West St. Paul, Minnesota

West Saint Paul is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, immediately south of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The quirky naming in part comes from the fact that the city is on the "west" bank of the Mississippi River&mdash;the river flows toward the east at this point. A previous City of West St. Paul incorporated in the late 19th century and was situated in what is now called the Lower West Side of St. Paul. That city went bankrupt in the 1880s. The current City of West St. Paul split from the western half of South St. Paul (thus the name West St. Paul was reused), and was incorporated in 1889, just south of the city of St. Paul. The population was 19,540 at the 2010 census, growing by 135 since 2000. West Saint Paul is known for its 2.5 mile retail strip along Robert Street. The city is pursuing a sister city relationship with West Saint Paul, MB (Canada).

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.0 square miles (13.0 km²), of which, 5.0 square miles (13.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.40%) is water.

U.S. Highway 52, Robert Street, and Minnesota Highway 110 are three of the main routes in the city. Interstate Highway 494 runs just south of the city and Minnesota Highway 3 (unmarked Route 952) runs through the middle of the city as Robert Street.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 19,405 people, 8,645 households, and 4,875 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,874.2 people per square mile (1,495.5/km²). There were 8,779 housing units at an average density of 1,752.7 per square mile (676.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.27% White, 2.83% African American, 0.62% Native American, 1.89% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 4.88% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.98% of the population.

There were 8,645 households out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.6% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,103, and the median income for a family was $56,786. Males had a median income of $39,344 versus $29,836 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,558. About 3.8% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

 * Mayor : John Zanmiller
 * State Senator (Senate District 39): James Metzen
 * State Representative (House District 39A): Richard J. Hansen
 * County Commissioner (Commissioner District 2): Kathleen Gaylord
 * Council members: James Englin (Ward 1), Ed Hanson (Ward 1), Mark Tessmer (Ward 2), Ed Iago (Ward 2), David Wright (Ward 3), Dalene Lewis (Ward 3).

Economy
West Saint Paul's major employers include
 * TapeMark, a medical adhesives manufacturer (approx. 300 employees)
 * Dakota County Government, the Northern Dakota County Service Center and Courthouse is located in the city (approx. 500 employees)
 * Independent School District 197 (approx 300 employees)

Notable current and former residents

 * Harold Stassen, former governor, presidential candidate, statesman, and university president
 * Richard M. Schulze, founder of Best Buy
 * Joan Kroc, philanthropist and wife of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc
 * Nick Bockwinkel, professional wrestler
 * Damian W. Green, author of the book Bloomed and Final Harvest