All this discussion of neighborhood names reminds me that in true Minneapolis fashion we do things different here.
As we all know most of our neighborhoods are named after a school and/or park located in the middle of the neighborhood. This is different from the traditional neighborhood organization model which centers around (and is name by)the major thoroughfare through the neighborhood or a major transportation intersection. (Think Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. or any numerous NY neighborhoods named after streets). In Minneapolis, the thoroughfares, for the most part, define the borders of our neighborhoods, not the centers. Why does this matter? With NRP there has been a lot of neighborhood planning over the past 10 years but due to the fact that the major streets have been in two or more neighborhoods, I would contend that there have been lost opportunities on the planning of these thoroughfares and intersections. (I'm not saying there hasn't been any sucesses, just that there could have been more, and the sucesses may not have needed to be so hard fought). For example the intersection of 54th and Lyndale Avenue south is governed by 4 neighborhood organizations, each with different commercial and residential make-ups in the rest of their respective neighborhoods. It's difficult to get the 4 neighborhoods to have the same goals for that intersection. Given the fact that our best way to provide for additional affordable housing is on the major thoroughfares, our current neighborhood organizational structure will continue to make it difficult to come to consensus on how we best approach planning and redevelopment of these corridors for affordable housing and for economic revitalization. Now of course I'm not advocating a wholesale change of our neighborhood boundaries, but I think we may have to see more inter-neighborhood planning processes, much like the South Lyndale effort, in order to plan for the future our major thoroughfares. Dean E. Carlson East Harriet, still Ward 10 _______________________________________ 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
