Photos By Jeff SkrenesWith the notorious address of 3020 6th St. N. now vacant, the property has fallen under the "adopt vacant houses" mandate of the City of Minneapolis, and active, involved neighbors are getting up close to check the condition and make sure trespassers--like the former druggie occupants--aren't getting inside.
Of course, there is also a degree of compassion for the former occupants...
It's hard to call police when once sees them merely fetching, for example, their stereo left out on the porch. Of course, if they hang around for any significant period of time, one quickly thinks, "Are they looking to make a drug deal with anybody who walks up?"
It's not like the foot traffic has stopped, after all, though it has dropped off precipitously.
These photos were taken a few days ago by Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes, before the front door was finally screwed shut to stop the foot traffic going into the porch. Yesterday, Neighborhood Chairman Peter Teachout told me police were out at the property, including Lt. Rugel of the Fourth Precinct.
(God bless the Fourth Precinct)
Calm and lawfulness has descended upon this part of the Hawthorne Eco Village cluster project. This area has gone from being one of the worst, to one of the safest. However, we can't yet rest on our progress and must still constantly look for the next threat, the next breach of our newfound security.
I'm told back in the mid-1960s some folks in this part of North Minneapolis didn't feel the need to lock their doors. Now we are pushing our reality to where we wish it to go, back to the days when neighborhood safety and security was like the water in which a fish swims, not noticed, taken for granted.
The owner of this very property swore up and down "nothing will ever change." If Evannor "The Devil" Haymon said it once, he must have said it a million times. When would it sink in? When would we GET IT? THIS IS HOW IT IS.
But now we stand on the vacant steps of 3020 6th St. N. and pose for trophy photos. Reality is what we wish it to be, what we work each day to make it become. It doesn't have to be what's already there, what we accept because we are afraid to hope and dream of something different, better, something close to heaven on earth.
Of course, there is also a degree of compassion for the former occupants...
It's hard to call police when once sees them merely fetching, for example, their stereo left out on the porch. Of course, if they hang around for any significant period of time, one quickly thinks, "Are they looking to make a drug deal with anybody who walks up?"
It's not like the foot traffic has stopped, after all, though it has dropped off precipitously.
These photos were taken a few days ago by Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes, before the front door was finally screwed shut to stop the foot traffic going into the porch. Yesterday, Neighborhood Chairman Peter Teachout told me police were out at the property, including Lt. Rugel of the Fourth Precinct.
(God bless the Fourth Precinct)
Calm and lawfulness has descended upon this part of the Hawthorne Eco Village cluster project. This area has gone from being one of the worst, to one of the safest. However, we can't yet rest on our progress and must still constantly look for the next threat, the next breach of our newfound security.
I'm told back in the mid-1960s some folks in this part of North Minneapolis didn't feel the need to lock their doors. Now we are pushing our reality to where we wish it to go, back to the days when neighborhood safety and security was like the water in which a fish swims, not noticed, taken for granted.
The owner of this very property swore up and down "nothing will ever change." If Evannor "The Devil" Haymon said it once, he must have said it a million times. When would it sink in? When would we GET IT? THIS IS HOW IT IS.
But now we stand on the vacant steps of 3020 6th St. N. and pose for trophy photos. Reality is what we wish it to be, what we work each day to make it become. It doesn't have to be what's already there, what we accept because we are afraid to hope and dream of something different, better, something close to heaven on earth.
1 comment:
John, as a Realtor, who can say nothing, I say...hmmm, "Nothing."
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