Peter Vevang wrote:
Peter Vevang Writes:
But there is a disproportionate tilt of resources to areas that are already well served by the park system. NE is not well served well by the park system. We don't we have a decent link to the Minneapolis greenway system. The Park Board can't even find the spare change to mow their dandelion lawns in our area! We see cuts first and improvements last. Holland park will see its first major update literally since the 1950's. We have had 50 years of neglect, while our tax dollars paid for many millions of dollars in improvements elsewhere. We had to raid our NRP money to get our meager improvements. One project can't make up for 50 years and we shouldn't have had to bribe the Park Board with NRP money. I personally believe that NE is due more attention on a large scale, we paid taxes and deserve a service in return. We NEED major park and civic investments if we are to prosper on par with the rest of the city. I would like to see a greater commitment to fair resource allocation and more vision from our park board, if they can't do that then we need a new park board.
WM: What you describe is a form of red lining. Thanks to ACORN and many others (include Karen Clark in MN), red lining has been made illegal for banks and insurance companies. However, it is still legal for municipalities and other entities (Park Bd., Library Bd.) to red line. To me, this is one of the most infuriating of the many, many types of class warfare perpetrated on citizens.
One would think, particularly in times of budget stress, that municipalities would adjust to the reality of what that stress does to different areas within the city and put our resources where they are most needed. But nooooooooooooooo. Instead there's talk of underwriting a sports stadium for professional ball games which exist within an industry that is overflowing with money.
In order for the municipality to withstand the next several years of economic down turn that we can expect to contend with, the city will have to put resources where its infrastructure is weakest. (This is the thinking behind the high level of support for the Sears Project at Chicago Lake and the 35W Access Project). The same thinking undergirds the NRP decision, many years ago now, to put high millions of dollars into the nine most troubled neighborhoods in the city.) To let up on this push now would be folly. (To get the Park and Library boards to understand and operate on this notion is like pushing a rock uphill with your nose. To get the city to shift it's bulk to implement such a strategy is like pushing a raw egg up hill with your nose. Oddly enough, the county commissioners have done a much better job of this, at least so far as the south side of Minneapolis is concerned.)
I expect better from both the Park and Library boards and from other elected officials. I would dearly love to see people who are running for office articulate this notion as a reason to elect them.
WizardMarks, Central
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