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Minneapolis: not shovel-ready?

By David Brauer | 02/18/09

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is out with a report on "shovel-ready" stimulus projects. It's a hefty PDF — 344 pages, 789 cities, 18,750 projects worth $150 billion. But for all that, there's just one project from the state's largest burgh, Minneapolis.

There it is, on page 203: "Tunnel Rehabilitation Project‐10th Avenue Southeast Tunnel System." Cost: $1.3 million, producing 20 jobs — not even enough to offset a week's worth of media layoffs.

Meanwhile, St. Paul is going for the gusto, with six projects worth $64 million, kicking up an alleged 1,240 jobs.

Both cities badly trail Duluth, which has nearly two single-spaced page's worth of requests — at 105 projects, the state's Porkopolis capitol, if you're inclined to that sort of judgment. Total claimed jobs: 4,258.

Runners-up: St. Cloud and Burnsville, with 32 projects each.

Of course, these are wish lists that cash-hungry states will undoubtedly ground into dust. But you can't win if you don't play, Mill City.

Comments (3)

Submitted by Chris Johnson on February 18, 2009 - 3:15pm.

This is just embarrassing and disheartening for Minneapolis. Why am I living here, again? Actually, if someone would buy my house for what the tax assessor says it is worth, I'd move next month.

Submitted by Dean Carlson on February 18, 2009 - 4:53pm.

I know you want to talk about municipal projects here but the University of Minnesota has a number of shovel ready projects it hopes to be paid for through the federal stimulus package. Some mundane utility improvements, some projects a little sexier.

Also I am pretty sure the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is getting some $$$ to fix up existing public housing units and buildings. Again pretty mundane stuff but plumbers and tuckpointers need jobs too!

Submitted by Paul Kane on February 19, 2009 - 12:13pm.

This is so disheartening. I thought that Gosplan died with the Soviet Union, but here it is back again. Too bad we in Minneapolis have a junior representative, not someone like Oberstar, that's what you'll need now that we've apparently gone to central planning. Thank god the multiplier on federal spending is greater than 1, so we have nothing to worry. But if that's the case, why aren't they all rich in Russia? A real stimulus package would be to force all the failed banks into receivership so they could be recapitalized, then cut corporate taxes, give a tax credit for capital expenditures, and cut payroll taxes. The effect would be immediate and long lasting. Instead, we'll spend hundreds of billions to bring marginal jobs to backwoods districts with powerful Congressman. I think I'm going to go cry now.