Having read the story, it sounds like he's getting out while he can
still get something for his Minneapolis property.
Actually no. As someone who worked with Jim for several years, I had talked with him about Ortonville back in 2000. He had told me his plans and was already preparing to do what this article talked about....before the economy tanked, before 2001 elections, before 9-11. Jim is quite simply a very smart and capable businessman. He liked what he'd accomplished here and wanted to move on to other things. Not abandon Mpls. In fact his properties in Stevens Square are thriving and some of the nicest in the City.
Hmmm.... wasn't there just a post on the list about drug dealing
returning to Stevens Square? And sadly, Loring Park is probably next to
see open air drug trade.
Drug dealing has never left the inner city. In goes in peaks and valleys, especially amongst the neighborhoods in the area. Dealing goes down in one and up in another. Jim didn't predict any trends and get out, what he did do was make the neighborhood a better place to live and since then, other dedicated people have continued development, continued block patrols and other civic participation activities. Crime exists, it's a fact of life, but people being committed like Jim can work to fight it and move towards us having more success stories.
Jonathan Palmer
in Victory
