You’ve no doubt noticed the construction happening in our neighborhood. The development of the Minnesota United soccer stadium is well underway, with its groundbreaking having taken place last December. If you’ve ventured down University Avenue, you can canvass the closing of places like Perkins and Rainbow Foods.

A little over a year ago, I wrote about my hopes for the positive impact of the Minnesota United soccer stadium. I argued the contrast between the St. Thomas/St. Kate’s/Macalester and Hamline communities. I felt, and still feel, like we deserve some of the awesome amenities they have. Even just across I-94, new restaurants like Nothing Bundt Cakes and MyBurger have surfaced on Grand Avenue. It can be an inconvenience to travel off campus as a student who may not have a car or the time to wait for public transportation. Students at those previously mentioned colleges may have a variety of restaurants, bakeries and stores a short walk away.

Now that construction on the stadium has begun, I turned again to the Hamline Midway Neighbors Facebook page. I wanted to hear the various opinions of our community, as I had heard many negative thoughts from them. Some people are calling it gentrification, and others have various smaller concerns for the neighborhood they call home. Renee Ann Klitzke Spillum, a Midway resident of 12 years, offered a counterargument to the claims of gentrification: “To me, gentrification isn’t happening unless people are getting displaced. I do not see that happening anytime soon. We haven’t had anything new built here in a LONG time, and without the stadium, I think we’d continue to be stuck.” Like Spillum, surprisingly, many comments I received were positive and hopeful for the Minnesota United stadium and the impact it could have on this little piece of St. Paul. However, there are still many concerns that neighbors feel haven’t been completely addressed.

Overwhelmingly, parking is bound to be an issue, or at least a hot topic for debate. As neighbors have shared, the plans rely too heavily on soccer-goers using public transportation or biking. While the Green Line is conveniently located nearby, there’s not a clear way to tell if that’s the transportation that will be used the most. Residents are very concerned that this will mean soccer-goers parking in residential areas, where even homeowners can sometimes have a difficult time finding a spot. Resident Denise Anderson argued that the Spruce Tree parking center won’t even begin to accommodate the number of soccer-goers and that “it is a very difficult parking ramp to get into [and] to get out of.”

With all the new coming in, folks are worried about where that leaves the “old” of the Midway neighborhood. What will this mean for the “mom and pop” shops of our area? Surprisingly, it could actually be a benefit to local business. Margaret Schuster, a 15-year resident of the Midway, explains that “we have great mom and pop places in the Midway that could be strengthened by the soccer traffic.” I think this is an excellent point and positive way to look at this challenge we’ve been presented with. I hope some of the new spaces available will be at a discounted rate or reserved for local businesses. With community support, these local businesses could not only survive, but begin to thrive with an influx of new customers.

Some of our neighbors view this change as the helping hand our community needs and deserves. It’s a chance at a fresh start – a new era of Hamline-Midway. It could help to shed the negative stigma of the Midway so many see or think of. Some residents brought up the point that construction and the opening of the stadium will certainly be an inconvenience in the short term. Besides the physical work that needs to be done, figuring out parking and how everything flows might not be solved until the stadium is actually in full use. Otherwise, neighbors are looking forward to some seasonal work that may be available to them.

No matter the viewpoint, I think the soccer stadium will begin (and already has begun) to change and shape our neighborhood. While I believe it’s for the better, time will only tell how it will affect our fellow residents. Once the stadium gets into full swing, the effects it will have on college students will be interesting to learn. Will more Hamline students venture down University Avenue, perhaps with a newfound sense of safety and excitement?