Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Chris Coleman, Saint Paul is a national leader in sustainable, urban living by “acting locally” to help reverse the negative effects of global warming. Environmental stewardship must start at home. We will implement the vision of the National Great River Park on the banks of the Mississippi River by focusing development on a more natural, more urban, and more connected Saint Paul.

With approximately three-quarters of US residents living in cities, our nation’s future relies on the well-being of our cities. In turn, the well-being of our cities depends on making them sustainable, livable, viable, and vital. To this end, development must be balanced with the long-term health of the environment.

We are achieving our goals through strategies that proactively protect our city’s air, water, and urban landscape. Those strategies include working with energy providers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that both help the environment and produce significant costs savings; improving and expanding recycling service for residents and businesses; constructing green buildings that set the example for others in the city; retrofitting current buildings to reduce energy demand; focus on water quality; promote transit-oriented development as well as transit alternatives such as light rail and pedestrian friendly streets; and improve the water quality for the City’s residents.  Strategies also include integrating sustainability into City policy.  The 2010 Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan revolves around the theme of sustainability, and each policy in the plan is marked as supporting environmental, social, and/or economic sustainability.  Additionally, environmental policy statements are found in more than twenty chapters of the City Code.

We promote use and respect of the environment by improving Saint Paul’s system of parks, green spaces, bikeways, and trails. An aggressive reforestation plan with work from hundreds of volunteers and staff; an expansion of amenities, such as three refrigerated outdoor ice rinks that expand hours and options for winter skating; and the reclamation and promotion of land along the Mississippi River – the lifeblood of our community – are just a few of the strategies that help bring residents out of their homes and into their communities.

This work is carried out by staff in all departments of the City, and by its citizens.  The Mayor's Environmental Policy Director, together with the Sustainable Saint Paul Working Group, help to co-ordinate these efforts.

These development and environmental stewardship efforts are more than just the right thing to do for the environment – they are the smart thing to do for our neighbors, our residents, our children, and our future as the Most Livable City in America.

For information on work being done, check out the 2010 Sustainable Saint Paul Report.