Snowy Evidence Of Misery At 416 31st Ave. N.

Photos By John Hoff

There have been drug arrests at this house...a drive-by shooting. It has come near condemnation...very little of a happy nature seems to happen at 416 31st Ave. N. This week is no exception to the overall historical pattern...

Previously, the owner of the place--who reportedly burst into tears with building inspectors this year, after a bunch of tenants left along with copper pipes, aluminum window frames--poured a lot of work into fixing the place, and put in a new group of tenants. The new tenants had a lot of noisy little children who seemed to supervise themselves, mostly, but nobody in the neighborhood could say they caused any serious trouble, especially when compared to the worthless no account crack users who were there before.

But, suddenly, the house appears empty...except for the possibility of somebody squatting inside, a matter we're watching closely. "Owner boards" (which are not painted gray nor bearing placards, unlike "official boards") went up over the windows on the lower level, perhaps to prevent a repeat of the aluminum-frame looting incident.

Word is the mother of the renter family got sick, and left in an ambulance. Later, somebody who seemed to be a relative came to fetch at least two mattresses; possibly for the children. All this is unconfirmed, but the former tenants certainly appear to be gone in a hurry.

A bunch of possessions hit the curb: clothing transported in a big bed sheet bundle, mismatched shoes, a small television, a little freezer with the lid removed, possibly to make it easy to clear a doorway.

The Polish woman lives close to all of this sad drama, but word is her new privacy fence (constructed by volunteers from ReBuilding Together) has made her life more comfortable, by minimizing what used to be a spectacular view of the low-budget soap opera at 416 31st. Ave. N.

What will happen to 416 31st Ave. N? Will it get sold and fixed up? Will it be demolished?

We watch. We wait. We hold our breath. The mood seems to be...feeling bad for the folks who left, but not particularly sad to see them go.

ADDENDUM: Information comes from the Eco Village...word on the street is the woman had a heart attack and died. 

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Driving Around With Stolen Aluminum Siding In My Van

Photo By John Hoff

Yesterday, HNC Housing Director Jeff Skrenes had car trouble and needed a ride. I was turning off Lyndale Ave. N. when I spotted...

...a mess of aluminum siding in my traffic lane. I couldn't avoid running over some of it. I turned the corner and pulled over.

"What's the matter?" Jeff asked. He had his nose in a newspaper, scrutinizing boring data about foreclosure trends while--and here is the rich irony--we drove through the dystopian heart of Foreclosure-istan, surrounded by its rich layers of phenomenon.

"Didn't you see that aluminum siding in the road?" I asked, popping my van's hatch. I fetched all that siding out of the cold, snowy street--initially dragging it to the sidewalk and then loading it into my vehicle. It obviously fell off the truck of a scrapper, and I highly doubt its origins were honest. But what am I supposed to do? It's not exactly worth dusting for fingerprints. It's not worth calling 911. Heck, it's not even worth calling 311.

So I'm in the ironic position of hauling around and disposing of stolen aluminum in order to be a good and environmentally-conscious citizen and clear the roadways of a hazard.

When I travel to my rural Minnesota ancestral homeland, I'll probably take the scrap along and give it to some scrupulously honest scrapper known to me personally.

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2207 4th St. N. Cleans Up Its Act

Photo By John Hoff

There has finally been a positive development with 2207 4th St. N., the "condemned party house" situation which I wrote about here, and also here. (Click for links)

No sense dragging it out for drama: the graffiti got cleaned up. It appears to have been done at the last minute, right before the abatement order would have taken effect. However, I should note there appears to be a decent, good-faith effort made to match the paint with the color of the wood instead of slapping on any old thing. So....good.

The neighborhood is pleased to see progress and somewhat hopeful the initial situation may have been an aberration and misunderstanding about the community standards in this part of North Minneapolis.

This is what happens when we communicate and coordinate. We win. We take back our neighborhood. We turn things around.

(Do not click "Read More")

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A House Condemned Against Itself Cannot Stand (Or Can It?)

The abominable "pink cracker box duplex" at 2230 6th Street North, which I have reported about before, click here; was recently condemned. Sort of. From all appearances, and based on some information from a citizen in Hawthorne, it appears...

...the downstairs unit is condemned, but not the upstairs unit, which is plainly still inhabited.

I didn't even know it was POSSIBLE to condemn one half of a house, but not the other half. I am...like....FREAKING OUT. My mind is blown.

The reason for the condemnation, according to the red placard, is "lack of maintenance."

Word is the people who live in the upstairs unit were never a problem, anyway, unlike the no account criminal thugs who lived downstairs. The surrounding area is already reportedly more quiet, with less open-air dealing. Good riddance.

One house at a time, we are turning this neighborhood around. But in this case...half a house at a time.

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The Value Of A Good Alarm System In North Minneapolis

Flickr.com Photo

Michael S. Klick, who serves with me on the Hawthorne Housing Committee, and who lives with his boyfriend Brian Cheese, (a member of the Executive Board) reported by email that their house was burglarized but the burglar or burglars...

...didn't get much, thanks to the alarm system.

On Monday, December 15, Klick wrote, "Our house was broken into yesterday between 10 a.m. and noon. They kicked in the basement window by the alley. Luckily, we have a security system that went off instantly. The person just got some cash that was lying on the dining room table.

"The burglar must have run out as soon as he/she heard the alarm going off. We were both glad that nothing more was taken. The police came and checked the house, but didn't do anything else as far as I am aware. I assume that they were going to fingerprint or something but that was not the case. That was a bit disappointing."

In a cheery and practical way, Michael closed his email by asking, "Anyone know of any good contractors, window installers? We need to get the window replaced."

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JOHNNY NORTHSIDE BLOG EXCLUSIVE: A Vision of Hawthorne's Bright, Shining Future

Contributed Image, Only A Draft

An image recently came into my hands of the proposed WORLD'S LARGEST YWCA to be built on West Broadway, in the Hawthorne Neighborhood. (Click here for related story) It should be emphasized this drawing is only a draft, and the final building may look different. In addition to the world's largest YWCA (to the right of the picture) the development includes commercial space at 800 West Broadway. (To the left of the picture, with the multi-colored awnings)

Allow me to point out there are lovely houses close by this proposed development, for sale at rock-bottom prices. Folks browsing for real estate in North Minneapolis will probably want to contact real estate agents like my friend and fellow blogger, Jeanie Hoholik.

I'll be putting this image on the Hawthorne Voices blog in a few minutes, but at least for one small moment I'll be able to say IT'S A JOHNNY NORTHSIDE EXCLUSIVE!!!!

(Do not click "Read More")

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Hawthorne's CURA Research Assistant Will Handle Toxic Mortgage Data

Photo By John Hoff, University of Minnesota

Today, Jeff Skrenes gave me more details about what our CURA research assistant will be doing, once that person gets hired...

Hawthorne has been granted a research assistant from the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. According to Jeff, the CURA assistant was made possible through Hawthorne's partnership with NCRC (Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition).

NCRC has found a way to track when and where Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) are resetting in North Minneapolis. Other data available gets only to the zip code or census tract level, but we already know where foreclosures are happening based on this criteria. The new data, however, will allow us to track this house by house.

NCRC will be compiling this data for all of North Minneapolis, and doing outreach to those at risk of foreclosure. (Click here for a related story, and also here)

The CURA assistant will compile the ARM data as well as "real time" information on how successful our outreach is. We already have data from 2007 mortgages originated in Hawthorne, Jordan, Near North, Willard-Hay and Harrison. One quarter of those loans were ARMs, despite the fact that in the final four months of that year, many of the worst practices were made illegal through Minnesota's landmark anti-predatory lending legislation.

Outreach has been done to almost 500 homes already, (click here for related story, also click here) and foreclosure prevention counselors are reporting calls where clients mention letters and visits associated with the outreach effort. These foreclosure prevention counselors work for ACORN Housing, NRRC, and Habitat for Humanity.

Special thanks goes out not only to the foreclosure prevention counselors, but to Dave Snyder of Jewish Community Action, Jerry Moore of Jordan Area Community Council, and Jeffrey Strand at Hennepin County for their efforts in making this work successful.

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