I am thrilled to see we made the big time. Thanks for posting this Vicky, you made my day. I looked at the other schools that they listed. We are in some pretty impressive company.
Before the Taj Mahal as the Taxpayer League refers to it, there was a street there that was used like a freeway for commuters who wanted to skirt Blaisdell to get to 28th St and would race down Grand. By the time they got to my house, they were often going 50 miles per hour. There was a park which is still there but in much better shape that served as one of the largest drug dealing depots in Mpls. Across the street there was string of dilapidated houses harboring gangs of drug dealers. The same ones that most likely shot the owner of the corner store Roger Imme. At that time, my house was worth $60,000. I was paying $500/yr. in taxes. We worked hard to convince the school board to put this palace there. We used our NRP funds to build a gymnasium onto the park building so the school could share it and renovate the building and the tot lot. We also relocated families on Grand and provided cleared land to the school board for the school. We moved one house that was well worth saving up to 25th and Pleasant. We had to get really creative in order to fit this building on the small footprint we had. We had only a 1/2 block to place a two-story school and accommodate parking. I think we did a pretty good job. We love the angle of the school and the dormers and brick work that help it fit into the style of the neighborhood. Now, we have this wonderful building or palace that looks spectacular with the downtown skyline set behind it. We have kids playing in the park without getting shot and stabbed. We have a grade school again in a neighborhood that had 3,300 kids and no school. Our kids were being bused to 59 different schools in Minneapolis. Our old grade school was converted to cooperative housing. Yes, it is a wonderful building and just as beautiful inside as it is outside. It is serving as a fabulous community gathering place for people from all walks of life. The park and school building are busy all day into the evening. It has enabled us to attract young families into the neighborhood and the housing around the school has stabilized. The property values have escalated. My house is now worth $300K and I am paying close to $1,500 in taxes. I think the houses around here are worth more now because people consider the park and school and attractive amenity. I am glad that we are keeping company with communities the likes of Wayzata and Burnsville. See, even in the ghetto we can have a palace. Add to the palace a strong curriculum with the IB program and our wonderful arts and music programming and we just plain rock!!!! Barb Lickness Whittier ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead 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
