St. Paul "Neighborhood Play Street Kits"​
Thanks to a grant from Social Health Labs, we're putting together a "Neighborhood Play Street Kit" that will be available for neighbors to borrow. It will include all of the necessary equipment for a block party or play street--barricades, signs, a guide to the block party process--plus some fun things like yard games, a cooler, and a wagon to pull everything around.
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Interested in more information, or borrowing the Play Street Kit once it's ready?
Send us an email
Changes to St. Paul's Permit Process
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In 2021, we asked the city of St. Paul to consider a few simple changes to the permit process and barricade rentals would allow St. Paul to create a Play Streets program similar to the successful & popular program in Seattle:
1. ​One application, and one signature petition, for recurring play street events.
Events would be allowed on specific days and times, within a specific time period. Permission from neighbors would still be required, but a single petition could cover multiple events.
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2022 UPDATE: Block Party Permits for recurring events are now allowed! You can use a single application and signature petition to apply for multiple events.
2. Reduce the cost of barricades, to make the permit process more equitable
Finding ways to reduce the cost of renting barricades would make play streets and block parties financially affordable for more neighbors in St. Paul. Some possible ways to reduce costs include:
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relaxing the rules about what can be used as a barricade
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reducing fees for Public Works barricade rentals and/or allowing longer-term rentals
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providing information to help residents or neighborhood organizations purchase barricades
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2022 UPDATE: While it's not going to be possible to relax the barricade rules, and Public Works is unable to reduce the cost of their barricades, we are working on finding other ways to make barricade rentals less expensive.
The District Councils in Union Park and Mac Groveland currently offer lower-cost barricade rentals. If you live in a different planning district, contact your local district council to suggest that they consider offering barricade rentals!
St. Paul Play Streets Updates
