Don't let coverage of 5th Street's struggles bring you down (or mislead you).

The March 31 news article "Imagining a new life for 5th St." was typical in that it describes a problem in downtown Saint Paul and how city leaders intend to fix it. Such articles are necessary, but I worry that — if people only read such articles — they will never know what's already great about life in downtown Saint Paul.

Having moved into a condo near Mears Park last year, my husband and I have been living the downtown Saint Paul life, and we have never been happier. We can walk everyplace and have gone months without driving. We can go out for morning coffee at the Lost Fox, the Buttered Tin, or Saint City Catering. We get fresh vegetables and flowers at the farmers market every weekend for ridiculously low prices.

Downtown leaders have high hopes for lackluster 5th Street, which links Xcel Energy Center with Lowertown.

A trip down 5th Street spotlights many of the struggles downtowns have experienced across the country even before the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic: vacant office buildings, shuttered storefronts, declining property values, sidewalks populated by the homeless.

But to St. Paul leaders, that walk also is ripe for envisioning a more vibrant downtown — and strategizing how to manifest it.

Offices could be converted to apartments with the help of state and city incentives. A street reconstruction could make it safer and better for pedestrians. Multimillion-dollar redevelopments of the Xcel Center and Central Station could bring new life to key parts of the neighborhood.

UMN's Bill Lindeke discusses a proposal for revitalizing downtown Saint Paul.

SoYen Desserts in Lowertown Saint Paul, a new bakery launched by Yen Fang, features brioche donuts, Japanese cheesecakes, and crepe cakes.

Yen Fang’s palate was shaped by the Hmong treats she ate growing up. But it took a trip to New York, where she tried a Japanese cheesecake, to inspire her first business.

SoYen Desserts recently held its grand opening at 275 4th St. E. in Lowertown St. Paul, where it is drawing lines out the door for Fang’s hand-rolled brioche donuts, as well as her cheesecakes, crepe cakes, panna cotta, and congee.

“It’s a little bit of Italian, a little bit of Thai, a little bit of Hmong,” Fang said. “It’s everything I like and I just hope that the community comes in, that whatever they eat they also like, because it’s SoYen.”

Alary's Bar, a fixture in downtown Saint Paul since 1949, is coming back.

The bar, which has been through many changes since its inception as a burlesque club, closed in June of 2023. Rumors at the time were that there was a new owner and that the concept would change.

We now know who the new owner is, and fans of the Chicago Bears bar will be happy to know that it will continue to be Alary’s and will operate a sports bar.

Bill Collins, owner of Camp Bar on Robert Street, has purchased the art deco building, and as a Chicago native, plans to change very little.