Cara Letofksky wrote: > OF COURSE DEMOGRAPHICS FACTORED INTO KOWALSKI'S DECISION! And as Tom B. > pointed out, the demographics aren't good right now. In fact, one of > the consultants that Whittier, Stevens Square and Loring Park hired to > help come up with a marketing strategy to attract developers to Nicollet > Avenue's development opportunities, said, 'the number of supportive > housing facilities in this area makes it appear that it is treated with > LESS CIVIC DISREGARD than other areas of town' (not an exact quote).
and Tom Berthiaume wrote: > >> Of course demographics play a role in the siting and success of > >> groceries > >> and other businesses, and the demographics for this area are > >> daunting. The > >> infamous Lydia House project site is 1/2 block from the store that is > >> closing. Currently, within 1/4 mile of Lydia House, 28% of the > >> residential > >> population is disabled and in special housing that requires on-site > >> supervision. A geek's response: Ok, let's look at the demographics. The corner of Franklin and Nicollet represents the four various corners of four census tracts: tracts 68, 1056, 1057, and 1069. Basically, Nicollet and Franklin are the dividing spokes between all four tracts, with Lyndale the westernmost boundary and 35W the easternmost boundary. Tract 1056 contains all of Loring Heights and a portion of Loring Park and is the tract where the current GJ's is located, where Lydia House is going to be located, and is the location of 9 of the 18 supportive housing facilities identified by Lydia House opponents. Tract 1056 has 3,851 people with the following general demographics: 477 people (or about 13%) living in 388 owner-occupied units 3,191 people (or about 83%) living in 2,465 renter-occupied units 142 people (or about 4%) living in 'group quarters' The Census classifies all people not living in households as living in group quarters. There are two types of group quarters: institutional (for example, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and mental hospitals) and non-institutional (for example, college dormitories, military barracks, group homes, missions, and shelters). Across Nicollet Avenue from the current GJ's is Tract 1057, which is essentially Stevens Square. It has 2,877 people with the following general demographics: 155 people (or about 5%) living in 106 owner-occupied units 2,660 people (or about 92%) living in 1,829 renter-occupied units 62 people (or about 2%) living in 'group quarters' (see the definition above) Taking all four census tracts together reveals the following general demographics: 14,312 people 1,337 people (about 9%) living in 816 owner-occupied units 12,139 people (about 85%) living in 7,762 renter-occupied units 836 people (about 6%) living in 'group quarters' By nearly five times any of the other three census tracts, tract 1069 (where the Institute of Arts is located) has most of the folks living in 'group quarters,' or 536 out of 836 people in such housing. The folks opposed to Lydia House identify one facility in Census Tract 1069 that is within 1/4 mile of Lydia House. So, I have two responses: First, I don't see the numbers that Mr. Berthiaume and others cite. Twenty-eight percent of all folks in these tracts would be 4,007 people. Even just taking census tract 1056 (where one-half of all the identified facilities are located) would mean that 1,078 of 3,851 people are, in Mr. Berthiaume's words, "disabled and in special housing that requires on-site supervision." In all, I don't see the "hyper-concentration" given the actual population demographics and I specifically don't see the numbers that Mr. Berthiaume cites, particularly given the numbers of folks in group quarters revealed by the 2000 census. Second, it's scary to see marketing consultants defining a problem and essentially deciding who may or may not be welcome in a neighborhood. Obviously, these neighborhoods want to attract development, but development for whom and for what? For homeowners, who make up about 10% of the neighborhoods? For renters, who make up about 85% of the neighborhoods? For those who already live there, which includes poor folks, disabled folks, and folks in supportive and/or transitional housing? Or, is the meaning behind the fancy marketing studies this: we need to get rid of some folks in order to make this place more livable for the folks that will replace them? Gregory Luce Project 504/Minneapolis (North Phillips) _______________________________________ 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
