After enduring a long dry spell of little computer access at a Combat Outpost in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, I now find myself at Bagram Air Force Base where things are a lot less muddy...where my life is rich with indoor plumbing, multiple entree choices and, best of all, a wireless internet signal.
Coming up for internet air today, I was overjoyed to discover...
...the North By Northside Blog is reporting that Friedman's Shoe Store is finally fixing their unsightly windows. Oh, sure, "good cop" Jeff Skrenes made some half-hearted remarks about how certain individuals (my ears are burning!) made too much of a big deal about the ass ugly windows. I'm paraphrasing here.
But between you, me, and the lamp posts bare of sign spam ripped down by both myself AND Mr. North By Northside, we all know it was public pressure and repeated shaming by this blog which finally got the windows fixed...just like, a couple years ago, the horrible "butt wall" situation was fixed at a certain Northside liquor store.
Now I firmly resolve to buy as many of my new shoes and (more importantly) my new BOOTS at Friedman's, for the rest of my life, and I urge other Northsiders to do the same. (Not that I buy THAT many new footwear items. I prefer to get my footwear from either the Salvation army or the REGULAR army) All the same.
Support Friedman's. I urge you.
Now then, the most important question at this point is...
WHO IS NEXT? What unsightly North Minneapolis neighborhood feature should this blog criticize again and again, repeatedly and colorfully, until it finally gets FIXED?
The rusty railroad bridge which forms the archway to our NoMi neighborhood?
The "ugly ass chocolate brown building" owned by slumlord Keith Reitman?
The "cyanotic sisters?" (Two blue wooden houses, side by side, owned and neglected by slumlord Keith Reitman)
Or something I haven't thought of or mentioned here?
I'm interested in discussion and ideas from readers about what the next target should be. If nobody contributes an idea, that's OK. I'll pick a target myself. But here's your chance to influence the decision.
18 comments:
I would cast my vote for the Full Stop gas station on Lowry and Knox that has the tornado damaged leaning canopy that looks as if it will fall on the building any second. Yes, nearly one year after the tornado this fully functional business is allowed to STILL have the leaning tower of gas station canopies.
I say "would" cast my vote, but I think blogging about it would just be a coincidence to it getting fixed, since I've been 3-1-1'ing the shit out of it for a few months now.
How about the BLO and Fire'n'Ice? The plastic sheeting is ripped out of every window on the BLO and (no disrespect Johnny) both buildings look like they belong in a war zone. I live a few blocks away and it's a depressing scene to look at every morning on the way to work. Really I should extend the conversation to include the Scotch Wash and Balloon Bouquet (huh?) since all three properties are owned by the same person.
Down the block from the Full stop station is the broken down junk man's store. The front is smashed in and half covered with black plastic and chicken wire. The place is right on the corner and I cannot believe the city inspector has not seen that crap hole while making his rounds. And to make things worse, someone is living in part of the building. The whole ugly thing should be torn down! That should be the next target. I'll send you a picture of that dump so you can feast your eyes on a real eye sore.
Nomi Passenger,
In re: Full Stop gas station, can you go ahead and blog about it here, or on your NoMi passenger blog? Thanks.
(Just picked up some nice trinkets for you here at Bagram AFB a few moments ago)
In regard to the junk man store, BLO, Fire 'N' Ice, I think the discussion of "which place to target next" should spill over from this thread and into blog postings. This discussion might go on for a while until a target is finally determined but one thing is for sure:
Once the target is selected, I will gripe in public about the situation until it is corrected, for YEARS if necessary.
Johnny Northside not that it is your business I did not do the facade improvement because of you. I did it for myself and only myself. So why don't you worry about your home and not other people businesses and finances.
My neighborhood and how it looks is very much my business, and will continue to be my business.
The southwest corner of 26th and Penn/northwest of Penn and Broadway is likely going to be the new BLO. Designs are already underway for an apartment complex and first floor retail space. So far the plans look excellent; there is no need to be critical of BLO.
The blue twins across the street will hopefully come down soon. There's some regulatory plumage posted there, and I keep on meaning to stop by and see what it is.
My vote goes for the rusted railroad tracks over Broadway. The railroad companies are notorious for not cooperating with anybody, so if there's any person or entity that needs some unconventional pressure, it's them.
Hello,
Pictures of 1900 and 1904 lowry Ave. North sent to your e-mail Johnny. It's almost a year and the place still looks like crap. Please post the pictures on your blog. Thanks.
I did some checking. I was
curious about who owns the junk man building as it is such a dilapidated building.
So I went into the
Hennepin County tax records and found that there is no listing for 1900
and 1904 Lowry Avenue North. So, I checked further and found out that
the entire lot is listed under the address of 3203 Logan Avenue North. I
don't know why the building has 1900 and 1904 posted on the front of the
building facing Lowry Avenue. However, which is the front? The part of
the building facing Lowry or the part of the building facing Logan?
According to the tax records, it is all one building with the address of
3203 Logan Avenue North. The owner is Donna Rudebush @ 3203 Logan Avenue
North. The property is listed as "residential, homestead". That building
is not listed as a business building.
Spam post related to shoe sales rejected.
Jeff, please run over to the "cyanotic sisters" or "blue twins" as you call 'em, and tell me what's been posted. Help a soldier's morale in Afghanistan!
(Blinky blinky, sad expression, hopeful eyes)
WALLY,S FOODS! On Golden Valley road and Penn. Not so much because of the looks, its drugs drugs and more drugs.. I saw the ice cream truck deal drugs with people comming out of Wally,s ! Checked it out inside and owners were cool with what the clientele was doing in his business. I know how to fit in. Not going any farther. (:
^^^ now, thats a lie... mpd sits INSIDE and outside that store daily and every night.. soon as u sell anything on that corner, here comes the police....
mr. john. iam 8 years old and am afraid that you will tear down my tree house.please do not please. i love my treehouse more than crack and am hoping you spare me. it is what you call my man cave and since it is high off the ground the vapors dont attract the animals at street level.it also is amendable to amazon women. please spare the little brother got to get to school bye.
Just be be very clear. The Friedman's did not install new windows and make improvements because of your blogging pressure. It was part of a long term plan to make building improvements.
They didn't even know about your blogging until it was pointed out to them by Terry Yziguirwhatever - the Mpls mirror lady.
While your mission may be accomplished, it is not something you can take credit for. They didn't "cave" from your pressure.
The fact they caught wind of my blog post when "The Yaz" took it upon herself to walk in there and make them aware of it doesn't make any difference to me. The fact somebody "catches wind" of my blog writings from somebody else, or turns them up in a search for something else, what do I care? The words get read and the words have an impact.
Like, for example, the way Friedman's finally caved from the pressure, albeit it's a matter of record that EVERYBODY asked them to fix that mess before I took it upon myself to raise the profile of the issue. Word to business owners in North Minneapolis: when EVERYBODY is asking you to fix some problem with your property, make it happen before Johnny Northside gets it in his head to write about it.
I have to disagree with JNS here. Having spoken with the owners at length about many things in the community, and about their business, I can say that they didn't "cave" to any pressure. The opportunity to improve their facade, and to do it right, in a way that made sense for them financially, came along and they took it. This was a very positive development, done for positive reasons. I'd advise against credit for the change due to attempts at public humiliation.
I agree it's a positive development.
Like seeing Reitman's crappy "blue twins" carted away in gigantic dumpsters will soon be a positive development.
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