Search
NoMi Business Partners
The I.I. Blog Roll
The Goddess of Glass
Reliable Twin Cleaning
Followers
About Me
Subscribe To
Posts
Comments
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Neighborhood of Times Past—Part 3
11:46 AM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Neighborhood of Times Past—Part 3
This posting is another remembrance to how the Irving Triangle section of the Jordan neighborhood used to appear over thirty years ago, along with some thoughts about how it could be in the future. When I look at these pictures I’m still dumb-struck, because the landscape appears nearly alien. These photos were provided to me by Laurel Springman, and thanks to her generosity we can look back on how life used to be.
The photo below shows Laurel and cousin Shawna playing in a sandbox in the yard at 2210 Irving. As you can see, everything about this picture looks like children living in normalcy. Over thirty years later, I stood in this exact spot. There was no grass, no sandbox, no garage; only the carcass of a house remained. And now, that’s gone too.
 |
| Irving Inquisition friends, Laurel and Shawna, back in 1976. |
Everything about this photo below is absolutely amazing to me. It dates back to 1975. I can’t help but feel that maybe me and Laurel are the only people that can truly relate to this. I’ll try to articulate this scene as best as I can. The people in the photo are of course Laurel, and her aunt and uncle.
 |
| A very special photo taken approximately 35 years ago. |
Of the 2210, the room jutting out of the back is a conversion created many years ago. When Laurel’s family purchased the house, it had already been converted into a room. But it was further enhanced in the 60’s during the home’s remodel; and turned into a bedroom. Before the remodels, the room had been a storage shed for coal, used to feed the furnace. If you look over the gentleman’s shoulder, you can see where the coal chute existed. There were plants occupying that space in this photo.
Again, you can see a well kept lawn with the absence of weeds. There’s actually a lawn here. There’s never been a lawn at that house the entire time I’ve lived here. And then in the background, the most serendipitous thing—but just for me, and probably only me—is the view of my house. The appearance is almost identical to what it is today. Aside from my updates to the front end and the different roof color, it’s identical.
My emotional sentimentality over this photo is reason enough to support historical preservation where possible. Houses in Europe are frequently 300 to 500 years old; and their landmarks, older yet. These properties here in Jordan, Hawthorne, Harrison, and Old Highland are 100 years old, or very close to it. To think that the house I live in today, was already 65 years old when this photo was taken; and I wouldn’t even be born for several more years. This imagery goes to show how important preservation is.
So why is preservation—where possible—and revitalization in North Minneapolis so important? The simple answer is this: This is our history and our heritage. Somebody’s life story rests inside the walls of each house. That’s why it’s important to take care of the house you own. Additionally, this is why it’s important to keep absentee landlords in check. When some white collar criminal like Steven Meldahl refuses to fix his houses and evade income taxes, or Paul Koenig commits mortgage fraud; it’s up to us to hold these people accountable.
It’s not enough to re-paint your bedroom, forward e-mails about meetings, or Facebook friend people that live down the street. I challenge YOU, especially those of you that live in NoMi, to get involved. Get involved in anything that benefits the community, it doesn’t matter what. Grab the bull by the horns, and work—this does not include singing Kumbaya at meetings—to make your vision of the future a reality. And just to give you an example; this blogger’s vision is to see the entire area surrounding the Irving Triangle completely revitalized. Empty lots replaced with new homes, properties and yards that are well kept, no garbage lying in the streets, no drug deals, no boom cars, no gun shots, and no gangs, or the slumlords that shelter them.
Make no mistake about it. Posterity looks kindly on those that care enough to take action by doing the right thing. And maybe someday, perhaps in 30 years, you could say you were there when somebody looks at the pictures of our day and tells the story about the struggle that has come to define North Minneapolis.
See related posts:
Take a Tour Down Skid-Row
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Share The I.I.
Recent Comments
8 comments:
Arrrgh,
II your posting, it be a bit of fresh breeze in me sails!
Excellent Post!
I can't even count how many times I have been told that I need to lower my expectations since I moved to Jordan.
Why? Why should civil law abiding homesteaders accommodate thugs, drug dealers, and transients? Is it the "American way" to allow slumlords to dominate the neighborhoods and profit from our community at the expense of our core values?
These homes and neighborhoods are not inherently bad. When compared to many areas of St. Louis Park and Columbia Heights the living spaces are ample (If not sub-divided into a four-plex) and the superior materials used to build these homes are no longer available.
The people who built and lived here were not wealthy. They respected themselves and their neighbors and maintained core values within their means. Financial status is not an excuse for deviant behaviors.
But, NoMi has become a dumping ground for misfits and profiteers because we are tolerant of the demands of other communities. (How many slumlords actually live here?) It keeps the crime low and property values high in the suburbs.
Not only have we succumbed to this illusion but so have the police and the court system. Anything short of a felony becomes tolerable. Social services and Inspections look the other way as homes are allowed to be cannibalized into multifamily rentals and substandard housing becomes the norm attracting the disenfranchised or mentally ill.
The only way for us to turn this around is to re-evaluate our expectations and demand the same standards as other communities maintain.
You get what you pay for!!! What do you expect? You can buy a nice clean house in Jordan for less than $40,000. You can not even sniff at a LOT in Edina or Eden Prairie with NO HOUSE ON IT for under $200,000. Carry a handgun and spend $2,000 on a top of the line security system and live in Jorda, you are still way ahead!!!
Aren't the laws the same in all communities?
Are you suggesting that basic human dignities should be overlooked according to land values?
Are you suggesting that lack of enforcement is acceptable here and that we should expect to be vigilantes taking the law into our own hands?
Or are you just trying to be cute?
@ Anon 8:54
Raise your expectations. Home and community is what we make of it. I have decided that my community is going to be a nice one, therefore I will do what I can to make that happen.
@ Anon 9:57,
Well, it depends on the state and city of course... That being said, I think laws should be enforced. Our problem here is, they haven't been adequately enforced.
As for your last three questions, I'm not going to answer those because this post makes no mention of vigilantes, or property values, or anything like that.
My writing is easy enough for most people to understand, so I think you're deliberately trying to look for messages that aren't there. What's your problem anyway? Are you afraid of a brighter future?
I.I. - Anon. 9:57 was commenting on the remark made by Anon. 8:54.
People have a choice. You can live where ever you want to. If you choose to spend more of your money to live in the suburbs, and there is much less crime, that is your choice! If you like the "action" of living in the inner City, at about 1/4 the cost, that is your right and choice. Personally, once my kids are out of the house, I will move back to the City! I am board to death with the burbs!
Post a Comment