Thank you, Linda, for explaining this change. It now makes sense. It is also what we have been trying to get out of the city for a long time.
Why is there a perception that decent, clean, well-built housing cannot also be affordable and able to stand up to the wear and tear of time. We have had unscrupulous builders come into our neighborhoods in the not so distant past and build houses that probably won't be standing in ten years, at least I hope they won't. They tried to sell them to unsuspecting buyers on a rent to own scam. Does anyone here really want people investing $270,000 on a 2,000 square foot, 5 or 6 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath house with no basement or garage in the Jordan neighborhood? They then rented the properties out at the maximum rent subsidized housing would pay. To somebody moving here from a refugee camp in SE Asia, which was their stated target buyer, these places may look like the Taj Mahal. They are, in fact, piles of crap and we all know it. We got a bunch of these monstrosities in North Mpls because the ordinances didn't prevent that type of construction. Hopefully, we won't get any more. What is gentrification? I hear the term alot. It gets tossed around whenever someone starts talking about cleaning up the neighborhood or making improvements like the changes in this ordinance. Oddly enough, I hear it described as people who move into the neighborhood and want to change it. I have been accused of advocating it by people who have lived in Jordan 5 years or less. I have lived in this neighbrohood for 23 years, hardly just moved in status. I don't want my neighborhood turned into Beverly Hills, but I'm tred of it sliding down into another East L.A. ( I went out of state in hopes that nobody from there reads this and gets offended by the comparison). Somewhere between these two extremes we should be able to find a livable and affordable middle ground. Connie is right in alot of her points. How much money does a person have to have before they can pick up the trash in their yard, make sure the trash is put into the container provided by the city, have the kids not spray paint every garage they walk by, shovel their walks in the winter and pull weeds in the summer. When a landlord is getting $800 a month rent on a house, is it really asking too much that he paint it once in a while and use a color he didn't find in the discard bin? How much does it cost to have house numbers front and back that are readable from the street? How hard is it for some of these abandoned houses that we have sitting boarded up for 5 or more years to be torn down if they can't be rehabbed immediately? Why can't the city close down an illegal auto repair shop that's been operating for at least 5 years in the open (the guy has two tow trucks parked next to his house), but they can hammer the heck out of a coffe shop that puts a couple of tables out on the sidewalk or boulevard? If the proceedures are too tied up in red tape, change the procedures. If the city attorney says it can't be changed, hire a city attorney that can change it. I'm tired of hearing 'it cant' all the time. To borrow a line from the Army, we need some 'can do' around here. Well, enough. I think I've made my point. I just wish City Hall would get it. In this day and age of 'out-sourcing', I have often thought the city inspections would be a good place to start. Maybe if a private company got a bounty for their successeful enforcments we would see things get cleaned up around here. Unfortuneately, they would probably go crazy and tag everyone. I wonder how the suburbs do it? Anne McCandless Jordan 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
