michael libby wrote:
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>
>On Monday 14 October 2002 23:56, dyna wrote:
>
>>Ah, the power of denial- I mutter a few truths about the
>>prevalence of crime in parts of Minneapolis and how overpriced
>>housing is here, and the backlash begins:
>>
>
>I don't consider a little cheerleading for a City I love (Minneapolis, that
>is) to be either "denial" or "backlash" and I think saying that I engaged
>in either is unfair. We need to consider Minneapolis against its peer
>cities, not against small, rural communities.
>
WM: Are you gonna wear the whole cheerleading outfit? Skirt, letter
sweater, bobby socks, saddle shoes and carry two pompoms? Little street
theater would come in welcome about now.
>Like I said, lucky for you-- Glenwood is a great city. But retirement and
>moving to Glenwood are not options for a significant portion of Mpls'
>380,000+ residents. And where would Glenwood put all of us?
>
>Given what I found, we should probably send some policy makers to places
>like Seattle WA, Porland OR, San Diego CA, and El Paso TX. Those places
>all average under 10 homicides a year per 100,000 inhabitants.
>
WM: If their junketing anyway, I think they should also go to some of
the worst examples of the same size. Compare and contrast is very
instructive.
>>
>>OK. So we've had red light districts in the past. Where are they now? Red
>>light districts are not typically based out of houses in residential
>>neighborhoods. That's my point.
>>
WM:I wouldn't be so quick as to say that. There have been several
buildings in my neighborhood which have (and a few still do) operate as
houses of prostitution.
If I understand what the City Council is working on right now, it's
going to move the remaining "neighborhood saunas" to a section of
downtown. There are three designated to go on the Southside that I know
of: Kim's (a.k.a. The Royale Knight), Utopia East--both on Lake St.; and
the Delux on Chicago.
>>My point was that the City razed what would have passed as our red light
>>district(s)... and look where that crime went: into neighborhoods, yours,
>>and a couple on the south side. Wouldn't it have been better if they'd
>>left it where it was, centralized in a mostly non-residential area?
>>
WM: I remember cops in Cincinnati saying they liked it better when the
bad guys were ghettoized, but at least recently they aren't being held
up as stellar.
>>And it's not that I think ready access to drugs and sex is a good thing
>>(although I suppose Walgreen's and marriage seem to be civilized
>>solutions), I'm saying that no amount of trying is going to make the trade
>>in either one go away. We've had a drug war for 30 years now and the U.S.
>>has tripled it's prison population in that time. Yet I would have an
>>easier time finding dope in this town than a nice place to live that's
>>
>>actually affordable.
>>
WM: Actually, the jails are mostly full of minority people without money
who were picked up for crack. Quieter, "home office" dealers in the
suburbs who sell powder cocaine during toney parties aren't getting the
same kind of treatment for the most part.
The African American Men Project seems to be looking toward other
solutions which, having been tested on a small scale, have given some
excellent results.
WizardMarks, Central
>>
>>_______________________________________
>>
>>Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
>>Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
>>
_______________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
