Jim Mork said: > It is interesting that no one here talked about > it until the event occurred and THEN they said > there was routine drug dealing. What does that > mean exactly? That people in the core > neighborhoods considered that "normal" until an > innocent got killed? I'm inclined to be > skeptical.
CN: Jim, you appear not to have been listening. I don't know how Cooper neighborhood is, but I'll tell you what: Franklin Ave. is a nightmare. So is Bloomington. So is 16th and 24th now which is on my block. (And one down from CM Zimmermann too.) We've been shouting this forever from places like Phillips, Whittier and Near North to begin with! Has it ever occurred to you that living in the middle of a drug/crime/poverty zone eats away at one's concept of "normal" after a while? That is to say, there's been quite a lot of worthy complaining about our neighborhood crime issues on this list, but I would argue that there might be MORE if more citizens felt that it would make a difference; if they felt they had a right to a crime-free neighborhood. You must also take into acount that the most crime-ridden neighborhoods, both north and south, house some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our fair city. (And soon they will house more, if the 1/4 mile rule goes away.) Where is their voice? Are you talking to them? Please don't count on the participants of this list as being "representative" of the population, because those who suffer most in MY neighborhood can't afford to buy computers and figure out how to email their concerns to you. > There are a lot of homicides out in the suburbs > where the gangs aren't cruising around. What's > the 2-bit explanation for THAT activity? CN: Give me some numbers and sources. > I don't want to say any list participant makes > things up. But all I can say about Franklin is > that in all the times I've driven down that > street on the way somewhere, day or night, I > have NEVER been offered drugs. So that makes me > wonder by what mystical powers these dealers > "know" I could never be a customer. CN: Try walking sometime. Actually, you could dress up as a 120lb, 5'8 blonde female, (like me) and see how far you get! Or, if that doesn't suit you, try catching the bus at Bloomington and Franklin. (The 2 or the 8 or the 14, I'm not picky.) See how pleasant of a time you have. See how many people harass, solicit, threaten, or otherwise endeavour to engage you. Go on. These are very passionate issues for those of us who live in tough neighborhoods. Until you've seen drug fights in your front yard, prostitutes engaging in business in your back yard, and poor drunk souls trying to come inside the house, you don't know what it's like. Believe me. There's an apartment for rent next door to me. Anybody wanna move in and see? Connie Nompelis Crabby and Nervous about having kids in Ventura Village P.S. I almost forgot: someone pulled a knife on my PUPPY last week while my husband was right there raking leaves in the front yard. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ 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
