-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Saturday 12 October 2002 21:24, List Manager wrote: > The City Council is considering it... > > http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3361908.html
I can't quibble with the requirement to add basements... but only if that requirement includes drain tile or other anti-flooding measures. Talk about a disruptive, expensive add-on! But I am absolutely opposed to the garage requirement. Having been inspired by Gary Hoover to return to a car-free state, I am thinking that my garage, and especially my driveway, is wasted space... maybe if I had a fleet of bikes like Gary does it would be worthwhile. :) This is a very bad proposal, as it encourages further entrenchment of the automobile. Let's let the free market take care of this. If consumers want houses with garages, then they'll buy houses with garages. This proposal seems likely to raise the cost of housing, which is the last thing North Minneapolis needs right now. It also encourages car ownership, which encourages dirty air, traffic accidents, noise, littering, and shopping at large one-stop style commercial centers, such as malls-- most of which lie outside the city limits (and therefore takes money earned by Minneapolis citizens and put it into the sales tax coffers of first-ring suburbs). What we need is more ways to encourage and enable people to *buy* housing. So in that respect, I think we should focus on getting more townhome/flat-style condo zoning or zoning for other multi-family larger dwellings to increase density and lower the barriers to ownership by reducing unit prices. I believe that denser housing is good for local small business, which requires a certain critical mass in order to maintain a revenue stream-- it certainly works in your larger cities like NYC, SF, and Chicago. And locally owned/operated small business is good for a neighborhood, since it keeps people (and money) in the neighborhood, instead of driving out to the mall and spending money at corporate outlets. At the same time, we need to work with Metro Transit to improve the quality of the North Mpls bus lines, so that people can live here without cars. I have been riding buses in this city for 20 years, and the 5 into North Mpls is by far the worst (but I'll save that screed for some other day). I have to say Vicky Heller's postings about the population levels of the city as a whole, and Dyna Sluter's analysis of just the corner where Dyna lives have me convinced that the City needs to work hard to get people to move in, and stay in (for working and shopping and playing). And just to provide some balance in favor of garages, it seems to me that apartment buildings, townhomes, etc, can actually offer garage space more efficiently than single family dwellings can, so if you're looking for a place to force the garage issue, start with them. -michael libby (cleveland/north mpls) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Michael C. Libby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> public key: http://www.ichimunki.com/public_key.txt web site: http://www.ichimunki.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE9qOrZ4ClW9KMwqnMRAqSTAJ4vTKvtTNBpg87PF1LOIqzxLwVqWQCeIJVp xn0FKNoBdRt9n9luRDYzjRg= =m6lA -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
