Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures and (very likely) misadventures of a writer who seeks to take his education, activism and seemingly boundless energy to North Minneapolis, (NoMi) to help with a process of turning a rapidly revitalizing neighborhood into something approaching Urban Utopia. I am here to be near my child. From 02/08 to 06/15 this blog pushed free speech to the envelope, so others could take heart and speak unafraid. Email me at hoffjohnw@gmail.com
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Stupid Home Repairs, Addition Edition
Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman
I was out doing a rather successful round of foreclosure prevention doorknocking when I came across the house shown above. This is 2901-03 James Ave N.
Jordanites, feel free to comment on how or why this design was ever approved. My guess is that somebody just went ahead and added this outrageously ugly section of a house that doesn't look anything like the rest of the structure or anything else on the block. Only AFTER it was complete did they ask permission of any kind. Oh, and take a look at that last shot. House markers in sharpie!
(Do not click "Read More," but do be grateful that folks like "Mr. Slummy" are now being stopped in their tracks.)
OMF'nGowsh. That $#!^ is atrocious!
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was some kind of business at one point. Being on a corner lot with the brick work and all.
ReplyDeleteYou can find other similar structures on the Northside. These where the corner convienence store of the 20's and 30's with the owner family living in the attached house
ReplyDeleteDyna sez: I've seen several of these neighborhood store/house combinations on the Northside. Actually, they still make a lot of sense for small businesses, artists, etc..
ReplyDeleteJohnny Northside really looses it's optimistic feel when you post stuff like this. Stick to doing good and leave your architectural preferences at home.
ReplyDeleteThis would be perfect for someone who wanted to open a hot dog stand, but also work from home...
ReplyDelete@ anon 11:27
ReplyDeleteThank you for recognizing that JNS intentional about focusing on optimistic aspects of NoMi. But part of that viewpoint IS architectural preferences.
Now, I can see Dyna's point about a small store being added on to a home. Perhaps that's what happened here. It's still cringe-inducing and ugly.
I believe that such structures were built in our neighborhoods because there have been times when few people cared and/or were watching what happened here. The fact that we can HAVE discussions on a neighborhood level about architectural preference, and the fact that those discussions are being HEARD is PROGRESS.
So once again; this building is ugly and when proposals to do something similar come forward, remember what the neighborhood values are regarding our architecture.