26th Avenue is a Bumpy Embarrassment - Which is Why You Should Call 311 More Often

To the credit of our city officials, 26th Avenue North has seen quite a few potholes filled, CM Yang and his staff have been incredibly responsive since I brought the issue forward, and the corridor is slated for a makeover beginning (finally!) next year.  Its condition is still deplorable and worthy of mention to keep the pressure on our city to follow through with long-overdue repairs.

In early April, the Star Tribune posted an article titled, "Where you live in Minneapolis matters for pothole fixes." The gist of it being that--spoiler alert!--folks in north Minneapolis don't get the same level of basic services as the ritzier parts of town.  City officials were credited with the explanation that other areas get more and better service because they report issues more frequently.  That led to some rather entertaining backpedaling by our mayor and others, which can be summed up this way:  "That allegation is not true at all and anyway, we are taking the appropriate steps to correct it."

While that was going on, I made it my own personal mission to document each and every pothole on 26th Avenue North.  My first step was to...

Looking a GIFT Cow in the Mouth

Kemps with a GIFT facade improvement

After Kemps removed the GIFT

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photos from the Old North Minneapolis Facebook page.

I can't say I entirely blame Kemps for taking down the GIFT facade improvement.  After all, they want to tear down two buildings on West Broadway and it doesn't help their position if people are actually excited about potential.  Oh no, it's much easier to keep the buildings looking like blight so people are more inclined to favor demolition.  But it does show their true colors, in that they are willing to make a prominent section of West Broadway look worse in order to further their agenda.

To make matters worse, there doesn't seem to be any public knowledge of what that agenda even is--aside from demolition.  Rumors and speculation have ranged from...

West Broadway Gets a G.I.F.T. (Guerilla Improvement Facade Team)

Before the GIFT

GIFT received.

An example of what old White Castle structures looked like.

Broadway before Kemps

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photos from the Old North Minneapolis Facebook page.

Towards the end of last year, I raised the alarm on this blog that Kemps had purchased two structures at 404 and 410 West Broadway with the likely intent of tearing them down for more surface parking.  A discussion and extensive research followed on the Old North Minneapolis Facebook page (a site where more connections about northside history are being made every day).  Late last month, we received the expected news that Kemps would apply for a demolition permit, and northsiders compiled our research to nominate the properties for historic designation.

And then something unexpected happened:  These buildings got a GIFT.  Specifically, a GIFT is...

Notorious Slumlords Khan and Meldahl Lose Rental Licenses, Leading to More Slummy Real Estate Activities

3111 Upton Ave N, where Meldahl lost a license

2714 4th St N, Khan's former rental

In my research for the equity blog post, I came across interesting information, and the Johnny Northside blog beat me to the punch by publishing news of Stephen Meldahl's rental license revocation before I could.  What he missed, however, was a loss of a license by one of the few slumlords worse than Meldahl, Mahmood Khan.

The good--nay, great--news is that with the revocation of one license, a second revocation could lead to the loss of all of Khan's or Meldahl's licenses for up to five years.  The Johnny Northside blog calls this "teeter[ing] on the verge of collapse."  While I certainly hope that's the case, I believe that's grossly exaggerating the anticipated demise of these rental slumpires.  There are several reasons why...

On Writing, and Remembering "Andy Fantastic"

On March 7th 2014, Andy Golebiowski, known on Johnny Northside and North by Northside as "The Artisan of Meat," and nicknamed "Andy Fantastic" among friends and family, passed away.  Andy was a proud husband, father, and grandfather, and that fierce pride carried over into everything Polish.  He and his wife Valeria, aka "The Polish Lady," have been pillars of the Hawthorne community for well over forty years.  Even before my own grandparents passed away, these two wonderful folks had become somewhat like my adopted north Minneapolis grandma and grandpa.  (It's not clear who adopted who; maybe that part got lost in a few rounds of drinking Polish vodka.)

The Golebiowski home on 31st Avenue North was, for a long time, the only occupied property on that block.  You'd never know it by driving through the area now, but at one point literally every other home on their street was foreclosed, boarded, vacant, arson-damaged, or some combination of those three.  It's no stretch to say that the Hawthorne EcoVillage would not be the success story it is today without Andy and Valeria.

Valeria attended most of the meetings, and came out for press conferences, dinners, galas, and gatherings with various politicos who were supportive of the development.  But Andy was no less invested in the community than she was.  He just showed that investment in different ways, like constantly peppering me with questions about the next big thing, who new home owners would be, when the bad actors would be leaving, swearing, bragging about Polish (fill in the blank), drinking Polish vodka, sharing his home with community members, more swearing, celebrating each small neighborhood success with Polish sausage, and then some vodka to top it off (Polish, of course).

The celebratory Polish sausage was at first a pleasant surprise, then a way to sustain revitalization efforts, and eventually a tradition of sorts.  I'll always remember the first time that happened...

Equity is More Than Just a Buzzword

Invoking the word "equity" is a lot like talking about Heaven.  Everyone likes to describe it, but nobody seems to do what it takes to get there.  Or worse yet, the word gets tossed around with no meaning whatsoever.  It's become the trendy thing people have to say they want.  And yet I struggle to find any meaningful incorporation of its principles into actual policy.  When it does make its way into political decisions, equity seems to be applied only to giant, broad initiatives like raising the minimum wage or anti-bullying legislation.  When the word is bandied about at community meetings, it doesn't seem attached to any specific actions at all. 

To me, putting equity into practice means being intentional about closing gaps based on race, gender, class, and other barriers.  For instance, Minnesota consistently ranks near the nation's top in home ownership rates (currently #3) and yet we are also near the top when it comes to the gap between white and minority home ownership rates.  Applying a lens of housing equity to a project like redeveloping Penn Ave N would raise this question:  the Penn Avenue redevelopment initiative is likely to add more rental units than home ownership units through its rehab and new construction efforts.  In context with Minnesota's home ownership gap, what does an equitable Penn Avenue plan look like when it comes to housing?  Or are there other initiatives that should be coordinated with the Penn Avenue redevelopment as a result?

Equality tends to be the end result of large or statewide proposals.  I submit, however, that equity...

Broadway Proposal Not Exactly a Pinnacle

Post  by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photos by Scottie Tuska

West Broadway needs big ideas.  The stretch along the south side of Broadway, from around Bryant to Emerson, needs comprehensive investment and change (as does Lyndale to Bryant, and almost every other segment along the corridor).  Those two needs, however, do not unilaterally go hand in hand.  At a West Broadway Coalition presentation tonight, Tim Baylor's Pinnacle Management group exemplified that specific dynamic.

Pinnacle's proposal, called Satori, is to take every building on the south side of West Broadway from midway along Bryant (commonly referred to as "The Prayer Center Building" even though that tenant is long gone) all the way to Emerson, and tear almost all of it down.  In its place would be first-floor retail, second-floor office space, and 2-4 floors of luxury apartments.  The plan has its shortcomings, but I could still support it if it were on the north side of the street.

First, the shortcomings...