Payne-Phalen is a neighborhood and city planning district in Saint Paul, Minnesota in the United States. It is Planning District 5. The area includes several smaller neighborhoods, namely Railroad Island, Phalen Park, Rivoli Bluff, Vento, Wheelock Park, and Williams Hill. It ranges from a blue-collar area to the south to a middle-class area north of Maryland Avenue, including upscale real estate around Lake Phalen.^[2] The neighborhood is part of the larger area known as the East Side of Saint Paul. Major streets in the neighborhood include E. 7th St, Phalen Boulevard, Arcade Street, which hosts U.S. Route 61 and Payne Avenue.^[3] Payne Avenue has been a major commercial corridor for the east side of Saint Paul since the 1930s.^[1]

Historically, the neighborhood has hosted many immigrant groups.^[4] Almost 30% of residents were born in another country in 2020 with a majority of residents being Asian. As recent as 1980, almost 95% of residents were white but by 2020 that number had dropped to about 30%.^[3]

The neighborhood is home to LEAP High School, which focuses on education for English language learners and immigrants, and Johnson Senior High School.^[5][6]

The neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods used to have major manufacturing employment with Hamm's Brewery, 3M, and Whirlpool Corporation being major employers.^[4] Those three major employers as well as several others left the neighborhood in the 1980s to 2000s. For a time, the neighborhood struggled to retain businesses,^[3] and in the 2010s had a reputation for crime and gang activity.^[1][7] Since the 2020s the neighborhood has focused on arts and received increased levels of government and non-profit guided investment.^[4][3]

• Payne-Phalen Community Council
• Biegon, Rubrick (September 2002). "The District Five Planning Council: A History of its Impact in Payne-Phalen". University of Minnesota. Retrieved 14 July 2024.