Vacant Properties Far Outpace Northside Homes for Sale

Image from a Google maps compilation of vacant properties, put together by Chad Davis.

When it comes to the housing recovery in north Minneapolis, there's a tool in our collective toolbox that we haven't been using.  In impacted areas, or at the city's request, Hennepin County can accelerate the tax forfeiture process so that vacant properties can go into forfeiture after as little as one year of delinquent taxes.  I found out about that opportunity just before I left my job at Hawthorne.  I can't help but wonder how much farther along my old neighborhood would be if I had known about this process and utilized it from the start.

Thankfully, I don't have to just wonder.  By comparing the current boarded/vacant list and the properties for sale on the MLS in Hawthorne, we can get a pretty good idea.

Code Compliance Shortcomings Contribute to Demolitions

Creative stock photo from ebay.

Not too long ago, the city looked into acquisition of a property in the Jordan neighborhood.  The likely intent would be for demolition, so I went over to take a look.  The house was listed for sale on the MLS, so we were able to get inside and look around.  The house had suffered severe water damage throughout, and the smell of mold was overpowering.  Mold, even pervasive mold, is not necessarily grounds for tearing a house down.  But could the water damage be so extensive that it affected the structural integrity of the house?  We couldn't ascertain that in one visit.

The housing committee in Jordan recommended acquisition by the city for demolition, but only if an approved contractor deemed it unsalvageable.  Before we could take that step, the house went into multiple offers, and the city likely lost out on its bid.

The dilemma we faced was a common one for distressed properties that could go either way.  Namely, if it's NOT torn down, then who will wind up buying the house?  Will it be a known slumlord, or the next generation of problematic owners?  Or is there a chance that a good owner might come along?  The property is viewed in the community as beyond repair, not because of structural deficiencies, but because the community sees it as highly unlikely that a good owner will come along.

In this case, as well as many others, that dichotomy should not even rear its ugly head.  This house was condemned, and therefore before it is occupied--even by an owner-occupant--it has to go through...

Khan Wins Ruling on 2639 Oliver Ave N, Demolition Stayed

If Mahmood Khan put as much effort into screening tenants, or fixing his properties, as he does into paying his attorneys to fight the city of Minneapolis, the northside would be a better place.  Instead, demolitions that are all but inevitable get tied up in court for years on end, and in the meantime Very Bad Things continue to happen at Khan properties throughout our community.

As a die-hard preservationist, one part of my credo is to never hold the owner against a property when determining whether a structure is worthy of rehab and continued use.  Khan tests that ethic more than anyone else.  I hear through the grapevine that some of the features inside 2639 Oliver are quite nice--amazing, even.  But as long as Mahmood Khan owns the house, none of that will matter.  If he really was serious about preservation and rehab, he would have entered into a restoration agreement with the city long ago.  Although he doesn't do such a great job of keeping those either.

In any case, a judge reversed the demolition order on this property, and all I can say is thank God the court opinion is "unpublished" and can't be used as a precedent.  Although just as surely as we know this won't be the last of his houses with a demo order, we know damn well Khan will now try this trick again.  The ruling, although wrongheaded, does have some interesting points.  For instance, it states...

Blackout Ceviche

Special credit for the term "Blackout Ceviche" goes to Johnny Northside.

You can buy shrimp at the West Broadway Farmers Market, although you might not want to do so right before a storm takes out power for two days.

That was precisely the dilemma I was faced with last weekend.  I had this great shrimp, but no way to cook it and no place to keep it fresh.  Sure, I could have used a lighter to heat up my gas-powered stove top.  Or I could have brought the shellfish to a friend's house for temporary safekeeping.  Instead, I decided to make an adventure out of this situation and also a test of faith to see if God Wanted Me To Contract Salmonella.  (He didn't, apparently.)

Ceviche, for the uninitiated, is a way to cook seafood without actually cooking it.  The acidity from citrus juices acts as a cooking agent for the meat and makes it safely edible.  As an added bonus, it is carbohydrate free, lactose free, gluten free (I think; I'm not really sure what gluten is), it doesn't contain red meat or pork, it's not cooked, and it can be made without shellfish if one so desires.  It's basically a dish that can be prepared in a way that meets the standards of almost any dietary fad and offends no one.  Except vegans.  And Ted Nugent.  Anything that ticks off both has got to be delicious, right?

So I prepared the ceviche and then stored some in my freezer and a little bit in the fridge to keep me tided over during the blackout.  Everything in this recipe was found either at the West Broadway Farmers Market, the Broadway Cub, or my own backyard garden.  The herbs from my garden are not traditional ceviche seasonings, but they were what I had available.  And just because you might want to copy my recipe, don't think you can come by and take the herbs from my house.  You'll have to buy them from the market's aggregate table.

To make "Blackout Ceviche," you take...

Everyone Should Go See "Clybourne Park"

I don't know how to start my critique of the play "Clybourne Park," but I want to make sure to point out that it tricks you into talking about race--and that's a good thing.  I've had a bit of a case of writer's block about this review, so I borrowed a tip from a high school English teacher of mine.  "When you can't think of how to start," she would say, "just write down 'I don't know how to start, but what I really want to say is...' and then write from there.  Then go back and delete the first phrase, and you have your story."  In a manner of speaking, "Clybourne Park" does just that.

The play, currently being performed at the Guthrie, tells the story of a neighborhood, through the point of view of a house, and spans multiple generations.  It opens with a White family in the middle of last century, packing up and preparing for a move.  Their African-American maid is, in many ways, the glue that has held this couple together through a deep personal tragedy, although she is often treated as if she would be incapable of performing the simplest tasks without being reminded by the wife to do things right.

Other friends and neighbors, and even a local pastor who acts as a confidante, are shocked to find that...

The DFL Convention as a Political Event Horizon

I went into Saturday's Minneapolis DFL convention as a strong Schiff supporter, and we all know how that turned out by now.  So what follows is not neutral, although I'll do my best to be even-handed.

There is a physical phenomenon called an "event horizon," in which an object cannot be affected by an outside observer.  The object is being pulled by a gravitational force from which escape is impossible.  From an observer's standpoint, the object appears to slow down and not move at all, while the object itself experiences events in real time.  Event horizons are most commonly observed at the point of no return of a black hole, but can also be experienced by attending a citywide DFL convention.

The "event horizon" for me was when one minute turned into forty-five, which astute observers already know happened when...

Who Authorized the Fire Department's Destruction of 3738 Dupont Ave N?

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video from Nicole Curtis Design on Youtube.

When the city of Minneapolis does really stupid things, like tear down 3738 Dupont Avenue North, they open themselves up to even more foolish allegations.  After the demolition of yet another property over north that a) didn't need to come down, and b) had a willing seller and buyer, North Talk and the Minneapolis Issues Forum are full of allegations of plans to displace, or that there is some "big demo" group behind house destruction and if we only follow the money we'll find the real culprit.  So in the same spirit, I will make my own assumption that may turn out to be foolish:

The owner of 3738 Dupont Ave N did not give permission for the Minneapolis Fire Department to conduct training at his property.

That prospect is one of the many things that bothers me about this house going down, but other preservation angles are already articulated elsewhere.  If I am incorrect in my assertion, the rest of this post can be dismissed.  If I'm not, then either the city has statutory authority to conduct non-emergency and non-administrative entry to vacant properties, or someone downtown authorized and coordinated the MFD training with zero respect for private property.

Why is this a problem?