Does Allina's arrival at the Sears building forbode a corporate takeover of Lake Street? It may be so,if we believe the Business Journal, a good-old-boy-rag put out by CEO types. The article heralds Allina as the savior of the "worst neighborhood in Minneapolis", and describes the Uptownization their investment will bring to East Lake.
Let us be perfectly clear. Allina is not the savior of Phillips. Immigrants are the saviors of Lake Street. We all know that Lake Street's economy is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks largely to new investment by small immigrant entrepeneurs. The scene on Lake Street is nothing short of breathtaking. At all hours people enter and exit buses carrying bags of goods purchased at independent shops. Few storefronts remain vacant. New businesses pop up weekly. The signs of new investment are omnipresent, but here are a few examples: Guayaquil Restaurant, owned by an Ecuadorian family that completely overhauled a historic building at Lake and Bloomington; El Nuevo Rodeo, a new dance club at 27th and Lake that attracts world-class Hispanic musical acts; Kulan Coffee at Pilsbury and Lake, a bustling meeting place for Somalis into the wee hours of the morning. Lake is one-of-a-kind because of them, with zero help from corporations. The city should get out of the way and let them grow, or, wonder of wonders, extend a hand to help them. All of this economic vitality has come at zero subsidy. Enter Allina, and its 20 year tax-free handout. Do we want 1,000 new jobs at Chicago and Lake? Of course. But in creating them, Allina seems to have a fortress mentality. Build bigger parking ramps. Import mass marketed food chains, recognizable to outsiders. Widen Lake Street and add ramps to 35W. Why not reconnect local streets? Why not hire people who live in the neighborhood, making freeway access a moot point? Why not integrate the company with the miraculous cultural crucible called Lake Street. No need to reinvent a street that is already vital! The Business Journal actually boasts that Allina and company can "smell the coffee and bagels from Starbucks and Brueggers." This would be laughable if it weren't real. Allina's cards are on the table. They want to muscle Kulan Coffee off of Lake Street and replace it with Starbuck's. Yuck. How can we take high profile CEO groups like Phillips Partnership and the Itasca Project seriously when nonsense like this is printed in the Business Journal? Read it all at http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2004/03/01/story1.html The vultures lurk in the shadows, with corporate logos ready to slap all over Lake Street. The city officials who lure these vultures to Eden don't know what they are missing. Jeff Carlson, Whittier ===== Jeff Carlson 2430 Clinton Ave. S. D43 Mpls, MN 55404 (612) 813-0116 [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what you�re looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
