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Though my trademark phrase might be "you understand that's going right on my blog?" I do try to give credit where it is due. Recently, a guy named Anderson "Chip" Mitchell III articulated a theory of North Side revitalization so simple (and yet) so smart, I decided it deserves its own blog post...
I met Anderson at a meeting of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Association, while working out the future of my house vis-a-vis development planned for the block. I met him again, a few days later, during the Hawthorne "Clean Sweep" street cleaning event.
After the event, there was a lot of sitting around and talking about "what the North Side needs," and in the course of this I said how much I believed revitalization was inevitable. The distance between North Minneapolis and the downtown core is amazingly short. All the time, the Twin Cities are growing. In short, "This real estate has become too valuable...revitalization is inevitable, especially with these cool old houses containing such nice woodwork."
But Anderson Mitchell--who served in an army artillery unit--had a different take on the matter. Gas prices, he said. It is all about gas. Four dollar a gallon gas is here to stay, and people can't afford these long commutes. North Side revitalization won't be driven by anything so hard as gas prices.
And I was all, like, oh-my-word. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT'S GOING RIGHT ON MY BLOG?!
Here is the website for Anderson Mitchell's construction company. I saw his house, and if you can judge a man by his house...well, a good judgment of Anderson. He has lovely children and a nice wife, as well. Even the little children worked hard picking up litter to help improve the North Side.
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