U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum press release The monumental task of resuscitating St. Paul’s Rondo community took a major step forward this week when the federal government announced it is committing $2m to fund planning, studies and analysis as part of the project’s eventual master plan. This move is helping to

By Jimmie Briggs, AARP Livable Communities. Originally published February 1, 2023. As a home to Black families and individuals migrating from downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, and other areas, the city’s Rondo neighborhood thrived during the first half of the 20th century. An exemplar of Black social entrepreneurship, academic excellence and a

By Andrew Hazzard, Sahan Journal. Originally published October 6, 2022. Environmental justice advocates packed a recent public meeting to pressure the Minnesota Department of Transportation to replace Interstate 94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul with a smaller boulevard, and to express fear that the state is missing an opportunity by

By Karen Jordan, Urban Land. Originally published October 24, 2022. For decades, highways nationwide were built to connect roads and cities but often came with the added consequence of cutting off those who were already disenfranchised. The federal government and cities across the United States are now making strides to

By H. Jiahong Pan, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Originally published October 13, 2022. I-94 plan seeks to resurrect a destroyed community  Advocates for a land bridge over I-94 in Rondo say their proposal goes beyond building over a freeway: They want to build housing, a way to generate Black wealth, and to

By Nina Moini, MPR. Photos by Nicole Neri for MPR News. Originally published March 16, 2022. The break room inside of Taste of Rondo Bar and Grill overlooks a well-traveled portion of Interstate 94 in St. Paul. An estimated 160,000 vehicles per day travel the stretch of I-94 between Minneapolis and St.

By Sheila Mulrooney Eldred, Sahan Journal. Photo by Ben Hovland. Originally published March 31, 2022. Marvin Roger Anderson was 8 years old when he heard the question for the first time: “What are we going to do now?”  It was what his parents, grandparents, and friends kept asking in 1958 after they

By Katie Galioto, Star Tribune. Photo by Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune. Originally published February 25, 2022. Those who grew up in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood remember it as a vibrant, tight-knit community — the type of place where you’d run into a dozen friendly faces on a walk around the block. “We

By Angela Davis and Maja Beckstrom. Photo by Derek Montgomery for MPR News File. Originally aired May 5, 2022. More than a generation ago, the construction of Interstate 94 dug a deep trench through the middle-class Black neighborhood of Rondo in St. Paul. The freeway destroyed hundreds of houses. More

By Zoë Jackson, Star Tribune. Photography by David Joles, Star Tribune. Originally posted July 5, 2021 Advocates have spent 12 years planning a way to reconnect Rondo. While walking through his Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul, Marvin Roger Anderson said he can’t help but notice what’s missing. Gone are the