A question occurs to me. Why are people who advocate a policy we disagree with "shrill"? I mean, wouldn't you have to attend the hearings to somehow make that judgment? So, how are we who didn't attend the hearings going to come to the conclusion that "shrill" people favored the 1st Ave experiment? And another thought: The previous group of city leaders were inclined to ignore neighborhoods. Now it seems we have a group boosted into office on the shoulders of neighborhoods. That must reflect an opinion by voters that neighborhood concerns matter in a livable city. Now, I wouldnt want business concerns forgotten. We don't need to swing wildly from pole to pole. We just need to remember that there is no trickle down effect. You cannot expect neighborhoods to be preserved by attending only to the desires of business. And revitalizing downtown has very little effect on other neighborhoods
The Many "Failures" of Minneapolis
I get a feeling that we have participants who are convinced that Minneapolis can't do anything right. And what amazes me is their determination to hang on in a place they dislike so much and castigate it. We are surrounded by choices that vary a lot in their character. The most obvious is St Paul. The two cities are not Tweedle-dee-dum and Tweedle-dee-dee. I even looked into moving there myself since a good share of the last 20 years, I've been employed there. But I'm married to someone who has spent the last 55 years minus just a few months of traveling in Minneapolis. She is rooted in and dedicated to Minneapolis. She was far more dedicated to stay here than I was to move away, so here we are. Plus, as I've said, in the nearly 40 years I've been here, it's become my town, too. Meaning I've never had that bitter cynical conviction it was impossible to "save". But that doesn't apply to everyone who posts here. So it would be interesting to hear how anyone who thinks Minneapolis is just a series of failures still thinks that is where to live. One thing is for SURE. It is NOT a cheap place to live. Many categories exceed the national average. So most people who live here pay EXTRA for the privilege! Speaking for myself, I'd NEVER pay extra to live in a milieu of failure. But I don't think that applies to the large majority of residents here. I and others like me still see Minneapolis as a SUCCESS story. Allowing that most success stories carry a few failures along with them. The bus shelters have signs about Abe Lincoln about all his failures before he become one of our beloved presidents. And motivational speakers often offer up Thomas Edison as an example of someone who drew historic success out of the litter of failures.
NOT the Johannesburg Times
Been watching this debate on the Star Tribune. And my conclusion from being a reader all these years is that it is an exaggeration to compare the newspaper to anything in apartheid South Africa. I'm pretty sure they didn't print the columns of Nelson Mandela in the newspapers before majority rule. But the Star Tribune has printed African American voices for generations. When I arrived, it was people like Carl Rowan. And his was a critical voice , too. No, I think if the Star Tribune has a "problem" it is similar to other papers. The relentless hammering from conservative readers may have made it more afraid of the "pc" charge than of the "racism" charge. So, it has found a place that is relatively safe on the fence. It simply won't make an extra effort to be neutral. It won't seek out a voice in the African American community that will raise questions uncomfortable to the existing consensus. It no longer troubles the comfortable. And in so doing, it allows preduces to flourish by omission. It simply doesn't crusade anymore. And its readership doesn't make it pay for its ducking hard issues. The cudgels have been taken up by other voices, but they preach to the choir, so it doesn't really broaden the debate that much. We simply get our liberalism cheaper these days. Well, this retreat to safety falls far short of being an apartheidist organ. But apartheid would be SAFE with this attitude from the loudest journalistic voice of our area.
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Jim Mork
Cooper Neighborhood
Try lighting a few candles. The world is all stocked up with cursers of the darkness.
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