What does the data tell us?

October 18, 2022

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Engage Saint Paul Data Evaluated

Dear neighbor,

We want to keep you abreast of the current landscape regarding public input on the proposed regional bike trail. What follows is a summary of a month-long project which measured and evaluated public comments on the City of Saint Paul Engage Saint Paul website. The city closed the site for public comment on Oct. 14, 2022. We were able to download all the comments linked here and the methodology explained below.

Opposition to the city's plan and eliminating bike lanes extends well beyond Summit Avenue

Recently, a few media posts/blogs have suggested that those opposed to the proposed regional trail are primarily residents of the Summit Avenue neighborhood. Maps below representing the areas where those who signed the petition live suggest opposition extends far beyond the neighborhood, and the "OUR" in Save Our Street embodies an expansive community.

Regional Map of SOS Save Our Street petition signatories opposing the city's proposed plan

Of the 1100 signatories that provided their address, 76% do not live on Summit Avenue. Total collected to date: 1,978 signatures.

Forgot to sign your name? Here’s a link.

U.S. map of SOS Save Our Street petition signatories opposing the city's

proposed plan

Saint Paulites Strongly Oppose Proposal for the Summit Avenue Regional Trail

The proposed Summit Avenue Regional Trail has sparked lively and divisive debate. An analysis of posts on the City’s official website for citizen input, Engage Saint Paul (www.engagestpaul.org) demonstrates strong opposition to the proposal. The page for the regional trail includes a “Share Your Idea” section, where people can post their “ideas:” suggestions and comments.

METHOD

A team familiar with the proposed Summit Avenue Regional Trail evaluated all 120 posts (“ideas”) on the “Share Your Idea” section of Engage Saint Paul, posted between October 2021 and August 21, 2022. In total, 84 individuals left 120 “ideas”. Individuals posting more than one time are identified by an asterisk. All posts however are counted since the posts by individuals that posted multiple times address disparate topics. Posts were categorized into 3 categories: Opposing the Regional Trail, Supporting the Regional Trail, and N/A, Off-topic, or Unclear. The ‘Like’ function signals approval. Posts within each category are charted by descending number of likes. All posts were captured.

CONCLUSION

From an analysis of information from the “Share Your Idea” section of Engage Saint Paul, the official website for citizen input, we conclude that the majority of citizens OPPOSE the Summit Regional Trail as proposed. Moreover, opposing 'likes' are approximately 20 times more than the Supporting 'likes'.

Opposing trail proposal: 69 comments, 435 total likes

Supporting trail proposal: 9 comments, 21 total likes

N/A, off-topic, or unclear: 42 comments, 109 total likes

Attached below is Supporting Data for Engage Saint Paul Assessment

● A chart of all posts, organized into three categories (Opposing the Regional Trail, Supporting the Regional Trail, and N/A, Off-topic or Unclear), sorted by the number of likes in descending order.

● Screenshots of and links to all posts, organized identically to the chart.

Marilyn Bach, Ph.D. Member, Save Our Street

Save Our Street is a citizen group that seeks to educate and advocate for the preservation of the historic streetscape of Summit Avenue as a treasured St. Paul destination and a safe, tree-lined, multi-modal corridor for generations to come.

https://www.savesummitavenue.org