Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer
The West Side Community Organization (WSCO) is hosting an open house, Sunday, Feb. 11, to discuss the continuing repercussions of the displacement. The event will take place 1:30-4:30 p.m., at the Wellstone Center, 179 E. Robie St., and include small and large group discussions about living on the West Side, and a presentation about the lasting harms caused by the displacement. The meeting is open to all West Siders and, importantly, the descendants of the people who were displaced. Childcare and refreshments will be provided. To register or for more information, visit wsco.org/flatsdiscussion.
“At this community event, people affected by displacement on the West Side will come together to share their story and build power together as neighbors,” said WSCO communications manager Genevieve Roudané. “We’ll be looking at data that illustrates these histories of displacement and gentrification on the West Side and work together to come up with recommendations for how to stop future displacement and housing insecurity on the West Side.”
WSCO’s research team, Research In Action, has been working on the report for about a year and expects to complete it by the end of 2024. The report will make recommendations for righting the wrongs created by displacement. Preliminary ideas include a formal apology from the institutions that caused the displacement, monetary reparations, plaques and public art memorializing community leaders, and establishing a housing inheritance fund. The fund would provide down payment assistance and home rehabilitation, similar to the recently created Rondo Inheritance Fund. The Rondo neighborhood, St. Paul’s thriving African American community, was demolished to make way for I-94 in the 1960s. According to Roudané, the report will contain data that WSCO can use to guide its actions over the next decade.
“Our goal in working with community members to write our next 10 Year Community Plan is to envision the neighborhood we deserve – one where we can breathe clean air, afford to stay in our homes, and see our local businesses grow and thrive,” said Roudané.
The Flats neighborhood was built in the mid-19th century in the Mississippi River floodplain immediately south of Downtown St. Paul. Immigrants of many different nationalities settled there, creating a diverse albeit low-income community with substandard housing. The neighborhood was plagued by flooding each spring that damaged homes and sometimes caused illness due to contaminated water.
No substantial effort was made by the city to protect the neighborhood from the rising river and, following a devastating flood in 1952, the St. Paul Port Authority developed a plan to demolish the neighborhood and create the Riverview Industrial Park in its footprint. In 1962, the city began buying and tearing down the approximately 480 homes located there. By ’63, the last residents of the Flats had been displaced, and shortly thereafter the city created a floodwall to protect the newly built industrial park. Some displaced residents claim they weren’t fairly compensated for their homes.
The Flats was a tight-knit neighborhood, many former residents have recalled over the years, where people looked out for each other and there was no need to lock their doors. According to the Minnesota Historical Society, it was also home to more than 100 family businesses. Today, the West Side remains racially, ethnically and economically diverse. More than half the residents are people of color and half of those are Latino. WSCO reports that 40% of the residents have incomes at or below 185% of the federal poverty threshold. About 20% were born outside the United States and one third speak a language other than English at home.
“Our community is what makes us great. We like to brag that ‘The West Side is the Best Side,’ and it’s true,” said Roudané. “Neighbors from many walks of life are involved in every one of our projects at the West Side Community Organization, and we invite the community to continue to attend our upcoming events and workshops.”
WSCO’s “Stories from the Flats” photo exhibit, unveiled in late 2022, illustrates personal testimonies from people forced from their homes. To view the exhibit, visit wsco.org/wsflatsgallery.
