Does "the city" help anyone form block clubs?
When the city is the largest property owner on the block they should!
I thought neighborhood groups did that. I know Hawthorne Area Community
Council certainly promoted block clubs back when I used to work for them.
Give them a call at (612) 529-6033 and I'm sure they'd be happy to help
connect you with other interested neighbors.
HACC is a shadow of it's former self and I seldom hear from them, save for their hard working crime prevention committee.
As for the peeling paint, my experience with city inspectors is that they'll
work with you if you show some actual inclination to get the work done.
I have the inclination but neither the ability or funding.
One
of my fraternity's houses was cited late last year for peeling paint, but it
was too late in the season for us to arrange for painting. So we were given
until late this spring to get it done. And we will.
Apparently the city is much more accommodating of upper class frat boy's misdemeanors than they are of working class gimps.
City inspections only gets nasty on folks who refuse to take responsibility
for the property they own. The argument about what makes economic sense and
what doesn't is completely irrelevant. The ordinance is the same whether you
live in Hawthorne or Longfellow and if it were enforced differently, that's
what would make the city "the problem rather than the solution."
Then why were your frat boys given a slap on the wrist and I am threatened with imprisonment?
BTW, The city's insistance on imprisoning me for peeling paint was the "tipping point" that's forcing me to flee Minneapolis. If the city wishes to negotiate in good faith a rational solution to this dispute I have yet to invest outside the city and could still change my plans. Unfortunately our city attorney seems more interested in locking me up at city expense than improving the neighborhood.
If you aren't willing to maintain your property, sell it now and move someplace where you won't be responsible for that.
Thanks to our questionable "truth in housing" ordinance I would have to spend more to bring it up to current city code than it's worth on the currently declining housing market.
I hear the vacancy rates on apartments are pretty high right now, so you might find a good deal.
If push comes to shove I might rent in the 'burbs for a while, or more likely go ahead and buy an RV for when I retire.
After all, you're gonna lose any investment you have in your house anyway,
right?
Which is why I'm not putting any more money in it than I have too.
So why not cut out and run now rather than go down with the sinking ship?
Mark, your either starting to make sense or playing devil's advocate; More likely the latter. BTW, my property is not for sale and I will do my best to secure it when I leave, although paying the increasing taxes on it is a questionable investment. Of course, I can make no guarentee that it will not be broken into and become another drug house. Suffice to say the city's attempt to hold me hostage and empty my wallet will not succeed.
hanging on in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
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