Two massive Italian Renaissance treasures are separated by a half-mile grassy mall just west of downtown. Between the two sits the modern Minnesota History Center with exhibit galleries, a research center and a theater. But development isn't the only attraction of the river, Coleman says. From the Capitol to the riverfront, St. Paul's downtown area can be covered on foot. Five miles of skyways connect downtown banks, office buildings, stores, theaters, hotels and restaurants.
Trolleys also circulate throughout downtown.
West of downtown, extending nearly 5 miles along Summit Avenue, is the longest remaining stretch of residential Victorian architecture in the United States. The testimony to the moneyed gentry of St. Paul includes the 1891 mansion of James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railroad, the elegant home of Minnesota's first territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey, and the governor's residence, the state-owned home where Minnesota's governor lives. Go to Como Park for a picnic and enjoy the free zoo, plants and flowers in the conservatory, Japanese gardens, amusement rides and 18-hole golf course. Visitors can get in touch with the seamy side of the city's history by taking a gangster bus tour. Mobster guides carrying Tommy guns show off famous gangster hideaways and speakeasies of the 1930s when Ma Barker and her sons, along with John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Machine Gun Kelly, took refuge in the city.