we added air conditioning.

Today, it has “smart home” technology, which is usually super easy to install and use. In some cases, old houses are in better shape than newer ones with newer mechanicals and many improvements.

Understanding old houses is an important part of my job. I have rarely met an old house that I don’t like. Sometimes, people ruin them when they remodel so that the house has some character from the turn of the century and some from the 1980s.

The oldest houses in St. Paul are those that are the closest to downtown. The newest houses are in the Eastern and Western edge of the city. There are newer houses here and there and even some new construction. Half of all the houses in St. Paul were built before 1920. The chart is a screen print from a city of St. Paul planning report.

The house I grew up in was a beautiful craftsman-style house in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. It was built in 1926 and is the newest house I have ever lived in. It had an ancient boiler that burned oil. I remember the great oil shortage and taking turns with my dad, hauling containers of diesel fuel from the local gas station and using it as fuel for the boiler. That same boiler was later converted to natural gas.

Photos
...
- St. Paul MN

Happy Spring 2025

Posted on March 20, 2025March 19, 2025by Teresa Boardman

Today is the first day of spring. As always I look forward to gardening and today I’ll be starting some plants for the garden. I use discarded packaging like egg cartons and the plastic clamshell that mini cupcakes come in. I like to start tomatoes, peppers, zinnias, and marigolds from seeds and bring them outdoors when it is warm enough. I grow herbs, in the house during the winter. I have big plans.

I have already gotten the bike out and taken it for a spin. Winter isn’t completely over yet. We may have a few more snowstorms. Leave those shovels out, it is bad luck to put them away in March.

Blood root – blooms in May in wooded areas

Photos
...
- St. Paul MN

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2025

Posted on March 17, 2025March 17, 2025by Teresa Boardman

Yes, there is a parade today in St. Paul every March 17th, with modifications during pandemics.

MONDAY, MARCH 17TH AT NOON, DOWNTOWN SAINT PAUL

The parade will commence at Rice Park (5th St & Market St) and proceed along 5th Street, concluding near Mears Park (5th St & Sibley St).

There was much drinking and debauchery over the weekend; there will be more today.

It is a lovely day for a parade, and it is always lovely in downtown St. Paul.

Saint Patrick's day parade St. paul, mn — Saint Patrick’s Day Parade 2018

saint Patrick's day parade — 2015 St. Patrick’s Day Parade – Downtown St. Paul

Home Improvement
...
- St. Paul MN

Getting building permits closed isn’t easy

Posted on November 13, 2024November 13, 2024by Teresa Boardman

I was so proud of myself because I called the city inspections department so that I could get a building permit closed. I made an appointment for today but had to cancel it because I removed the hardwired smoke detector last year when it malfunctioned.

The wiring is still there and there is an operational smoke detector next to the space where the hardwired detector should be.

We don’t have a C02 detector anywhere in the house. I never saw the point in our drafty old house but I am not against the idea.

What does this have to do with closing an open permit for replacing two old rotted basement windows? The city won’t sign off on a permit unless the number, type, and placement of smoke detectors are according to city code. The home must also have a C02 detector.

What do smoke detectors have to do with basement windows? Everything when the windows are in a house in St. Paul and a building permit is involved.

As a reminder, open permits have to be “finaled”* by the city inspector before your St. Paul home can be sold and transferred to a new owner.

A 120-volt “hard-wired” battery-backup smoke alarm must be installed before selling a single-family home.

Make sure your smoke detectors are up to code before getting any work done that requires a permit. Putting in new wiring for a hardwired smoke detector requires a permit.

I won’t include a link because the city moves the pages around and I end up with broken links. Just google “St. Paul and smoke detectors” or go to StPaul.gov and see if you can find the information.

If you would like to know if you have any open permits search for “St. Paul property look-up”. When the site is working you can type in your address and if there are any open permits you will see them listed.

*”finaled” is a word made up by the city, not to be confused with closed.

Photos
...
- St. Paul MN

The looney sculpture at University and Snelling

Posted on October 2, 2024October 2, 2024by Teresa Boardman

A 33-foot tall, 25-ton steel statue of a loon sits near the corner of Snelling and University, in St. Paul. Designed by famous Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, the sculpture was assembled last week. The bird is 30 feet tall with a 90-foot wing span. It was still fenced off when I saw it yesterday. The area around it is mostly parking lots and roads that lead to Allianz Field. The area can best be described as bleak or gritty. Just across the street, there is a vacant CVS drugstore.

The sculpture is spectacular. I’ll get back for more photos when the fence comes down.

loom sculpture — Loon – corner of snelling and University

The last picture is for context. I stood at the corner of University and Snelling, across the street from the site facing south with Allianz stadium in the background.