Walking just west of downtown St. Paul is one of my favorite Twin Cities locations  -  Cathedral Hill (technically named Ramsey Hill). It can make you feel like you’ve stumbled into a 19th century novel. Brownstone row houses and ivy-covered Victorian homes share the skyline with the majestic Cathedral of St. Paul. Simply put, it’s gorgeous.

Having once sheltered the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, you can half hope residents to emerge from their historic flats wearing newsboy hats - from when they were in style the first time. But don’t mistake bookish with sleepy; this literary Mecca is a happening place given its crush of shops, restaurants and a large food co-op, the Mississippi Market.

You can walk from Nina’s coffeeshop (impress the locals by saying “Ni-naya”) in the historic Blair Arcade and down the stairs to Garrison Keillor’s bookstore, Common Good Books. (Whenever I have a story I’m having trouble writing, I end up a Nina’s just to change things up a bit.)

Cross the street and feel you’ve arrived on a different continent when you enter the restaurant, Moscow on the Hill, where there’s a full menu page devoted entirely to vodka and the best borscht I ever had (hey, don’t knock beet soup until you’ve tried it).

Then watch the curling stones collide at the Saint Paul Curling Club with a post ice-time beer at WA Frost’s – all within three memorable blocks.

But it wasn’t always this nice. The intersection of Selby/Dale used to have a rough reputation. But the turn-around of the formerly aristocratic community started in the 70’s and 80’s. People with little money and a strong back worked very hard to make homes better.  These were urban pioneers who bought property for $10, $15 thousand dollars and put in sweat equity.

President of the Selby Business Association and owner of Great Harvest Bread Company, Bonnie Alton said the area really got a firm footing on its most infamous intersection in the mid-nineties. “Mississippi Market Co-op anchored Selby and Dale when they constructed their building and brought in their store.”  The association now hosts an annual Selby Celebration: a Patio and Dance Party.  “Very courageous, far sighted people made this possible.  I really couldn’t see this event happening [10 years ago].”

St. Paul is lucky it did happen. You can start your search for your own little piece of history with Webdigs right here.