I looked at the DFL plan for new legislative district boundaries. Some things struck me as unusual.
In the north, northeast and southeast, some districts have taken in new territory. However, these new territories are all in Minneapolis, None of these districts take in any suburban areas. All remain relatively stable, and carry the same district numbers On the south side, many districts are radically transformed. Some districts are virtually unrecognizable One district is stretched to take in two incumbent legislators. And several southside districts either take up or add substantial swaths of suburban tracts to their territories. I then looked at the demographic changes of Minneapolis neighborhoods between 1990 and 2000 Minneapolis holds a smaller proportion of the state population now than it did in 1990. There are neighborhoods in south, north and northeast Minneapolis that have lost population In particular, neighborhoods in the bungalow belts in south, north, and northeast Minneapolis have had relatively stagnant or declining populations over the last ten years. Northeast and the outer fringes of south Minneapolis have suffered the worst declines. I am not a demographer, and I am not a politician. Is the DFL redistricting proposal the only and inevitable outcome of the demographic shifts? Or could the pain of redistricting have been distributed more evenly throughout the city? You be the judge. Find locations and boundaries of Minneapolis neighborhoods at: http://freenet.msp.mn.us/nhoods/mpls/maps/mnbhdmap.html Compare demographic trends of Minneapolis neighborhoods between 1990 and 2000 at: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/planning/Census2000/1990-to-2000-Population-Change-by-Neighborhood.asp See the district maps for the 1990's Minnesota state legislature at: http://lije.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/scripts/esrimap.dll?name=tutorial5&Cmd=ZoomIn&cityfeature=----------&Left=410612.450440233&Bottom=4894538.19228836&Right=553727.85813634&Top=5058569.36780749&click.x=207&click.y=224 And compare the proposed redistricting boundaries at: http://maps.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/website/l0006-0/viewer.htm Jay Clark Cooper P.S. for email luddites: the linkages are actually pretty easy to do. David Brauer, the Johnny Appleseed of linkages, told me how to do it. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
