The Value Of A Good Alarm System In North Minneapolis

Flickr.com Photo

Michael S. Klick, who serves with me on the Hawthorne Housing Committee, and who lives with his boyfriend Brian Cheese, (a member of the Executive Board) reported by email that their house was burglarized but the burglar or burglars...

...didn't get much, thanks to the alarm system.

On Monday, December 15, Klick wrote, "Our house was broken into yesterday between 10 a.m. and noon. They kicked in the basement window by the alley. Luckily, we have a security system that went off instantly. The person just got some cash that was lying on the dining room table.

"The burglar must have run out as soon as he/she heard the alarm going off. We were both glad that nothing more was taken. The police came and checked the house, but didn't do anything else as far as I am aware. I assume that they were going to fingerprint or something but that was not the case. That was a bit disappointing."

In a cheery and practical way, Michael closed his email by asking, "Anyone know of any good contractors, window installers? We need to get the window replaced."

JOHNNY NORTHSIDE BLOG EXCLUSIVE: A Vision of Hawthorne's Bright, Shining Future

Contributed Image, Only A Draft

An image recently came into my hands of the proposed WORLD'S LARGEST YWCA to be built on West Broadway, in the Hawthorne Neighborhood. (Click here for related story) It should be emphasized this drawing is only a draft, and the final building may look different. In addition to the world's largest YWCA (to the right of the picture) the development includes commercial space at 800 West Broadway. (To the left of the picture, with the multi-colored awnings)

Allow me to point out there are lovely houses close by this proposed development, for sale at rock-bottom prices. Folks browsing for real estate in North Minneapolis will probably want to contact real estate agents like my friend and fellow blogger, Jeanie Hoholik.

I'll be putting this image on the Hawthorne Voices blog in a few minutes, but at least for one small moment I'll be able to say IT'S A JOHNNY NORTHSIDE EXCLUSIVE!!!!

(Do not click "Read More")

Hawthorne's CURA Research Assistant Will Handle Toxic Mortgage Data

Photo By John Hoff, University of Minnesota

Today, Jeff Skrenes gave me more details about what our CURA research assistant will be doing, once that person gets hired...

Hawthorne has been granted a research assistant from the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. According to Jeff, the CURA assistant was made possible through Hawthorne's partnership with NCRC (Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition).

NCRC has found a way to track when and where Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) are resetting in North Minneapolis. Other data available gets only to the zip code or census tract level, but we already know where foreclosures are happening based on this criteria. The new data, however, will allow us to track this house by house.

NCRC will be compiling this data for all of North Minneapolis, and doing outreach to those at risk of foreclosure. (Click here for a related story, and also here)

The CURA assistant will compile the ARM data as well as "real time" information on how successful our outreach is. We already have data from 2007 mortgages originated in Hawthorne, Jordan, Near North, Willard-Hay and Harrison. One quarter of those loans were ARMs, despite the fact that in the final four months of that year, many of the worst practices were made illegal through Minnesota's landmark anti-predatory lending legislation.

Outreach has been done to almost 500 homes already, (click here for related story, also click here) and foreclosure prevention counselors are reporting calls where clients mention letters and visits associated with the outreach effort. These foreclosure prevention counselors work for ACORN Housing, NRRC, and Habitat for Humanity.

Special thanks goes out not only to the foreclosure prevention counselors, but to Dave Snyder of Jewish Community Action, Jerry Moore of Jordan Area Community Council, and Jeffrey Strand at Hennepin County for their efforts in making this work successful.

The Meaning Of "Trashed Out" In The Real Estate Biz

Photos By Jeanie Hoholik

When I hear the phrase "trashed out a house," I picture...

...an out-of-control party by drunken teenagers which leaves mom 'n' dad's residence in a shambles. But in real estate lingo, to "trash out" a house means getting rid of all the stuff left inside by previous residents.

With the mortgage crisis causing numerous evictions, the phrase is being heard more often, and doesn't sound so odd, anymore.

Here are some pictures contributed by real estate agent Jeanie Hoholik, who wrote on her blog, click here, about making sure a house was "trashed out" before her client bought it.

Things I notice in the picture: the former residents shopped at Aldi. The naughty red curtains seem to bear no relation whatsoever to the underlying windows, except being in roughly the same corner.

But, hey, at least I don't see any UNWANTED PHONE BOOKS, grrrrr.

415 30th Ave. N. Fire Damaged

Photos By John Hoff

On Friday night, I drove through the Eco Village area with my 11-year-old son, who was seeing me for the weekend. Alex thinks it is high adventure to merely drive around, calling 911 and 311...

Though the Eco Village has turned around dramatically, I feel like it still needs my continuous monitoring to keep from sliding back. When I see dystopian backsliding, I tell myself, "Arg, I should have been here!"

This time I noticed there had been a fire at 415 30th Ave. N.

Dang it. This is a decent house, though gangs have congregated there to have parties. I've struggled repeatedly to make sure this property stays secured, click here. And now it's fire damaged. It will be sold at a fire sale price. Literally.

The fire worries me, because it damaged the house but didn't completely doom the place. This is the kind of property a slumlord buys really cheap and fixes with coats of paint, and for years the miserable tenants wonder why their clothing hung in a closet always smells like smoked rat.

WELL, BE WARNED, SLUMLORDS: 415 30th Ave. N. borders the Hawthorne Eco Village, and your slummy activities will not be tolerated. Look upon 3001 6th St. N., click here, and shudder. BUY PROPERTY ELSEWHERE!!!!

Going All "Johnny Northside" On 3020 4th St. N.

Photo By A Citizen Volunteer

The Hawthorne Neighborhood's newest blogger is trying to put me out of business...

Her third blog post read like something I would have written. She was cruising around in the Eco Village (far from her own house, actually, hardly "minding her own business") and saw 3020 6th St. N. was unsecured.

So she made a report to 311. And then she blogged about it, click here. Please note how she has embraced the rule that "every post must have a photo, to capture reader interest."

Of course, no blogger anywhere in North Minneapolis has ever kept up with Johnny Northside Rule No. 1:

Content, content, content. Pour on the posts. Never let up. Information is power, and I'm going to empower our whole neighborhood until I fall asleep with my face on the keyboard, and look in the mirror to see the word "QWERTY" pressed into my forehead, but when I wake up, I'll wake up in Urban Utopia.

Of course, if you really want to "go Johnny Northside" on a place...it takes a hammer and nails.

Gee, I wonder how long before the powers-that-be get this house secured?

I'm counting.

Update: MinneAppleseed House In The Hawthorne Eco-Village

Photo By John Hoff

I've written before about the plan by MinneAppleseed to put a passive energy house in the Hawthorne Eco Village, but the plan has been modified slightly, in a positive way...

MinneAppleseed was interested in the property at 3119 4th St. N., one of the two "apartment complex of anarchy" buildings, which was recently demolished and leveled. And good riddance.

The lot at 3119 4th St. N. was the group's No. 1 choice, but it turns out that property is needed for commercial development of the Lowry Corridor. So, as announced at December's Housing Committee Meeting, MinneappleSeed will be going with their No. 2 ranked property, which is still a fine choice. It is the former site of the house with the burned out, "scary little gang garage," a place where Khameron D. Lake spent so much quality pimpin' time with Kathy the Prostitute, click here.

But Khameron and Kathy haven't been seen in the area for a long time, and thank goodness, except for a brief sighting of Khameron on Election Day, click here.

It appears the MinneAppleseed people will be drawing up some pictures of the proposed house, and presenting them to the Housing Committee, on which I serve. My stated position is that I will leave the aesthetic judgments to other committee members who care more strongly about such things. My main concern is the valuable political symbolism of putting this ulta-modern, super-green house in the Eco Village.

There was an important comment made at the meeting, and it highlights the need to emphasize cluster projects like the Eco Village. In the experience and observation of MinneAppleseed, projects like this are only successful as part of a bigger cluster project. You can't expect one demonstration project house dropped in the middle of an urban dystopia to change the whole area. That's why they are so keen on being part of the Eco Village, because in their experience success depends on a collective, clustered effort.

Personally, I would add some caveats to that...I've seen the "revitalization commando" model work, most notably with my friend Chris Gilmore in the Central District of Seattle...but that effort involved not only an extensive restoration of his particular house, (a lovely, abused Victorian) but intense "block watch" efforts deliberately geared toward transforming the surrounding area.

In any case...MinneAppleseed moves forward, and I'm glad. The Hawthorne Neighborhood is HAPPENING.

Young Somalis Raise Hell At The Carlson School Of Management...Again

Flickr.com Photo

This is happening with greater frequency at the Carlson School of Management and also sometimes at the Humphrey Institute. Groups of Somali males as young as 12...

...enter the building and (there's no other suitable phrase for it) "raise hell." Sometimes the Humphrey and the Carlson get downright scary after dark because of these roving packs of youth with too much time on their hands and too little parental guidance. Lately, the West Bank has more of a "hard vibe," and "Little Mogadishu" isn't the friendly place it was even a couple years ago. (Click here for an informative City Pages article)

Today I happened to be on campus with my 11-year-0ld son, and I left him in a secure part of the building--playing on my laptop computer--while I went to Acadia Cafe to fetch him some French fries. I was cutting through the Carlson when I saw and heard a group of Somalis males having--good grief--an energetic snowball fight INSIDE THE ENTRYWAY.

Hootin' And Hollerin'

Grad students were everywhere studying for all-important finals while these youth hooted and hollered like a bunch of Nodaks who just sold potatoes to Simplot and bought themselves a case of Grain Belt, yee haw.

A security guard--female, Asian, thin, and so small her eyeballs were no higher than my chest--confronted the group of 7 or 8 Somali males, some of whom were as large and well fed as myself.

"You're causing too much trouble in the building," she said, firmly. "Leave the premises or I will call the police." She kept repeating that phrase, like it was in her manual or something.

She was herding them out the door, but they weren't moving too fast and it looked like they were contemplating making a little stand, right there in the entryway.

"I'm a grad student," I said to the security guard. "I'm backing you up."

I stepped into it and told them to leave and I basically herded them out the door. The security guard later told me she was grateful for the help. The youth started grabbing snow outside, making snowballs. One of the young men looked afraid and said, "It wasn't me, sir" as I continued to show them the way off Carlson property. The "nice" young man's badly-chosen companions were laughing, cutting up, trying to act like gangsters armed with--I'm shaking, here--snowballs.

As they crossed the street at the really bad, unsafe intersection that I've told my city officials about, over and over, a bunch of them let loose with snowballs, trying to hit me and also the security guard. They didn't score any hits, though I had to dodge one. The security guard had a poorly-aimed snowball land at her feet, and refused to duck or flinch.

I won't jazz up the story and say they were throwing hunks of ice. These were just snowballs. I suppose throwing a snowball at a security guard under these circumstances technically constitutes assault, but...well, what's the point of being so technical?

I yelled something like, "You think I won't call your parents?"

French Fries, Interrupted

Rather than walk to the Acadia as I'd intended, I let the block cool down for about fifteen minutes, got my kid some milk from a vending machine run by the evil Aramark corporation, and then continued my delayed journey for French fries.

Well, actually, I left my wallet with my kid and just carried cash and my ID. Plus my cell phone, of course. If the pack of youth-gone-wrong were still hanging around, and decided to jump me, I wanted to minimize any personal loss that might occur. But heck if I'm letting thugs (even thugs hardly old enough to shave) keep me from getting my kid his French fries.

Finally! High Tech Meters That Take Plastic Arrive In Minneapolis

Flickr.com Photo, San Francisco Parking
Meter That Takes Plastic As Well As Coins

Can anything be more annoying than Minneapolis parking meters which only take quarters? Oh, yes...

...I almost forgot: young men who stand on street corners for hours on end, openly dealing crack, while dedicated real estate agents try to sell numerous vacant houses in North Minneapolis. THAT is more annoying. But I digress and, besides, vigilant North Minneapolis citizens are putting a stop to open air drug markets.

I have another blog devoted to the issue of predatory towing, and recently posted there about some "high tech" parking meters in Minneapolis which take plastic and not just coins. (Click here for that blog post) San Francisco already has high tech meters, and one of the San Fran meters is pictured above.

I still need to go play with the new Minneapolis meters, personally, and find out if the meters take more than just quarters, but the fact the meters take plastic is--woo woo!--very exciting.

Since this concerns a City of Minneapolis issue, and not just the national issue of predatory and abusive towing, I wanted to make sure regular Johnny Northside readers know about this blog post regarding high tech parking meters in Minneapolis...especially since a push will be needed to get more.

A lot more. We need to replace ALL THE OLD CRUMMY METERS THAT ONLY TAKE QUARTERS.

So try out the new meters in Stadium Village near U of M, which have arrived thanks to Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon, Green Party, and let's all push for more of the high tech meters throughout Minneapolis and not just in the Stadium Village test area.

JOHNNY NORTHSIDE BLOG EXCLUSIVE: World's Largest YWCA Planned For West Broadway

Flickr.com Photo

Some of the nice folks who are trying to revitalize West Broadway attended the HNC Executive Board meeting a few days ago, and discussed some details about an exciting plan to build (drum roll, please) THE WORLD'S LARGEST YWCA!!!!

According to...

...information presented at the meeting, here are some key features of the proposed development:

The plan has three main features: a parking ramp, a commercial building at 800 West Broadway, and a massive (world's largest) YWCA. Here is all the info, straight from a document passed out at the meeting:

1.) World's Largest YWCA

The YWCA entrance, the Police Safety Center entrance, and the ramp entrance are strategically placed to provide safe, direct, welcoming connections. The running track and fitness rooms have views to a green roof (!!!!) and Minneapolis skyline.

The YWCA building will match the set back of the new proposed 800 West Broadway setback. This will allow the addition of parallel parking to support the mixed use development without narrowing West Broadway. South facing pool activates the street with light via 2-story glass wall.

2.) 800 Building Commercial Development

The existing 800 West Broadway building will be renovated for retail and restaurant on the first level with outdoor dining along Aldrich and Broadway. Proposed office space on the second level will enjoy skyline views.

The 800 building's first structural bay will be removed to provide for a 28 foot, 6 inch wide street section with pedestrian and transit oriented streetscape to provide a safe environment.

3.) A Safe Parking Ramp

The parking ramp incorporates safety features such as direct connection to the YWCA, and a Police Safety Center adjacent to both pedestrian and vehicular entrances. (The word "direct connection" is really an understatement, however, since what I see on the drawing is a very cool SKYWAY)

All buildings will be designed to promote sustainability and energy efficiency.

The name of the development, apparently (based on what is written large across the top of the document) will be "Broadway Plaza."

I am told, informally, that one of the buildings was the site of a former car dealership, but I have yet to confirm that info. I'm pretty sure we're talking about one of the buildings where I photographed some "artistic boarding" in the past, click here.

The document passed out during the meeting features really lovely and visionary drawings of the planned facility which, unfortunately, I can't reproduce very well here but are, in a word, breathtaking. My efforts to search the internet to see who else may be writing about this proposed development tells me this project has been in the works for quite a while, with discussions happening at the city and neighborhood level, but without much fanfare.

Bring on the fanfare, I say. North Minneapolis is changing, positively, in leaps and bounds. I'm positive there are some houses for sale quite close to this planned facility on Aldrich, Bryant and Colfax Avenue North.

Lights! Camera! Demolition!

Photos By Jeff Skrenes

Demolitions in our neighborhood are constant. Can nothing stop the bulldozers of doom?

This relentless onslaught of "creative destruction" sometimes produces surreal panoramas in our neighborhood. Housing Director Jeff Skrenes witnessed one yesterday morning at 2314 4th St. N., where...

...a demolition crew left the facade of a house standing, overnight, looking rather like an old-fashioned Hollywood set from a western. Most incongruous of all, a sign advertised the house for sale, offering really good terms. The area code on the sign, according to Jeff, is in Sarasota, Florida.

Jeff also crunched the numbers and--if I remember correctly from our conversation at Broadway Pizza--said something like this:

"A decent quad plex could potentially generate $2,800 a month in rental income. If they're selling it for $325 a month, that tells me all I need to know about its condition."

"Geek-O-Topia" Rises From The Ashes

Photos By John Hoff

After being forced to flee from Upper Drug-O-Topia, as I described in a previous post, click here, Jeff Skrenes ended up in "Bowser's Castle," click here, where one of his biggest priorities was to reassemble "Geek-O-Topia."

What is Geek-O-Topia, you might ask? I'm glad you asked...

It is the moderate-sized room where Jeff keeps all his geek treasures, including comic books, action figures, collectible Star Wars beverage containers, poster of Darth Vader, and--most geeky of all--an action figure of Odysseus from "The Odyssey" by Homer.

Yes, geek meets Greek.

Jeff had a Geek-O-Topia room at his old apartment in St. Paul, and after moving to Drug-O-Topia (not knowing its true nature at the time) Jeff had just finished getting his geeky little comfort zone all set up nicely when forced to leave.

Yesterday, he was excited to tell me he had reassembled Geek-O-Topia. Again. I took some pictures of a part of it. Astute fellow geeks will note the Star Wars "bounty hunter" figures are in the exact order in which they appeared in "The Empire Strikes Back."

Thank goodness the Hawthorne Neighborhood is plagued by copper thieves, and not packs of criminals who make off with Star Wars memorabilia.

Abatement Order On 2207 4th Street North

Photo By A Citizen Volunteer

Word on the street is the City of Minneapolis issued a 10-day graffiti abatement order on 2207 4th St. N.

I heard this from Housing Director Jeff Skrenes, who heard it from Joan Thom, Chair of the Hawthorne Crime and Safety Committee, who heard it from Lt. Jeff Rugel, of the Fourth Precinct. So it's a long chain of custody for the information, but the chain appears to have integrity. Jeff says he'll be finding out when the 10 days is up and he'll be on top of it.

Incredibly, as of this moment, the graffiti is apparently still on the house. The owner seems oblivious to the feelings of his neighbors.

(Do not click "Read More")