> Ken Bradley wrote: > > "Actually, you know you're in North Oaks when folks celebrate receiving the > most. How many low income and immigrant folks is the gated community of > North Oaks currently supporting. You know the folks that do all low paying > service related jobs and other tasks that people from North Oaks seem to > enjoy; law service, health care, and on, and on, and on." > > Vicky responds: > > Actually, North Oaks hasn't had any gates for thirty years. > > I don't know what "received the most" means. My immediate neighbors > consist of a teacher, a carpenter who owns his own remodeling business, an > engineer, a periodontist who teaches dentistry at the U of M, and an > insurance salesman. The City has lots of seniors and many immigrant > families (they do, to the best of my knowledge, support themselves > however.) I see lots of the teenagers working at Cub, Arby's, and Culver's > when they're not in school. I know lots of North Oaks women who spend all > of their time raising money for various charities. The four families on my > street are Democrats. > > Please tell me Mr. Bradley, what's wrong with these people? > > As you know, those who earn (emphasize earn, not receive) the most, pay the > most. It seems to me that they should be thanked, rather than scorned. If > it were not for them, everyone else would be paying a lot more.
I think that what Ken Bradley was trying to talk about was the economic disparity that separates the North Oaks folks from the Minneapolis folks. Average income: Minneapolis $22,685 North Oaks $72,686 (about 275% of the regional median) Number of families Minneapolis 74,543 North Oaks 1,186 Number and percent of families in poverty (using the federal definition, which is extreme poverty) Minneapolis: 8,868 (12%) North Oaks: 0 Number of individuals in poverty (using the federal definition, which is extreme poverty) Minneapolis 62,092 (16%) North Oaks 75 (2%) Of these persons in poverty, the number of children in poverty Minneapolis 19,851 North Oaks 0 Persons employed in professional, managerial, technical positions: Minneapolis 39% North Oaks 70% Persons employed in service positions Minneapolis 15% (33,771) North Oakes 2% (36) This didn't happen by accident. North Oaks, by reason of its development policies, has not make itself accessible to persons with low income. North Oaks has 99% single family homes (the one percent is townhomes) and thus has no apartments which could be rented persons without an income high enough to purchase a home. This is directly related to how this community has chosen to develop its land. When I had looked at it in the past, the requirement was that no multifamily dwelling units could be built and single family houses had to be built on a minimum of three acres. This clearly pushes the burden to housing the region's poor to Minneapolis. And this has been a deliberate choice by the persons overseeing the development of North Oaks. Carol Becker Longfellow Data from the US Census and City of Shoreview _______________________________________ 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
