City of Saint Louis Park
Saint Louis Park, located just east of Minneapolis, is a community of 44,126 residents. Saint Louis Park has 51 parks and has bike trails linking it to downtown Minneapolis, the Uptown area, Hopkins, and Chaska.
The City of Saint Louis Park, in conjunction with SRF Consulting Group, used funds from an Active Community Planning grant to develop an Active Living Sidewalks and Trails plan as part of the comprehensive plan update process. The plan focuses on mode shift, safe crossings, closing gaps in the sidewalk system, and developing green connections. It pays special attention to improving pedestrian facilities around key areas, such as schools.
The planning process began with a visioning exercise that identified a need to improve the sidewalk and trail system to make it safe and easy for residents and visitors to travel around the city without using cars. This would improve the overall health of residents and reduce the reliance on automobiles in the city. This process included an online community survey to help the planning team identify how residents use the existing sidewalk and trail system.
In 2011 the Minnesota Department of Health used the tool to evaluate the St. Louis Park Comprehensive Plan.
Download: Active Living: Sidewalk and Trails Plan (2008). The St. Louis Park Comprehensive 2030 Plan can be accessed here.