Secrets of the City

the name does a lot. “north minnapolis” automatically freaks suburbanites out. they need to separate a subsection of n. minneapolis to invest in heavily (but what to name it?!?) and let that grow outward to envelop the rest of the area.

Hrmph. Part of me wants to point at KC where they have a rolling gentrification based on the “cheap rent draws artists which draws coffeehouses and galleries which draw boutiques and condoburbians which raises the rents and boots the artists to the next cheap place” cycle.

Then part of me wants to point at Compton.

I live in one of the nicer sections of North Minneapolis (Victory) and it’ll be a tough slog, no question. We had a Kowalski’s briefly, but between their reluctance to make the grocery store a real Kowalski’s with similar quality and variety of the other stores, and the neighborhood’s proletariat roots, it died on the vine.

We have seen a glimmer of hope lately though. Papa’s Pizza and Rick’s Cafe both seem to have taken hold in the neighborhood. We just need some quality retail and we’ll be off to a good start, especially given that there is some disposable income to be had.

I think that one of the keys to changing perceptions about North Minneapolis can be found in focusing on (and marketing) individual neighborhoods. Yes, there is stigma associated with the term “Northside,” but as Rich implied, “Victory Neighborhood” does not carry that same connotation.

I watched this happen in the Phillips area of the southside and it really worked. Now we have Midtown, Ventura Village, Prestigious *cough* West, and Epic. Not all of them are on a par with Kenwood in terms of perception, of course, but I really believe that they are seen in a better light than if they were referred to simply as “Phillips.” (Obviously aggressive development has helped as well.)

Also, I would like to predict here and now that the Old Highland neighborhood on the northside will be the first to become officially trendy.

Anybody taking bets? I got a hundred bucks on OldHi.

Thing is, “improve” usually means “gentrify”, which is sometimes fine… but to really improve a neighborhood, you need a plan to include and better the lives of the poor of that neighborhood. Otherwise, you just chase them off somewhere else, where they’re forced to start from scratch, and many of the same problems get created…

of course, I don’t pretend to know how to do this.

I understand Jeff, but that’s a whole different argument, and one that is often made by those who live outside of the urban core and want to make damn sure the poor people stay IN IT.

(Not saying that’s what you’re thinking, of course, just that it happens.)

““Victory Neighborhood” does not carry that same connotation.“

At least, not until you get out of the agent’s car and look around and exclaim “hey, you ass, this is North Minneapolis!”

The “safeness” of Bryn Mawr has or soon will extend a few block past the “wrong side of the tracks”. Driving down West Broadway pisses me off because there is nothing obvious geographically that should prevent that stretch from being any worse than Franklin or Lake (at least the Franklin and Lake of the last few years.)

Most likely, development will continue to creep in from Theo Wirth, and maybe something along the river, eventually reaching more towards the center of the North Side. Of course, you can’t undo 50 years of blight overnight.

I think told ranty that the moment they build luxury condos on Penn and Plymouth, is the moment I leave Minneapolis. Camden is also quite nice and affordable (although according to Mother Bixby, our property taxes seem to be going through the roof – upside of the foreclosures means that should be going down a little bit). Living extremely close to the former Kowalski’s, I agree with Richg about them not investing in it. It looked just like the SuperValu that was previously there.

In other news, I’ve given up on apartments in St. Louis Park and am looking at two buildings in NE and SE Minneapolis. They are way more in my price range and more importantly I think it helps me regain my MNSpeak street cred.

All the Northside needs is a few more young single guys like myself to buy up the fixer uppers over here for restoration projects. North has some of the most beautiful Victorian and Arts and Crafts architecture in the city, and you can get a ton of house for the dollar in this part of town.

I bought my house in the Hawthorn neighborhood 5 years ago. I’ve never had an incident and for the most part my neighbors are very cool. The issue to me has always been the slumlords that don’t keep up there properties, and the city-wide segregation of section 8 in one small area. I’m not knocking section 8, as I think it is a worthwhile program, but it doesn’t help anyone when it all put in one part of the city.

The new Lowry revitalization has improved my neighborhood a ton. There aren’t corner hustlers anymore, and I’ve only seen one prostitute working the neighborhood this year. It used to be that I would sit on my deck with a beer and watch a virtual cat-walk happening on Lowry, that hasn’t been the case this year.

I’m interested in hearing other peoples North MPLS stories. My one complaint is that there isn’t much for restaurants and good groceries on this side of town, but Northeast is always a worthwhile trip in that regard.

Bixby, Nordeast!! Do it!

Hopefully there will be a silver lining to the foreclosures, where the city loses its most negligent landlords, and people like Ranty come in and fix up houses for people to buy. Maybe the fire sale prices will encourage folks who live in the neighborhood to buy rental properties and do ‘em up right.

LOL @ “MNSpeak street cred.”

Brew, only “young single guys like yourself?”

Hawthorne does have some really nice old homes, I agree. Also, while walking around the neighborhood recently, I spied a actual-factual CHERRY TREE in the front yard of a place just to the west of 94. Its berries glimmered like rubies in the evening sun. I was enchanted.

Speaking of getting a lot of house for the money, I nearly bought a Victorian in Near North (just south of Hawthorne) a few years back. It was 2,800 square feet of architectural perfection for $250,000. I didn’t pull the trigger because I wouldn’t have the time to maintain the place, but there are spectacular houses down that way for ridiculous prices.

If they could get a handle on more of the crime then they have now, and bulldoze or fix up some of all the run down vacant homes and businesses it would be a much better place to live. It would be better if at least some of these run down homes could be repaired into decent housing for Northside residents. I have to say though the north side currently lacks some of the things it really needs. It could use at least several decent grocery stores as well as some other businesses. The only one I know of is the Cub on Broadway. There once were quite a few more twenty or thirty years ago. I don’t know for sure, but is there even a bank left on the Northside anymore for its residents? There used to be several as recent as the seventies. Maybe the city could give some of these home owners and landlords an incentive by lowering the taxes on the property for a few years if it has been decently repaired and been brought up to code.

Speaking of getting a lot of house for the money, I nearly bought a Victorian in Near North (just south of Hawthorne) a few years back. It was 2,800 square feet of architectural perfection for $250,000. I didn’t pull the trigger because I wouldn’t have the time to maintain the place, but there are spectacular houses down that way for ridiculous prices.

there are some nice ones, but good luck trying to ever sell a house up there.
only buy there if you plan on staying for a long ass time.

I think one of the keys is more programs for the children and families who live there, such as tutoring, afterschool clubs, leadership opportunities, park programs, music programs, etc. When kids have more opportunities like these, they will be less likely to turn to crime and drugs. They will grow up and be strong leaders in their communities.

If the current community becomes safer, then outsiders who did not grow up in North will be more likely to move there.

There’s a theory I learned about in college, called the “Broken Windows” theory. The theory states that the less in shape a neighborhood looks (i.e. broken windows, boarded up homes, etc) the more likely it is that people will think “well no one here really cares” and will go there from outside the area to start crime (or they live there already and see that it seems that no one really cares, so they’ll create crime).

With that being said, maybe one of the ways to fix North is to repair the run-down homes, clean up graffiti and gang symbols, tear down some of the run-down shopping areas and try to build up new areas. People could start putting more effort into really caring for the spaces, with community gardens, murals, and such. Community groups could start showing just how much they do care with carnivals, festivals, etc and sooner or later the people that really do want to make crime would look elsewhere.
Some of the changes to the community need to come from the community themselves…if you don’t want people to do drugs on your block, get a bunch of people (police included) and host neighborhood block parties at night. People aren’t going to do drugs and prostitution in an area with so many witnesses.

Broken Windows theory: old news/alternate explanations.

Also, how pragmatic is a bunch of block parties? It’s not. We have time and want to care about our neighborhood but there’s only so much time and energy that the average working person in my neighborhood has.

Maybe it’s not too pragmatic, and you don’t have tons of time, but others can help. I’d be willing to come out there and help some older folks or whomever paint their home, or clean up trash, or plant flowers, or whatever.

Solutions take time. Otherwise, what are we gonna do? “Burn down North High” like Don Samuels suggested??? We can’t just get rid of problems, we gotta WORK to solve them.

Hate to sound like a Care Bear, hopelessly optimistic and all, but if we all work together, we can make good things happen. There have to be more people in North that truly care about the community (and others who live outside the community that care and can help as well) than there are criminals, gang members, drug users/dealers, etc. Those that care can bind together and be a strong force.

It’s not going to get done in a day, but if those that care band together, we CAN make a difference!

MoonPie, you can start here. Care Bears Unite!!

Moonpie, I don’t know about all neighborhoods over north, but much of the stuff you mention IS happening in Willard-Homewood/Hay, where my house is. We had a spring ice cream social, plus just had a neighborhood barbeque two weekends ago, (which I was out of town for, but I distributed flyers beforehand) and we have an active email list on which people discuss neighborhood issues. We also have a neighborhood blog.

In addition, neighbors do a lot of community stuff through the Peace Foundation, which also happens to be hosting a “lucky” Friday the 13th event tomorrow.

We just need more people to get involved!

there are some nice ones, but good luck trying to ever sell a house up there.
only buy there if you plan on staying for a long ass time.

Baker, are you a real estate agent or appraiser? Have you done a market analysis on any of those victorian homes in near north? If so, I’d love to see your data, which would seem to conflict with my own.

I personally think it’s is a great place to invest right now, particularly along Plymouth Ave, close to downtown. (For the right price, obviously.) Whatever one thinks of the Twins Stadium plan, I do believe that it’s going to have a positive effect on those property values, if and when construction gets underway.

But that’s just me…

To be honest, I grew up in the suburbs, and I’d always see things on the news about North Minneapolis being the “ghetto” etc. And when my parents and I would drive through there on our way someplace, they’d always tell me to lock my doors.

When I grew up, I ended up in North several times for work, visiting people, to go to certain parks, or to get through to Robbinsdale. I realized the “ghetto North” that I’d always heard about in the media wasn’t really so bad. True, I might not want to be in all parts of it in the middle of the night, but it really just seemed like shops, schools, libraries, etc, and people moving from one place to the other or hanging out on their porches.

It seems like maybe a lot of what keeps North from prospering is some bad stereotypes. Maybe some of them have truth to them, but not all. Maybe it does need a new name and a new image. I’m not really sure what the ideal solution is, but as the Kare11 article stated, the neighborhood has changed before…so I think it could change again.

I don’t necessarily agree that I’d invest in a new condo type of property on Plymouth Ave at the moment, but driving past those Heritage Park buildings, I was thinking that they look really nice and have a GREAT view of the city skyline (at a lower price than what’d you pay elsewhere). I really would consider moving into Heritage Park if I had a family (it seemed like a family type of place).

“Brew, only “young single guys like yourself?”

Yeah that sounded weird. I meant people with time to work on properties. Not exluding women either.

Leigh,

Thanks for the link to that website. I don’t know if you were saying it sarcastically or not, but it actually looks kind of neat!

I’m curious as to how many MNSpeak readers live in North Minneapolis? Do you like it? Are the stereotypes true?

Did anything every happen with the proposed new neighborhood around the new twins stadium. At one point there was an emphasis on reconnected residents north minneapolis with downtown, but it must have been two years ago at least since I have heard anything about it.

reconnected residential…im going to sleep

Good question, Jonathan. I don’t know what happened with that.

Also, to MoonPie: I don’t yet live in North Mpls, though I do own a house there which I am about to list. As soon as it sells, I hope to buy one of those old victorians in Old Highland and rehab it to be my future home. Other MNSpeakers who live over north include RichG, Amber, and I believe Bixby too at the moment. I think there are a couple more as well, but I can’t remember who off the top of my head.

And Stargirl: the Old Highland neighborhood is basically right behind Heritage Park. Many of the houses there also have great views of the downtown skyline.

Harrison will be the first to fully gentrify and it’ll begin to trickle towards Homewood. Give it 10 years.