Last updated July 14, 2025. The following are important questions about the community vitality legislation that CAAPB and partners are implementing. More to be added in coming weeks and months.

Are the business grant guidelines determined?  Who will be eligible to apply for them?

No guidelines have yet been determined beyond those set by the parameters of 2025 legislative appropriations. However, the grant administrator (Saint Paul Port Authority) will be working with partners at the state to develop guidelines around uses, labor standards, bid rules, limits, application deadlines and compliance requirements, etc. and will announce them when they are ready.    

When will the vitality investments begin?  How long will they last? 

The funding was originally planned for release in 2024. Now that the 2025 legislature made the funds available at the end of this session, administrative partners are working diligently to get the programming going within the safeguards such funding has in place to ensure ethical and fair use. Some things can happen right away, such as community communication and events, and some staffing/hires. 

Long range, the hope outlined by the community planning is that some of the programming is staggered (and leveraged) to help the existing community members and businesses a chance to weather the changes coming with so many investments into street improvements and redevelopment projects happening over the next three to four years. More details will be announced as programs are announced. 

Which community priorities will be funded in the Sherriff's programming and Port Authority grants? 

The precise programming is being determined, but the legislation indicates the funds may be used for several priorities identified in our planning, including livability and clean ups, safety, youth and family programming, events, community network building, and grants for new and existing businesses to make investments in their sites and buildings. Watch this page for updates. 

Will the funding support public safety? 

Yes, the community voiced support for investments in public safety and general livability of our public environment. There will be new public safety staffing in the area that will be engaged in patrols and monitoring - but also in administering programming around livability, community building events, and increased networking and connections with and between neighbors. Specific focus areas may be announced later once programming staff becomes familiar with the needs in the community.

Will there be more community planning or engagement in the Capitol Area?

Yes and no! Years of CAAPB community engagement around planning and strategic policy, including vitality*, is now giving way to engagement around design and implementation:

In 2024, the Capitol Area completed a seven-year phase of community-based planning policy development to update and renew the 2040 Comprehensive Plan for the Capitol Area (2021), Capitol Rice Development Framework (2021), the new Commemorative Works Rules (2022), the Capitol Mall Design Framework (2024) and to update the Rules for Zoning and Design in the Capitol Area (now underway).  

Guided, and in many cases catalyzed, by the community planning, unprecedented spending in design and implementation activities are bringing millions of new dollars into the Capitol Area. Community engagement is continuing, focused on public and private projects, including a collaborative vision for the former Bethesda Hospital (Capitol Park Mental Health Hospital), Jackson Street reconstruction, new transit enhancements, Rice Street Reconstruction, John Ireland Bridge Reconstruction, Mall projects such as the Tribal Flag Plaza and hundreds of new trees, and redevelopment of the former Sears site. 

* The community vitality task force engaged the community around priorities and concluded their work in 2024, resulting in funding in 2025 session and the launch on July 14.

Who should community members call if they have specific questions about programming? 

During the start-up period in the second half of 2025, please contact point persons listed below. We will do our best to refer you to information or specific programming leads as efficiently as we can.