Dinkytown in D-Town Recap

What an event!  Last night, over 50 people gathered in the Murphy Room of Dubh Linn downtown to hear from three panelists about the proposed student zoning areas and how they could potentially lead to a Dinkytown in D-Town.  The panelists were Alex Brown (UMD Student), Tony Cuneo (City Councilor) and Cindy Petkac (Land Use Supervisor for the City of Duluth).  The event was sponsored by ShipRock Management.  Dave Orman of Raven & Associates moderated the event and boy did he have his work cut out for him!!

Immediately an audience member asked for the panelists to explain the population shift of UMD students, the percentage growth in population, the move and growth of the physical buildings from East End to Woodland/Kenwood area.  None of the panelists were from UMD, or had the exact numbers.  The panelists did however, explain that the growth of UMD students has become stagnant and that the shift from East End to Woodland/Kenwood has caused a great increase in housing needs in the new neighborhoods.

One audience member brought up the question of whether students have been involved in this planning/zoning process over the past few years.  The answer to this question was that there have been opportunities, but no students serving on the committees thus far.  Alex Brown was a panelist and provided a voice for the student perspective.  "I just want a place that's cheap, not too bad to live in."  He went on to say, "I want a one stop shop place where I can get everything and where other young people or students will be.  If the housing isn't near the shops and services, then the transportation has to be there -buses, bikes or within walking distance."

Students were confused about what has happened so far and what the plans are.  The City of Duluth is not planning to create a Dinkytown.  What the city is working on is creating the rules for developers and businesses within certain zones in our community to incentivize them to build housing and open businesses that students would be interested in.  Currently, our zoning codes are more than 50 years old.

There is a proposal right now for 7 student districts.  Are they the right size?  Are they in the right spots?  Is this too many -scattered?  Cindy Petkac stated that interested individuals can go to www.duluthmn.gov/planning and sign up for e-mail notifications of meetings and updates on this project.  If you have input and questions on this topic, I encourage you to get involved.  Go to the city website, attend future meetings and voice your opinions -in other words "Get Fused!"

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