I have been following numerous stories about downtown revitalization projects falling short of their goals due to the stalled economy and I’m especially interested in the overpriced Heart of the City project in Burnsville and the barren wasteland that the preparations for Founders Circle has become. In addition to those two, Lakeville residents have to put up with the confusion of having not only two downtown areas like Burnsville (MN-13/Nicollet and MN-42/35W) and Apple Valley (Cedar/42 and 153rd/Galaxie) but three (CR-50/I-35, Cedar/CR-46, and Holyoke)!

With the many issues surrounding Apple Valley’s Central Village being the City Council’s worst nightmare, they have decided to scale back the project from 197 residences to 129 and 52,000 to 39,600 square feet of retail space. They are also planning on shrinking the size of the underground parking structure by ~150 spaces. Back in May, there was a concern that Apple Valley would lose $2.3 million in Met Council grant money but now it seems that concern has lessened as City Council member Ruth Grendahl realizes that other cities, unlike Apple Valley, are smart enough to stay out of the development business and aren’t going to be asking for any Met Council funding anytime soon.

My favorite quote about Apple Valley’s Founders Circle nightmare comes from Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland who said, “Everybody has put themselves on the line with this. It’s been blood, sweat and tears on this project. But it’s been worth it.” I’m not quite sure what she thinks is worth it — the overgrown weed infested lots, the empty storefronts or the fact that Apple Valley’s vision for a “walkable downtown” looks more like a famished rural downtown than a thriving suburb with grand visions to become Woodbury…

Now, aside from all of Apple Valley’s woes, I’m wondering why Lakeville, as of mid-May at least, has been able to continue to push forward with their “Holyoke redevelopment” and have “success” with it? Is it really because of David Olson’s guidance or is it because they are trying to one up Apple Valley and show them who’s boss? According to the Downtown Lakeville Business Association’s director Judy Tschumper, they now have a spot where people can unwind or even “solve the world’s problems.” Perhaps Apple Valley’s City Council members and their chosen developers should head down there to solve some of their own.

Check out some more on this topic on the Pioneer Press here.

From the Pioneer Press’ South St Paul Police Calls:

They really cited her on suspicion of being a cheap drunk and a dumb thief:

Shoplifting: Police responded May 13 to a report of a shoplifter being detained at Hat Trick Liquor, 1150 Southview Blvd. The store’s owner said the suspect attempted to leave with a 15-pack of Stroh’s beer under her arm and a bottle of Cook’s spumante champagne stuffed in the sleeve of her jacket. The 34-year-old woman told police that she stole the bottle of champagne for her alcoholic father but had intended on paying for the beer. Police cited her on suspicion of theft.

Today, after geocaching around Shakopee with Dave, we decided to head in to Savage to try Spice (a Thai restaurant) which has come highly recommended by several people on this site — especially those that know I enjoy my food on the hot side.

Being a holiday where most people are grilling outside, we did that yesterday instead, the restaurant was empty for lunch on Memorial Day but they had two waitresses and obviously some people in the back cooking as well. We were immediately seated right in the middle of the restaurant and began to look over the extensive menu. Dave had his choices picked almost immediately but I took my time as I hadn’t prepped my visit like I normally do. The waitress came around as I was noting Dave’s choices and menu captions and I asked for a few more minutes to choose. After 5 or more minutes I had my choice and we were ready to order.

Dave went with the Fresh Spring Rolls for an appetizer which are listed as Thai style rolls with pork, silver thread noodle, carrot, onion, cabbage and mushroom served with a tamarind sauce. There are two (cut in half) for $5.50. He also ordered their Pork Pad Thai which they say is the famous Thai national noodle dish with rice noodle, egg, scallions, and tofu flavored by secret seasoning topped with crushed peanut with a slice of lime for $10.50. Right at the end he asked for a side of sticky rice as well. Having eaten a little for breakfast and not being starved like Dave, I went with their Pork Noodle Soup which they say is just like in Thailand! Thai noodle seasoned with garlic oil and Thai spice pork, pork meat balls, sprouts and onions. I chose my with rice noodles (they have two other options that I didn’t pay any attention to) and it was a total of $7.80. They have varying levels of spice going from nothing to “challenging”. Dave went with “hot” (which is dead center of their scale) and I, of course, took “challenging”. As the waitress was about to leave the table she said, “are you sure,” and then said, “this is your last chance to change your mind,” as if she was warning me about the potential of heat…

Dave and I sat and chatted for a bit while they go our food ready. The spring rolls were out first and were presented quite nicely. They were also nice and fresh but Dave said, “too much lettuce and not enough good stuff.” I couldn’t have agreed with him more — nothing spectacular there. I snagged an extraneous piece of pork and found it tasted fine but inside the roll it was lost among the lettuce. The sauce was definitely tasty and was the sole reason I rated this appetizer acceptable. We both agreed that it was certainly decent but nothing we’d go out of our way to have again.

My soup came out seconds before Dave’s Pad Thai and it looked and smelled great. The meatballs and pork pieces were abundant and of a nice size. For $7.50 this soup portion was excellent and was quite reminiscent of what I’ve sampled at Saigon in St Paul. After taking several unsuccessful photos because steam was fogging the camera lens, I finally resorted to blowing on my food from behind the camera to disperse the steam some so that I could nab something decent. While I ordered my meal as “challenging” spice, I can’t say that this was anything more than perhaps a 6.5 or 7 on a 10 scale. I really need to start making it very clear when I order something “hot” that I am not kidding and I want it as hot as it’ll come. It wasn’t as hot as the food that I ordered at Ban Thai in White Bear Lake and I didn’t even order it as hot as it would come there… Aside from the issues I was having getting the noodles out of the bowl and the fact that it just wasn’t nearly spicy enough for me, I loved my soup. It was very tasty and with the abundance of pork I can definitely say that I would return for this dish.

Dave’s dish was also very good. He ordered his “hot” and while I didn’t taste any spice in the two small fork fulls I took, I thought the dish was excellent. Dave said that while he was not at all impressed with the spring rolls, he did really like the Pad Thai but he said that any Thai restaurant worth its salt needs a great Pad Thai.

Our total bill was just under $28 and Dave was nice enough to treat me for lunch today, probably because I’m such an awesome guy! Thanks for lunch buddy, great seeing you again. While what I had at Ban Thai in White Bear Lake was better, I really enjoyed Spice and will definitely return, hopefully again soon, when I am sans Kim as she’s not a spicy or Thai food fan. If you have eaten at Spice please let us know what you thought!

Address:
Spice
3898 County Rd 42
Savage, MN 55378

Phone:
952-882-9272

Hours:

Monday through Thursday 11 AM to 9 PM
Friday 11 AM to 10 PM
Saturday 12 PM to 10 PM
Sunday 12 PM to 9 PM

See all the pictures from today on Flickr here (camera).