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Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: September 14th, 2017, 8:44 pm
by Mooglemuffins
Northeast corner of the Rainbow building is gone! They've been tearing it down in the past day or so to rebuild the new main entrance for the school and the second floor.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 9:47 am
by FISHMANPET
Seems like as good a place as any to share this:
http://www.startribune.com/man-fatally- ... d=57791945

Fatal stabbing "near" the Lake St Station.

Then this morning the whole place was cleaned up and everyone presumably kicked out, with police supervising the work, and new "No Trespassing" signs being put up on the north side of the intersection, where the majority of the homeless encampment was.
Reading between the lines it's pretty clear that there was a fight between two homeless people that resulted in the stabbing death.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 10:31 am
by SurlyLHT
The stabbing was at the north tower of the LRT station. The police were there and had the whole place taped off last night. The situation with the homeless folks has gotten worse lately. They've expanded from the LRT station area and under the bridge over to a couple locations behind Target. Honestly, I think there needs to be some sort of plan created and implemented to help the situation. Ambulances and police are over there all the time. Some of the people aren't necessary homeless, but just hanging out. It also doesn't help there are two liquor stores nearby. I don't know if the sell to these folks or not. I think the local council members, neighborhood council along with the roadway jurisdictions need to come up with something. I mean, they could even throw super bright LED lights beneath the bridge and around the station to make it less comfortable of an area. It just seems like people seem to think it's someone else's problem and nothing real is actually done. I should write to my councilmember.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 12:05 pm
by amiller92
Wonder if they're the same people who used to camp out under/near 94 and the Hiawatha Trail. Regardless, making one spot unpleasant may just mean the same people moving elsewhere.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 12:10 pm
by SurlyLHT
It's a different group. I bike through the Hi-Lake intersection and then down the LRT trail to work and I see both populations. However, I did find 5 state troopers kicking the people out from under 94 last week.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 12:16 pm
by cooperrez
This clean up was inevitable after the stabbing. It's obvious that clearing the homeless out of this location just means they move on to the next spot, probably someplace more hidden at first and then moving into a more convenient spot later. We really need some innovative ideas to deal with homelessness.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 12:55 pm
by MNdible
We need to acknowledge that we really have two homeless problems. The first is people who, for financial reasons, are unable to find steady housing. The second is people who, due to debilitating mental illness or addiction, are very difficult to house regardless of financial constraints.

The first problem should be eminently solvable. The second is a very tough nut to crack.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 4:11 pm
by Tiller

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 4th, 2017, 4:31 pm
by minneboom
Email your city council member, county commissioner, and state representative. All these levels of government have a role to play in improving this area.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 6th, 2017, 2:17 am
by Tiller
We need to acknowledge that we really have two homeless problems. The first is people who, for financial reasons, are unable to find steady housing. The second is people who, due to debilitating mental illness or addiction, are very difficult to house regardless of financial constraints.

The first problem should be eminently solvable. The second is a very tough nut to crack.

The divide is moreso between the temporarily homeless and the chronically homeless. While the former sorts itself out by definition, we've already discovered the solution for the latter. (and both can be somewhat alleviated by fixing our housing shortage)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... ness-utah/

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 6th, 2017, 10:10 am
by SurlyLHT
Housing first is probably a good option. So much is spent simply on police and paramedics which I see all the time there.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 6th, 2017, 10:14 am
by MNdible
And I think Housing First is Hennepin County's paradigm. But, easier said than done.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 6th, 2017, 11:17 am
by FISHMANPET
So, some things I learned at the latest Corcoran Land Use meeting.

Before this stabbing, some outreach people from St Stephens talked to the people living under the bridge. Previous to this spring that group had been living behind the Target, but moved after one of the members of their group was brutally beaten to death. It's run by 3 matriarchs and it's a group that pretty much would rather be homeless than live in a shelter or be housed in anyway. Not sure if that's because they don't want to meet any drug and alcohol requirements of housing, or they somehow prefer being outside otherwise. Additionally, people that do have housing will come down there during the day to "party" with the people that live under the bridge.

So Housing First is good but in this case it's difficult. Not sure if a wet house would suit their needs or what, but it's a very difficult complicated issue.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 6th, 2017, 1:55 pm
by SurlyLHT
So, some things I learned at the latest Corcoran Land Use meeting.
Related more to the topic of this forum. Did you learn when housing and etc. will go up behind the new Hennepin County building? (Obviously the headlines about the stabbing and crime related to the station aren't helping the cause to complete the project.)

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 6th, 2017, 2:40 pm
by FISHMANPET
There were permit issues for a while, but that's been taken care of, but apparently there's some HUD money involved somehow so the contractor needs to do some paperwork to ensure they're hiring enough minority owned businesses and such so that's causing dealy now.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 25th, 2017, 6:09 am
by Mooglemuffins
I notice they've been patrolling the area under the bridge more frequently. After the stabbing they painted some white lines down around the areas against the wall and put up some new trespassing signs. Few times when I've come home there's been a trooper parked under the bridge on the sidewalk. Seems like they're trying to clear out Lake Street station area from being so inundated with the homeless.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 25th, 2017, 7:48 am
by SurlyLHT
There's going to be a neighborhood meeting on I believe the 28th about this.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 25th, 2017, 10:13 am
by Chef
The deeper problem is that no place wants wants to be the place where the homeless congregate, but they exist so where do they go? If they aren't going to be allowed to allowed under the bridge they will just be doing the same thing somewhere else. The cycle began with the demolition of the flophouses in the Gateway District.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 25th, 2017, 3:11 pm
by amiller92
I notice they've been patrolling the area under the bridge more frequently. After the stabbing they painted some white lines down around the areas against the wall and put up some new trespassing signs. Few times when I've come home there's been a trooper parked under the bridge on the sidewalk. Seems like they're trying to clear out Lake Street station area from being so inundated with the homeless.
Probably unrelated(?) but Tuesday morning I saw an MPD unit clearing out people who had been encamped in the doorways of the building on the east side of Bloomington just south of 26th. I don't recall seeing that many people sleeping there before, or the police moving anyone away.

Re: Hi-Lake - Minnehaha Mall (Target, Cub, etc.) - Downtown Longfellow

Posted: October 25th, 2017, 3:13 pm
by squrtis
I notice they've been patrolling the area under the bridge more frequently. After the stabbing they painted some white lines down around the areas against the wall and put up some new trespassing signs. Few times when I've come home there's been a trooper parked under the bridge on the sidewalk. Seems like they're trying to clear out Lake Street station area from being so inundated with the homeless.
Probably unrelated(?) but Tuesday morning I saw an MPD unit clearing out people who had been encamped in the doorways of the building on the east side of Bloomington just south of 26th. I don't recall seeing that many people sleeping there before, or the police moving anyone away.
Most likely related to the heroine epidemic in that neighborhood. Really sad to see.