General Mills, Minneapolis, and Hawthorne neighborhood are featured in a Business Week article - here's the link:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_48/b3860616.htm Here is an excerpt from the article: Just a few miles from the lakefront mansions and pristine skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis, the streets of the Hawthorne neighborhood were once littered with the shattered glass of stolen cars. Nearly half the ramshackle houses were so dangerous that they failed city inspection. And almost one-quarter of the area's residents had no telephones to call 911 -- which was terrifying, considering that drug lords from Chicago had migrated north to Hawthorne in the mid-90s, turning its streets into gangland bullet zones and helping to send its per capita murder rate 70% higher than that of New York. The idyllic Minnesota metropolis once known as the City of Nice was getting a new nickname: "Murderapolis." Today, Hawthorne's homicides are down by 32%, and robberies have fallen 56%. Crack houses have been bulldozed to make way for a new elementary school. And dilapidated houses at the neighborhood's core have been rebuilt. Much of the credit for the turnaround goes to Minneapolis-based General Mills Inc. (GIS ). David Piehl writes: While I don't know all the details of this endeavor, Hawthorne is hardly "cured" of all ills, and I'm guessing residents and neighborhood groups played a significant role as well. No doubt General Mills contributions helped, but the tone of this article makes me bristle. David Piehl Central __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
