6th Street Block Club Secures The Neighborhood

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The tightly-knit and efficient "6th Street Block Club" continue to fill the front lines in the revitalization struggle in their corner of Hawthorne, which is now arguably one of the more challenging areas since the Eco Village is pretty near cleaned up...

I was recently forwarded some of their emails in regard to 2301 3rd Street North. The house was condemned and vacant, yet lights were on, there was a television in the upstairs. The block club started to worry about what might be going on at the house, so they contacted Mary Etzioni with the City of Minneapolis, a frequent point of contact for this kind of thing. Soon after that, a high-ranking officer in the 4th Precinct went to check out the house, PERSONALLY.

Here is that officer's firsthand account:

I checked on this house last night and again today. Today I spoke to a new resident, (name withheld by JNS). He speaks English like I speak Spanish but I was able to learn:

He moved into the house within the past week. He has keys to the house. He might have recently purchased the home at auction. (This was a bit unclear) He lives in the house with his wife and three children. (The kids were at school today) A plumber was supposed to come soon to restore the pipes so they could get water service. Electricity is working.

I tried to explain to him that the house is condemned but I am not sure how much of that I got across. I also tried to explain to him that the city inspector would be contacting him and that the house cannot be lived in until it is inspected and is up to code. Again, I am not sure how much of that registered. He does have a phone number (Rugel passes on the number) but I suggest a Spanish speaking interpreter for any contact with him.

He did seem pretty cooperative and a nice fellow, but obviously this is a bad situation.

(End of officer's email)

This information caused the ultra-vigilant block club to be much less concerned about the situation, and just glad that the "right people" were involved.

You have to wonder how many more times this will happen, as auctions throw NOMI houses on the market at such affordable prices that some well-meaning folks might get in over their heads.

All the same, my opinion is: this situation sounds better than slumlord ownership or demolition, not necessarily in that order.