Greetings. My name is Sam Newberg. My wife Jen and I moved to the neighborhood
in 2004 because the light rail line opened. We live four minutes from the
station on the 3900 block of 29th Avenue. In 2006 we had our son, Ellis. I
serve as Secretary on the SENA board. We meet on the second Monday of the month
at the SENA offices on 42nd and Cedar - feel free to come to a meeting and join
a committee.
I am an urbanist. I write about cities. I write articles, case studies, give
lectures and do market studies. I work out of my house but travel a lot, and
the train connection to the airport is wonderful! Much of what I have learned
and observed over the years has practical application to our neighborhood.
Besides the train, we find the neighborhood to have many other amenities -
independent businesses like A Baker's Wife, Tillie's, Ted Cooks, Everett's,
Chris and Rob's, Busters, the hardware store. We have our own lake and golf
course, part of the creek, two light rail stations (and we don't have to cross
Hiawatha to get to them), and more affordable homes than those in southwest
Minneapolis. In short, very good value.
Our challenges are threefold: finding new businesses for 38th Street and making
it more active and vital, keeping our young families in the neighborhood, and
crime in general.
The SENA board is working with the city to get grant money to improve 38th
Street. It is my belief that the corridor is ripe for a few new tenants. That
will happen over time but requires either space or redevelopment sites to be
available. It is important for us to network with business owners and even
developers to attract additional vitality to the 38th Street corridor. There is
much potential.
Our neighborhood has a lot of small homes and a lot of young families. In many
ways, that makes us a starter home community in the city. As families grow they
will weigh their options and either add on or move away. We have to promote the
former, even if that means tearing down old obsolete homes and replacing them
with appropriately-sized, eco-friendly new homes. I predict that we will see a
lot of addition and some teardowns around here. Providing a wider array of
larger homes for growing families will help the neighborhood attract and retain
a healthy mix of households of all ages and sizes.
The best way to deter crime is to have a block leader and have neighbors get to
know each other and keep their eyes on the streets. Every block should have a
block leader and a block club. Get together, know each other, look out for each
other, but have fun doing it, too. Have a street party or a potluck. Someone
else mentioned this, too, but read The Great Neighborhood Book by Jay
Walljasper and be inspired.
I know Jay, and he is, by the way, a big fan of Busters. He wishes he had a
good neighborhood pub in Kingfield. All the more reason to support our local
businesses!
Hope to meet more of you soon.