I'd like to add my voice to the question: are boarding
houses really not allowed in Mpls?  (Hey lawyers,
property owners, legislators, tell us what you know!)

I think that while there may be risks associated with
boarding houses, the benefits can also be huge.

When I met my husband, he was just starting his
graduate program at the University.  As a foreign
student, he wasn't legal to work, and of course didn't
have any family here to stay with.  He got a room at a
house on University Ave. & 14th, which I believe
housed about 9-10 individuals, all in separate
bedrooms but with two shared baths and a shared
kitchen.  The owner, a single man, lived there too.
(And still does today.)

This place was really what allowed my husband to make
it.  He paid $250 a month for a tiny attic bedroom,
and walked to and from school year round.  The vast
majority of his house-mates were also students, and a
lot of them were also from other countries.  (Thus
unable to earn money outside of stipends from TA-ing
or doing research.)  Many of them could not afford any
other type of living situation.  

This place is still there now, and as a matter of
fact, my sister-in-law has now rented the same room
that my husband used to have, and is very pleased with
the situation.  (She wanted her independence from the
big brother and his wife!)  

I imagine that this house is grandfathered in, as they
say, since it's been operating without issue for a
number of years.  It's a shame if others cannot do
similar things with their homes, considering how much
it has helped those folks with the least money - and
clearly it can be profitable for the owners as well.

Connie Nompelis
Ventura Village
-MRC-  

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