Stephanie was in and the city was hinting that my car's summer wheels
didn't belong in the back yard. No problem- this ain't like second story
painting.
However, before I could escape crime ridden Minneapolis I had to get
out the ladder again. Turns out our local protected species, the
criminals, had busted out a couple of my storm windows. So before I
could escape Minneapolis I had to spend a couple hours cleaning up the
broken glass, then screw a couple 2 by 4s across the window so our
criminals can't get in even if they break the glass. I'd board the place
and be done with it were it not for the city's $6000 penalty for
protecting yourself and your property. Apparently the city wants to
discourage boarding, hoping to maintain the myth that Minneapolis is a
safe city.
About now someone, probably from the mayor's office, will drag out the
latest crime stats and point out how murder and mayhem are down a few
percent since last year. Well, to the still too high a percent who have
lost loved ones or have been disabled for life by Minneapolis' violent
criminals, the percentages are far too high.
"Crime rates" are tied to population, and given the population we've
lost as law abiding citizens have left our once fair city our crime rate
may in fact be steeply climbing. In Hawthorne half the homes on
virtually every block are empty, yet crime has only dropped by 10 to
20%. We have last winters respite from global warming to consider too,
and as the temperature in Minneapolis thousands of abandoned buildings
has risen so has our population of criminals and crime with them. On my
block the now empty but still notorious 310 saw a breakin attempt sunday
morning- the burglar was so out of it I had to yell at him twice to
scare him off. Up the other street, one of the criminals from 310 has
moved into abandoned 2515- I note from the City Attorney's webpage that
he may not have shown up for his last 90 day sentence and I doubt
he's informed his P.O. of what building he's illegally occupying. Next
up the street at 2519 I noted some cars far too nice to be parked in
front of a squat and possible prostitution. With inadaquate jail
capacity all we can hope for is a normal Minnesota winter to at least
send these criminals back to KC or points south this fall. But
ultimately global warming will make unheated living in Minneapolis
abandoned buildings tolerable year round and the disappearing tax base
will cause further police layoffs as Minneapolis continues it's death
spiral into bankruptcy.
Out here in Starbuck my pickup and motorcycle have sat unmolested
outside for months. I've got CBC Radio Two streaming out of my laptop
via Starbuck Telephone Company's excellent DSL- In Minneapolis our
unregulated cable, phone, and wireless internet providers can't keep the
connection up for more than a few minutes. I just perused the ad
circular that comes with the Starbuck Times, and home prices out here
haven't dropped a bit. It appears that foreclosures are largely a
Minneapolis problem- If you were paying over a thousand a month for a
house surrounded by criminals, you'd probably walk away from it too.
Haven't heard any gunshots here, and probably won't 'til hunting season.
So can anyone give me one good reason to come back to Minneapolis?
from Starbuck, on the shores of Lake Minnewaska at the foot of the
glacial ridge...