Of course there are other funding possibilities for a library. Bake Sales! We have NRP monies that have helped us out for 17 weeks. There might have been more if our NRP money was not allocated to hire police at time and a half for the Phillips neighborhood. Just how much taxpayer's money was given to Ventura Village? How about all the money that dissappeared! That could have kept our library open for about 15 years. Sounds like a solid little group that might be a little self serving! Dorie Rae Gallagher
----- Original Message ----- From: "gemgram" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Niziolek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2004 9:58 AM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Walker Library mixed-use - make the case > Great post Dan. > > There are of course other funding possibilities for a library. The example > of the funds raised for the "temporary" library during the time the Franklin > Library is closed for reconstruction is an example of such. If a community > truly wants that resource to continue the community can become very > resourceful. > > And Dan, your "mixed-use - make the case" was right on. Your example of eyes > on the street, and from the street on the happenings in buildings, are > certainly true. That human interaction is what makes enjoyable, safe, urban > life possible. And desirable! Hennepin and Lake and the Uptown are about > the only place where Minneapolis presently approaches a vibrant, safe, > street life. > > The downtown area of Minneapolis would certainly benefit from such. Our > downtown largely becomes a graveyard of nothing but dead stone monuments > (Buildings) after 7:00 PM. The reason is that we have NOT encouraged those > building developers to ring the first floor street level of every building > with small shops and restaurants. The very things that create a desire to > be there, and to create such interaction as you speak of. Such space (if > used for such purpose) is incredibly valuable per square foot. It also > makes the whole structure more valuable as it makes it a more enjoyable and > fun place to be. Also, think of the number of jobs that could and should be > in Downtown, if we only used our Downtown for a "higher use". We need > Downtown to have at least two shifts, one for "Office Workers" and one for > "Pleasure Seekers" (and those that serve them). > > If we look at a place like Vancouver, B.C. we can see how vibrant and fun a > downtown can be. Twice the people in half the area and four times the fun > and pleasure. Some may say well our Minnesota winters don't allow that, but > look at what happens in the heart of the winter in downtown. It is called > Christmas and Holly-dazzle and it is the only time Downtown Minneapolis is > truly walkable fun. (Dodging drunks and crime in the warehouse district can > be titillating to me on a Friday night, but not to most casual strollers) > > If we are going to be subsidizing these monuments with the people's tax > dollars let's at least demand that they are "friendly" to the people. A > "higher use" certainly would be the small shops and restaurants, rather than > the dead after 6:00 office space that could just as easily be on the second > floor. We waste the best part of almost every one of our downtown > buildings. We have already spent (some would say wasted) hundreds of > millions of dollars, perhaps we should hedge our bet and spend a few more to > encourage developers to finally give us what we paid for. The people of > Minneapolis have paid for a great downtown lets start demanding that we get > one. > > So Dan, Lisa, and Gary, you folks are the ones who seem to like urban > downtown life, as well as sitting on the Minneapolis Zoning and Planning > Committee, how do we start "Planning the Zoning" so we can get that great > downtown life? Lets start planning a happy future now, for if we wait our > children will not have one when we get to that future. > > Jim Graham, > Ventura Village, Phillips Community Planning District, Sixth Ward of what > should be the Vancouver of Middle-America > > 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 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
