House District 64B

100% urban. The district is comprised of a wide range of professionals, workers and college students. Much of the housing is middle class, although there are pockets of upper-income homes along Mississippi Boulevard and Edgcumbe Road. People here are proud of their relatively safe neighborhoods. The once strong and thriving Jewish population has somewhat declined. The populace is predominantly white, but it's growing increasingly diverse, particularly in the West Seventh neighborhood. That neighborhood now includes Hispanic, Russian Jews and Southeast-Asians. Highland Park is home to the Ford Motor Company Twin Cities assembly plant and Highland Village, a thriving business district. The Ford plant, which makes Ranger pickups, currently employs 975 production workers and was scheduled to close in the fall of 2009. Plans are not yet solid about the fate of the factory and its associated hydroelectric dam on the Mississippi, but in June of 2008 Ford was reported to be considering an extension of the factory's life. The district is home to the College of St. Catherine, or "St. Kate's." In 2009 it will change its name to the University of St. Catherine. District residents place a premium on education and many send their children to parochial schools. Politically, this district leans DFL. However, it's the last place in St. Paul in which a Republican was elected to the Legislature (and some refer to the area as "what's left of the Republican base" in St. Paul). Republican and independent candidates still win municipal and county races. The local DFL organization is mixed and includes feminists, "New Democrats" and some labor.