WizardMarks wrote: You're right, though, around here shoes on the wires are a signal about where to look for drugs.
Ed Kohler: Those are the ones I'm after. As Mark Wilde pointed out, there is little good information on why shoes end up on power lines. I don't know for sure why they're there (only guessing), but there seems to be a correlation between problematic blocks and shoes on power lines. Obviously, shoes end up on power lines for any number of reasons, just like graffiti has more than one motivation. For example, there is a difference between soccer spikes hanging next to Minnehaha Academy (freshman hazing?) and shoes in an alley alongside gang graffiti. Perhaps the shoes are more of a signal to the dealer than to the buyer? If I was to park and sit near a pair of shoes on a power line, and didn't look like a cop, I image dealers would approach me. Why else would someone sit in a car underneath a pair of shoes on a power line? I got the impression that the "pavement princesses" (never heard that one before) were similarly confused by my stopping in their pick up lot beneath the shoes I mentioned last night. Another example: My neighbors have been dealing with a problematic house on 46th Ave S for a while now. In the year I've owned my home, I've had shoes removed from the middle of the intersection of Lake and 46th three times. An alley in Nokomis East has shoes hanging at the North and South intersection, and another pair mid-block in the alley. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=5754+Sander+Dr,+Minneapolis,+MN&spn=0.029183,0 .085316&hl=en (I reported these tonight.) A Longfellow Neighborhood block had a pair of shoes at the alley, and gang tags on garage doors mid-block within the alley. All pranks? Perhaps. But they're darn tenacious pranksters, and choose some out of the way spots if their goal is notoriety (like some graffiti 'artists' are motivated by). I got a laugh out of Dottie's "can't been 'em, join 'em" strategy. Should we all start dressing like gangsters too? I don't know if I could pull it off. I'd just like to be able to call them in when I see them, with the expectation that the issue will be addressed in a reasonable amount of time regardless of the neighborhood. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something, and "the system" is working. - Ed Kohler Cooper REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
