Almost a year ago to the day, I published a post on Johnny Northside about the problematic Northside "Food" Market. (Food is in quotations here because as delicious as Flamin' Hot Cheetos are, they don't qualify as actual sustenance.) McKinley neighbors were dealing with cars that were constantly illegally parked, even more constant drug dealing, loitering, and an unlicensed rental unit. Well, after a year of clamoring, neighbors can proudly say that cars aren't parked illegally there. Oh, and the place appears to have a rental license for their 450-square foot postage stamp of a room upstairs.
The rampant drug dealing, loitering, and littering is still a fact of life at 36th and Lyndale though, and there's this annoying piece of sign spam that is high up and BOLTED on. It's thwarted every effort of mine to get it down, and remained so long that the black Sharpie writing has actually faded away. Still, I live twelve blocks from the place and I've made more effort to remove that blight than the business or property owners have.
So I can relate to my friends and neighbors in McKinley who've also made more of an effort to address the criminal element on the corner than anyone associated with the Northside "Food" Market. One neighbor noted...
