North by Northside

Candidate Debates in 58B

2012-01-29T22:12:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video from the Senate District 58 website.

Last week we had candidate debates for district 58 A and B - although we don't know for sure where the boundaries will be for the house districts for a few weeks more. On Tuesday night, four candidates for 58B debated at UROC. Nancy Pomplun, Ian Alexander, Terra Cole, and Raymond Dehn attended the debate. Former state representative Willie Dominguez is believed to be running as well. He was invited but did not show.

At this point in the election, I'm not sure who of the candidates in attendance I support. (Although I am predisposed to elect someone new instead of returning Dominguez to office if he continues to run.) In fact, I have personal and professional relationships with all four candidates and may therefore refrain from openly endorsing anyone - at least until after the district convention.

The full debate video is posted above, and my impressions were...

...that we are fortunate to have (at least) four candidates who would all serve our district well if elected. I took notes throughout, and made stars next to the answers I personally liked best. The first question dealt with economic development, and while Dehn's answer made sense, it didn't speak to me. Ian Alexander wrote a graduate thesis on this topic, and while I agree with much of what he wrote, it's hard to condense the paper into a quick answer. Terra Cole's answer emphasized access to jobs.

I felt Nancy Pomplun had the strongest answer to this question, focusing on industrial jobs along the river. Employers haven't been willing to hire from the community, nor were the employees willing to cross the highway to patronize businesses in north. There were strong relationships between education, mobility, existing employment, and the stability of home ownership and quality employment. She got my first star of the night.

The second question dealt with restoring funding to public safety. What would each candidate do to restore such funding. Cole and Alexander spoke well about issues surrounding violent crime and public safety, but didn't directly answer the moderator's question. Dehn and Pomplun did address the specific question, but Dehn's answer was more comprehensive - he would author bills to restore funding as well as take a hard look at disparities regarding incarceration rates. Pomplun would work to undo cuts to local government aid. I felt Dehn gave the best answer here.

Question number three asked what candidates would do with a projected surplus. Alexander began by expressing support for a stadium, albeit not under our current fiscal situation. He alluded to the need for education reform and a need to invest there. Dehn was the first candidate to remind the audience that our last two budgets shifted funds from our schools in an accounting trick that deferred payments to our schools. The current projected surplus would only cover about half of that deferred cost. Paying those funds back now will decrease education costs in the long run.

Pomplun and Cole agreed with Dehn. In some ways, this question reflects the luck of the draw in debates. I believe this question had the easiest, most straightforward answer and Dehn got to the most pertinent policy detail first. For the second straight round, he had the best answer.

The first question from the audience dealt with how each candidate would improve the lives of ex-felons, the homeless, and people living in poverty. Kind of a tough one to deal with in one minute, and answers tended to focus solely on ex-felons.

Dehn spoke eloquently about his own compelling story. He was a convicted felon due to bad choices surrounding drug issues thirty-five years ago. He wants to make sure that people in similar situations have chances to turn their lives around. I felt that Pomplun didn't give a strong answer here. Cole emphasized differences in funding regarding incarceration vs. rehab, and that she would focus more on rehab to keep offenders from repeating. Alexander spoke about the clients he deals with as a family law attorney. Ex-felons have no safety net and few real choices. It's also an issue of cost, as incarceration is incredibly expensive.

While Cole, Alexander, and Dehn all gave very solid answers here, I thought Terra's was the best. She got the star in my notes this time around.

The audience's second question dealt with revitalizing downtown Minneapolis. Pomplun answered first, and spoke well about the need to address foreclosures and vacant businesses downtown. Cole said we need to stop separating downtown from north Minneapolis. What's good for one is good for the other, and downtown does face similar livability issues as we do here. Both Alexander and Dehn spoke about how a stadium (if funded right or without taxpayer money) could bring needed improvements to the district. Those answers might resonate more with downtown residents, but I liked Terra's answer best.

The third question asked about science in relation to the district. Alexander had a good response about research and development needs, and generated maybe the biggest laugh of the night ("Like all attorneys, I have no experience in science."), but Cole's answer beat out his by a hair. However, the question itself was so poorly worded that I'm not sure it added much to the debate.

I submitted a question about what each candidate would do to improve West Broadway as an economic corridor. In fairness, Broadway is a county road. Most of the development issues will be dealt with at a county and city level. So a question like this is similar to asking what a city council person would do to improve education, in that the most direct answer is "You should ask that question at a school board candidate forum instead." For me, however, developing West Broadway as a commercial corridor is so important that it will be the foundation for every single elected official I decide to support in NoMi.

While I thought Cole articulated her point well, she said we should focus on other corridors as well. That was not the answer I was looking for. She did place emphasis on pedestrian safety though. Ian Alexander tried to rent space on Broadway, and could only get space from the infamous Keith Reitman. He called the corridor the heart of north Minneapolis, and elected officials have to develop connections with the business community. Dehn called for a large investment along West Broadway. While it is a county road, he would use his position as a legislator to lobby for changes along the corridor. Pomplun made a parallel example of how she is approaching her work with businesses along the Central Corridor. Her idea didn't seem to apply here.

Alexander's and Dehn's answers were my favorites, with Ian Alexander beating out Dehn by a hair.

Finally, a question was raised about the Crown Hydro issue on the Mississippi River in the downtown area. Alexander spoke in support, Dehn said we need to be sure it provides the kind of clean energy we want, and Pomplun and Cole both said they need more info on the issue. I agreed with Alexander's answer more.

So the final score was Terra Cole with three stars, Dehn and Alexander received two each, and Pomplun had one. I made little check marks next to answers that I liked a lot but that didn't get a star. Dehn got three of those to Alexander's two. Under my entirely arbitrary scoring method, Terra Cole won the debate, Raymond Dehn came in second, Ian Alexander third, and Nancy Pomplun fourth.

That being said, remember that public speaking is not necessarily equivalent with a grasp on the issues or a direct measure of how well a candidate may serve our district. Each of these four would certainly represent us well at the Capitol, and we'll have more chances to decide which would do so the best.

Lowry Bike Lanes and a Blogging Success Story

2012-01-26T10:24:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, above image from Hennepin County, and photo below from the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition blog.

Last summer, I found out that the Lowry Bridge bike lanes initially planned were not up to the standards that I had hoped to see - nor did they meet what many bicyclist groups had wanted, nor did they pass muster in accordance with long-term plans for Lowry Avenue. So I did a rather extensive post (linked above) about the topic. What followed was a result that affirms why I put so much energy into both reading comprehensive area planning documents, and blogging about them as best as I'm able.

Obviously in this case I wanted to see a better design for bike lanes on the Lowry Bridge. But after the initial post I did not have the time, energy, wherewithal, or connections to see things through to a full and successful end goal. Others did. The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and a whole host of other cycling activists began a dialogue with Commissioner Stenglein around how to improve the bike lane designs. That dialogue has proven successful, and I'm told that the bridge will have "slip ramps."

An example of a slip ramp, although the lanes on the Lowry Bridge will be much wider.

In a poetic twist, the bike lane pictured above is from the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon.

So thank you to Commissioner Stenglein, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, and anyone else who helped the Lowry Bridge get much-improved bike lanes! And check out the coalition's post for the specific details about how the lanes came about and how they will work.

We always knew the Lowry Bridge would be well-built, but now we can rest easier knowing it will be built right.

"Get to NoMi" Gets Real on Facebook

2012-01-24T00:13:00.000-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Today is "New Member Monday" over on the Get to NoMi Facebook page, so if you haven't yet joined in, now's your chance to see what the buzz is all about. And the page has been buzzing quite a bit lately. Shortly after the tragic shooting death of Terrell Mayes Jr, a community brainstorming session was organized by several NoMi residents and announced on the eponymous page. The event went quite well overall, with everyone treating each other with civility and respect while we came up with as many ideas as possible to combat the problems that led to an innocent child losing his life to gun violence.

Up until the event was posted, Get to NoMi had primarily been used as a forum to promote real estate sales, local businesses, and an overall feel-good sentiment of north Minneapolis. In other words, at least from my perspective, it was boring milquetoast. I rarely checked the page, and usually when I did it was to reset a huge number of Facebook notifications. Maybe the page had its uses, but I didn't find much value there.

Since the brainstorming session, subscribers to the page have increased by several hundred and now over 1,400 "like" this part of Facebook. We started to talk about why it was that there was a much higher representation of people of color and renters at the vigil, but the brainstorming session was made up mostly of white homeowners. That kind of question is essential to tackle if we're going to do a better job of engaging everyone, but too often when we try to discuss it somebody says something that offends someone else and before you know it...

...people were on the topic of racism. In my experience nerds at Comic Con events arguing about whether the Starship Enterprise could beat the Millenium Falcon have something in common with people discussing race in NoMi. Namely, if you care enough to engage then at some point you are going to be offended. And it didn't take long for that to happen. It also didn't take long for me to offend someone and for that favor to be returned.

For quite a while, conversations quickly devolved into unproductive name-calling. But tempers largely calmed down, helped in part by a few excellent blog posts by NoMi activist Neeraj Mehta. I remain immensely grateful for Neeraj's calming presence in the dialogue. My approach to tough discussions is to just get the difficult things out in the open, and if I have to be the one that people are angry at for saying something, well at least it's out in the open.

The problem with my approach is that it's pretty easy to start of thinking "This is what everybody already thinks but nobody says, so I'm putting it out there," and then transition into "I'm coming off as a total jerk and I don't even realize it." I'm thankful for someone who can articulate what we face as a community better than I could have, and I hope that dialogue continues both online and especially in person, where it will be much more meaningful.

(The Millenium Falcon is way better than the Enterprise, if anyone doesn't already know that, by the way.)

The question at hand over on Get to NoMi is where exactly that conversation continues to happen. Some of the NoMi page members who have been around for a long time complained that all these new topics - which at least from my perspective did have some bona fide craziness at times - were diluting what was the original intent of the page. They felt they couldn't use it to promote "NoMi" as a community or as a brand because of the contentious nature of some of the posts, and were looking for those topics to be addressed elsewhere.

After much thought, I disagree. "Get to NoMi" is in a state of evolution. New people are coming on board and older members are paying more attention than they had in a while. Anytime something of this size changes, we will lose some members. But more and more people are joining every day, and they're joining because of what the page currently is and what it might become. I read the posts and comments much more frequently now than I did before. I do so because even when I don't agree with the content, it's real and it's relevant, and therefore immeasurably more interesting.

New Windows at Friedman's Shoes!

2012-01-23T22:47:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo from the West Broadway Coalition Facebook page.

In my opinion, too much has been made about the windows and facade at Friedman's shoes. The owners run a good store and give plenty back to the community. That was enough for me to become a customer, and one purchase was all it took to earn my loyalty. For others, that wasn't enough, but now even they have no excuse.

That's because over the next week, Friedman's will replace all of their old glass with the windows you see here. The sign will also be refurbished - but no worries! The iconic Friedman's signage will stay; that's an institution in and of itself. The doorway will also be redone to include historic photos of the store throughout the decades. The redesign is being done by Hawthorne's leading resident architect Alissa Luepke Pier, and another Hawthorne business, Mitchell Construction, is handling the installation work.

It's the best of all possible outcomes. Everybody wins and the work to refurbish is kept local. So what are you waiting for? Get yourself some shoes already.

Community Concerns Heard, Hub Voted Down

2012-01-17T18:44:00.000-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

At today's Community Development Committee, the West Broadway Hub proposal came for an initial vote. A yes vote would have supported plan modifications to the city's overall plan and allowed the proposal to move forward as it has been presented. Instead, a motion to deny such support passed the committee unanimously.

About eight or so residents from several north Minneapolis neighborhoods gathered outside City Hall to show our dissent. The last time I was involved with neighborhood groups bringing signs downtown in protest was when the council dismantled NRP. So even in small numbers, the fact that residents were driven to this point is quite serious. Our political theater was meant only for outside the council chambers, though. Once we got inside and the hearing started...

...a city staffer first clarified that a previous document indicated the Jordan Area Community Council and the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition supported the Hub proposal. That document, she said, was inaccurate in regards to those two organizations. JACC did not support the Hub at the time the document went out, and has expressed strong disapproval. WBBAC had discussed a Farmers Market at the site, and those discussions were misconstrued as support for the proposal as a whole.

Similarly, Stu Ackerberg spoke and although he obviously supports the Hub, the majority of his time was dedicated to an apology over how the process with the community has played out. This tone was absolutely necessary. There WILL be a Hub on the northside, and it may still wind up on West Broadway. Even if it doesn't, there remains a strong likelihood that the development partners (Hennepin County, The Ackerberg Group, and Catalyst Community Partners) will stay the same. If that's going to happen, then having those partners own up to the missteps is an integral part of restarting a genuine community dialogue.

When a video of the hearing is available online, I'll post a link to it. But public comments were somewhat evenly divided in terms of numbers. I found several things interesting about those who spoke in favor of the Hub. At least two gave addresses well outside of north Minneapolis, and yet claimed they spoke "for the people" or "for the community." The community, however, was fairly well-represented by neighborhood groups and residents who live in the impact zone. The speakers associated with neighborhood organizations were universally opposed to the project in its current form.

Others spoke about how the neighborhood group "didn't represent them." Well, yes, it kind of does. And if Jordan residents don't like JACC's position on the Hub, we have five open seats on our board. Anyone who meets board membership criteria and wants to be involved in Jordan neighborhood issues, please sign up.

The development partners also said that they spent more than a year looking for sites. After they examined places throughout north Minneapolis, the West Broadway site was the only one that worked for them. What we heard today was an affirmation that if the site doesn't work for the community then the proposal needs either significant changes or a new location.

I heard two other points that didn't pass the smell test. First, we're told that the Hub project will bring all sorts of people to West Broadway, both employees and service recipients. That influx of traffic will be the impetus for new business development along the corridor. But when residents complain that this particular site is not designed to accommodate such large numbers (especially in light of the MPS building next door already needing more parking), then we hear that employees are mobile and will meet clients away from the site. I'm not sure how both of those can be true. Maybe a traffic impact study could sort this issue out in an impartial manner.

And neighbors were told that the community engagement process was handled in a more secretive fashion because Keith Reitman owns property in the development site area. They had to assemble the site under the radar or he'd have driven up acquisition costs. Reitman however, was at the hearing and presented himself as still owning property within the Hub site. That doesn't line up either although it may be water under the bridge.

So the public comment period was closed, and the committee members discussed the proposal amongst themselves. Lisa Goodman asked for a motion to support the staff recommendation. Hearing none, she moved that the staff report be denied due to a lack of neighborhood support. Goodman was highly critical of the way the acquisition, land use, and zoning aspects had played out, and was disappointed to see non-profit expansion on what should be the northside's commercial corridor.

She especially pointed out how north Minneapolis has received help that should ultimately be spurring commercial expansion. "Every time I voted to spend money on West Broadway it was to attract private investment."

Robert Lilligren thought that such a proposal would be a better fit on a commercial corridor if it were "a part of something larger." He referenced the Midtown Global Market as a place that has social services, but also incorporates small business development and housing. While a development of that scope is not presently in the cards, I appreciate the desire to include more amenities as part of any government or non-profit expansion within a commercial area.

Don Samuels concurred with others on the committee, that among the many competing interests, he had to give weight to the voices of community members and constituents.

The motion to deny carried unanimously.

This is not the end for the Hub. The developers will likely still proceed with attempts to get City Council and committee approvals. The community will push for an environmental impact study in regards to the effect of such a large increase of surface parking. And out of today's decision, hopefully a more genuine dialogue with the community will begin.

MPR Sound Points at Five Points Building

2012-01-16T00:28:00.001-06:00

Post, photos, and video by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Almost a year ago, I did a blog post about one idea of the many nifty things one could do with QR codes. I tossed out a few other ideas to neighborhood partners, but the right project hasn't come along yet. What I forgot to do, however, was to send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the President of Inventions, along with a detailed summary of all my great ideas. Had I remembered to do that, I might have gotten credit for the work shown above. Instead, like most people who come up with interesting ideas that never get fully developed, I'm relegated to saying "Yeah, but I thought of it first."

And then the real credit here goes where it's deserved: to Minnesota Public Radio, the City of Minneapolis, Catalyst Community Partners, and the various artists who participated in the project.

For those of you new to QR codes, they are the equivalent of bar codes for your smart phone. And they work like this...

...First, you'll need a QR scanner on your phone. Those are available for free download on both Android and iPhone apps. Load up that program, and point your camera at the box with black and white patterns bearing the likeness of a Rorschach test that's being administered by Hal 9000. That's your QR code. The program will recognize it as...whatever the code itself is set up to be. In this case, it comes up as a weblink.

I tried posting the link to my Facebook and Twitter accounts. But the one downside of these Sound Points is that the QR code hyperlink only works on mobile phones. So you get something that looks like this:

That link takes you here:

Scrolling down on the page allows you to add your own comments or experience.

And the link on your phone takes you here:

In all, the process takes less than a minute to get from opening the program to listening to the sound bite. Most QR programs store the codes you've scanned, so anyone with the program can hop over to Penn and Broadway, scan all of the sound points shown, and make the connections to local art and music at your leisure.

Gang Graffiti in Willard-Hay

2012-01-14T18:03:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, bottom photo contributed via email, top four photos from a flickr account.

Earlier this week, residents in Willard-Hay woke up to see an entire block covered in explicit gang graffiti. The level of arrogance and stupidity on display here is astounding, and matched only by the physical and psychological damage the tagging was intended to inflict.

"RIP Bow Wow" most likely refers to Ray'jon Gomez, the troubled youth who was fatally shot this summer. While this should not be the only thing we remember about Gomez, his family's connections to criminal and gang activity are extensively documented on Johnny Northside. The actions of these thugs does nothing to help the community remember a child in a more positive light.

The "Larry Hoover" tags refer to the gangster who started the Gangster Disciple Nation, or GDN, as well as the Folk Nation and Black Disciples (the BD tag). The 7-4-14 tag refers to the corresponding letters G, D, and N. Hoover went to prison for his gang activities, and then in the most transparent attempt at misleading brand identification since "Kentucky Good Chicken," claimed that G and D now stood for "growth and development." He was reformed and was calling on his fellow gang members to follow his lead.

Except that he wasn't really reformed. The good behavior was just a pretense to get him out of prison early and none of the proceeds from the "Growth and Development" charity work ever went to anyone in need. He was caught resuming his illegal activities and is now serving a life sentence.

About a year ago, a friend's cousin moved into NoMi and had never been to Minneapolis before. She immediately thought of north Minneapolis as the part of town that was safer than south, because of the relative lack of gang graffiti we have here. When incidents like this happen, residents should be diligent about filing community impact statements. Doing that will help the judge hand down a more appropriate sentence if and when these thugs get caught.

CM Samuels is working with the community to assist with a response, and a local organization, Asian Media Access, has also offered to reach out to youth in the area and give them a more positive outlet for their energy. People across NoMi are already asking what they can do to help as well.

CPED Document Lies About Neighborhood Support of Hub

2012-01-10T02:10:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images are screen grabs from various city documents.

The highlighted part of this document reads that the project's development team met with the "Jordan Area Coalition [sic] and the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council, both of which are supportive but are waiting to write letters of support until after the development team has finalized its design documents for the project."

I honestly don't know how else to characterize that statement other than an outright lie. While NRRC might be supportive of the project, in the handful of meetings that Catalyst, Ackerberg, and Hennepin County have held with Jordan residents, there has been almost no support for the proposal as a whole. Among residents who would be directly affected if the site is built as proposed, the development partners have been raked over the coals in both public and private conversations.

(And by the way, whether the error came from CPED or Catalyst, it shouldn't be that hard to get the name Jordan Area Community Council right. Or the year in which the document was created, for that matter.)

Disclaimer: I'm speaking from my personal recollection here and not with a specific directive from the JACC board at my disposal. However, Jordan residents in the impact area are deeply opposed either to the proposal as a whole or to much of its current design. And JACC has opposed the school board's request for more parking behind their building on the grounds that these two sites are turning too much of our neighborhood into parking lots.

So even without a formal notification from JACC on this site, there is no reasonable way that anyone could characterize the community position as "supportive."

We also have another interesting city document requesting authorization for grant applications. The Hub is on this proposal, dated...

...October 25, 2011.

That date will come in handy later on in the document when we get to page five, under the section "neighborhood notification." We get to see how the Hub project stacks up against other proposals in terms of community engagement.

Remember now, this is a document dated October 25, 2011.

At 222 Hennepin Avenue, the North Loop and Downtown neighborhoods wrote letters of support dated August 10, 2011 and August 1, 2011, respectively. They had at least eighty-five days prior to this document to review plans.

At 430 Oak Grove Street, the Loring Park community indicated a motion in support of the project. That motion, which was unanimous, happened forty-three days prior to this document.

At 700 Central Ave NE, the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood Association indicated unanimous board approval on August 18, sixty-seven days before this funding application.

At 1100 2nd St S, a proposal was anticipated to be heard at a neighborhood meeting in November. That proposal, by the way, is a private market deal that requires no zoning changes.

At Artspace Jackson Flats, a letter of support from the Logan Park neighborhood was issued on June 5, 2011 - 142 days before this document.

I'm going to let the Bryant Lofts summary speak for itself:

Bryant Lofts a/k/a Track 29 (2813 to 2841 Bryant Ave. S., 811 28th St. W.): On January 19, 2011, The Board of Directors of the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association [LHENA] voted to not recommend approval of this project, citing concerns regarding building materials, height, design and other matters. Similar concerns prompted a group of neighbors to subsequently appeal the Planning Commission’s approval of the project. The developer then engaged in a series of meetings with the appellants, LHENA’s Zoning and Planning Committee and other interested parties, which resulted in project modifications that ultimately resolved the appeal and enabled the project to move forward with conditions attached.
Cameron Building (756 4th Street N.): The North Loop Neighborhood Association has prepared a letter of support dated August 1, 2011.

I wonder how long the developers engaged with the community before finally getting their letter of support (dated 85 days before this funding application with the city).

The Cameron Building had approval from the North Loop neighborhood on August 1, 2011.

The Grain Belt Office Building held an RFP process and four development groups made presentations to the Sheridan Neighborhood Organization on September 26, 2011.

A site called Parcel A saw presentations as early as March 12, 2008.

Riverside Plaza had community support by July of 2010.

Seward Commons, Phase II had neighborhood support on April 28, 2011.

Spirit on Lake had community approval on September 2, 2010.

At our beloved Hub project, in case you missed the highlighted blue section above, "staff from Catalyst and Ackerberg will be meeting with the Jordan Area Community Council, the West Broadway Coalition, and others, as soon as site control has been achieved."

I said before that the community engagement process around the Hub proposal has been fundamentally flawed. I'm beginning to realize exactly how true that statement is.

New Plans for the Northside Food Market

2012-01-10T00:25:00.002-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images from submissions to the city of Minneapolis, originally appeared on the McKinley Neighbors Unite! Facebook page.

Just as neighbors near 36th and Lyndale were getting used to their new found peace and quiet, the owner of the Northside Food Market decided to apply for a new building permit. The move doesn't come as much of a surprise; at the first 3rd Ward Care meeting after demolition, Council member Hofstede informed community members that this was the owner's intention.

The basic course that we were told to expect was that the city would allow the owner to put the building up but then be very picky about the conditions under which it would get its business license. That seemed like a nonsensical move that would just lead to another unnecessarily empty building in the northside, until one realizes that...

...there are different processes in place for building permits and business licenses. The owners can build whatever they like as long as it complies with building and zoning codes, and the designs appear to meet those requirements. The business licensing process allows for more community input and city council discretion.

With that in mind, I have to say the building design itself looks at least acceptable--maybe even pretty good. I especially like the presence of large windows on the front facade, and the absence of a rental unit. It's when we get to the business license aspect that things might become problematic.

Certainly there will be some people who would advocate for a license to be refused no matter what the terms are. And the owners of the business have had a poor enough track record that frankly such a decision from the city council could be warranted. But if a license is granted, what kinds of conditions could we set?

First, one commenter on the McKinley site said that the store is small enough to prohibit a grocer's license. Only a confectioner's license is viable here. That would mean sandwiches could be sold but not loaves of bread, single servings of tuna or crackers are okay, but not a can of tuna and a box of crackers. And so on, except for tobacco products, which they would most likely try to sell in packs and in single-issue cigarillos. The frustrating part here is that I think we would want them to sell loaves of bread instead of unhealthy Deli Express pre-wrapped sandwiches that were made during the Eisenhower administration and won't expire for another fifty years.

If we don't get some kind of requirement for real participation in a healthy corner store initiative, then the closest thing to a balanced meal here will be Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Oscar Mayer Lunchables, and Honey Buns for desert.

The other requirement I hope we can get is that the owners set aside funds and commit to police buyback hours to beef up security. If they can't afford to adequately control behavior at their property, then the community can't afford to have them back in business.

Required Reading for Slumlord Research

2012-01-08T18:37:00.002-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images originally appeared on the Johnny Northside blog.

North Minneapolis has seen no shortage of LLC's and odd connections among family members and associates related to slumlord ownership and outright fraud. Whether it's been Koenig's multiple LLC incarnations, Mahmood Khan and his relatives transferring property among themselves, Moghul owning property through a trust account, or the numerous incarnations of Danna D, or even small-time slumlords like Phil Kliendl using a different LLC for each property, we're no stranger to convoluted ownership schemes.

(Or Robert Serr's LLC's and restaurant connections, or Larry Maxwell orchestrating pretty much everything involved in his transactions. Or...well you get the point.)

So one neighborhood group in Chicago used a social mapping technique to draw connections among their local slumlords, and used that data to assist the city attorney in convicting several notorious slumlords. The post has information scrubbed for privacy reasons, but is still an instructive read.

It can be found here. In many ways, Minneapolis bloggers have been using the social mapping techniques already. The article should help improve our tactics.

Redistricting Holdups Won't Serve NoMi

2012-01-07T18:19:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Top image from the redistricting court case, bottom image from the city of Minneapolis.

Here in NoMi, we're heading into somewhat uncertain territory. With redistricting already facing legal hurdles, precinct caucuses for senate district 58 are scheduled for February 7. Linda Higgins is stepping down from her seat as our state senator, and Bobby Joe Champion has announced his intention to run for that seat. Raymond Dehn and Terra Cole have announced their candidacies for Champion's seat, but might not even live in the district depending on how lines are redrawn. Joe Mullery is running for re-election as well.

(I'm covering known DFL candidates because they are the ones most likely to win election, but readers can inform each other about others who are running.)

So the conundrum as I see it is that we're holding our caucuses before we know for sure what the boundaries for legislative districts are. Right now the best estimation of those boundaries is shown above. Our senate district would include...

...the Downtown East neighborhood and parts of Downtown West, the North Loop neighborhood, Bryn Mawr north of Highway 394, and all of NoMi.

With the court case maps, I was initially confused because they don't call us district 58 anymore. We'd be district 60 if those take effect. Under that proposal, our district is divided largely among Broadway. It looks like Mullery's district would extend from the northwestern edge of the city down to Broadway, with the "tangletown" section of Jordan left out. That area, with Willard-Hay, Near North, Sumner-Glenwood, Harrison, and downtown/Bryn Mawr would be the second representative district.

Let's face reality here; we live in essentially a one-party part of town. Most likely a person associated with or nominated by the DFL party is going to win each of these three elections. Whether you like that or not, it's still obvious that the person with the nomination far and away has the advantage. And it's hard enough to feel as if our system is truly representative when that nomination process happens at the hands of maybe a few hundred people. But now at least some of our candidates may not even know which district is appropriate for seeking the nomination until after it's too late.

I wish I had a solution to this dilemma. The only advice I can give right now is that people get involved and stay informed. It's going to get confusing.

A DIY Tip for Vacant Lots

2012-01-04T09:17:00.000-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Several months ago, two houses on 26th and Lyndale were demolished and since then, some residents had been reporting vehicles driving onto the vacant lots to do what looked like drug deals. Neighbors claim this wasn't happening before demolition, and only started up after the houses were down. It's also possible that the deals were happening for a while and were just obscured by the houses. In either case, the vacant lots have not led to such activity disappearing from the corner.

The problem is that "someone's driving/parking on a vacant lot" is really not a priority call for 911. And unless the parking happens for an extended period of time, 311 is probably not going to make much of a difference either. What to do?

So I was walking home and saw the parcels when I had an idea about the silt barriers that really aren't needed anymore.

And I thought, "Those aren't going to be used for anything over the winter." I dragged the things over to the driveway cutouts, and presto!

Drivers can still jump the curb if they want, or drive over these puppies. But it should keep at least some of the illicit activity away, and one can always dream of a sporty car, low to the ground, getting stuck on one of these. Who knows, maybe the city can adopt something like this to cordon off other vacant lots?

Busing to the Hub

2012-01-02T22:00:00.002-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images are screen grabs from www.metrotransit.org.

One of the common refrains we've heard about locating the Hennepin County Hub on West Broadway is that this particular location will make it easier for clients, many of whom use public transit, to get to. So I thought I'd examine whether or not that was really true. The first thing that one notices when looking at our bus routes is that virtually all of the bus routes wind up downtown. Only two, the 5 and the 14, arrive within easy walking distance of Broadway and Girard. So from the standpoint of routes that involve fewer transfers, it would actually be MORE convenient for such a development to be located downtown.

What about time? Can riders get from various points in NoMi to Broadway/Girard faster than they can get to Century Plaza downtown?

From the farthest northwest corner of NoMi, at 53rd and Xerxes, hopping on the #5 will get you downtown in 33 minutes, or to Broadway and Girard in 16. Let's venture farther east, closer to a different line, the 22. From 53rd and Logan, it takes 32 minutes to get to Century Plaza, and only 28 to get to Broadway and Girard. The downtown route requires several blocks of walking, but the Broadway destination has a transfer as part of the trip. Miss your transfer, and it will take at least another 15 to get to your destination.

If our service seeker starts farther south at Penn and 34th, he can get to Century Plaza in 23 minutes on one route, with .4 miles of walking. Seventeen minutes and a transfer gets him to Broadway and Girard.

Once someone gets between about 26th Avenue and Plymouth, the 5 and 19 will take riders to Broadway and Girard about 15 minutes faster than to downtown, with the caveat that the 19 will require a transfer.

From just about anywhere south of Highway 55, riders get downtown between two and fifteen minutes faster than they get to the proposed Hub site. And many of the routes to the Hub from there require an additional transfer. For much of north Minneapolis, there is little benefit to the Hub's proposed location in comparison to downtown, and in some areas its location is actually less convenient.

Is this a good enough reason to spend $10 million to rush an ill-conceived project through? I think not.

Paul Koenig Loses Hopeless Appeal

2011-12-31T13:29:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, top photo from Koenig's defunct blog, bottom photo from Johnny Northside.

I can't think of a better way to close out the year than to close out yet another chapter in Paul Koenig's ongoing legal failures. For those unfamiliar with Koenig at all, Ed Kohler of the Deets compiled a list of (at the time) all the northside blog posts about this guy. Koenig came on to the radar almost a decade ago, buying up tons of vacant land and putting down "Dream Homes," poorly-built houses with six bedrooms, no basement, no garage, and basically destined to be section 8 rentals. He and his investment partners lied about how much rent they pulled in, were sued, and lost.

Koenig managed to shift the blame onto his partner, picked up many of the Dream Homes post-foreclosure, and started a new wave of slumminess under various LLC's. Pamiko, Marklee Construction, and MCK Investments were the most prominent of the three. Despite siphoning off tons of money to fund a lavish lifestyle, (or perhaps because of that) he couldn't make the payments, let his properties deteriorate, and then lost them to foreclosure.

He has since been involved in a legal battle in which he claims that he redeemed several of his foreclosed properties for a dollar each. In reality, this fight was little more than a charade so that Koenig could continue to make life miserable for Minnwest Bank with the slim hope that he could temporarily collect additional revenue from these rental units.

Oh, and in the midst of his housing hand grenade exploding across NoMi, Koenig was largely believed to have been the primary contributor to the Jordan Hawkman blog. Good riddance.

Now, about that ruling...

...Let's break down the particulars first. In mortgage technical terms, Koenig took out multiple loans from Minnwest, covering dozens of properties. Those loans were cross-collateralized, meaning that some properties were collateral for more than one loan. Koenig took out a mortgage on the first group of properties, then took out a mortgage on the second group of properties, then modified one loan. Part of that modification was to include more properties as collateral. He then defaulted on both, and was foreclosed upon. The added properties were foreclosed upon in two separate proceedings. One had the full dollar amount owed broken down and the other had a nominal amount of $1 per property. The lesser was the junior lien and would have needed the senior lien to be satisfied in order to be fully redeemed from foreclosure. That did not happen.

For the sake of simplicity, we'll say that Koenig borrowed money from several people. We'll call them Hawthorne, Jordan, and McKinley. And then he went and borrowed money from Willard, Cleveland, and Jordan. After defaulting on the first batch of loans entirely, then changing the second's loan terms and paying a nominal amount towards the second group, could you say that Jordan doesn't get any of their money because a loan that included them was restructured?

In Paul Koenig's world, the answer is yes. Under Minnesota law, the answer is no.

This argument is unavailing. The Minnesota Recording Act states that a bona fide purchaser who first records an interest obtains rights to the property superior to subsequent purchasers and prior purchasers who failed to record.

Furthermore, the court states:

We see no reason, and appellants cite to no authority, to conclude that respondent’s validly recorded interest in the Hennepin properties somehow lost its priority because the properties were included as additional security in an amendment to a previously recorded mortgage to different property. Accordingly, appellants’ interests in the Hennepin properties were not properly redeemed from the senior mortgage. The district court did not err in this respect.

Then there's a question over how clear the language of the contracts actually was. If the language were ambiguous enough to allow for multiple interpretations, Koenig and Kaizen could argue that they were signing based on their interpretation, and that such an interpretation should be reasonable enough to rule in their favor. Again, they fail to persuade the court.

Appellants’ arguments are unpersuasive. As respondent asserts, the plain language of the MCK Mortgage Amendment simply provides that: “Grantor and Lender agree that the Mortgage and Assignment are hereby amended so that the Additional Property [in Hennepin County], together with the property [in Ramsey County] shall secure the [existing obligations].” The MCK Mortgage Amendment provided respondent solely with an additional lien on the Hennepin properties. The agreement did not indicate that respondent’s lien was to be superior to any other interest in the property, nor did the agreement alter the priority of MCK’s interests in the Ramsey property. Rather, the mortgages were provided as additional securities by Pamiko, and the property interests were intended to be subject to the traditional race-notice principles: first of record is first of right...

There is no clear and unambiguous language in the MCK Mortgage Amendment that would support appellants’ assertion that the parties intended to subvert longstanding Minnesota law, and the district court did not error in interpreting the contract.
Affirmed.

(Emphasis included in original.)

Will this be the end of Koenig's attempts to meddle with properties in NoMi? Only time will tell. But seeing him fail over and over again in a court of law is one of a NoMi blogger's greatest pleasures. So Paul...

Bottineau Scoping Process Begins

2011-12-28T01:03:00.000-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman, top image from the Bottineau Scoping Survey.

When I first heard that the proposed Bottineau LRT project released a scoping survey, I had to wonder what exactly "scoping" meant in this context. Since the project will likely 1) receive federal funding and 2) have a significant environmental impact, one of its requirements is for there to be a full environmental impact statement (EIS) to be drawn up. The EIS document consists of three phases: scoping, draft EIS, and final EIS. "Scoping" is the preliminary process to allow for public comment and input that will help form the content in the draft Environmental Impact Statement. Public input during the scoping process is encouraged.

In short, it's the kind of thing Northern Metals should have done. There will be four public meetings to discuss the scoping aspect of the Bottineau Corridor. Those dates are in the report for anyone who can't make it to one of the scheduled NoMi hearings. Monday January 23rd, 4:30 - 6:30 pm, at the Theo Wirth Chalet, 1301 Theo Wirth Parkway or Wednesday the 25th, 5:30 - 7:30 at UROC are the two choices.

As for the report itself...

...it will compare three things: light rail transit, bus rapid transit, and no project (i.e. no impact). The two routes being compared are D1 (going through Theo Wirth Park and down to Highway 55) and D2 C (down Broadway to Penn, then to downtown via 55).

Now this is just my opinion, but they picked the absolute worst of the possible D2 alignments. Not that I think any D2 option will be better than D1, but D2 A would affect twenty-four properties along the corridor and D2 B would affect fifty-three. An affected property might need to be acquired and demolished, or it may only need to have part of its lot taken for LRT use. Under the D2 C alignment, 110 properties would be acquired. To quote from the Northside Transit Network, under D2 C, "all properties would likely be removed." (meaning one of three options: demolished, lifted off the foundation and moved, or you know what? the hell with it, this is Minneapolis so let's just demolish.)

When you line up the above map with some of the proposed Penn Avenue Redevelopment Plan maps, we start to see why the city has targeted quite a few properties along Penn - even though they're not coming right out and saying so just yet.

That being said, if we're going to do a major transit development here, I believe it has to be light rail instead of bus rapid transit. (My ideal configuration would be the D1 route, with streetcars along Broadway, and beefed-up busing on Penn and our east-west corridors.) People equate LRT, streetcars, and trains with an experience in and of itself. People don't have the same associations with a bus route, no matter how fancy. If all we get is BRT out of this, we may as well not do the project at all.

Building nothing, though, does not appear to be a valid option. Our population growth exceeds our ability to address traffic congestion by freeway expansion alone. By 2030 or significantly sooner we're going to need some fundamental upgrades to our transit corridors. Furthermore, while about 8% of Minneapolitans do not own a vehicle, 14% of those living along the proposed routes are without a car. In some parts of NoMi, that figure jumps to around 50%. Expanded transit options could be a lifeline for many in our community as a result.

There are three primary goals being used to evaluate the project during the scoping phase:

Goals Directly Addressing the Primary Project Needs

Goal 1: Enhance regional access to activity centers throughout the Twin Cities via connections to the emerging transitway system and the greater regional transit system.

Goal 2: Enhance the effectiveness of transit service within the Bottineau Transitway project area by connecting key activity centers and providing access to jobs, schools, housing, health care, parks, shopping, and entertainment.

Goal 3: Deveop the Bottineau Transitway as an integral component of a cost-effective and financially feasible transit system.

If those three are met, there is a secondary set of criteria used in evaluation:

Secondary Goals Addressing Community Sustainability

Goal 4: Promote sustainable development patterns for the long-term viability of Bottineau Transitway communities and the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Goal 5: Support healthy communities and sound environmental practices along the Bottineau Corridor.

With that in mind, what is the criteria being used to weigh our public comments?

Neighborhood and community resources: Effects on neighborhoods, social groups, community facilities, and community cohesion in the project area.

Environmental justice: Effects of the proposed alternatives on minority and low-income populations and communities.

Noise and vibration: Effects on noise and vibration on sensitive properties.

Historic and cultural resources (Section 106 process): Effects on historic and cultural resources that include historic districts, buildings, structures, and other objects included in, or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Parks and public land (Section 4(f) and 6(f)): Effects on publicly owned parks and recreation lands within the project area.

Water resources, wetlands, and habitat: Effects on water resources, including surface water
resources, water quality, wetlands, floodplains, critical areas, and groundwater. It also considers effects on ecosystems and protected plant and animal species.

Air quality and climate change: Effects on climate change and regional air quality.

Secondary impacts to be included for consideration are:

Land use and zoning
Consistency with local plans
Right-of-way impacts
Economic development and redevelopment
Visual and aesthetics
Transportation (including transit, roads and highways, railroads and pedestrian/bicycle facilities)
Safety and security
Hazardous material/contamination
Soils and geologic resources
Utilities
Energy
Secondary and cumulative effects

A draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be finished within twelve months, and the scoping project closes on February 17, 2012. All public comment should be directed to Brent Rusco and must be received before that date.

For those impacted by the city's plan along Penn, keep in mind that the public comment period for that plan ends one month before the very first initial Bottineau comment period finishes. To be safe, people living along the proposed corridor should get their comments in to both entities sooner rather than later.

Blogging About Recent Shooting

2011-12-27T23:28:00.000-06:00

This is just a quick note to readers of this blog. Since the tragic shooting death of a three-year-old child happened in the Hawthorne neighborhood, and since the aftermath will likely consume a fair amount of Hawthorne staff and volunteer time, I will be writing about it on the Hawthorne Voices blog and not here on North by Northside.

Since Hawthorne Voices does not allow for anonymous comments, people can use this post to do so if they please. But I am asking that as much dialogue as possible happen on the other site.

And although I'll be blogging about policy-laden things or even an occasional irreverent post, know that like you I am deeply saddened beyond description.

Community Dialoge Continues Around Hennepin County Hub

2011-12-21T08:53:00.000-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Last night community members met with representatives from Catalyst Community Partners, the Ackerberg Group, Hennepin County, and the City of Minneapolis to discuss the proposed social services hub at Broadway and Girard/Irving. Other NoMi bloggers who, like me, live in the impact zone, will surely have their say. What follows is my perspective.

I'm not convinced that the Hub proposal on its face is a good idea for Hennepin County taxpayers - at all, anywhere.

Eric Johnson of the Irving Inquisition blog beat me to the point that what we are doing by decentralizing services from downtown is essentially spending tens of millions of dollars to create duplicate delivery of services. And after a while budget concerns could drive the county to specialize services by geographic location, making it even harder on those in need of assistance. Commissioner Stenglein responded that the way they've been doing it until now, with a central downtown location, hasn't been sufficiently decreasing poverty.

While Stenglein seemed genuine about his desire for the County to do better in that regard, I'm still not following the logic that decentralizing will in fact give us that specific improvement. Yes, it's what their clients have said they want, and yes it will make things more convenient for them. But I haven't yet heard a direct relationship between the hub project and an actual decrease in demand for or use of services.

Asking for the addition of a DMV, passport photos, or other similar services as compromising amenities is pointless.

On multiple levels. Here's why...

...First and foremost, these are not Hennepin County services. They are state services that the County performs at some of their sites in collaboration with the state. And the County is getting out of that business.

From an individual perspective, when was the last time you told your friends about a positive experience at the DMV? For that matter, when was the last time you actually went to one? License tabs can be ordered online now, so that once-a-year trip isn't necessary. Passport photos are renewed once every ten years, drivers' licenses are what, five years? So unless you buy a new car or change addresses and need a new license, what else does one do at a DMV?

The only such place I go to now is at the Midtown Global Market. Whenever I need to take care of that kind of business, I set aside three or four hours - and not for the DMV, but for the market. I love being able to shop for Thai and Lao groceries, pick up a shirt from Honduras or Guatemala, and eat at a Turkish restaurant. But what draws me there and makes me gush about the experience? Not the DMV, but the amenities around it. Even if we could get the county to add this aspect, it would do absolutely nothing to improve the impact of the hub in NoMi.

There may come a time when meetings like last night's are just as pointless.

We can discuss things like adding a site for the West Broadway Farmers Market, public art, a Nice Ride kiosk, or curb cuts to control traffic. Those are all things that make the hub proposal less bad for West Broadway. But the fundamental concern of a large number of residents is not whether there are enough niceties within the proposal. We are concerned about the site plan itself, and believe that concentrating government and non-profits along a commercial corridor will have a detrimental impact on our community. Who will want to live next to a social service center? Even if it's not a problem in terms of crime and safety issues, it's quite likely to be perceived as such to potential new home buyers. And there is a palatable sense of frustration among NoMi residents that we can't spend our money on West Broadway because there isn't enough here. From our perspective, adding this building does not change that dynamic.

Since we had all the players in the room together, I decided to put them on the spot and ask them very directly, "How committed are you to this site vs. other areas of north Minneapolis?" At first my question was dodged, which is telling in and of itself. When pressed by another neighbor to give an answer, County reps essentially said this location was where it would be. That response had me ready to walk out of the meeting in protest. I was thinking of a way I could do so while making my reasons clear to Catalyst and Hennepin County, when Stenglein offered up a potential concession: retail on the first floor and services on the second.

I'm frankly not sure how feasible that is, but I will make one thing clear. This proposal as it stands right now is very far from being seen as acceptable by many who would be directly impacted. Little tweaks here and there are not enough to keep a real dialogue going. Wholesale changes to the site proposal are necessary, and if those do not come along soon, I don't know what more community listening sessions would accomplish.

"The purchasing power of north Minneapolis is grossly underestimated."

This particular meeting started as an extension of a block club meeting held over the weekend. I'm not sure how it expanded into a larger forum, and I know that change put off some Hillside residents. In the end though, the best quote of the night came from someone who lives south of Broadway and wouldn't have been there if not for the broader invitation. I can't stress this enough: NoMi residents are clamoring for quality businesses along our commercial corridor. I hear Catalyst's and Ackerberg's concerns, that without sufficient daytime traffic, retailers will choose to locate elsewhere. But the MPS headquarters will bring hundreds of people to Broadway. Won't that be a shot in the arm for business? Let that influx take root. We're sick of having to spend our money in Robbinsdale or Northeast.

If the proposals for this site are to garner sufficient community support, those bringing it forward will need to have a plan that will add a net benefit to the corridor. We're not there yet.

KFC No Longer Bulletproof

2011-12-21T01:20:00.000-06:00


They still have the security at the drive-through window.

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

In recent neighborhood meetings about the proposed Hennepin County Hub project, much has been made about how the nearest familiar place for MPS employees to eat lunch is the KFC across the street. And if this weren't bad enough, folks said, the KFC on Broadway still had bulletproof glass! I worked at the US Bank off of Lake and Chicago for a good five years, and I remember how unsafe I felt at the KFC there when they had bulletproof glass, and how much more welcoming it was when that was finally removed.

So I set out to take a few pictures of the barrier and put up a scathing blog post telling Kentucky Fried Chicken exactly how they are doing a disservice to the neighborhood. But I wasn't about to just waltz in there, snap a few photos, and leave. I felt an obligation to purchase something from them if I was going to put the establishment through the proverbial wringer. I admit I've never been in this joint before, as I rarely eat fast food. I thought I'd find something that would go well enough with the spinach-avocado-pomegranate salad back home, take a picture of the bulletproof glass, and be on my way.

Instead, I walked in, saw that the glass has been removed, and decided I no longer needed the karma points of buying something before blogging. So for the record everyone, the bulletproof glass between the cashiers and customers is no longer there at Broadway's KFC. From my perspective, this is kind of like adding an in-flight move to the Hindenburg; the experience might be more enjoyable but it's still fundamentally flawed.

And then it occurred to me: I might be the only person in the history of ever to walk into a restaurant, expect a bulletproof window, then say "oh hell no," before turning around and leaving.

Anonymous Details on 1541 Hillside

2011-12-18T00:51:00.000-06:00

3328 E Lake St.

Pre-jump post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, post-jump by an anonymous contributor. Photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Much like when I published an exploratory post about Paul Koenig's $2.5-million foreclosure, my post on 1541 Hillside Avenue North prompted a similar outpouring of information. The delicious irony is that I mistakenly made a few connections of my own on 1541 Hillside by getting it confused with a nearby former Pamiko house, 1547 Hillside.

An anonymous commenter sent me the following information on the property in question. The one disclaimer is that I have not had time to verify the information here, but it is written and referenced in a way that appears credible. Our anonymous contributor says...

...Looking at the Truth in Housing report for 1541 Hillside that expires 04/30/2012it appears that most of the repairs needed to the home are updates to plumbingand alarm systems. Some electrical work appears to be suggested, although sincethe electrical service was not on at time of inspection it is hard to tell. Nosignificant structural deficiencies were noted.

A total of $29,401 of Assessmentshave been levied on this property since 2007. The City has cancelled the fee for vacantBoarded buildings twice for 2010/2011 totaling $12,910.

So, why would they do that when the property is obviously not beingmaintained and those assets could be used to provide incentives for a new ownerto rehab the property and benefit the community? Is it because the owners arein good standing with CPED and a trusted relationship exists?

The Hennepin County Treasurer lists the Taxpayer of 1541 hillside as Equitron Holdings Llc - 3328 Lake St E Minneapolis Mn 55406 whoseregistered agent is Noilya Muharamova.Equitron Holdings Llc is listed on several other tax documents as residing at 2809 Cliff Rd.Burnsville 55337.

Noilya Muharamova owns and is a registered taxpayer on numerousother properties including 7400 Bush Lake Dr. Bloomington, 115 58th St E, 3012 ParkAve, 3414 Elliot Av, 1325 Butler Court St. Paul, and other properties in Naples, FL.

Equitron Holdings Llc listsother local properties - 3455 4^th St. N , 3531 4th St N, 3510 6th StN, 4047 Sheridan Ave N, 4207 Sheridan Ave N , 3618 Queen Ave N, 3511 Dupont AveN, 3431 Emerson Ave N, 3141 38TH AVE S, and 3807 Aldrich Ave N inMinneapolis, MN 55412.

These properties seem to have a reoccurring theme of separate owners,property management organizations, and taxpayers. At 1541 Hillside the property owner is - Donna V Butler

DonnaButler, 8438 Mississippi Blvd NW CoonRapids MN 55433 USA is listed as the authorized agent of each entity DVBPROPERTIES I LLC, DVB PROPERTIES II LLC,or DVB PROPERTIES III LLC each filled separatelywith the state of Minnesota. She owns a slew of her own properties and why sheis fronts for Equitron Holdings is suspicious at best.

Another reoccurring ownership name is Royan A Allison 1723 Morgan AvenueNorth, MN 55411 651-521-2380. Royan is also listed as a manager with AllArea Management LLC in several documents.

Lawrence Esso (who is listed on most documents associated with theseproperties) is the registered agent with the State for All Area Management LLC, Businessfile # 3819077-2 with a address of 3445 Longfellow Ave #2 yet all real estatedocuments list the business and contact address of All Area Management at thesame location as registered to EquitronHoldings Llc. At 3328 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406 507-382-2608 /612-824-0056.

Another interesting fact is that the Truth in Housingdocument listed on all these properties (regardless of who the owner is) linkback to Steve Scarella of City County Fed. Credit Union (a not-for-profitfinancial cooperative).

So, with all the real estate holding of these companies youwould think that they own their own office right? No Way!

According to Hennepin County Tax records 3328 E Lake St. isowned by - 301 17th Holding Llc, Ownedby Daniel McCarrell 4387 Lily Ave N Lake Elmo MN 55042 (651) 773-3179

3328 is listed under the Master address of 3326 E Lake St.a mixed residential property on Lake Street. (The only business license forthese structures was for an African Grocery that was revoked several monthsafter the store opened back in 1997) Special assessments on these properties includea 2011 total of $8559 that have all been cancelled by the City.

Daniel McCarrell and his wife own other propertiesincluding 1505 Main St. N E which (Like all other properties listed here) has assessmentsand is bank owned by the St Croix Finance Company (a private non-profitorganization which operates exclusively for the economic development of St.Croix County, Wisconsin). They also own a Brooklyn Park Property at 6434

84thCt N.

So, at 1541 Hillside we have a house that is notstructurally deficient that is condemned because Crooks, Poverty Pimps and Speculatorshave run roughshod through the community with “limited Liability” for theconsequences. Our City not only has no will power to prevent it, but hasenabled these crooks by forgiving assessments badly needed to maintain and rebuildour community. It is so much easier to destroy homes than do what needs to bedone to protect the community.

Faces of Sign Spam - Bob Brenner, RES Realty

2011-12-17T23:34:00.000-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the RES Realty Group website.

Thanks, Ed Kohler, for the inspiration to directly point out who is putting sign spam up in our neighborhoods.

While driving down Penn and Dowling today, I came across a piece of sign spam that was placed on the corner where a cemetery and funeral home were. That's low, even for a spammer. The dilapidated sign was snatched up and taken away. Then I went back home and searched for the phone number shown, and Mr. Brenner came up right away. We're usually not so fortunate as to get an image of our sign spammers, but Brenner's big suit came right up.

Searching for more info on Brenner's spamming business brings up all sorts of interesting connections...

He's listed as an agent for RES Realty Group, but the website on the sign, www.mnrenttoownhomes.com, doesn't have him prominently featured anywhere. There is one north Minneapolis property that comes up, 4343 Logan Avenue North. A Brooke Laroque is listed on the city's website as the property owner, but Hennepin County has a generic name, Urban Properties LLC as the owner. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State, Urban Properties is located at 1821 3rd St NE, a homesteaded property owned by Jennifer L Meyer.

Bob Brenner, you are today's face of sign spam, and if more of these pieces of litter show up in our community, Jennifer Meyer can expect them on her front lawn.

Still Not Enough Answers on Penn Redevelopment Plan

2011-12-15T22:34:00.000-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Today the City Planning Commission met to discuss several items, including both the Penn Avenue Redevelopment Plan. I was able to stay only for that portion, but noted that Catalyst people were on shortly after that. (There was a meeting later in the evening about the Hub site, and that will be reported on soon.) The commission meeting was not open to public comment, but was open to anyone wishing to attend. City staffers presented the report and were asked some pointed questions about why the plan was being developed and what the framework was for making decisions on certain properties.

The answer to the first question was, in part, to help the area qualify for more state funding for tornado recovery efforts. An unsatisfactory and incomplete answer to the second question led me to recall a favorite scene from the Matrix movies - that of the Merovingian. (If you have not yet seen this glorious mashup of kung-fu, computers, bullet-time effects, car chases, leather, and philosophy, then I just don't know how else to convey my point. Go and watch "Reloaded," and then continue reading.)

Everyone else has been waiting two and a half hours for you to finish the movie, and now we all know the scene where our protagonists say to the Merovingian...

..."You know why we are here."

"Hmph... I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can. The question is, do you know why you are here?"

"We are looking for the Keymaker."

"Oh yes, it is true. The Keymaker, of course. But this is not a reason, this is not a `why.' The Keymaker himself, his very nature, is means, it is not an end, and so, to look for him is to be looking for a means to do... what?"

"You know the answer to that question."

"But do you? You think you do but you do not. You are here because you were sent here, you were told to come here and you obeyed. [Laughs] It is, of course, the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction. Cause and effect."

Philosophical gobbledygook aside, the parallel to our current Penn Avenue proposal is that the proposal itself is a means to an end. If city staffers tell us that end is to qualify for funding, that leaves us right where we started. The funding is not in itself an end; the funding is a means to accomplish...what?

Obviously north Minneapolis could stand an infusion of state funds to help rehab, acquire, and demolish tornado-affected properties. A community corridor like Penn is as good of a place as any to focus those resources. So I actually would support the pursuit of the funds as long as there is a clearly defined plan that has been vetted by the communities where it would be implemented. In the areas along Penn where neighborhood and city cluster partnerships occur, it's safe to say that has happened or will happen. And the sooner we get rid of Reitman Row, the better.

But when city employees who present the plans say this is "not a specific proposal," don't pin down a definitive goal, and can't explain a framework for deciding what will happen with acquired properties, then we're just not ready to proceed. The city should be beholden to the constituents in the affected area. Without a better plan in place, I worry that they will go after state money and then be more committed to their funding application than to the neighborhoods they serve.

Fixing Two Misstatements on Hub Project

2011-12-14T10:10:00.000-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images from Hub proposal documents.

While I still hold hope that we can treat the county's Hub proposal like a bad musical and make it go off Broadway, I am more committed to remaining as accurate as possible in my posts here on North by Northside. I have no desire to persuade anyone to my point of view based on false information. So allow me to fix a mistake I made in my initial column. I stated that the house on Girard between Broadway and 21st was not included in the development plan. However, there is a vacant lot to the south of the house that is left out. In recent presentations, Catalyst has included that house as part of the overall site.

There's another mistake on the county's part that will be explained after the jump, but first I'll get to why my apparently inaccurate assumption was a reasonable one...

Although the map above does indeed show the house within the boundaries of the site, here is what the initial site plan looks like:

Usually in such site plans, a solid line around an existing structure indicates that no change is to be made to that particular building, or that such a building will be built as a permanent part of that particular site. And the top rendering also shows a 3-D outline of the house as well. Still, it now appears that this house is part of the acquisition and that the owner of the vacant lot to the south is the one holding out.

The error put forth by Hennepin County - which has since been retracted - is a statement that 80% of north Minneapolis residents are receiving some form of Hennepin County assistance. That was said at one neighborhood meeting this week and then repeated at an unrelated public forum the next day. Emails have gone out correcting this, but I'm putting it out here since it was repeated publicly.

Eighty percent just didn't meet the smell test when I heard this number. It seemed reflective of a level of dystopia approaching Mad Max scenarios - where Lord Humongous chairs neighborhood meetings and the healthy corner store initiative ensures that proprietors would have enough shotgun shells to ward of marauding hordes. If that were true then you'd have to factor in that more affluent areas of NoMi, such as parts of Willard-Hay, Victory, Shingle Creek, and Lind-Bohanon neighborhoods were at lower than 80%. And then lower-income communities like Hawthorne, Jordan, McKinley, and parts of Folwell/Webber-Camden would have to have constituencies almost entirely dependent on government services.

Eighty percent was clearly double-counting people who received multiple kinds of services when factoring that group as a part of the population of north as a whole. The real number is...closer to 60%, according to county sources. That still seems overly high to me, but I was told it does include items that are not income-based at all, such as child support payments.

And for the record, the updated site plans for the corner look pretty good. They need a traffic control plan for how to mitigate effects on Hillside and surrounding streets, among other tweaks. But I think any development on the site that follows the West Broadway Alive plan is going to have to address those concerns. The biggest problem with the site plan as it stands now is that its proposed tenants are not the commercial/retail tenants that West Broadway needs.

Hub Project Already a Done Deal? Residents Nearby Disagree

2011-12-13T02:00:00.001-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images from the Hub proposal documents.

One of the refrains heard from Don Samuels during the last city council election was that we would not believe the kind of progress and development we would see along West Broadway over the next several years. And you know what? He was right. I can't believe that we are expanding social services along a corridor that should be the central commercial hub of an entire quadrant of the city of Minneapolis. But it is happening that way, and if not for pressure from concerned residents, we would have been farther down that road than before.

Earlier on Monday, an email was circulated stating that some property acquisitions and service contracts were going to be part of tomorrow's Hennepin County Board meeting. The email from a Jordan resident stated that these were to be "consent agenda" items, although the agenda itself isn't clear on that.

screen capture used instead of link in case the agenda online changes.

Still, when I pondered in a previous post about the "insider baseball" feeling of these plans, it appears those concerns were more than a little justified. In spite of the fact that the city's public comment period extends through January 16, 2012, the county, the Ackerberg Group, and Catalyst were prepared to go full steam ahead with the project.

Catalyst has offered to meet with those of us who have concerns. And I was told that at least some things on my initial post weren't entirely accurate. I'll be happy to have a dialogue with them, post different viewpoints, and correct any factual errors that might have appeared. But until that happens, I'm firmly against the proposal as it stands and I plan to keep my foot on the gas pedal. Picture a social service client racing down Hillside Avenue at 4:28, hoping to sneak in the door before government employees dutifully close up shop at 4:30 sharp. That's the kind of fervor I have towards making sure this area gets treated right.

So when we heard that the county was about to enter into contracts without hearing so much as a peep from the neighborhoods affected, plenty of neighbors got on the phone and...

...called Commissioner Stenglein's office to have the item removed from consideration at least until after the public comment period at the city ends. It's not clear yet whether we got that specific demand, but I'm told the item is taken off of tomorrow's agenda. That link, however, provided some revealing documentation.

For instance, the summary document lays out a basic timeline, tracing initial discussions about relocating social services back in 2009:

History: In August of 2009, the Human Services and Public Health Department (HSPHD) presented to the County Board a report entitled “Regional Services Planning and Client Service Delivery Model”. This report detailed a plan for the launching of a geographic, community based approach for the delivery of a continuum of services centered on six regional services centers (Hubs) and a number of smaller satellite offices. Strategically placed Hubs, advanced with community partners, would bring HSPHD services and the services of community partners to areas containing HSPHD clients. This distribution of services would permit the eventual vacating of Century Plaza.

When was the community brought into a dialogue about how we would be impacted by this move, and what sites would be appropriate?

For the past several months, the County (the Real Estate Division of the Housing Community Works and Transit Department, the Property Services Department and HSPHD) has been working on Hub proposals in four of the HSPHD service regions (south suburban, north Minneapolis, south Minneapolis and northwest suburban).

To the best of my knowledge, we simply haven't been consulted. If there was a community forum around this that I've either missed or forgotten, someone please correct me. But for now, it sure looks like the county made sure to talk to their supporters about this without ever considering that just maybe the community itself wasn't on board. The report for this Hennepin County meeting does state that:

A public hearing was held on November 1, 2011 and testimony was received.

But when I look through the minutes for meetings held on November 1, I don't see anything to that effect. I'm not claiming the report is wrong; only that I am specifically looking for items that most people wouldn't even know about. If I can't find them easily then it's reasonable to say they aren't being made accessible enough.

Here is a map of what was to be acquired.

But the plan to relocate service hubs out of downtown started even earlier. A report from the county dated April of 2011 spells out such a vision. April was when the report was issued, but when was the decision first set up?

By 2009, we were firmly committed to redesigning how we deliver services and where we deliver them. The result? A new model for service delivery interconnected with an innovative plan to move out into community-based regional sites during the next several years. We were designing a more effective service delivery system for the 21st Century. We were figuring out how to move closer to our vision.

In the chart immediately following that paragraph, the report claims that families will have access to services in local communities. But for how long? Right now we have services provided in one central location. Spreading services out to multiple locations will only work for so long before someone realizes that the way things were before was a heck of a lot more financially palatable. Then resume building will be at the Northside Hub, but job placement will be at the Sabathani Center. And I'm sorry sir, we only serve people with incomes ranging from 30-50% of the seven-county area median income because we've determined that's the demographic that lines up most with this service area. You'll need to come back tomorrow with your paystubs and W-2's for the last three years and then we can determine if we can help you here or if you need to go to our middle-income service bracket location.

But fear not! For the word "community" is prominently displayed on several nifty flowcharts that the county has generously provided in a report that most of us never even knew existed, saying "Our Community Will..."

Participate in shaping county priorities and strategies to achieve them.

(Okay, well THAT clearly hasn't happened yet, and we're at least two years into the process by now.)

View the county as a partner in addressing community needs and achieving desired population results.

(Kind of hard to view the county as a partner right about now.)

Get the information they need, when they need it.

(Well, that would have been two years ago, or in April of 2011, or in August of 2011, or before Catalyst and the County started to amass land behind closed doors.)

See HSPHD helping individuals, families and communities to become strong, stable, healthy and safe.

(We already do that, just that HSPHD does it from downtown and that seems to be working just fine.)

Recognize HSPHD as an effective steward of public funds.

(If these various Hub proposals aren't being done to increase financial efficiency, then I don't even see how this last one currently applies.)

Look at all those arrows to and from the community! They must really like us.

Later on, the document states that the county did a test phase of this kind of delivery in November of 2009, reaffirming that the Hub development was something in the works for a considerable amount of time. And on page 13 we see the big whopper:

Really? REALLY?! That second bullet point says, "Within each region, we have been talking with community members about: What services are needed, where services can best be located, and opportunities for expanded partnerships." When and where did these supposed discussions happen?

The way the proposal was sprung upon the residents directly affected, in combination with specific claims on county documents to have already involved the community, show a disparity between the county's words and their actions. There is really no excuse whatsoever for not bringing in the community at least by the time the April 2011 report was ready to go. We could have started from a much more constructive place instead of where we are now. Both the purpose and the design of this site do not fit in the immediate area, nor do they match well with West Broadway. It's well past time for the community to be engaged about where those other sites might be.

Penn Avenue Redevelopment Photo Tour

2011-12-11T23:00:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

In a previous post, I began to take a look at the city's proposal for what it would consider redevelopment along Penn Avenue. And while I'm glad to see needed focus placed on a community corridor, I have to question what part of this plan actually constitutes redevelopment. The redevelopment area will include uses of properties for "housing, commercial/retail uses, and shared parking." Clearly some of the properties are entirely appropriate for things like retail or parking, such as the two vacant parcels photographed above. 3215 and 3205 Penn Avenue North, just south of Union Liquors, are prime parcels for commercial/retail and parking expansion.

(And while they're at it, I'd love to see that spirit shop go the way of the dodo. I went in there for the first and last time the other weekend and it was possibly the most distasteful such shop in all of Minneapolis. I find that some liquor stores have dust on the $50 bottles of wine or the higher-end beers. Union's level of wine that's too classy to be purchased on a regular basis starts off in the eight-dollar range. Things go downhill from there.)

At least from the exterior, it's hard to see what the city would do with 3229 Penn Avenue North, the duplex pictured above. A cursory examination of this and many similar properties leads one to believe there is a three-step process in place

CPED acquires a property
?
Presto! Redevelopment.

So before we get too far into the process, the community deserves to hear more from the city about that second step - and we need to be at the table about what that redevelopment looks like and how to get there. While there are plenty of parcels that make complete sense for acquisition (and some of those for demolition) there are some that leave me scratching my head. If readers feel the same way, or ideally if this post can be used to educate each other about these properties, please chime in.

And now we continue with the rest of the tour...

(No photos taken of 2904 and 2934 Penn Avenue North, two vacant parcels.)

2958 Queen Avenue North

2954 Queen Avenue North

2934 Queen Avenue North

2607 Penn Avenue North

2607 Penn, by the way, is inhabited by some great owner-occupants and is one where once again I have to ask what the plan is here. I could be persuaded that owner-occupants should be bought out or encouraged to leave if there is a redevelopment plan that is supported by the community and appropriately funded, I strongly oppose relocation simply based on speculation.

3201 Oliver Avenue North, I think. These vacant lots can all start to look the same after a while.

3222 Penn Avenue North

(No photos taken of vacant lots 2718 and 2720 Penn Avenue North)

2615 Oliver Avenue North

2627 Oliver Avenue North

2635 Oliver Avenue North

2639 Oliver Avenue North

A few thoughts about this stretch of a few houses along Oliver: Some, like 2615, would seem like rehab is possible. Others, like 2639, look like they could be too far beyond repair (even if they were owned by someone better than Mahmood Khan). And 2627 Oliver could be one that even if the demo/rehab question could go either way, one might opt for demolition because the house is crammed in on a tiny lot.

2624 Penn Avenue North, a likely demo candidate.

2634 Penn Avenue North

2640 Penn Avenue North...these two are on the list because why?

2511 Penn Avenue North

2520 Penn Avenue North

2522 Penn Avenue North

And here we have the Reitman Twins of Penn Avenue, the ugliest houses so far and perhaps the only two properties that were actually improved by the tornado. At least now they have more than one color adorning the exterior. The houses may be too worthless to Reitman to actually repair, but watch him squeeze every penny he can out of the city because of their supposed value if they are to be acquired. Hopefully they can stick him with the demo fees, and deservedly so.

And now that we've covered the northern stretch from 26th to the Lowry corridor, let's jump to the south end of the project and work our way back to the 26th/Penn/Broadway node.

1237 Penn Avenue North

1237 Penn is perhaps the most perplexing addition to the list of desired acquisitions. It's adjacent to a parcel owned by CPED, which has been vacant for...how long? Ten, fifteen years? More? The house is visually appealing, or at least distinctive, and does not appear to be in any serious state of disrepair. So why is it even included here? This one, among others, absolutely requires an explanation from the city about what the plans are.

Or we could just leave it off the list since it looks to be working out just fine.

1819 Penn Avenue North

And here we have another property whose inclusion on the list leaves more questions than answers. It's homesteaded and seems to be kept up quite well.

1900 Penn Avenue North; the business has already relocated and a raze order is issued.

1906 Queen sustained enough damage that this little guy might need to go.

2200 Golden Valley Road

1911 Penn Avenue North

1915 Penn Avenue North

Obviously it makes sense to pick up 2200 GVR, especially if redevelopment of some kind is coming to Penn, and 1900 across the street is being acquired. And the Dream Home with arson damage should come down yesterday. But what's wrong with 1915 Penn? Unless maybe someone's got a "demolish one, get the second half off" coupon that will expire if not used on the next major city initiative.

Here we have 2020, 2101, and 2131 Penn Avenue North, three vacant lots that are virtually indistinguishable.

2110 Penn Avenue North

2221 Penn Avenue North

They haven't finished repairs, but kept out the for rent sign, just in case.

2315 Penn Avenue North

2315 Penn may just be the loneliest house on the whole list. It's surrounded on each side by multiple vacant lots. I can picture someone in an office saying, "Let's acquire this so we have six or so continuous lots for a project." But let's remember something folks: vacant lots should not be normal.

2327 Penn Avenue North

I stand corrected. Keith Reitman owns worse-looking properties than the ones on 26th and Penn. The one to the north of 2327 is his too, by the way, as well as everything right up to the corner

2339-41 Penn Avenue North

Take a gander at that roof. Yeah, I can't picture Reitman fixing that either.

2335 Penn Avenue North

"Hey Bob, what are you doing today?"
"Got a backhoe of doom, gonna tear down a few Reitman properties."
"What about that nice one in the middle?"
"Well, I got the bulldozer today and a full tank of gas. Sure be a damned shame if I didn't take full advantage of that, ya know?"
"Yep, wanna tear 'er down too?"
"You know it."

The sooner the Reitman variable gets removed from the redevelopment scene, the better, but I'm still not sure this one needs to come down.

2306 Penn Avenue North

2306 has features that, in my opinion, would set the bar for demolition very high indeed. Hennepin County owns it though, so let's hope they do the right thing.

No picture of 2214 Penn, vacant land, taken.

2202 Penn Avenue North

And there we have the Penn Avenue Development Plan pictorial, as brought to you by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

A House Condemned Against Itself?

2011-12-10T00:58:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

1541 Hillside Avenue, a house owned by the ominously-sounding group "Equitron Holdings" now has a condemnation placard posted on the front door of the lower unit. The condemnation reason given is "structural defects and lack of maintenance." And in spite of such potential defects, it appears that the upper unit may be occupied.

Wasn't there a Transformer named Equitron? Here's hoping this thing changes back into a code-compliant property soon.

1551 Hillside First Sold For...

2011-12-09T23:57:00.001-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the Minneapolis Journal archives.

1551 Hillside Avenue North has long been on my radar screen as an amazing hallmark of our historic housing stock in NoMi. Now that I live within easy walking distance of the place, I've taken even more of an interest in it. The archives of the Minneapolis Journal, linked above, often contain treasure troves of neighborhood and housing history. For instance, on February 1, 1903, this house was listed for the whopping price of...

...$2,000. Its amenities at the time included bragging about city water and sewer connections, and called Hillside Avenue "one of the handsomest avenues in North Minneapolis." Not quite as great as having a President say it's the nicest neighborhood he's ever worked in, but hey, you take what you can get, right?

These old newspapers are fascinating time capsules in and of themselves too. Peppered throughout the pages are jokes of the day, often picked up from other papers. Some are still funny now, and others are...well let's just say that they contain racism and sexism that is so blatant and overt that it (thankfully) simply can't be recreated using today's technology.

Looking past that however, we see an article that in some ways speaks to the debate of what to do about our housing stock 100 years later. It's titled "Chances Slip Away" and reads:

Moneyed Residents Seem Not to Understand Opportunities, Says Edmund G. Walton.

Improvements on Nicollet Made by Non-residents--Duty of the Real Estate Man.

Edmund G. Walton in a conversation regarding the duties of the officers of the real estate board and the position taken that every member should be willing to do committee work or quit, said today:

"We have among us men worthy of recognition in any of the big business centers, and able to hold their own under any circumstances. It is said of us in New York, Boston, and Chicago that Minneapolis has more highly educated and keen, clear-headed real estate men than any city of its size in the United States.

"The city, although growing to a wonderful extent, is still unfortunately not even fairly understood by her own moneyed residents. Third in the United States in the number of building permits issued in 1902, we still find it almost impossible to interest local money in our building enterprises. On Nicollet avenue, for instance, from Washington to Seventh street how much property owned by residents has been improved in the last few years? Out of 3,300 feet of frontage, 2,295 is owned by residents of Minneapolis and only 1,005 feet by outsiders, and yet it is the outsiders who have put in new fronts, built new buildings, and pushed improvements.

"To my knowledge no single resident owner of Nicollet Avenue frontage has awakened to the fact that Nicollet avenue has no equal as a retail street in this country. They have none such in New York, for Fifth avenue, in all its glory, cannot show eight continuous blocks on both sides of the street of beautiful show windows resplendent with art. Broadway, with its street cars cannot be classed with Nicollet for a minute. Look at Washington street in Boston or State street in Chicago. What are they compared with Nicollet? Go to St. Louis, New Orleans, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Kansas City, or St. Paul. All you find is a broken up retail center without base or cupalo. It is only in London and Paris besides New York that you find long, continuous streets. This goes to show that in original design, at least, we are destined to be their equal.

...

"Only two weeks ago I knew of a case where a well-known citizen appeard at his bank with his statement wishing to borrow a few thousand. His statement showed mortgages receivable amounting to $62,000, and clear real estate, much of it income-bearing, amounting to $140,000, and yet the cashier of that bank, in granting the loan, said the only bad part about the statement was that it was all real estate or securities on real estate.

"Real estate is the best thing on earth because it is earth...What we fellows want to do then, is to...make our bankers understand that our assets are the original basis of things, that without us the world is naught; that we, in fact, are superior to banks, for we have what they have not, good old mother earth; they are our tenants, we are the landlords, and in times like these we should do the talking and they the listening..."

Lowry Bridge Pictorial

2011-12-09T23:32:00.000-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Every once in a while, I wander around just taking photos of what strikes my fancy, hoping to either make a blog post or be able to use the pictures at a later date. I did so one day late in the fall when the Lowry Bridge was being connected. The photos just sat on a camera that I don't use too often, until now.

More pics after the jump. Enjoy.

I did not know we had a banzai tree in Hawthorne.

Northside Food Market Continues Its Tradition of Excellence

2011-12-08T09:27:00.001-06:00

Parody post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Upper level rental unit "just as safely habitable today" as it has ever been, neighborhood residents claim.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Northside Food Market, a long-standing quality corner store in the McKinley neighborhood, celebrated its thirteenth year in business today. Honey Buns and Flaming Hot Cheetos will be sold at half-price, and individually-wrapped Swisher Sweets will be literally cut in half, for the on-the-go businessman who only has enough time to smoke a partial cigarillo before hopping on the bus to stay ahead of the hustle and bustle of his job.

"The Northside Food Market has it all," said one of the approximately fifteen tenants living in the one-bedroom apartment above the store. "A location near a bus stop, brillo pads to clean my apartment, plastic roses that come in utilitarian glass tubes, and the only alleyway in the city of Minneapolis with a 40 mph speed limit." When asked what the particular employ of this upstanding young gentleman was, he remained effusive, leading residents to speculate that he and his associates must be training for a circus clown car gig - the only plausible way such a small unit could comfortably hold so many people.

The store has long been a pioneering business in the neighborhood, leading the way selling healthy food to the throngs of socially-conscious, committed patrons who visited the store on an almost hourly basis. While the utmost level of quality slipped briefly at the Northside Food Market earlier this year, the owners quickly promised to make things right. Gone were the wads of bubble gum occasionally strewn on the sidewalk, and any young rapscallions causing the slightest bit of trouble were sent home with a firm warning and a stern look askance.

"We don't tolerate any kinds of nonsense around here," said the owner, who was dutifully in the midst of marking up the prices on such basic items as aluminum foil. "And if anything untoward is reported, by golly, one quick phone call from a neighbor to the alderwoman is all it takes to set things right. She's a stern headmaster, that one."

Today the Northside Food Market rolled back its doors for what is perhaps its most comprehensive refurbishment in the business's full-bodied history, and residents were duly thrilled. Said one resident, "I love the new aisle layouts! Everything is so conveniently located, the products they now sell attract the best customers, and the facade looks better than ever! I just hope it stays this way for a long time to come."

Public Hearing Set for Former Fuji-Ya Site

2011-12-07T10:00:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

The former site of the Fuji-Ya restaurant could become a new downtown riverside park, and a public hearing to begin that process is scheduled for December 15, 6-8 p.m. at the Mill City Museum. The Park Board press release is already renaming the site the "Water Works Site" in recognition that the city's first water supply and fire pumping station were located there. That's a neat tidbit of history I wasn't aware of, but I still bristle at how quickly we are distancing ourselves from the contributions of Reiko Weston and the Fuji-Ya restaurant.

Especially in that area, the Mississippi riverfront is full of sites, structures, and features that pay homage to the period that "Water Works" also references: the Stone Arch Bridge, the Mill City Museum, the Mill Ruins Park, the Water Power Park, the Pillsbury A Mill--heck, an entire district is named the Mill district. What do we have as a place name anywhere in the city of Minneapolis that is a tip of the hat to the contributions of Asian Americans? If there's something out there, please enlighten me.

I understand that the way the site was forcefully acquired from Weston could be a sore spot. And I would also be understanding if local Asian Americans weren't overly interested in this site as a place or forum for their cultural heritage. Weston and the architect were Japanese and much of our Asian population hails from southeast Asia instead. It could be seen in a similar way as (hypothetically) using historical references from Brazil or French Guyana to pay tribute to the contributions of a Mexican. Technically it's all Latin America, but the cultures, locations, and languages are all quite distinct.

But has anyone even asked an Asian American cultural group here in the Twin Cities if they would like to participate in the process?

Reiko Weston wasn't just a pioneering minority businesswoman in a time where race and gender stacked the deck against her from the start. She was also a visionary who saw the appeal of the riverfront when the rest of the city had turned its back on the area. She preserved the history of the site while incorporating styles from a minority architect who would become well known in his own right. Whatever form the new development at the Fuji-Ya site takes, those contributions must be recognized, valued, and preserved to the fullest extent possible. I would hope that we do so by preserving the structure, reaching out to minority populations, and pursuing a site name that reflects the full history that transpired here.

Proposed Redevelopment Along Penn Ave N

2011-12-04T23:05:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, map from the city of Minneapolis.

In my previous post, I pointed readers to proposed changes along West Broadway. The city is also planning to designate a redevelopment area along Penn Avenue and several intersecting cross streets. The plan's language seems somewhat innocuous in this initial stage, although it's unclear yet how it could affect the various D2 light rail designs. What has me worried though, is the language on the final page of the document, which states:

Minnesota Statutes Section 469.002, Subdivision 14 includes in its definition of a redevelopment project “any work or undertaking to acquire blighted areas and other real property for the purpose of removing, preventing, or reducing blight, blighting factors, or the causes of blight.”

A “blighted area” is defined in Minnesota Statutes Section 469.002, Subdivision 11 as “any area with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light, and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use, or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.”

The proposed Penn Avenue North Redevelopment Project area is determined to be a blighted area, based on the characteristics described above. Indicators of blight observed in the project area include deteriorated or damaged building elements, underused or vacant land, poorly maintained premises, unoccupied residential properties, evidence of tornado damage, buildings in need of major repair, physically and/or functionally obsolete buildings, and lack of adequate parking for commercial operations.

Redevelopment activities in the project area will remove blight and facilitate the implementation of City land use policies and redevelopment objectives.

What's so scary about that, you may ask? Well...

...at least several homes targeted for acquisition under the supposed guise of addressing blight are owner-occupied properties in the midst of doing repair work after the tornado. The city has identified forty-two properties that they might acquire and/or demolish as part of the plan. I will post a picture of every single house or parcel designated as a possible acquisition. Many are in fact in need of either significant rehab or demolition. We should also look at who owns adjacent properties to the ones proposed, as that could tell us more about the motivations (both good and bad) for acquisition.

For now, here is that list of forty-two, with links to the city's website for ownership info, with noteworthy items expanded upon:

3229 Penn Avenue North
3215 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land adjacent to Union Liquors, owned by Hennepin County
3205 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County
2904 Queen Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County
2934 Queen Avenue North - Vacant property owned by Hennepin County
2958 Queen Avenue North
2954 Queen Avenue North
2607 Penn Avenue North - owner-occupied property
3201 Oliver Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County
3222 Penn Avenue North
2718 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County
2720 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land owned by "Landmark REO Club Inc" from Detroit, MI.
2639 Oliver Avenue North - House owned by Mahmood Khan, demolition ordered as of 11/18/2011.
2635 Oliver Avenue North - Vacant building
2634 Penn Avenue North - Property appears to be in late stages of foreclosure.
2640 Penn Avenue North
2627 Oliver Avenue North - Vacant property owned by Hennepin County, order to demolish.
2615 Oliver Avenue North - foreclosure, owned by US Federal Credit Union.
2624 Penn Avenue North - demolition order issued 11/18/2011.
2522 Penn Avenue North - Vacant property owned by Keith Reitman.
2520 Penn Avenue North - Another vacant "Reitman blue" property.
2306 Penn Avenue North - Vacant property owned by Hennepin County.
2110 Penn Avenue North - Vacant property owned by Hennepin County.
2202 Penn Avenue North - Vacant property, apparent foreclosure.
2214 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County.
1900 Penn Avenue North - Vacant building.
2020 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land, privately owned.
2511 Penn Avenue North - Vacant apartment building, believed to be pictured in recent City Pages article.
2341 Penn Avenue North - rental property owned by Keith Reitman.
2335 Penn Avenue North - property owned by Keith Reitman.
2327 Penn Avenue North - property owned by Keith Reitman, demolition ordered on 11/18/2011.
2315 Penn Avenue North

1915 Penn Avenue North - Vacant property owned by Hennepin County.
1911 Penn Avenue North - Vacant property owned by a Joshua Clemons.
2200 Golden Valley Road - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County
2221 Penn Avenue North
2131 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Alan Kwong.
2101 Penn Avenue North - Vacant land owned by Hennepin County, link states "Conv Pending to City CPED Hcwt Hold for Bottineau"
1906 Queen Avenue North
1819 Penn Avenue North - homesteaded property.
1237 Penn Avenue North

Obviously there are some infamous names on the list and the more we can take properties off some of these slumlords' hands, the better off we'll be. I can't help but wonder though, if the likes of Reitman, Khan, Kwong, and Johnson will continue to neglect their properties right up until the point where it's time to squeeze every cent they can out of the city. And of course I'm worried for the owner-occupants on the list. A photo tour to see each parcel is forthcoming.

Public comments to the city are due to Tiffany Glasper by January 16, 2012.

ADDENDUM: A commenter pointed out that I had erroneously put 1819 Queen Avenue North on this list. That has been corrected to 1819 Penn, and the hyperlink has been appropriately changed as well. 1819 Queen is not even in the redevelopment area. Since no other properties have been identified as owned by Gregge Johnson, his name has been removed from the tags/labels section of this post as well.

Can We Get Something OTHER Than Non-Profit Development?

2011-12-04T20:26:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Word came out this week that changes are being sought to the ~~Let's Just Give All of~~ West Broadway ~~to the Ackerberg Group Because We're Not Doing~~ Redevelopment ~~Anyway~~ Plan. The proposed changes can be found here. While I have sung the praises of Ackerberg and Catalyst before, and I'm thankful for their ongoing commitment to NoMi, I have some deep reservations about this proposal.

Those reservations are not around the preservation of housing stock in the proposed development area. There are a series of homes and other land that will need to be assembled, and that's a part of any such project. If anything, the quality of housing that was demolished for the MPS building next door was far higher than this and I wish some of those homes would have been moved instead of demolished. There are 11 parcels being added to the site plan, starting with...

...1301 21st Ave N

1303 21st Ave N
1305 21st Ave N - vacant land owned by Hennepin County
1307 21st Ave N - vacant land owned by the City of Minneapolis
1317 21st Ave N
1403 21st Ave N - homesteaded property
1405 21st Ave N - owned by the infamous Keith Reitman
1409 21st Ave N
2107 Girard Ave N - apartment owned by the Ackerberg Group
1408 West Broadway
1410 West Broadway

Based on photos of many of these properties, there's not a whole lot that appears visually historic here:

Oddly enough, this house is not on the addresses in the proposed change.

Let's start with the nicer point of criticism first, shall we? If this project goes through, why are we leaving 2015 Girard alone? I do think there's a lot to like about the proposed site plan. I want to see two-story buildings along West Broadway and that could require the creation of parking behind such structures. But how is it fair to the owner of this last house to plop that redevelopment around that structure?

And I have to wonder if the following statement is a standard part of such design plans:

State law authorizes the City to acquire property either on a negotiated basis or, in certain situations, through the use of its power of eminent domain, if necessary, to carry out a redevelopment plan. The City will seek to acquire property from willing sellers whenever possible.

Before this closing statement, the proposed plan change states:

The West Broadway Hub will be developed by The Ackerberg Group and will be privately owned by a related development entity (gee, I wonder who that could be?), with Hennepin County as the sole tenant. Hennepin County will house approximately 200 employees in a new two-story structure of approximately 30,000 square feet. The Hennepin County Hub will provide adult and child social services to clients throughout north Minneapolis...

(linked comment added by the author)

So here we have a site with multiple parcels already owned by the city of Minneapolis, Catalyst, and Hennepin County. The city is preparing a plan modification for the area, in which the new development would be managed by Ackerberg/Catalyst, and currently the sole tenant is Hennepin County. Why oh why does this smack of insider baseball? And what kinds of services are we talking about providing here? Will there be things that regular folks can actually use, like maybe pulling permits (admittedly a city function) or a DMV?

The proposal continues:

The building’s street-focused design and the addition of hundreds of County staff and thousands of annual client visits will add vibrancy and presence to this critical corridor.

If the usage will be that great, then why does the plan only call for about 120-150 parking spaces?

Page 8 of the plan appears to be somewhat self-contradictory in stating that this proposal is in line with the West Broadway Alive plan, yet in some cases rezoning may be necessary. The areas that might need rezoning are where area residents probably have the most leverage to either get what we want out of this or derail it entirely if it comes to that.

Residents will have a chance to give their input at a community listening session, which I am told will happen on December 15. I will add the time and location to the post when I have that available.

As a resident who now lives within walking distance of the plan, I strongly oppose this based on the social service aspect of its proposed use. I would like to see actual business development along West Broadway, and not more service-based projects. If nobody has such a proposal at the ready, or if now is not the right time, then let the MPS headquarters do what we all thought it would do; bring in employees and other patrons that will increase business demand along the corridor.

If anyone wishes to convince me otherwise, show me another such facility in Minneapolis that abuts residential properties and prove that such a facility has brought tangible benefits to the community.

Furthermore, while I generally have a high opinion of the work done by Catalyst and the Ackerberg Group, I'm starting to believe they have their fingers in enough pots along West Broadway. And the last time there was a disconnect between Catalyst and the community, they didn't really listen to the neighborhood all that much. So I'd like to see more finished results and a redoubled commitment to a real dialogue before handing over yet another key intersection to them. Even then, I'd rather see another developer start taking on projects along the corridor. Such competition will spur all parties to do better. Right now we have an overabundance of fried food shacks and nail salons along Broadway. I'm doubtful that continuing to add social services to the mix is going to make the community any better.

New Mural at Plymouth and Washington!

2011-11-28T20:11:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Many NoMi-ites have watched a mural slowly make its way across the north end of the building off the northwest corner of Plymouth Ave N and Washington Ave N. If anyone has more information about the mural or the artist, please share. For now, at least it's better than what you see when you turn north coming off the freeway exit.

More pictures after the jump...

The 411 on How LRT Impacts Streetcars in NoMi

2011-11-28T19:36:00.001-06:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the city's Streetcar Final Report.

At last month's meeting to discuss possible LRT routes along Penn or Oliver as alternatives to the "D1" route that would go through Theo Wirth to Highway 55, I asked a very specific question of our moderators. How would the various D2 options affect the proposed streetcar alignment along West Broadway?

After all, numerous streetcar corridors were proposed and only a few were approved. The approval process was based on some rather objective criteria, such as cost and total ridership. The streetcar route along West Broadway would go from downtown up Washington to Broadway, and then up to the Robbinsdale Transit Center. If light rail comes down Broadway to Penn, then the proposed streetcar line would presumably stop at that intersection. And if that were to happen, then the ridership on the streetcars could drop to a point where the Broadway alignment no longer qualifies.

Aside from the appropriate preservation of housing, my other main desire for LRT in or around NoMi is that we don't eliminate other viable transit network options. So when I asked Bobby Joe Champion and Ray Dehn whether the D2 routes would affect streetcar proposals at all, and if so then how, their answer was...

..."No." LRT at Penn and Broadway wouldn't affect the long-term feasibility of a West Broadway streetcar alignment. I was unsatisfied with this response, so I kept on digging. On page 4-11 of the final report, it states:

"In addition, any decisions on alignment and LRT/BRT that come out of Hennepin County's Alternatives Analysis process for this corridor will significantly influence whether streetcar service is appropriate in this corridor and where streetcar service will terminate and/or connect with future LRT service." (emphasis mine)

I've been generally impressed with how Champion and Dehn have run meetings in NoMi, so this shouldn't be construed as any kind of a "gotcha" moment. They certainly have more knowledge of the issue than I've got. But I asked a pointed question in a public setting and further research seems to indicate that the answer I got was not entirely accurate. It's only fair to publish the correct information here for people to review.

If LRT does indeed take away transit options and gut a community while adding at most one stop in NoMi, I would contend that the D2 routes are simply not worth the costs.

Buy in NoMi on Small Business Saturday

2011-11-23T20:21:00.001-06:00

Post and image by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image initially from the West Broadway Business & Area Coalition.

If you believe the big box retail industry, customers are clamoring for earlier and earlier opening times for Black Friday. And in their benevolence, they have responded by taking their employees away from their families on a holiday so that stores can open at midnight as Thanksgiving turns to Black Friday. Remember, they're doing it just for you!

Or if you're like me, you can express disgust by closely tracking which stores open at midnight, and vowing not to shop at any of them in between November 25th and December 31st. And if that's the case, you may be looking for deals at your local small retailers. If any other local businesses want to be written about here, use the comment section or contact me. The West Broadway Business Coalition sent out an email listing deals from NoMi businesses on Saturday, November 26th.

The deals are as follows (click for more, as the deals aren't fully shown in the image above)...

...Friedman's: save 20% on non-sale items in store, and 10% on sale items.

El-Amin's Fish House: Spend $20 and get a free $5 gift card for your next purchase.

Goddess of Glass: 10% off for all American Express cardholders.

Merwins: Free bottle of wine (Polka Dot Riesling, Medium Dry, 750 ml) with $20 purchase.

John Williams, Dentist: New Patient Special - $75 for new patient exam, x-ray, and cleaning ($225 value).

Buy local this holiday season!

Do We Want the Central Corridor on Penn or Oliver?

2011-11-18T08:03:00.001-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Yesterday I was in St. Paul and snapped these pictures near University and Snelling. While it can be unfair to judge a project before it's complete, these pictures do give us an idea of what LRT could look like coming down Penn or Oliver. Is this really a good fit in NoMi?

LRT does cut off plenty of cross streets. Even on a commercial corridor like University Avenue, I'm not so sure this is a good idea. Along a residential corridor, the effects would be even more dramatic. I've been reading up on walkable communities, and believe the LRT would either decrease walking along the corridor or it would increase pedestrian accidents. Yes, people can walk an extra block or few to the handful of designated crossings, but will they really? I can think of any number of scenarios, from a tired grandmother to an anxious kid to a scrapper with a baby carriage full of stolen copper where people will cross wherever they think is convenient. And we certainly don't want grandma or the grandkids to get hit by a train.

So I encourage neighbors to take a hard look at the University Avenue corridor. That's what we'll have in NoMi if any of the D2 options come to pass. LRT can do many excellent things to revitalize a community, but I don't think those fit along the D2 route here.

Upcoming Events from Mississippi Riverfront Partnership

2011-11-18T07:49:00.001-06:00

Here are upcoming events along the Mississippi River:

Sunday, Nov. 13

Great River Outing:

Gems Along the Mississippi River Trail

1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Co-hosted with AFCAC
Join the Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership on a walk with park historian David Smith, Commissioner Liz Wielinski, and Marshall Terrace resident and AFCAC co-facilitator Mary Jamin Maguire to visit three riverfront park gems: Marshall Terrace, Edgewater, and Gluek Riverside.

We will follow Marshall Street Northeast, formerly the Red River Oxcart Trail, and now the multi-state Mississippi River Trail. On the route are the Lowry Bridge and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization headquarters - both currently under construction.

We will discuss the Above the Falls and the RiverFIRST plans to complete a continuous riverfront park and trails for walking and biking, connecting these riverfront parks.

We will conclude with a visit to the Sample Room for a treat and conversation.

Click HERE to register for our Gems Along the Mississippi River tour.

Tuesday, Nov. 29
Upper River Forum: (Topic TBD)
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Co-hosted with AFCAC;
at MPRB, 2117 West River Road

Hear about hot issues shaping the Upper Riverfront. Agenda in development.

Monday, Dec 5
Great River Outing: Tour of Graco on the Mississippi
Requires pre-registration! Limited to 40 participants.
5:30 – 6:45 p.m.
at Graco, Inc., 88 - 11th Avenue NE

Once a quiet family-owned business, Graco Inc. has become one of the world's premier manufacturers of fluid-handling equipment and systems. It has pioneered technology and equipment for a wide variety of fluid handling applications.

Consider, for instance, that Graco equipment:
·      squeezes tomato paste onto millions of frozen pizzas,
·      pumps oil and lubricating fluids into millions of cars,
·      applies paint to homes, business and industrial installations, and
·      helps give cars made around the world their high-gloss finishes.

By successfully exploring a growing number of applications, Graco's performance in recent years has been remarkable.

Join the Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership as we tour the worldwide headquarters of Graco, Inc., and learn what it means to be an engaged neighbor on the Mississippi river.

Click HERE to register for the Graco tour.

Thursday, Dec. 8
Central River Forum: (Topic TBD)
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
at Mill City Museum, 704 S 2nd St

Hear about hot issues shaping the Central Riverfront. Agenda in development.

Sunday, Dec. 11
Great River Outing: Snowshoeing North Miss
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
at Carl Kroening Interpretive Center, 4900 Mississippi Ct.

Join us for a snowshoeing excursion through North Mississippi Regional Park with Minneapolis Park Board Naturalists. During our adventure we will explore areas that most people only see in summer and watch for wildlife as we tromp down to the Mississippi River.

*Snowshoes are easily strapped to boots and spread your weight over a larger distance allowing you to stay on top of the snow for easier travel. If you can walk, you can snowshoe.

Click HERE to register for Snowshoeing.

Streetcars and Light Rail as Transit Options for NoMi

2011-11-11T12:54:00.000-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

So the last post was, I admit, really not well-written. Let's start from a little farther back in regards to northside transit options here.

Most folks may know the basics, but just to be sure: "D1" refers to the route along the Bottineau transit corridor that would come from the northwest suburbs, down through Theo Wirth Park along existing rail lines, then connect with Highway 55 and head to downtown Minneapolis. D1 has several advantages, in that it disrupts the least amount of housing, it doesn't cut off east/west streets, costs less, and does not take away parking. The disadvantages would be that it does not have a connection to North Memorial, making jobs access more difficult, it wouldn't allow for as much economic development, and it would require a "feeder system" to bring residents to the light rail stops. And people from outside of NoMi would be less likely to get onto that feeder system to come into our communities than if they got off on a light rail stop at Penn and Broadway.

"D2" refers to a variety of lines, D2a, D2b, D2c, D2d, and D2w, if I'm getting them all in. Those options vary in terms of whether they go down either Penn or Oliver, and would need to take different amounts of housing/street right-of-way. The purpose of the last meeting was to take a vote on which of the D2 alignments would be compared to D1. The project is moving forward and the appropriate entities need to start doing cost and environmental/community impact comparisons. In order to do that, they need to compare D1 with one of the D2 routes.

My notes are back in Minneapolis, so I guess this will have to be a three-part post when I return and write about which D2 route won out. I personally favored D2w, as that would have disrupted the least amount of housing out of all D2 possibilities. D1 still outdoes D2 in that regard. Other D2 pros and cons are photographed above.

And although the conversations have been almost exclusively about light rail, I'm glad to see the Northside Transportation Network's website reference the northisde streetcar plan. That's what I'll get into now...

...The current proposed streetcars on Broadway would stop at or near North Memorial, solving one deficiency of the D1 route. There is a 169-page feasability final report from December 2007 and a 109-page final funding report from March of 2010, although the funding report only addresses the downtown-area lines. Both contain a disclaimer that the reports are available in alternative formats. I'm thinking of requesting them in origami or interpretive dance formats, in the hopes that they will be slightly less boring.

In a recent community meeting, one of my colleagues observed that there still seems to be a stigma around taking the bus. If you're on a train, that's kind of hip. Bikes encourage fitness, and cars are of course the norm. But somehow if you're on a public bus, there is a perception that there must be something deficient about you or your situation that would put you there. We need to change that or find alternative methods of mass transit. Streetcars empirically do that, increasing ridership between 15-50% over bus ridership along the same corridors. Why is that?

In Toronto, one of their busiest bus lines was replaced with a streetcar, and ridership went up by 15%. The Toronto Transit Commission estimates that up to 60% of their streetcar riders are "choice" passengers - that is, they own a car but elect to travel via streetcars instead. Among the reasons for this: streetcars don't have to move in and out of traffic and are therefore perceived as faster (even when commute times are not measurably different) than buses, and a smoother ride allows passengers to write or type on streetcars, which they could not do on the bus.

Lest we dismiss Toronto's system as a byproduct of the desire to get away from the insane cold and/or Celine Dion music, we can head south to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1993 they started with a 2.5-mile line downtown. Since then, another 4.5 miles were added and ridership has gone from 500,000 in 1993 to 1.5 million in 2004. In Memphis ridership was a mix of workers and recreational users, but contrary to common perceptions about mass transit, ridership was heaviest on Saturdays. Surveys showed that almost half of the riders could have made the trip by car, but chose streetcars "for the experience." Eighty-three percent of riders said they did not ordinarily use public transit. In an interesting contrast to Minneapolis, Memphis streetcars paved the way for a light rail system.

Based on user surveys, it does seem that streetcars would bring economic development, and provide access to jobs, and be less disruptive to existing residential/commercial corridors. So even though I started out on the D1/D2 issue as a strong proponent of bringing LRT down Penn/Broadway, I've since changed my tune. I believe the best course for transit in NoMi is a D1 light rail route, with a streetcar system along Broadway, and other feeder corridors throughout the neighborhood.

Seth Stephens and Svetlana Lang - Hawthorne's Jerks du Jour

2011-11-10T21:33:00.001-06:00

Post and stock photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

A great house fronting Farview Park was recently listed for sale - 2951 Lyndale Avenue North. I'm not linking directly to the listing because those links will go dead over time. The house has an offer pending, so any day now it could be offline. Look for it yourself on sites like Remax (even Edina Realty has the listing posted this time around).

What's so bad about selling a desirable property in one of the more attractive areas of Hawthorne, you ask? Well, for one thing, the place has a sale price of $24,900. That may have been a low bid to attract offers, and the final price could be considerably higher since the home is not on the VBR list. But an interesting little tidbit is buried in the listing: "leaded glass window on front porch excluded from listing."

I'd copy the photo from the MLS, but those are copyrighted and I'm loathe to break that rule unless it becomes absolutely necessary to report on something. But on the listing photos, the third one in specifically shows the leaded glass window.

So here's their thinking, as far as I can tell: list the property at an insanely low start price. It will sell for less than what you might get for it if you started at $80,000, but hey, it was picked up on the cheap and the seller just wants a quick buck. So far, nothing is inherently wrong with the picture. Until Svetlana Lang decides that she'll just take the leaded glass window for herself - a window that probably has a value of several hundred dollars or more at Bauer Brothers, and lessens the financial pain of selling at a steep discount. By all accounts, the property appears to be owned without any liens/mortgage on it, so there isn't a way to get the mortgage company involved over the owner removing parts of the property.

The prospective buyer might not care, especially if they're either a) a slumlord or b) someone who has been fooled into thinking they need to replace all their windows. Once a leaded glass window like this one is torn out of the home, it is rarely replaced, and certainly not with the actual original fixture. Since Svetlana Lang or Seth K. Stephens of Solutions Realty apparently have little to no consideration for the home or community post-sale, they get the honor of "jerk du jour."

NOTE: An initial source I consider credible listed the value of the window in question at $3,000-5,000. Since then other readers have provided evidence that the value of such items is considerably less. It's possible that this particular feature was worth more for some reason, but the post has been changed to reflect what I consider to be a better figure at this time. What's the phrase at the bottom of real estate listings? "Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed?" Seems apropos here. In some ways, the removal of the window seems all the more egregious when one finds out that there is only a nominal monetary gain.

Light Rail D1 or D2 is Discussed. What About Streetcars?

2011-11-08T23:17:00.000-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Part 1 of 2 light rail posts.

Last week, the Northside Transit Network hosted a community vote on various aspects of the light rail proposal for north Minneapolis. I've stayed away from these meetings in the past because they haven't impacted me, and there's only so many such things one can go to. But now that I live closer to the proposed lines and am looking at buying a house even closer still, I decided I'd better go and see what's been developing.

I started the meeting by finding Rep. Champion and saying the three words politicians almost never speak or hear: I was wrong. When the first meetings about light rail came about, I had strongly advocated for a rail system along Penn and Broadway. I went further by criticizing Champion for not taking a stronger stance. But the more I look at the proposals, the more I come to believe that the "D2" options do not really serve north Minneapolis well. I haven't seen a proposal wherein every single aspect appeals to me, but D1 is looking better and better.

Why, you ask? One word: streetcars.

To be sure, NoMi doesn't benefit if light rail goes through Theo Wirth and along Highway 55, UNLESS we have a strong feeder system of other kinds of transit. And a primary component of such a system would be streetcars along West Broadway. The city of Minneapolis realized this several years ago, when they released a report that...

...reduced the number of transit corridors that were feasible options for a streetcar system. West Broadway, from downtown/Washington up to the Robbinsdale transit center barely made the cut. My concern regarding light rail is that rail along Penn Avenue might worsen the scoring for the Broadway streetcar and render our community ineligible for such transit options.

At least in much of America, light rail simply doesn't go through residential corridors like it would along Penn, Oliver, or Queen Avenues North. Furthermore, LRT is best suited to move large numbers of people rather long distances in a short time frame. Aside from a handful of transit nodes, its economic impact on a residential stretch like Penn may be quite minimal. The choices for D2 would all impact some housing to some degree - either through partial land seizures or demolition of properties. A gash would be cut through part of north Minneapolis, and several cross streets would be turned into cul-de-sacs and closed off. All of this for one extra stop in NoMi?

That's not to say the D1 option is perfect. It would have no stop at North Memorial Hospital, and would do nothing to increase job connections. Even if we implemented a world-class "feeder system" of buses, streetcars, Nice Ride kiosks, and bike/pedestrian pathways, that might only draw people from NoMi to the suburbs. The D1 alignment does nothing to address how we might pull riders off of light rail and get them to contribute to the economic development of north Minneapolis.

However, when it comes to large-scale projects such as an entire transportation grid for a portion of the city, then in order to really get it right we have to get it right every step of the way. In order to royally screw things up, we only have to mess up once.

So at the meeting, the various D2 alignments were presented, with Champion and Dehn outlining their benefits and drawbacks before taking a vote. In order to really choose between these two, our partners needed a clear understanding of which D2 alignment garnered support. They would then decide between the D1 proposal and the winning D2 item.

I voted for the ones that would demolish the least amount of housing, and specifically asked how the proposal would impact streetcar plans. I was told that D2 would not change Minneapolis' commitment to streetcars on Broadway, but I'm not yet convinced. Regardless, I'm hoping to see the Northside Transportation Network evolve into something more than just the facilitators of light rail discussion. We need to see hard data about what potential options could add or detract from the long-term plans.

Walking the River in Detroit

2011-11-08T22:39:00.004-06:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

So I'm in Detroit for a policy conference. And seeing as how it's work-related, I am hoping to put up a few posts on the Hawthorne Voices blog. But I was walking back to the hotel after a Red Wings game, and saw this sign that needed to be pointed out. The city of Detroit obviously has bigger problems than Minneapolis does, but yet they still make a point to advertise walking the riverfront as a desirable amenity.

You Say "Fa," I Say "Faux." We're Both Wrong.

2011-11-08T00:07:00.000-06:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Ever since the Banana Blossom suffered tornado damage, I've been craving a good place to get pho here in NoMi. After spending a week moving (without taking time off of work), my need for decent pho was at an all-time high. Imagine my delight when I saw that the Bangkok Market has added this southeast Asian staple to their menu.

First, however, a little pronunciation lesson is in order, as I've heard several different ways to say this word. I started out pronouncing it phonetically (see what I did there?), with a sound similar to the first half of "faux pas." I've heard other people say fa, as in do-re-mi-fa...and only recently another friend of mine said it was pronounced "fuh."

So when I saw a sign at the Bangkok Market that said "Pho," I went in and asked for...

...a bowl of fa. This was met with a blank stare, even though they've gotten used to this white dude coming in and butchering even the most basic Hmong words. But asking for "fa" got no reaction. So I tried "fuh." Nope, nothing. "Fow?" Not on the menu either. Then I just realized there's no way I'm getting this right and said, "You know, the soup you have out on the sign."

"OHHHH! You mean fheuhrhr." Or that's as close as I can get writing this out. It sounded more like the adults from the Charlie Brown cartoons speaking, while underwater, with major sinus congestion, immediately after having major reconstructive dental surgery. Then that person said "fheuhrhr."

"Fir?" I asked.

"No, fheuhrhr."

"Fur?" (I thought I had it right this time.)

(Enunciating for my benefit) "Fhhhuuueeerrrrrrhhhh."

"Fuhr?"

*Sigh* "fheuhrhr."

And so on, went my failed monosyllablic language lesson, until the food (fheooohdh?) was ready. I'm obviously not going to pretend I know how it measures up against other pho by southeast Asian standards. But as far as I'm concerned, this was an absolutely amazing meal. The broth was perfect - piping hot enough to cause the noodles to break up immediately, but just cool enough to be edible without delay.

The fresh basil, bean sprouts, and jalapenos were spot on, and there was a variety of meats to choose from. I'm pretty sure my meal had chicken, shaved beef (or pork), and stomach parts from an unidentified animal. But the best part was the price for the quantity of food. What you see pictured above costs a more-than-reasonable $6.46. The only reason I was able to take this down in one sitting is because I had eaten only a grapefruit for breakfast, and dinner came at 5:00 after a full day's work. Otherwise, this is easily a meal for two.

So the next time you're in the neighborhood, stop by the Bangkok Market and ask for some fa-, fo-, fu...well, just point to the sign and say "soup." They're probably used to it by now.

New Signs at Vacant Properties

2011-11-04T20:34:00.000-05:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

As I was driving home from work this evening, I went past a vacant property in Hawthorne and spotted what looked like an official notice of some sort posted by the door. Was it a foreclosure notice? Water/gas shutoff? Winterizing notification? What kind of regulatory plumage awaited?

Imagine my surprise when instead, I saw...

Someone (I have my guesses as to which neighborhood history buff would post this) put up a neat tidbit about what happened at this house many years ago. The text reads:

(From the Minneapolis Journal Nov. 30th 1904) The wedding of Miss Julia Johnson and George Shackelford took place at last evening in Richfield Hall which was decorated in pink and white. A string orchestra played the "Lohengrin" chorus as the bridal party entered. Miss Ada Tuttle in a white gown and carrying pink roses was maid of honor. The bride was in cream viole trimmed with lace and she held bride roses. The bridegroom and his best man, Herman Bates waited the coming of the bride under the canopy of foilage where the service was read by P.A. Cool in the presence of 200 guests. A supper followed and the tables were bright with ribbons and roses. Mr. and Mrs. Shackelford will be at home after January 1st at 2914 4th St N.

Look for more neighborhood history placards in the days and weeks to come.

Groups Call for Responsible Banking from Public Institutions

2011-11-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video posted on NCRC's Facebook page by Molly Glasgow, and on Youtube by ytsirkredyns. More pertinent pictures are at the NCRC Facebook page, but those have been copyrighted and I do not have permission to use them at the time of this post.

The Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition met a while back at the Minneapolis Urban League in partnership with Jewish Community Action to learn about and observe Sukkot. We heard calls from religious leaders of many faiths as our community strives for social justice. And then, as is our tradition over north, we put those words into action.

NCRC and other community leaders marched into the TCF branch in Cub Foods and US Bank on Broadway to present letters demanding that two sheriff sales be delayed while loan modifications are worked out. We've employed this strategy before, albeit less directly. The coalition frequently gathers signatures and support from community members and organizations, and send them off to banks and servicers, requesting that a foreclosure be delayed and a loan modification be put in place.

Similarly, the Occupy Minnesota movement has pressured US Bank into delaying a foreclosure date. But pushing for loan modifications and foreclosure delays on a case-by-case basis is very inefficient and doesn't come close to saving enough people's homes. That's why both NCRC and Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) are calling for...

...our public institutions to engage in responsible banking initiatives. Our city councils, counties, public schools, parks, and other government entities use millions and millions of our tax dollars, and hold those funds at various banks. US Bank and Wells Fargo are the two most commonly used. These banks are profiting from the fees charged for their services surrounding these funds, and well they should. However, when that happens, they ought to be accountable to the source of those funds - the taxpayers.

NCRC is in discussion with Hennepin County officials about including responsible banking language in the county's banking services RFP. We're asking for something pretty simple: whoever receives the fee income from Hennepin County banking services should disclose how many foreclosures they do in the county and how many loan modifications they do. These stats should be broken down by zip code so that we can see how the banks are serving the areas in the most need. If the proposal takes off, the long-term goal would be to have banks compete with each other over doing more to save homeowners in order that they would be considered eligible for the income derived from taxpayer funds.

Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) is taking a similar approach, albeit more direct. They released a study that claims foreclosures have cost the Minneapolis Public Schools $150 million, and that Wells Fargo is responsible for $28 million of those costs. The full study can be found here. That report borrows heavily from a previous study done by CURA. Essentially, foreclosures in Minneapolis have significantly impacted families with children in public schools. That causes the families to move elsewhere, and then with fewer students enrolled in the school system, MPS funding decreases.

As a result, NOC has called on the Minneapolis Public Schools to divest from Wells Fargo. The question then becomes, and put that money where? The catch-22 we often hear is that the larger banks are the ones with the capacity to perform services that large government institutions need, at least for the price they are able to charge. But if the true cost to communities is greater than those savings, then it would certainly be time to look for other financial institutions to provide these services.

Market to Mississippi

2011-10-26T23:47:00.001-05:00

Post, photos, and images by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

On a wet but otherwise perfect October Sunday, about forty people gathered at the West Broadway Farmers Market to mark the end of the season. (almost! We still have one Sunday left on the 30th!) We started out at the regular site, just off of the Capri and Nice Ride kiosk near Logan and Broadway. From there we went to 26th, then up Emerson to Webber Park, and across to North Mississippi Regional Park. With a few dozen people of varying abilities, and an equipment malfunction, the ride took almost an hour. But biking it alone at a decent clip, one could probably make it in closer to twenty minutes.

Some folks brought out their customized bikes for one last spin before the weather turns cold.

Along the way, the devastation of the tornado was still prevalent, especially once we got to the river...

At the island where the heron rookery once stood, we were in for an amazing surprise:

Two bald eagles were roosting on a branch on the desolated island. Along this stretch of the Mississippi, the sight of bald eagles is both commonplace and breathtakingly majestic every time.

Once the troupe all arrived at the park, we heard from a park ranger and various other Mississippi River folks about many of the things that can draw us to the river. Me, my attention was unfortunately focused elsewhere.

This delicious spread was graciously provided by Jesse's Cafe, operating out of the Sunnyside Deli at 1825 Morgan Avenue North.

As we ate, I noticed that the rock formations at North Mississippi Regional were oddly similar to those at Ole Olson Park in Hawthorne.

So I asked about it, and was told that they were from an old bridge over the Mississippi, and when that bridge was demolished, the rocks were re-purposed at our local parks. Does anyone know more about this little bit of NoMi river history? (assuming the bridge was in the north Minneapolis area of the river) Which bridge and how long was it in existence?

On our way back, we stopped at the boat launch. Here at least, is a place where people can easily go to the water's edge.

Biking along 2nd Street North, there are some great views of downtown Minneapolis along this industrial corridor. Instead, I was on the lookout for Jabba the Hutt. I was told there is one structure in the area that in terms of shape and pockmarked texture, bears a striking resemblance to the infamous Star Wars gangster. City employees and others in on the pun often refer to it with that nickname. Jabba's grandeur was obviously outdone by the eagles, but it was still a sight to see.

Eh, okay, not really I guess, but cut a Star Wars fan some slack.

Just in case you didn't see the resemblance.

Once again, don't be fooled by the time on the trip back. Traveling with a group slows things down. You can get from 26th to North Mississippi Regional Park in about fifteen minutes.

Come and join us this Sunday at the Farmers Market for a whole host of activities to celebrate a successful first year!

Bikes as Traffic? Novel Idea.

2011-10-24T22:12:00.002-05:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Sometimes we take certain things in our city for granted. For instance, Minneapolis has been named the number one biking city in America. The Nice Ride bike rental system has been a one-of-a-kind bike sharing project in the country. NoMi has seen the key addition of several new bike lanes. And yet, bicycles aren't legally considered traffic per city ordinance.

What does this mean? When a car parks in a bike lane, is that vehicle really obstructing traffic? When I'm going the legally-posted 30 mph on Fremont Ave N, and someone passes me on the right using the bike/barrier lane, did that driver use a lane dedicated to other traffic? It's hard to believe, but herded animals currently have more legal protection in Minneapolis ordinance than bikes. Remember that next time you're trying to decide whether to take your Schwinn or your goat for a quick run to the store.

So CM Schiff has been pushing to include bicycles in the city's definition of traffic, bringing us more in line with the rest of the state and other biking cities. The next logical step? Rybak in a tank.

The Year of Buying Into NoMi Ends (But Isn't Really Over)

2011-10-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

Post and stock photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

A little over a year ago, I tried an undertaking where I would attempt to find a local, north Minneapolis connection to everything I purchased (at least with discretionary income). I ate at a few new restaurants, and even found a connection where I could buy comic books. But the attempt to categorize just about everything you could buy in NoMi sort of fizzled. Why?

Several reasons. First, I am reminded of one of my favorite authors, Dave Barry. Barry wrote a book called "Dave Barry Does Japan," in which his publisher Random House paid for him to visit, try zany things, and apply his brand of humor to them. He repeatedly brought up this fact. "I cannot overemphasize," Barry wrote, "how much more you can enjoy Japan when Random House is paying for everything."

As a volunteer blogger, I had no publisher willing to pay for such a venture. So the first thing that I did in searching for places to spend my money in NoMi was I stopped spending as much money. And then a funny thing happened: I had more money in my account every month. And that, my friends, lead to...

...saving more towards buying a home. I've commented here and on other NoMi blogs that I wasn't in a position to become a homeowner yet. I won't write a long missive like "Foreclosure Can Happen to Anyone, Even Me." Instead, I'll summarize my past in a haiku (3 lines, 5-7-5 syllable structure, mention a season):

Divorce and bad debt
Ex kept house, then foreclosure
Spring makes all things new

So once I started saving money, I saw that my timetable to become a homeowner was speeding up. Oh, I still made very conscious attempts to keep my money in NoMi. They just weren't interesting to write about.

Collection agents
Never call me anymore
Winter's loneliness

"Spent another $40 at Good Sports/Donny Dirk's."

So the formal year of buying in NoMi has come to a close, but a bigger and more substantial purchase is on the horizon.

What is Embodied Energy?

2011-10-21T02:41:00.000-05:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the National Historic Trust.

When I was a loan officer and I had someone who wanted to refinance, I always showed my borrowers what I called the "break even point." That is, if a refi saved $100 per month but closing costs were $4,800, then the person would need to stay in the house with that loan for four years before the refinance paid for itself. If the borrower wasn't comfortable with that number and we couldn't make anything better work, I recommended that they not do the loan - even though this meant I sacrificed many a commission.

(Mortgage terminology for newer homeowners: A "refinance" was when banks used to extend credit in the form of a new loan that would pay off your existing mortgage. It sounds crazy, I know, but it happened at one time. They would examine things like your credit, income and equity, and then actually do a loan. Oh yeah, "equity" was this thing when your house was worth more than what you owed.)

Embodied energy is essentially the break even point for tearing down an existing structure and replacing it with a new one. Every existing structure contains nonrecoverable energy - that used in the production and transportation of materials as well as the home's construction. Each new house creates a new round of nonrecoverable energy.

So when we talk about "green" construction, a pertinent question would be...

...How much energy was spent or lost in the demolition and new construction? If the new house performs more efficiently than the old one, then how long before that performance difference breaks even with the embodied energy? If that time frame is longer than the anticipated lifespan of the new house, was the demo/new construction worth it from an energy standpoint?

I've asked questions like this before on my blog, but hadn't found good studies or received satisfactory answers. But this week, someone emailed me a calculator that tabulates embodied energy. I find this toy fascinating to play with, but without enough technical knowledge I can't say how useful it might be. The site itself is clearly biased towards preservation - a bias I personally agree with. However, that bias seeps into the writing though claims that new construction is "visually jarring" and "more than double [the square feet] of an existing home."

The calculator also shows how long it would take the average person to produce the equivalent of trash/debris left from a home demolition. To me, the comparison of embodied energy and gallons of gasoline falls short. It's like asking who would win in a fight - the Milennium Falcon or the Starship Enterprise? The motorcycle from Tron or Akira? These are completely different things, and you can't always compare them. Even so, this calculator gives people a starting point in evaluating the full energy costs of demolition.

Upcoming Mississippi River Events

2011-10-19T14:38:00.003-05:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Tonight Hawthorne leaders and others will meet at the corner of 26th and 4th to highlight the difficulties of accessing the Mississippi River from our side of 94. But there are a bevy of other events happening along the riverfront as well. Click on the image to enlarge, or read after the jump...

For more information about locations, visit http://minneapolisriverfrontpartnership.org.

Sunday October 23, 11:30 - 3:00
Great River Outing: Market to Mississippi Ride - in partnership with the Major Taylor Bicycling Club, West Broadway Farmers Market, Nice Ride, National Park Service, Boy Scouts of America, and North News.

Tuesday October 25, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Upper River Forum: Asian Carp Invasion, co-hosted with the Above the Falls Citizen Advisory Committee.

Tuesday November 1, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
St. Anthony Falls Hydro Lab, co-hosted with the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association.

Tuesday November 1, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Meet the Mississippi Riverfront Partnership, at Aster Cafe.

Saturday November 5, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Great River Outing: Old Highland to Old Man River, co-hosted with the Old Highland Neighborhood Association.

Wednesday November 9, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Great River Outing: Inside the Grain Belt Complex, co-hosted with RSP Architects and the City of Minneapolis.

Sunday November 13, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Great River Outing: "Sampling the River Parks," co-hosted with historian David Smith, Minneapolis Park Board, and Marshall Terrace Neighborhood Association.

Tuesday November 29, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Upper River Forum: Creating our great city legacy, co-hosted with AFCAC.

Thursday December 8, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Central River Forum

Sunday December 11, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Great River Outing: Snowshoeing North Mississippi

Who Owns Them Now? (Not Paul Koenig)

2011-10-15T13:48:00.001-05:00

Post and top photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Bottom photo from Paul Koenig's now-defunct blog.

When a property becomes owned by a slumlord, or is touched by mortgage fraud, that property is quite unlikely to immediately go back into the hands of a quality owner - whether the house is homesteaded or not. It's been long enough since the "One Man Housing Crisis" of Koenig/Pamiko/Marklee Construction/MCK Investments/Dream Homes/Did I forget any LLC? collapsed on itself, so its time to take a look at where those houses ended up, starting with...

...the full document of current owners.

That list comes from the original post on Johnny Northside, The Unabridged Pamiko Property List. One of the unforeseen benefits of compiling those live links is that one can very easily go back and click on them to find out who currently owns these homes. There are fifty-eight properties on that list. All but one property is still standing, a duplex lost to tax forfeiture, sold from the county to the city, and then demolished. Three houses are homesteaded. Another three are on the boarded/vacant list: 1017 22nd Ave N, 3238 Aldrich Ave N, and 2420 James Ave N. 2420 Bryant Ave N, the famous $2.5-million foreclosure is listed as not having utilities.

Unlike Paul Koenig, each and every single person who now owns these homes is current on their property taxes. So there's that at least.

Aspen Funding LLC, which inexplicably gave Pamiko a cool $500,000, still has five properties. They own the three vacant homes as well as 1340 and 2314 Sheridan Ave N.

Minnwest Bank also still owns 3242 6th St N and 1611 Hillside Ave N.

"Assertive Mpls Props LLC" owns six properties:

3223 Fremont Ave N
1608 Hillside Ave N
2013 Hillside Ave N
1507 Newton Ave N
817 Penn Ave N
907 Penn Ave N

Four of those six properties has a rental license in review.

"Granite Property Invsts LLC" owns eight former Pamiko properties:

2736 16th Ave S
2119 4th St N
2931 Bryant Ave N
4100 Dupont Ave N
1317 Emerson Ave N
2316 Fremont Ave N
1607 Girard Ave N
1229 Oliver Ave N

Two of those properties have nuisance assessments and another two have rental licenses in review.

By far, the biggest beneficiary of Koenig's downfall appears to be James Tindall, Jr. of Broadway Avenue LLC. They have picked up twenty of the fifty-eight Pamiko foreclosures.

1414 16th Ave N
1318 18th Ave N
1100 24th Ave N
2211 6th St N
4652 Aldrich Ave N
2420 Bryant Ave N
2708 Bryant Ave N
2907 Colfax Ave N
2918 Colfax Ave N
3101 Dupont Ave N
3531 Emerson Ave N
1622 Girard Ave N
2710 Girard Ave N
2727 Girard Ave N
1417 Logan Ave N
726 Morgan Ave N
2943 Morgan Ave N
3015 Oliver Ave N
2435 Portland Ave S
3119 Queen Ave N

Tindall has relatively few assessments against him and his LLC, but thirteen of the twenty properties have had a license in review. Ten of those thirteen were in review as of August of 2011. Right now, it's looking like the people who have benefited the most from Koenig's foreclosure bomb might not be such great neighbors.

No Such Thing as Half-Price Gas

2011-10-15T12:35:00.001-05:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

I woke up this morning to get my usual morning paper from the Holiday station. With a 7 cents/gallon coupon in hand, it was also time to fill up the tank. As I walked into the store a middle-aged man called out to me:

"Hey! You want some half-priced gas?"

Without my morning cup of joe, the only thing I wrapped my mind around was that in spite of the $1.50+/gallon savings he was offering, that was too good to be true. By the time I got to the register, it dawned on me: stolen credit card. I told the clerk what happened, and at which pump, and they sprang into action.

One clerk had 911 on the horn immediately and another ran out to get the license number of the vehicle as it sped off. Then I swung by the Honey Bee and Winner Gas to see if he was pulling the same stunt. At Winner, there was a person and vehicle that matched the description. (Middle-aged, heavyset African-American male driving a large, dark green SUV.)

I caught the license plate number this time around and called that in to 911. If NoMi folks notice the same behavior, call it in.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Half of NoMi Doesn't Exist at Edina Realty

2011-10-09T11:09:00.000-05:00

Post and images below by the Hawthorne Hawkman, above image from Edina Realty.

While on vacation with my family in Upper Michigan, I began perusing NoMi real estate listings for my own devious purposes. I started my search at Edina Realty, not out of any preference but because a neighbor once showed me their site and I found it easy enough to navigate. Plus the little green houses and red condos kind of remind me of Monopoly game pieces. At their Minneapolis site, there is a tab to click on and view all Minneapolis listings. That link shows you these houses for sale:

Even without clicking on the image to enlarge it, one can see that only homes in downtown and southwest Minneapolis are shown. Okay, well the site does tell us that only 200 of 1,909 listings are shown, and there's a handy sidebar to refine our search. I can understand if they're putting what they see as the 200 most desirable homes or the more profitable listings first. Right or wrong, at least that makes business sense. The sidebar doesn't allow for a more refined geographic search, so we're left to go back to the initial Minneapolis listing page. There they have a sidebar that breaks down search criteria by neighborhood/community. The "Camden/North Minneapolis" tab takes us to...

True to the title of that tab, the map of listings here takes us only to listings in the Camden community. The Harrison, Hawthorne, Jordan, Near North, Sumner-Glenwood, and Willard-Hay neighborhoods are virtually nonexistent. To add insult to injury, a "local restaurants" tab lists a few dining spots in Camden, and then includes Bar La Grassa and Be'Witched Deli - two establishments located outside of NoMi at 800 Washington Ave N.

Is it too much to ask that realty companies like Edina make communities like the Near North group of neighborhoods just as accessible online as other parts of the city are? I'd like to know if this tactic falls under the banner of discriminatory marketing practices. Regardless, I'll be using another company's site to do real estate searches from now on.

Join the NCRC Facebook Page!

2011-10-05T01:10:00.000-05:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from NCRC.

For starters, the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition, or NCRC should NOT be confused with the Northside Residents' Redevelopment Council, NRRC. Nor should people mistake it for the tornado response group Northside Community Response Team, NCRT. Organizations like the Northside Tenants Rights Coalition (NTRC) and the Northside Coalition Responding to Coalitions with Redundant Coalition Names (NCRCRCN) don't technically exist yet, but we've thought about creating them just to be more confusing.

Instead, we've dedicated ourselves to defending community wealth. If that sounds a bit vague, well it's supposed to be. NCRC is a grassroots coalition of neighborhood groups, religious and cultural organizations, and service-based organizations, formed in response to the foreclosure crisis in north Minneapolis. While foreclosure prevention outreach has been the cornerstone of NCRC's work, we remain a resident-driven group and those resident leaders will define for us what "community wealth" means and how we should support that in north Minneapolis.

NCRC has been doorknocking consistently over the past several years to reach out to north Minneapolis residents at risk of foreclosures. Instead of picking a block or two at random in hopes of finding someone in need, we use public records to ensure that every single door we knock on is a household at risk of foreclosure. Over the years, the coalition has gotten better and better at its efforts to reach people and save homes. But we don't win every time. Although we meet every week to knock on doors, there are still far to many foreclosures for a small group to contact everyone.

And that's where you come in, readers of North by Northside. Join us every Thursday, 6-7 p.m. at the Minneapolis Urban League to go out for a quick doorknocking session. Since we may do additional outreach sessions, go to our new Facebook page and "like" it. Just like there was a wide push to get people to join the Clean Sweep NoMi page, please do the same here. Share NCRC's page with your friends, and encourage them to do more than just "one-click activism." It takes knocking on about ten doors to reach one person at home who will be referred to or seek foreclosure prevention services. Given the level of foreclosures that still plague our community, the reality is stark: we need more volunteers hitting the streets.

More information on NCRC's activities and goals will appear on our site, so please, follow us on Facebook and join us in our outreach.

Black Onyx Creations Serves Up Top-Notch Coffee!

2011-10-02T13:48:00.001-05:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Over much of the summer I've been hula hooping at the West Broadway Farmers Market, and supporting local businesses who sell their produce here. One of my favorite vendors is Black Onyx Creations, who serve up a terrific cup of joe. Today they are selling my favorite kind of java, Tanzanian Peaberry coffee.

Frank and Terry Wlliams, the proprietors, explained to me why it is that the Tanzanian Peaberry is better than other peaberry coffees. This blend is made specifically from a bean that is grown as a single bean. Other peaberries are just the genetic anomalies of regular coffee beans. As I sit here typing this post, I'm hearing Frank expound on the finer points of Black Onyx's chais and other blends. Their knowledge of the finer points of their coffee is matched only by the quality of their product.

(Oh, and their ability to swap at the hornets that come to visit the market.)

The Farmers Market is open on West Broadway, just east of Penn Ave, Sundays 10-3, through the end of October. The caffeine kick will kickstart hula hooping too!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Saving "Fat City" - Comparing Preservation in San Diego and Minneapolis

2011-09-28T01:41:00.000-05:00

Post and above photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Other photos/images from www.dsoderblog.com, used with permission.

Part 4 of 4 housing policy/wonkish posts. Click on the links for part 1, part 2, part 3.

I spent a week this summer helping Bryan Thao Worra become a former Hawthornite. He moved out to the LA area, and we drove across country in a moving van, sampling ghost peppers along the way. Once we hit the ocean, we bombed around Los Angeles, San Diego, and whatever other cities there are along the sprawling coastal metropolis area. In San Diego, I came across this sign and snapped a photo to remind me to go back and research what they were doing to save a potential historic site from demolition. What could Minneapolis learn from other areas?

It almost seemed I was destined to look into this more. "Fat City" is a nightclub located along the historic Pacific Highway, with Hawthorn Street as the nearest intersection. Like Fuji-Ya here in Minneapolis, Fat City was the beneficiary of a pioneering Asian-American businessperson, Tom Fat.

The nightclub was originally called Top's Nightclub, and was owned by a Russian immigrant, Yale Khan. Top's became a central point for the San Diego nightlife, drawing star performers such as Nat King Cole, Shelley Winters, Nelson Eddy, Van Johnson, Don Ameche, Susan Hayward, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. In 1977, Tom Fat took over the property, restoring and improving the site. The crown jewel of his addition was...

More than one mile of neon was added to the building. And this addition is what I first found utterly fascinating. I never thought of the juxtaposition of neon and historic in the same sentence before - except when I watched the movie Tron decades after its release. The structure is also one of the last examples of the art deco building style in the area. The prospect of a building style from the 1940's and neon--neon!--as historic grabbed my attention and I followed the story even after returning to NoMi.

I've asked this question before, but it bears repeating: In the long view, what will become historic if we let buildings stand? Will we come to better recognize the contributions of women and minorities? Will certain building styles or features become historic, given enough time? Will an architect who designed a cutting-edge structure here rise to prominence locally or elsewhere? In short, how much potential history do we lose through demolition?

Tom Fat was also a renowned philanthropist, and his building, his legacy, was in danger of being torn down and replaced by this:

For anyone who hasn't traveled to the west coast, that is an artist's rendering of every single high-density condominium project in southern California.

In response, a grassroots effort started up to get Fat City historically designated so that the condos couldn't go up. Countering THAT, another site sprang up called "Save Fat City Lofts." That website is not transparent at all about who runs it, and seems to be authored by those who would directly benefit from the proposed development. In the end, a compromise of sorts was reached. The parts of Fat City that had still retained their historic value would be preserved and moved, and the lofts would be built around the structure. Upon completion of the project, the preservation group would seek historic designation at that time.

In my readings of the Facebook page and various blogs, two procedural tactics jumped out at me regarding how we could do things here in Minneapolis. First, at public hearings regarding preservation/historic designation, attendees could opt to speak or simply fill out cards marked "support" or "oppose." Variations of this strategy get used on occasion to gauge the prevailing opinion of those who are at a meeting, but this seemed like a pretty standard way to go about doing so in San Diego. It might be worth looking into here in Minneapolis.

More interesting, however, was a letter of support that appeared on the Fat City Facebook page. I can't seem to find that letter now, but will link to it if I track it down. In proposing historic designation, the author claimed that would bring about the benefits of easier code compliance that come with historic properties. Without the exact wording, I'm left to speculate: how exactly would historic designation make things easier?

At least some people in north Minneapolis have the opinion that historic designation is to some degree undesirable because of the extra rules and requirements that go with the territory. So what could rules and regulations for designation look like if they were to have the opposite effect?

With the historic rehab tax credit, Minnesota is accomplishing this already in one respect. For other possibilities, let's bring the discussion full circle and back to a house that was mentioned in the first of my policy wonk posts, and I'm told, has been flagged as potentially historic: The Sheltering Arms House. This is a property in an area that the city in its infinite wisdom changed to a blanket R2-B zoning. However, it is a fourplex and has been a four-unit property either since its inception or for the significant majority of its lifetime.

When the city first purchased this property with the intent to demolish the structure and place the land in a land bank, they brought up the fact that we have a four-unit building in an area zoned for only two units. And since the house had sat vacant for long enough, it lost its variance and reverted back to having the ability to operate only as a 2-unit structure. Instead of either seeking to restore the variance or opting to rehab the building into the conforming two units, Minneapolis would have solved this problem with a bulldozer.

"This building isn't properly zoned, so let's tear it down," was essentially their position.

Instead of trying to argue the intellectual failings of such a stance, I'd prefer that we simply remove that problem entirely. If a property is designated as historic, then the conditions for its use should revert back to the built form of the structure during the relevant period of its historic nature. For instance, the Sheltering Arms house operated as a four-unit orphanage, run by a panel of 25 nuns who were dedicated to serving children without regard to race, color, or creed. In 1888. That would be the pertinent historic aspect of that house, and with designation, it would in theory regain its ability to operate in the historically relevant manner.

(Not that it would be an orphanage again, but that the structure functioned as a four-unit building.)

Furthermore, why not look at ways to extend this philosophy to buildings citywide? Whatever the reason for removing a zoning variance or conditional use permit after a long enough vacant period, these rules no longer serve communities rebounding from a housing crisis. Urban Homeworks has rehabbed one structure and is set to begin another two multi-unit buildings. All three such buildings are in or on the border of Hawthorne, and all three lost their variance to operate as multi-unit structures. None of them were feasible to convert to the conforming 2-unit buildings that zoning required. Urban Homeworks' rehab of these apartments is therefore delayed by at least a month and perhaps significantly more while they jump through hoops that everyone expects they will successfully navigate.

When we are in the midst of wondering where tornado victims will spend the winter, what purpose does a delay like this serve?

And Urban Homeworks is one of the luckier ones. Try going through this process on your own, without the benefit of being an esteemed non-profit. One of the Urban Homeworks' buildings was owned by a private individual who elected to sell to them instead of attempting the rezoning himself. Changing our ordinances in this area could increase the private investment in our communities at a time when it's most sorely needed. Our city needs to look into ways that all housing - both historically designated and not - can be put into appropriate use quickly and in ways that inspire private development.

Fighting Back Against Discriminatory Maintenance

2011-09-26T00:53:00.000-05:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Part 3 of 4 mortgage policy/wonkish posts.

The previous post alluded to possible ways to combat what I will now coin "discriminatory maintenance" of properties in NoMi. More specifics will be laid out here, both from the National Fair Housing Alliance and their report, and my own ideas at a local level.

Johnny Northside jumped into the fray by recommending that we get these properties taken care of immediately, which is pretty much exactly what the NFHA group recommends when they say...

...that banks and servicers need to familiarize themselves with fair housing laws and treat their properties accordingly. NFHA has offered trainings to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in this regard. Locally, we could hold such trainings for the servicers that hold the most foreclosed properties in our community. Since we hope these banks will be temporary neighbors of ours, I wouldn't expect them to come before neighborhood groups too often. But having a point person that serves as a community liaison to address concerns couldn't hurt either.

I also heartily agree with NFHA's recommendation that banks and servicers hire real estate agents either from within the community or who at least have experience working in similar communities. Goodbye Claude Worrell, hello Realtors from the NoMi group.

Brokers should do a Brokers' Pricing Opinion that is more in-depth than a mere drive-by of the house, and take care to advertise unique features on the interior of properties. The photographs on the MLS and the signage at the house should be relatively identical across neighborhoods' income levels and ethnicity. The photos at the top of the post are of the interior of 2939 Lyndale Avenue North. When Byron Anfinson listed this property, my recollection is that there was perhaps one blurry photo of the hardwood floors inside, and that was about it. Not every home will have standout features like this one, but the ones that do should have them properly advertised.

Regarding property managers, NFHA states that "they do a disservice when they allow REO properties to accumulate unread mail, and fail to mow lawns, clean up trash, secure doors and broken windows, leave signs lying in the yards of properties, and allow vandalism and exterior damage such as chipped and peeling paint, unsecured or missing gutters, or water damage to exist without remediation." The question remains, if they don't do this where is the recourse? Locally we could start with the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

NFHA recommends that cases be brought before the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and the Department of Justice, while admitting that cases relating to mortgage/housing and race are sparse and the agencies' response leaves much to be desired. They seem to place a lot of faith in the newly-formed Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, even though the exact roles of that division have not been entirely fleshed out.

So in this area, I especially recommend that we be proactive in Minneapolis, particularly here in north. Let's get someone studying this immediately. CURA seems the obvious choice. We'll need to confirm that 1) NoMi or at least a part of it is a minority community and 2) that housing is handled differently here than in more affluent, white communities. I can't imagine either of these things would be hard to validate empirically, but it's a necessary step. And then we take the top offender(s) and we sue them. The Housing Preservation Project, which represented Hawthorne in our groundbreaking suit against Citimortgage, would probably be up to the task. And there are really no shortage of attorneys who would chomp at the bit over this one. Perhaps even our Attorney General or Commerce Department might be interested in taking on the cause.

While we already have a fee structure for vacant buildings in Minneapolis, NFHA references the city of Oakland, CA. Foreclosed, vacant buildings are required to register with the city and submit a maintenance plan. Failure to register, to submit a plan, or to fulfill the terms of the plan can result in fines of $500-$1,000 daily.

Once a bank takes the final step of foreclosure, people in NoMi should be able to expect that they will be good--and temporary--neighbors.

Predatory Maintenance; Post-Foreclosure Discrimination

2011-09-24T02:57:00.002-05:00

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Part 2 of 4 mortgage/policy wonkish posts.

In April of this year, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) released a study entitled "Here Comes the Bank, There Goes Our Neighborhood."

That report details significant differences between White, African-American, and Latino neighborhoods when it comes to how homes are maintained, marketed, and resold after a foreclosure. Research focused on metropolitan areas of Conneticut, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia, but by all appearances could easily indicate similar patterns in Minneapolis. Now this may come as a shock to you, but foreclosed properties in White neighborhoods were more likely to have well-maintained lawns, better curb appeal, secured entrances, and professional sales marketing. Similar Real Estate Owned (REO) properties in Black or Latino neighborhoods were more likely to be poorly maintained, unsecured, and look vacant or abandoned. Care to hazard a guess as to which houses sold faster and for more money?

Where this bumps up against legal statutes is with the federal Fair Housing Act, which states that...

...banks and servicers must maintain and sell properties they own without regard to the race of residents living in the area. If a bank fails to maintain and market homes equally in White or Minority neighborhoods, they are at risk of violating civil rights laws. Different treatment in such neighborhoods damages those communities, prevents stabilization and economic recovery, and even harms investors by depressing property values.

Even minor discrepancies with race as a factor can be violations of the Fair Housing Act. If a landlord rents to a White tenant at $800 per month, but charges Black or Latino tenants $850 for the same kind of unit, that $50 difference constitutes a civil rights violation. Imagine what happens when one considers the disparate impact of foreclosures on communities of color: The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that between 2009 and 2012, African-American communities will lose $194 billion and Latino communities will lose $177 billion due to the depreciation of home values of properties near foreclosures. This isn't even equity lost by victims of foreclosure; this is diminished values to the people who are left.

The department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) makes it clear that "failing or delaying maintenance or repairs of sale or rental dwellings because of race" is a prohibited act. Moreover, it is unlawful to "make unavailable or deny" housing to any person because of race. If the poor maintenance or marketing of an REO property in a minority neighborhood makes it difficult for a purchaser to obtain a mortgage, then the bank, servicer, or listing agent has made the housing unavailable.

The house pictured above is 2939 Lyndale Avenue North. This house was listed for sale last winter, and the city intended to purchase it for the purpose of demolition and land banking. The house was - and still is, thankfully - an absolute gem. But while the house was marketed, the steps were never shoveled. Gutters and spouts were in obvious need of repair, the house did not have a typical "for sale" sign out front, and both signs in windows and boarded apertures made it clear the home was vacant.

The way this house was (not) maintained and (not) marketed is quite typical for properties in 55411 and 55412. Fortunately in this case, the Hawthorne board recognized this home's potential and advised the city to refrain from purchasing for the purpose of demolition. Other houses aren't so lucky.

The curb appeal of a house is one of the most important elements that attracts a buyer to a property. And in the digital age, buyers "drive by" multiple properties via online searches long before they even contact a Realtor. Many if not most foreclosed houses listed for sale in Hawthorne are both poorly maintained and have sparse, unappealing photos. The study elaborates:

"A bank’s failure to adequately maintain a property may be related to an inaccurate perception of the house’s actual value and is also often related to the false belief that an REO in a distressed neighborhood is not worthy of financial investment...Moreover, deferring maintenance on properties in distressed neighborhoods virtually guarantees that the property will remain on the market for a longer time. The bank will lose even more money, the neighborhood will suffer with a blighted home and the local government will lose tax revenue."

The report assigned point values to the basic maintenance, safety, curb appeal, and marketing of homes in White, African-American, and Latino neighborhoods. Homes in White neighborhoods consistently scored higher than those in communities of color, and minority communities had a prevalence of homes receiving low or failing scores. In the Maryland study, every single "failing" home was in an African-American neighborhood.

The signage was different in African-American homes as well. In many White communities, it was difficult to tell the difference between a bank-owned property and a traditional sale; they were marketed almost identically. In minority neighborhoods, foreclosed houses were often marketed as distressed properties, with "Bank Owned," "Real Estate Auction," or "Foreclosure" signs posted without the ubiquitous Realtor lawn sign. "No Trespassing," "Vacant," and "This Property Has Been Winterized" signs were also more prominently displayed in African-American and Latino neighborhoods.

While the data did not cover Minneapolis at all, I think it's fair to say that we know conditions here aren't markedly better. So the obvious question arises: What do we do about it? My knee-jerk reaction is to do a similar study here (only a true policy wonk looks at something as outrageous as this and says, "Knee-jerk reaction! Do a study!"), find the worst offenders, and sue the pants off of them. A more nuanced approach will be presented in an upcoming post.

United States v. Deutsche Bank and Its Impact in NoMi

2011-09-23T21:34:00.001-05:00

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman, chart below from the Housing Preservation Project.

Part 1 of 4 posts delving into mortgage and policy wonkish issues.

Earlier this year, the United States government took the bold step of filing a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank for its malfeasance and gross negligence in contributing to the foreclosure crisis. Deutche Bank and one of its subsidiaries, MortgageIT, generated over $5 billion in FHA loans between 1999 and 2009. This would have been a badge of honor if it weren't for the fact that MortgageIT was basically lying about virtually every significant aspect of its loan portfolio. Allegedly.

FHA loans have rather stringent guidelines in terms of borrower income and asset verification and property conditions, but the tradeoff for originators is that they are backed by the federal government. That insurance makes for a desirable product on the secondary market, and the feds are understandably reluctant to pay out on defaulted loans. Originators in turn have to implement a rigid quality control process to ensure that the loans originated fall under FHA guidelines.

Their failure to adhere to those guidelines directly harmed north Minneapolis, as evidenced by...

...numerous studies showing that Deutsche Bank was consistently among the top five purchasers of foreclosed loans in NoMi. Nationwide, this has forced the feds to pay out over $386 million in claims for 39,000 defaulted loans, with hundreds of millions more in payouts expected. What is even more disturbing about the loans is that they went into what the FHA calls "early payment default." That's when a loan goes sixty or more days late within the first six months of closing. Early payment defaults are a strong indication that the loan was never viable to begin with.

Of the defaulted loans, 3,100 were delinquent within six months of origination, 4,500 within a year, and 6,900 within two years. An additional 7,500 loans have also been flagged as in default, with $888 million in unpaid principal balances. Of THOSE mortgages, 1,700 defaulted within six months, 2,300 within one year, and 3,400 within two years.

These are nationwide numbers, but the Housing Preservation Project study linked above tells the story of foreclosures in the 55411 and 55412 zip codes. The data was gathered in 2008 and reflects foreclosures in 2005 and 2006, but the trends have remained consistent throughout much of the housing crisis in north Minneapolis.

In that study, Deutsche Bank was the second-leading purchaser of foreclosures at sheriff's sales in north, picking up 14% of the tab. In reality though, Deutsche should be number one because first place is occupied by the Mortgage Electronic Registration System. MERS is a clearinghouse for data on loan transactions and not a financial institution. The average length of time between mortgage origination and sheriff's sales in north Minneapolis during the time of the study was between 21 and 22 months. HPP breaks it down even further.

While these numbers reflect foreclosures from all of north Minneapolis, Deutsche Bank was the top foreclosing financial institution during the time of the study.

But at least they attempted to fix the problem once they were made aware of it, right? Wait, no. Exactly the opposite happened. The government loan auditor was never fully trained and never given a staff to work with, even though the volume of loans required between six and eight employees to review. Furthermore, the suit states:

“MortgageIT took the only staff member dedicated to auditing FHA-insured mortgages and reassigned him to increase production instead; and when an outside auditor provided findings revealing serious problems, those findings were literally stuffed in a closet and left unread and unopened.”

How does that translate back to the ground level of mortgage loans in NoMi? The photo above is of the Sheltering Arms House in Hawthorne, which has been vacant for many years since a loan and subsequent foreclosure by Deutsche Bank. There are scores of homes similarly affected by Deutsche Bank alone in north Minneapolis.

Goodbye Again, Diane Hofstede

2011-09-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, John Denver video from Youtube.

The Star Tribune blog reports today that another aide to 3rd Ward Council Member Diane Hofstede is set to resign. Within minutes of that article being posted, calls were coming in that the Hofstede Staff Timer needed to be reset. With that task taken care of, the only question was what would be the lead photo or video for the corresponding blog post? "Another One Bites the Dust" was the obvious choice, but that was already taken on the Issues Forum, and I needed something more original. I went with "Goodbye Again" by John Denver primarily because this particular video inexplicably opens with Denver gazing at a hawk. It seemed apropos.

The question on people's minds now is whether we'll see aide number 30 by Christmas. For the sake of the third ward, let's hope not.

Property Tax Lawsuit Takes Expected Step Back, Legal Fight Continues

2011-09-21T00:07:00.000-05:00

Post and stock photo (of a house that's probably over-assessed) by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

A lawsuit alleging that property tax assessments are unfairly calculated so that lower-income neighborhoods are paying more than their fair share has been dismissed on a technicality. A brief NXNS recap of links: the lawsuit documents can be found here, CURA mapped out where in Minneapolis people are paying assessments that are either more or less than market value, I posited that perhaps the key question is whether a post-foreclosure sale from a bank to an individual counts as a forced sale, and a Minneapolis assessor didn't answer that direct question.

So where does the lawsuit stand now? Well...

...the dismissal may actually be a good thing. If the plaintiffs had won the initial round, the ruling would be limited to just the years for which the plaintiffs were suing and would also be binding only to the parties bringing the action forward. Instead, what happened was that the judge tossed the suit largely on the grounds that the plaintiffs had prior opportunities to challenge the assessed value and did not do so.

The state Supreme Court's rulings though, are binding on everyone. From that perspective, the Supreme Court is actually a better forum for this argument to be heard. The whole point of the suit is to address what the plaintiffs attest are structural injustices inherent in the city's assessment process. If they prevail at the state, that will go a long way towards forcing appropriate changes in the city's tax structure.

(Or from the city's perspective, if the defendants win here, then it will validate their position that they've been doing it right all along.)

Either way, this has always been viewed as a two- or three-year process, with year one including an expected setback.