Steve Meldahl is right that most of these boarded homes are privately owned, and in my experience they are very difficult to get information on.
As a young, poor college student looking for a house in Minneapolis three years ago, I was extremely interested in this glut of boarded and (seemingly) abandoned houses. Many of them have lovely victorian characteristics that you don't find in newer buildings. Unfortunately for me, I could never reach the owners of the houses I looked at. You can find a name on the Hennepin County website, but if the address listed happens to be that of the vacant building, you're usually out of luck. As for the homes owned by the city, they are almost equally as difficult to obtain. I submitted an application to purchase a house on 24th and Chicago, and subsequently went through a six-month nightmare of red-tape and horrendous customer service before being denied because my rehab plan was not detailed enough. Finally, the question of how these buildings impact the neighborhood was posed. Let me tell you: When I moved into my home, there were 4 boarded buildings on the block. (Plus 4 vacant lots.) It has been a terrible burden on those who live here, because these houses attract prostitutes and drug dealers, not to mention litter and vandalism, and they keep the property values of neighboring houses down. Additionally, I personally feel that there is a sense of community depression that comes from being surrounded by these properties. Three of the four boarded houses on my block have now been demolished. What an awesome feeling it is to watch a turn-of-the-century home reduced to toothpicks for want of a restoration-minded owner. It's terribly sad, and in my opinion, wrong. I toured one of these buildings a couple years ago, (MCDA was kind enough to open it for at 9AM on a weekday morning for one hour...) and it had a lot of potential. I wished I'd had the $ to save it. (And MCDA connections, which seem sadly necessary.) What a shame... Connie Nompelis Ventura Village Sliced out of Ward 6 by virtue of being CM Zimmermann's neighbor - soon to embrace Ward 9 __________________________________________________ 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
