Re: [Mpls] Disappearing Middle Class?

[Shawn]

All I know is that I'm very much a middle-incomer (well, I was - just got 
fired over an illness) and I have a feeliing downtown won't be my home for 
much longer.  The much needed (ha!) additional condos going up outside of my 
window by the Third Avenue Bridge are welcome by those with more money than 
I'll ever make.  The ones who want to live there....  The management of my 
apartment building who can then drive the rent way up as the neighborhood 
value increases.....  The city who can rake in more property tax money in 
this area....

When you called this post the Disappearing Middle Class you weren't kidding. 
It's very clear to me that we're going to have leave.

It was a great 19 year run though and, in my heart at least, it will always 
be home.  I just wish there was a way for Gracie and I to stay.  It's 
becoming more financially feasible to head out to the suburbs.

Shawn Marie Christenson
Central/Downtown-West (for now)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott McGerik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mpls List Issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 1:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Mpls] Disappearing Middle Class?


Terrell Brown wrote:
According the the article in 1980 middle class was income
between $25,000 and $75,000  and in 2003 middle class was income
between (ya, you guessed it) $25 and $75 thousand.  Does anyone other
than the Washington Times really believe you can use the same absolute
standards for 1980 and then again after 23 years of inflation?
As was stated in the article:
"...it is important to know that the data in the Times story are adjusted 
for inflation. This is mentioned in a footnote to the chart, but nowhere 
else in the article. It might be useful to know that those with an income 
of $11,825 in 1980 now make $25,000, or that an income of $75,000 last 
year is the same as an income of $35,475 in 1980."

Terrell Brown wrote:
You can blame the city for a number of things.  The property tax
structure in Minnesota isn't one of them.  The city can do absolutely
nothing to correct the fact that rental residences are taxed at a much
higher rate than homesteaded ones.
You are correct that the property tax structure is not set by the City. 
However, the City does levy its own property tax and, therefore, does have 
some control over the total property tax levy. So, every time the City of 
Minneapolis raises its property tax rates, it is harming the poor who most 
often live in rental property.

Scott McGerik
South St Paul (formerly Hawthorne)
http://scott.mcgerik.com/





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