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
The Hawthorne Hawkman blog probably broke the news first when Jeff Skrenes tweeted about the solar panels being installed, but these are apparently the first photos shared in the blogosphere. Unknown if the long-awaited, much-anticipated panels are hooked up and working, yet, but HERE THEY ARE.
Also, are those raised gardening beds in the second photo? I tell you, life in the Hawthorne EcoVillage just gets better and better.
Located right next to "the Polish Lady" in the Hawthorne Eco-Village, the house at 416 31st Ave. N. was right in the middle of everything. And, by virtue of being in the middle of everything, it was the subject of several stories here on Johnny Northside Dot Com, everything from a bloody and disturbing tale of pit bull fighting to...
In the last year or so, the house was a rental while for sale on the market. There wasn't much trouble with the renters, unlike the situation for years before that as one no-account after another lived at the property and hurt the quality of life for decent people living in the Eco-Village.
About a month ago, I got word the house was demolished. As far as I know, no pictures of the demolition were taken. Progress in the Eco-Village has become so commonplace we are starting to take it for granted. The march of revitalization in North Minneapolis is unstoppable.
While working in the yard today around 4 o'clock I heard "something" from the back of my lot. I have heard lots of "somethings" since moving into the Eco-Village a few months ago and each time I let my curiosity get the better of me and go take a look. Usually it turns out to be a neighbor working in their yard or construction noise from various projects in the neighborhood.
I didn't think much of this particular "something" considering that it was the middle of the day, but nonetheless I walked to the back of my lot to take a look. In a nearby yard I saw a man standing on a ladder next to a house doing "something" and I assumed he was a contractor of some sort, but then...
...he hopped over the fence into a vacant lot next door, then ran to the driveway and out of sight. "Now why would a contractor hop a fence and run away?" I asked myself... something just didn't seem right. I got on my bike and headed out to get a closer look, and nearly bumped into the man in question... this time he was on a bike carrying some sort of backpack or luggage.
A few seconds later I arrived at the house as I was dialing 911. Sure enough the window near the ladder was broken... so either this guy was running off to the hardware store for some replacement glass (sarcasm font) or he was thinking about going inside.
I still don't know what prompted the man to leave the scene. I would like to think he saw or heard me and realized this wasn't the place for easy crimes... but he might have just left for an easier "job" or he might have been casing the place while daylight worked to his advantage. I later saw him biking into an alley nearby and called 911 again to report his current location.
I have to admit I've gotten pretty relaxed living in the relatively crime free Eco-Village, but let this be a warning that past experience is not an accurate predictor of future events. Even though we might be through the hardest part of revitalizing this small section of NoMi there is still work to be done and we must all remain vigilant even after great success.
Image from video shot by John Hoff, blog post by John Hoff
In the midst of a new and urgent public discourse about cracking down on violent crime--especially in North Minneapolis--the amazing Hawthorne EcoVillage success story has been brought up more than a few times by public officials. This area went from being one of the MOST crime-plagued areas of the city to being one of the LEAST troubled. So the pressing question is: how? And how do we replicate that?
They are entitled to their point of view, and I'm not saying it's wrong. But I have my own thoughts on where we were, how we got where we are now, and where we need to go... Walking Drum will tell you that incessant 911 calling and meetings with public officials made a big difference. And that's true. But perhaps I should mention how this 911 calling was NOT static. It was not done all the time from behind the frilly chiffon curtains of windows.
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC NUMBER ONE: We got in vehicles and physically drove around, calling in criminal activity. We referred to this as "going on patrol."
It was a lot more fun than fishing, let me tell you that. The Bible says "I will make you fishers of men." Well, it was kind of like THAT, only we were just baiting hooks and police had all the fun reeling 'em in. When we'd drive around and see no crime to report, we always had mixed emotions. Did we just fail, or were we succeeding? In any case, we did this week after week, month after month. We did not let up. And sometimes we'd have an incredible success, like the time the police called us back and mentioned the crack hidden in a minor's, well, crack. You don't want to go there.
But the police did. They went there. God bless 'em, every one.
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC NUMBER TWO: Covert video taping.
I'm guessing about 100 hours were spent covertly videotaping problem properties to document drug deals. The photo which illustrates this post is a still from some of that videotaping. And we didn't just take our tapes and say to the police, hey, here you go. Check out these hours of videotape.
No, we EDITED the tapes to get the good stuff. In fact, one of the dudes who was editing actually made a MUSIC VIDEO. I wish he'd put that stuff on YouTube. It was heart-rending...made me think about how these poor thugs have an immortal soul which will face eternal judgment, and they'll most likely be pushing rock in Purgatory to work off all their sins for...well, pushing rock.
This videotaping was not always done under comfortable conditions. Often, it was done in a sweltering attic, in summer, with an electric fan to provide only a small degree of comfort. And not just anybody can pull this stuff off. Practicing "light discipline" like a good little soldier was important, so the thugs wouldn't see the guy with the camera.
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC NUMBER THREE: Little stuff matters. Picking up litter, getting grass mowed, calling in graffiti to 311, this kind of thing creates a neighborhood environment where order rules, and disorder slinks away to find itself a hospitable rat hole.
But there are subtle and unique manifestations of this principal which don't always make the list of bullet points. For example, leaving a piece of litter right in front of your house allows you to walk outside, pick up the litter, and (while stooping down) memorize the license plate of a car parked across the street--no doubt buying drugs. Again.
It's hard to fail when so many public officials are paying close attention and cheering each small success, trying to figure out how they can assist. I remember the day I called 311 and--oh, my word--the city sent in a special "A-Team" garbage disposal unit to deal with the trash problem at 416 30th Ave. N., showing up with multiple trucks like a military convoy. At that point I wondered, "To what degree are we getting faster, better service because all this stuff is hitting the internet?"
I always had the strong sense that writing the story was actively helping the story to end well, and NOT telling the story was like throwing in the towel and giving up.
Want to clean up a crime-ridden urban area? Send in the bloggers.
However, the bloggers themselves are merely telling a tale. What's more important are the folks who are DOING THE STORY: people like Peter Teachout who would not back down in their fight to clean up the neighborhood, even after having a truck torched in a terrifying incident of what can only be called "domestic terrorism." Without people like Peter Teachout, the bloggers can't make a meaningful contribution, because there is no good story to tell.
So the next question becomes: where do we find folks like Peter Teachout to move into the empty houses in North Minneapolis? Well, THAT is a whole 'nuther editorial for a different time.
DIFFICULT PROBLEM NUMBER ONE: Applying the lessons of the EcoVillage, and looking at the problems we face, the first issue I see is something I call a Decency Dead Zone. This is an area like Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall, or portions of Penn Avenue North, or the area right in front of the Emerson Food Market, or the Lowry Avenue Market, where there is so much dealing, so much hanging around, so much unsavory activity that decent people avoid the area and do not stick their noses into matters long enough to call 911.
Urban geography contributes to these "dead zones." Like an Iraqi insurgent sniper who picks the perfect spot to shoot at American troops--carefully considering his line of sight, how difficult it is for the Americans to approach or shoot back effectively, how the sniper can get resupplied--experienced street criminals skillfully find areas to pimp and sell drugs where, if there are residences nearby, the folks who live in those residences are either too scared, too busy, too determined to stay uninvolved, or thugs themselves. In some cases--like the massive decency dead zone at Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall--there just aren't residences nearby where somebody will be at a window, calling 911. And the businesses in that area either have their head in the sand or apparently consider the thugs their customer base.
Unfortunately, police resources get distributed on the basis of 911 calls. So it's a vicious cycle: there's not as much police patrol in certain areas because there's few 911 calls, but these areas are full of crime...(ask the neighbors, they KNOW) which pushes the folks who would make 911 calls out even further from the area, creating a "decency dead zone."
The crime from these areas won't STAY in these areas, however...the crime will spill over into other areas. Because of a vendetta that starts in the rough and gritty world of the "decency dead zone," a shooting might happen blocks away, miles away...when some thug sees their drug-sales rival on the street and decides--spur of the moment, opportunistically--to open fire. The PROBLEM didn't start on that street...it started in the "decency dead zone" and spilled over somewhere else.
Neighbors who "patrol" can be part of the solution to a decency dead zone, but only so much can be observed whizzing past. Ultimately, involved citizens need to sit and watch the thugs for a while before the need (one might say "opportunity") to make a 911 call arrives.
The solution for the police is relatively simple: listen to the neighbors and what they say about where crime is located but NOT getting called in, instead of relying so heavily on 911 call data, and set up some kind of concealed observation point where drug dealing and prostitution can be intercepted.
And, by the way, since gung-ho Northside neighbors ARE going to participate in 911 patrols, and these neighbors ARE going to covertly videotape criminal activity, the city may as well support these volunteer efforts in various ways or, at the very least, not discourage this kind of thing or get in the way.
The historic record will show I was in the middle of things during the period of time the EcoVillage turned around. I've thought about this stuff, I've pondered it at length, and I've got it down to these points.
You want to replicate the success of the EcoVillage, do this stuff.
The old Life Magazine used to include a feature in the back called "Just One More," which would feature a charming or off-the-wall picture. (No, I'm not old enough to remember the old Life Magazine, but I've paged through the magazines in antique stores)
When Hawthorne's Housing Director Jeff Skrenes emailed me the picture, above, I couldn't help but think of the "Just One More" feature in the old Life Magazine. This image shows CPED Director Mike Christenson running to greet Hawthorne resident Valeria Golebiowski shortly before the groundbreaking ceremony.
Here is the 33-second clip of the actual Eco-Village groundbreaking which took place yesterday, click here for more info. For some reason the video wouldn't load up to YouTube yesterday, but today the problem appears to be licked.
Not that you'd want to be LICKING anything in the cold weather pictured here!
Above, former Hawthorne Neighborhood Board Chair Peter Teachout talks about facing down crime in the Eco-Village.
Photo By Megan Goodmundson
A group photo of individuals who were very involved in the Eco-Village effort, including residents and public officials.
The green door pictured in the photo has a bit of a story behind it...
Originally, one city official had an idea to obtain a salvaged door at a local used building components business, but Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes thought it would be more frugal and environmentalist to obtain a used door without cost which, really, wasn't good for anything but a prop, anyway. He got such a door from the "Hawthorne Princess," an incredible bargain of a house owned by Realtor Connie Nompelis, currently on vacation in swampy, oh-so-uncomfortable Honduras.
I might add there are PLENTY of such bargain houses in this rapidly-revitalizing model of a neighborhood.
After the symbolic groundbreaking--shoveling a path in the snow to the door--it was Council Member Diane Hofstede who personally laid out the welcome mat.
Meeting at Farview Park after the ground-breaking, where it was much warmer, 4th Precinct Commander Mike Martin talked about the incredible turnaround in the Eco-Village. According to Martin, members of gang units don't like to pull duty in this area, because it is TOO BORING. According to Martin, a lot of things went right to create the quick and startling 18-month success in the Eco-Village. He said even the bad guys did what they should have done: they packed and left.
Personally, I have to wonder if there weren't some private heart-to-heart talks with the bad guys, with stuff said like, "You DO NOT burn the truck of the neighborhood chair ON MY WATCH, (expletive)."
Whatever it was we collectively did, it worked, and hopefully we can figure out that magic formula and replicate it all over North Minneapolis and beyond.
Council Member Diane Hofstede gives credit to residents who were involved in the long, difficult struggle to turn the neighborhood around. Diane is always a classy dresser, but today she looked especially sharp.
I couldn't help but notice a minor factual error, made with the best of intentions: Diane mentioned my car "getting burned." Actually, it was Peter Teachout's truck that burned. As for me, I've had a total of ten tires slashed, one vehicle window busted, and one incident of my vehicle being stolen. (That theft also included a busted window) But my vehicle has never been torched. I would never bother to mention this except that I don't want to get credit in public for enduring something that did not, in fact, actually happen.
Due to how closely Jeff Skrenes, Peter Teachout and myself worked to turn the Eco-Village around, sometimes our different sets of facts would get mixed up in the minds of various pepole. For example, today I was asked how "all my kids" were doing. I only have one child, my son Alex, but Peter has FOUR children.
Community Development and Economic Planning (CPED) Housing Director Tom Streitz delivers remarks. One can't help but be reminded of that old saying, "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." Today, we didn't really need to worry about that saying.
Today, Eco-Village resident Pam Patrek--whose home might be described as a peaceful island surrounded by vacant lots--gave identical gift baskets to Jeff Skrenes and myself which included (naturally) some homemade Polish sausage.
Jeff Skrenes took some of his sausage and cut it up to share at the gathering. At Jeff's prompting, I told the story of how this sausage sustained us in our long, gritty efforts to turn around the Eco-Village, often eaten in celebration when yet another decrepit property would get demolished. The sausage itself might very well be the key to the "magic formula" which produced such overwhelming success in such a historically short period of time.
Eat, eat! we told those gathered. Eat the magic sausage. It's great cold!
Here, I'll show you--!
Jill Keiner--who is Hawthorne's point of contact with the City of Minneapolis--talks to Steve Brandt of the Star Tribune about the turnaround happening in North Minneapolis. I heard the name "T.J. Waconia" come up.
Photo By State Rep Linda Higgins
Me posing with Tom Streitz, who is a faithful reader of this blog. Thanks, Tom.
Today was a great day. However, the Eco-Village is not just an end in itself, but intended as a model and a seed which will kick start deeper and broader neighborhood revitalization.
Today we only stand at the front door of the future.
This afternoon, dignitaries and ordinary residents of the Hawthorne Neighborhood assisted with the groundbreaking in the Hawthorne Eco-Village, an area of four blocks which used to be one of the roughest spots in North Minneapolis. Since the ground was frozen and beneath several layers of snow, the "groundbreaking" was accomplished by erecting a symbolic green door and shoveling a path in the snow.
After the groundbreaking and the mercifully brief speeches at 400 31st Ave. N., everybody went to Farview Park where there were more speeches--longer, because we were now in a warm building. One consistent theme of the speeches: the Eco-Village area turned around from being a hellhole of crime and decrepit buildings to being a peaceful, virtually crime-free, rapidly revitalizing area IN A MERE 18 MONTHS.
Mike Christensen of CPED called this "the quickest turnaround of a neighborhood in Minneapolis history" and said the residents who stayed to fight for the Eco-Village (including Peter Teachout, former chair of Hawthorne) were "the most gutsy group of people I ever met."
Today 3020 6th St. N. went down. This place was a notorious house of prostitution and drugs and the subject of frequent posts on this blog, not to mention getting plenty of coverage in the upcoming Adventures of Johnny Northside movie. The demolition was witnessed by... ...myself, former Hawthorne Neighborhood Chair Peter Teachout, Jeff Skrenes (the Hawthorne Neighborhood Housing Director) and Jordan resident Megan Goodmundson. As reported in an earlier blog post, myself and Jeff Skrenes did the "hula by proxy" to commemorate the words of Joyanne Teachout, who said she felt like "doing the hula" in happiness at the evacuation of the "Apartment Complex of Anarchy," which was just down the street. Champagne was also consumed at the scene, in a brown paper bag to keep it legal legal, especially since Fourth Precinct Commander Mike Martin pulled up at the scene.
Unlike the recent and tragic demolition of the Pauline Fjelde house in South Minneapolis, the house at 3020 6th St. North was relatively insubstantial and broke apart like crispy kindling. At one point, a toilet was sideways as though mounted on a wall. Carpeting hung from the newly-split-level layout like a massive stage drape, and the carpet looked like it was pretty nasty even BEFORE the arson.
The crews at the sight informed us the house was considered "haz mat" due to the arson, and put plastic wrapping around the truckloads of debri leaving the sight. One of the crew members informed us that doing a demolition this way--with the haz mat precautions--costs three times as much.
At one point, Jordan resident Tyrone Jaramillo showed up, hoping to get some scrap metal, but had no luck in that regard. (On a side note, Tyrone is a wholesome and honest scrapper with a wife and three kids. If you know of scrap metal needing to be cleaned up, get in touch with Tyrone. The Jaramillos also put on one great Christmas dinner!)
In the window of a house next door, two small Hmong children watched the backhoe in fascination.
The highlight of the day may have been some of the words of Mike Martin, Commander of the Fourth Precinct, who said he came by just to "revel" in the demolition of 3020 6th St. N.
Martin said, only half-jokingly, that the plunging crime rate was going to put him out of a job. I responded to Martin and said something along the lines of, well, what about white collar crime, like mortgage fraud? What about terrorism and theft of intellectual property such as DVD piracy? Hey, once we get all the violent street crime under control, there are still big swathes of crime needing the time of police officers. In fact, the officers will require MORE TRAINING and, being more specialized, will make more money.
The whole time we spoke, the Backhoe of Doom roared in the background.
Later, Jeff and myself went to the house of "the Polish woman" and her husband, who treated us to Polish beer, Polish vodka, and Polish sausage on Polish bread. (There was a theme with the meal, as you may have noticed) Consuming Polish sausage during demolitions in the Eco Village has become a kind of tradition with Jeff and I, though Jeff remarked this was the first time we did it inside, sitting down, with silver wear and plates instead of gnawing the sausage outside.
Yes, I told Jeff, things are really looking up in the Eco-Village.
I was at a meeting today where a presentation was made and other info was passed out that clearly shows how things are getting better all the time in NoMi. Granted, it's not all glitter and rainbows; we're expecting another wave of foreclosures. Those could very well affect renters and landlords, the biggest gap in terms of what service is available.
The two most exciting things, though, were crime being down (again) in the EcoVillage and development on West Broadway... First off, in the EcoVillage: Several months ago, the crime stats came in and over a 3-month period (April - June 2009) there were 23 calls for service related to narcotics. Most of those centered around the corner of 30th Ave N and 6th St N.
From July through September, there was ONE narcotics-related call.
The really great news, though, was brought out by Catalyst Community Partners. In their presentation, they said, "The question is not 'What does it take to start a business in a low-income area,' but 'what does it take to start enough businesses to wake up an underperforming market?'"
On the one hand, with a large population surrounding Broadway, and 20,000 commuters traveling it daily, one would think this would be easy pickings for development. But we all know that Target failed on Broadway and other businesses have historically struggled.
Instead of looking to a single "White Knight" to revitalize Broadway, Catalyst went with 10-15 small buildings along much of the corridor; including a coffee shop, credit union, 24/7 daycare, a sit-down restaurant, and KMOJ.
Catalyst has also been committed to hiring women and minorities, and generating jobs locally. One defense (perhaps even excuse) I hear about MnDOT and various trades and labor jobs is that there just aren't enough women and minorities QUALIFIED to do the work, and that's why minority hiring goals aren't met. Somehow, Catalyst has found a way around this issue, although they say it hasn't been easy. They state that over 40% of their hires have been women and minorities.
A few other areas of success have been that their projects so far have been 100% leased by the time they are completed. Let that sink in for a moment...in the midst of the greatest economic depression of our lifetimes (for most of us), their commercial space is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT leased by the time the project is complete.
Much of the buildings that once housed apartment units above retail are now being converted to office space. So the employees who work in those offices who do not live in NoMi will be spending more daytime hours in our community. Having that mix is important because when too many people are away from the community during the typical 9-5 workday, then businesses need to do much more commerce in that 5 pm to 9 pm slot.
It gets even better. Crime is down dramatically at the Catalyst project sites. In fact, at 1101 West Broaday, the site of the Bean Scene and City-County Federal Credit Union, there has not been one incident (knock on wood) of violent crime OR graffiti in the three years since the building opened.
And Catalyst has no plans to dominate the West Broadway market. Their desire is to stimulate it so that others can come in and do business and thrive as well. Is it working? Well, West Broadway is the only commercial corridor IN THE NATION where development is proceeding uninhibited by the economic downturn.
This community is being TRANSFORMED and I am thrilled to be a part of it!
I woke up on a Saturday morning just in time to see the the steam rising off of the mulch pile into the beaming sunrise. That alone filled me with enough energy to start the day off--who am I kidding? I needed coffee, and lots of it, to get going.
Once that was taken care of, I was ready to work... Other folks from Hawthorne, Energyscapes, and PPL, were way ahead of me though. It was a good thing we had the roto-tiller. The area where we were planting had its fair share of housing remnants - chunks of wood and asphalt abounded. It made me wonder what the ground was like in the hundreds of other vacant lots where houses had been demolished.
And even though dealing with the devil seems like soooo last year, I thought of how many chunks of 3024 6th St N we were digging up, as well as the pending demolition of 3020. On the one hand, I was reminded of the victory of shutting down a known drug dealer who was poisonous to the community (although he's still around, at 3007 3rd St N). On the other hand, the two houses that belonged to him were both viable structures at one point and should have been saved. With the arson at 3020, this feeling of victory was quite literally pyrrhic.
At one point, the tree roots and asphalt fought back and a shovel became an unfortunate casualty of the day:
Once enough digging was done, planting was underway. We put in Jacob's ladder, spiderwort (which sounds like it would be used for some kind of potion), New Jersey Tea (not to be mistaken for Texas tea), and many other types of native plants.
Then it was time to break for lunch. We went to 2419 4th St N, which is on the market for $79,900. With the myriad types of assistance available, this is a terrific buy. Let's bump that price up to an even $83,000 and assume that the seller will cover closing costs as a result. Hawthorne has assistance totaling $2,490. My understanding is that this property has been vacant long enough to qualify for the Minneapolis Advantage program according to these guidelines. That's another $8,300 in assistance. Then there's another $8,000 thanks to the Pohlad Family Foundation. Assuming a 5% downpayment, that gives you a loan amount of $60,060. Conservatively assuming a 6% interest rate, this gets you an estimated PITI payment of $530. Stay in the house ten years, and all that assistance is FORGIVEN. How can you pass this up?!
Here are a few pics of that house: Granted, this isn't a rainbow ceiling fan, but still...
(Two disclaimers: The tax credit may or may not be renewed, and you must close before the end of November to qualify for that. Furthermore, it is not an assistance amount that comes into play at the point of purchase. Second, check with your loan originator and Realtor to confirm that you and the property qualify for each assistance program.)
After lunch, it was time to get back to more planting and landscaping. As much as I enjoy biking or going to the gym, this is a far better workout. At the gym, I move weights around, and when I'm done those weights just go back to the same spot. Today, though, I'm sore because I spent five hours making my neighborhood a better place. That's far more rewarding.
After finishing up here, I stopped by the Polish Lady's house and was treated to a congratulatory beer, a few shots of "Polish Pop" (vodka), and some homemade polish sausage. I'd show pictures, but really there is no way to pose with Polish sausage in a family-friendly way.
The Polish pop came in handy as I took a break to learn a few more hooping tricks before an evening of NoMi revelry...(to be continued in the next Hawkman post)
And, as of this moment, I'm still "up north" and out of town, tending to a freezer unit over the weekend and waiting for another trucking run on Monday, hopefully only to Des Moines, Iowa and back. But that's money and I gotta go.
It's like I tell my friends in North Minneapolis....
During my long journey, I was forced (FORCED, I tell you!) to live on boudin balls and crawfish pie in Louisiana. Thankfully, while I was on my gastronomical tour of Dixieland, the Hawthorne Hawkman did a great job keeping readers informed of various events in NoMi.
Here in NoMi, those of us who are active in neighborhood revitalization have the kind of war-buddy, "band of brothers" closeness one might find in an army platoon. Part of that closeness involves freely using each other's gear; whether it's a blog, a lawnmower or a digital camera. Recently, I downloaded dozens of photos from somebody's camera, and found great pictures of a design planning session in early September at the Hawthorne Eco Village.
I said to myself, hey, these photos are too good NOT to publish. Even though the gathering happened more than a month ago, our tremendous progress in the Eco Village is always worth celebrating.
In the photo at the top of this post, Abbie Loosen of PPL (on the right) looks on as residents (including Pam "Pattycake" Patrek and "The Polish Lady") devour great food from Bangkok Market.
Bangkok Market constantly supports Hawthorne Neighborhood events, including the recent Hawthorne Neighborhood annual meeting. Their spring rolls and shredded papaya salad are perpetual favorites. Below, some of the food at the Eco Village gathering in early September.
Below, everybody loves looking at plans for the Eco Village and dreaming of the future, whether the plan is rendered in a drawing or little wood blocks. Me, I'm partial to the little wood blocks.
In the two pictures below--and this is what gets me the most excited about this whole event, not even kidding--the plastic cups used were made of bio-degradable material produced from corn starch polymer. This kind of plastic can also be found at 42nd Ave. Station, NoMi's newest and hottest coffee shop with FREE WiFi, woo hoo.
Just as the government has tried to mandate better gas milage in vehicles, and created incentives to develop renewable energy, I think the government needs to look toward phasing out plastic food containers made from (Middle Eastern) petroleum, and phase in biodegradable containers made of renewable local resources such as corn starch. Well, what better place than our future Hawthorne Eco Village to raise consciousness about these futuristic products?
The Eco Village is a small mirror of North Minneapolis itself: crime used to be out of control, but now the crime rate has plunged and life has become (mostly) peaceful, wholesome, and oh-so-affordable. History is being written every day through our struggle, and these photos are a piece of that history I didn't want to fall by the wayside. Thanks, again, to Abbie Loosen for putting together this great event and a special thanks for the use of bio-degradable plastic.
But some plans have changed around, and neighbors are gathering tomorrow morning from 8 to3 to... plant a demonstration garden on the area where "Phase I" will be built. Phase I will consist of townhomes in a courtyard setting, but the construction of that is far enough away that neighbors want to see something happen here in the meantime. So we're planting this garden (click for the JNS pdf site and a larger version of the image above).
The illustration shows what the southeast corner of 31st Ave N and 6th St N will look like once we're done with the plantings. The flags will give volunteers an idea of the layout as we get everything set up. Although it kind of reminds me of a certain time-wasting computer game.
By all accounts, the weather should cooperate, and folks are encouraged to come and help out for whatever time they can. Come and help transform NoMi!
The Hawthorne EcoVillage isn't just a focal point for new types of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly construction and rehab. It (and several surrounding blocks) received "MURL" designation for innovative financial products to help people get into home ownership. Click here for a link to the JNS pdf site where you can see fliers about the two MURL houses in the EcoVillage.
MURL stands for Minnesota Urban and Rural Homesteading Loan Program, and here's how it works... The program is designed for people who most likely would not qualify for a traditional mortgage, either due to credit or income issues or religious beliefs against paying interest. It is set up as an interest-free contract for deed, and once the contract amount is paid to zero, then you own the house outright.
This already sounds great, but it gets even better. The payment amount is set up to be 25% of your monthly income. So let's say that you get your hours reduced at work due to the economic downturn. You could present proof of this and your payment would go down accordingly. And if you get a higher-paying job, your payment will go up. However, since the dollar amount for the contract was already set (without interest) all this means is that what you owe gets paid off that much faster.
I know this is going to sound like a bad infomercial, but wait! There's MORE! Hawthorne and PPL are intentional about partnering with local contractors whenever possible. We've been in discussions with two of them for these two homes, and the hope is that when a buyer does come along, that we'll be able to set up bids and scopes of work that allow NoMi businesses to get the job.
3023 4th St N is a 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom house that's great for large families. And 3011 6th St N is a smaller house perfect for a single person or couple looking to get into home ownership. It still has a lot of original features like a built-in hutch, hardwood floors, and some leaded glass windows. They may not look like much from the photo above or driving by, but that's because rehab work can't start until a buyer is identified.
If you are interested, contact Abbie Loosen at PPL, 612-455-5100, or email her at abbie.loosen@ppl-inc.org.
By the time the Hawkman got to the scene, the backhoe of doom was already gone.
Slummy the Squirrel loses ANOTHER place to hide his nuts for the winter. Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.
Whereas you look left, and they fall right, it's the demolition shuffle. While I was getting video footage of Uncle Lennie's coming down...
3035 6th St N in the EcoVillage was demolished. This was the house of mold, and it will soon be home to a LEED Gold certified new home. I look forward to the day when we're building (and preserving!) instead of demolishing, and calling THAT revitalization. But for now, there are good demolitions, and two of them happened AT THE SAME TIME. We just can't keep up with the revitalization in NoMi.
Hawthorne's Housing Director Jeff Skrenes reports that a "mini-backhoe and a pile of dirt" are in front of 3035 6th St. N., which is "a house with mold problems so severe they can be smelled from the yard, and also the future site of the first new construction in the Eco Village."
In an email, Jeff was asking if... ...somebody could take a picture when the demolition starts. Currently, problem properties are going down so fast in Hawthorne and Jordan that this blog can barely keep up.
Here, insert customary JNS verbiage about revitalization busting out all over, unstoppable progress, crime is way down, new buyers looking for great deals on homes in a revitalized NoMi, etc. etc.
A resident was on hand to document the demise of yet another house in the Hawthorne Eco Village, and sent me photos. Initially, there was some confusion over which house this was, and I'm not sure the confusion is cleared up yet... The resident believes the house in question is 3112 6th St. N. However, until I lay eyes on the bare spot of ground and do a little research, I'm not convinced it wasn't one house NORTH of 3112 6th St. N, which is 3114 6th St. N. I think 3112 6th St. N. went down a while ago, unremarked and unmourned.
Currently, I'm in Alexandria, Minnesota, after doing a little truck driving to South Dakota. But even from Rudy's Red Eye Bar and Grill at the Alexandria Holiday Inn, I can fight for my NoMi neighborhood and get the word out about what is happening.
Another house down. The relentless, unstoppable revitalization tsunami roars over all in its path.
At a recent meeting of the Hawthorne Housing Committee, Kevin Gulden of PPL announced plans for 3035 6th St. N., a long-vacant house so full of dry rot you can smell it from the front porch. It is often referred to as "the green house" and reportedly used to be quite a hotbed of gang activity.
Gang members would congregate on the steeply sloping front lawn all day, heavily involved in the drug dealing which took place at 3101 6th St. N., the "Apartment Complex of Anarchy." That building was demolished, however. Now crime has dropped to virtually nothing in the Eco Village area in the wake of numerous demolitions of crappy properties, which were heavily clustered in that area.
According to information distributed at the public meeting by Kevin Gulden... New homes will be built at 3035 6th St. N. (following demolition of the "green house" currently there, rotting away) and at 400 31st. Ave. N., a property which was the subject of controversy and legal wrangling. The new construction will be certified LEED for HOMES GOLD. The appraised value/purchase price will be $140,000.
The new home at 3035 6th St. N. will have geothermal energy which uses the "temperature differential" between the ground and air. No other home in the Eco Village--not even the future "MinniAppleseed House"--has geothermal energy.
During the meeting, PPL was seeking $10,000 in Hawthorne NRP funds per home for a total of $20,000. Additional funding will come from Northside Home Fund, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the Home Depot Foundation. The request for funding was approved by the Housing Committee and so will move forward to the Executive Board.
On Saturday, several members of the Hawthorne Neighborhood gathered in Farview Park with PPL reps and architecture students. The mini-conference was held to discuss design ideas for the "Eco Village" development.
The Eco Village will be located in a formerly crime-ridden area, now blessedly free of crime for the most part...though vast areas of the Eco Village are also free of, well, buildings such as the former "Apartment Complexes of Anarchy." It should be noted there are, in a sense, three Eco Villages.... There is the "inner Eco Village" which is a planned townhouse development, using modern and ecological building methods. This development will take place roughly where 415 31st Ave. N. was once located, the building which was at the heart of a lawsuit with CitiMortgage.
Then there is the "outer Eco Village," which is a four square block area around the "inner village. This area is bounded by Lowry Ave. N., 4th St. N., 30th Ave. N. and Lyndale Ave. N.
Then there is the "global eco- village." That would be the rest of the world, actually. There are probably ways to make more fine-tuned distinctions, such as declaring Minneapolis the "Municipal Eco Village," but I have no need for those more granular distinctions at the moment. For years, we have focused on this tough four block area, struggling long and hard to secure and improve it. You know that slogan about "thinking globally and acting locally?" This is how we act locally.
Despite the long struggle to revitalize the Eco Village, a light-hearted mood permeated the mini-conference as grown-ups played with wooden blocks, imagining themselves Master Of The Universe developers or (sometimes) Godzilla. Bright red stickers on a toy block designated a house which, hopefully, would have solar power.
In the photos above, top to bottom, photo montages on the walls show the current state of the Eco Village. Things have changed so rapidly that, as of today, Google maps is completely inaccurate, depicting buildings which haven't been standing since 2008.
In the second photo, Abbie Loosen from PPL, who (along with Kevin Gulden and others) helped put the mini-conference together.
In the remaining photos, residents visualize development with blocks. We no longer worry aloud about constant drug and prostitution activity in this area. Now we figure out when and how to build nice things.
Green things.
Ecological things.
Like children who imagine an unlimited future of boundless potential, we model our dreams with wooden blocks.
Recently, some residents of Hawthorne gathered to discuss design ideas for the visionary "Eco Village" project. The Eco Village area of Hawthorne once had some of the worst crime in the city, but now crime has dropped to nearly zero. Plans are underway to eventually build eco-friendly housing, with neighbors giving input about what the design will look like. The photo above shows what part of the Eco Village USED TO look like, right before 415 31st Ave. N. was torn down.
