I'm really tired of the complaint that decisions and opinions are made by a very few people who show up for the meeting. Like it or not, life belongs to those who show up. By not showing up, I think you're saying that you trust your neighbors to make these decisions. Lest anyone be left in the dark, sitting on a neighborhood board is really hard work. The meetings tend to be long (two and a half hours), there are it seems, lots of meetings. There is lots of phone work. There's always about half a pound of paper to read and grasp and make decisions on. I've also noticed that neighborhood boards are usually made up of middle-aged people whose children are in the mid-teens or older, retired respected elders of the neighborhood, and people who are injured and/or temporarily unemployed. Many people don't want to or can't serve because it's very demanding. After all that folderol (sp?), it's no fun to be second guessed by everyone who didn't bother to either come to the meeting or call in an opinion to the neighborhood office or a board member.
I've been down to MetalMatic once or twice and gone through the area both during the day and late at night and usually alone. Frankly, I wouldn't want an apartment there. First, Metal Matic, which makes tubing and pipes for the auto industry, has three shifts. Second, The U's steam plant is a lonely place. It probably doesn't take many people to run the joint. Pillsbury Park, down on Hennepin Island, right under Main Street, is attractive to some rather unsavory folks. I used to go down there because you can see the tunnel door to the Pillsbury A Mill from there, but have since learned that it's probably not such a good idea. The river is fast, dangerous, and going over a dam or just went over a dam. Pretty tricky, and mesmerizing to watch and listen too. But, mui dangerous. Sometimes I stare into it and it feels, in the roar of the water and the sheer overwhelming majesty, that the River has a siren song that wants to pull you in. Think about that and teenagers whose hormones, emotional barometer, and mood swings are awesome to witness. I don't think it's a real good place for kids or teens to live. It's spooky at night and the spookiness is a factor of the river itself. Great place to stage a murder and I think it might have been Roger Zimmerman who set a murder mystery there. His books, which are fun, are available at your public library in the mystery section--way at the end of the final shelf. WizardMarks, Central Dave Polaschek wrote: >Paul Lambie wrote: > >>Admittedly, I do not have all the specific information >>about the details of this project, but it does not >>seem like a unique situation. I welcome any comments >> >>from anyone who would like to tell me why the > >>"neighborhood" should have any say into whether this >>housing development occurs or not. I use the term >>neighborhood loosely, because the people who speak on >>behalf of the neighborhood are certainly a small >>minority of the neighborhood population who are >>politically active and have the time to attend >>neighborhood meetings. >> > >I guess I'm one of that "small minority", since I'm on the board of the >Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association. > >The reason I feel qualified to speak about this area is that I've lived >(as a renter) in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood for 17 of the past 20 >years. I regularly walk or bike past the proposed Stone Arch Apartments >area and have an idea what it's like. I wouldn't feel qualified to say >what should be a given block in Lowry Hill might be, but I think I have >an idea of what's in Marcy-Holmes. > >I started out thinking that the project wasn't such a bad idea, since it >would turn some currently unused land into housing. It would probably >encourage MetalMatic to eventually leave, opening up even more space for >housing. But the more I've heard about the Stone Arch Apartments >proposal, the less I like it. > >We've got a large student population in this neighborhood. Turns out >students aren't eligible for affordable housing. The rest of the >apartments will be priced out of reach of most students. So no real help >for the students in the project. > >The lot is sandwiched between two sets of railroad tracks, one mostly >unused (except to park an occasional empty freight car), and one still in >regular use by ADM. Across the in-use tracks is MetalMatic, which has >heavy truck traffic during all three shifts. Across the unused tracks and >SE Main St. is the University of Minnesota steam plant, which gets noise >complaints from people living on the other side of MetalMatic (2-3 blocks >away). That's not surprising, since I can hear it from 6 blocks away. > >The project area is polluted and would require cleanup. I haven't heard >of any results of studies of the pollution on-site, but simply walking >past you can see that the ground is contaminated with oil. There are >spots where the weeds won't grow, even though there's no traffic on them. > >In the last plan we saw, the windows on the building won't open. That's >to cut down on noise. Beyond that, there won't be any outdoor areas for >tenant uses (other than parking). Affordable housing usually means >families with children. Any kids would have to cross two streets to use >the park which has no play equipment. > >I'd like to see more affordable housing in the neighborhood. One of these >years I'd like to be able to afford to buy my own home in Marcy-Holmes, >rather than renting. But I don't think that affordable housing should be >dumped in industrial areas. > >As for this particular site, I believe that it will be a great location >for housing one day. If MetalMatic leaves, and ADM quits using the tracks >that divide those blocks in half, it'll be a good site for housing. When >it's cleaned up and the proposed white-water park is put in across SE >Main St. from the site, it'll be a great location. But that's not the >current reality, and none of those things may come to pass. > >Dave Polaschek >Marcy-Holmes >_______________________________________ >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 > _______________________________________ 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
