urbanMSP

In the six years I've lived smack dab between Lowry and Broadway, just over on Queen, I haven't let fear run our lives. Yes, I have a security system, but I know that vast majority of violence in my neighborhood is targeted. Yes, homicides have occurred nearby, but ceding the sidewalks and parks or avoiding biking will not make the neighborhood safer.

I just don't see the end result of an ever larger police presence being the Shangri-la some dream of. Policing as its been practiced has not stopped crime from spreading. The gun crime problem needs holistic solutions. Instead they discount the need for transit investment, quality affordable housing, bike infrastructure, etc. These investments are necessary to foster a safer, healthier and equitable community.

..what's your take on the dynamics? Has the atmosphere appeared to improve, deteriorate, no apparent change over the past year or so?

You guys are going way out of your way to criticize the the author when you're suddenly OK with car drivers going 60 down residential streets and crashing into homes without punishment. I distinctly remember when this happened in uptown or south Minneapolis the response was along the lines of "revoke their license forever/lock them up". But here there's a chance the criminal was black and the victim white, so obviously that makes things ok right?

You guys are going way out of your way to criticize the the author when you're suddenly OK with car drivers going 60 down residential streets and crashing into homes without punishment. I distinctly remember when this happened in uptown or south Minneapolis the response was along the lines of "revoke their license forever/lock them up". But here there's a chance the criminal was black and the victim white, so obviously that makes things ok right?

I don't see how you're getting that at all, and honestly I don't see any reason for the snarky attitude. Yesterday was 4/20; can't we just get along?

It does seem like the "more policing" contingent (see North Vent, True North on Facebook) has become more entrenched since Jamar Clark. The ensuing spike in crime has made this even worse, but there has been an undercurrent of fear and anger for years (see Johnny Northside).

I would also like to see what would be suggested to be an alternative to towing the vehicle. There have been calmer voices complaining about drivers in that are near Folwell Park.

Criticizing this woman for her article is one thing, criticizing her for wanting to punish reckless drivers crashing through her neighborhood is another thing altogether. If Eost and Matt are trying to put that article and site plan out to show she's some kind of looney, then I find that highly hipocrytical.

How was that the intent at all? I actually commend her for being concerned about reckless drivers.

Criticizing this woman for her article is one thing, criticizing her for wanting to punish reckless drivers crashing through her neighborhood is another thing altogether. If Eost and Matt are trying to put that article and site plan out to show she's some kind of looney, then I find that highly hipocrytical.

I am honestly bewildered where you're getting this. The Barb Johnson quote I pointed to wasn't about people who crashed into houses, it's about people being pulled over (for whatever reason) getting their car towed if they lack insurance/ID. That doesn't have anything to do with the author of that op-ed, whom I criticized on rather different grounds.

Okay, I think it's somewhat legitimate to point out the tensions re: towing/etc here. IME, most urbanists are fairly liberal, even if we have (often minor) disagreements about root causes of problems or how to address them. Most of us look around the country and agree that things like fines and fees and tickets for low-level crimes are a bad thing when talking about addressing inequality, and, more specifically, racial inequality. Most on this board support the changes to Minneapolis ordinances that made "lurking," spitting, etc crimes because they're disproportionately levied on people of color, and the benefits to removing them outweigh the small cost of allowing actual bad behavior in select cases.

Now, bringing that to mandatory fines and a tow for driving without insurance/DL? There's tension here. I would say that not having insurance or a valid driver's license means you probably have some combination of not been through driver's training and driving record history. I don't want people who are more likely to get in crashes driving cars without insurance, for public safety and impact to other peoples' property reasons. I want them biking or taking the bus or walking (which would also save them money). Even though I'm generally against fines/fees that can really bury someone, I also think it's fair that very dangerous behavior should be curbed.

Ideally, our streets should be designed so there's no way 99.5% of anybody behind a wheel could drive over 20 mph, obviating the need for fines/fees/tows in all but the most serious circumstances while reducing the type of crashes and tragedies referenced in the article. And our transit/land-use would be good enough that more people could just get around with cars anyway. That's not the city we live in, and many low-income residents even strongly oppose the type of changes that would remove free parking in favor of calmed streets or better bike facilities. And/or they rely on that car to get to their first of two jobs for the day out in the suburbs and maybe were speeding to pick their kid up from daycare on time. Toss in how we chose to not run a LRT through a North Minneapolis neighborhood rather on the edges, wealthier residents successfully blocked an aBRT station further up in North, and other examples of roadblocks to making a more just transportation system.

So, in light of the Real World, how do I, as a fairly liberal person when it comes to social justice, feel about transportation-related fines? Pretty conflicted! As I'm sure many others are. So, acs, I guess what I'm getting at is to maybe cool the jets and have some understanding that people often have very complex views on topics informed by a ton of input factors. This one included.

That's just a fantastic take. Thank you.

wealthier residents successfully blocked an aBRT station further up in North

Wait, what? What did I miss?

Victory Pkwy and Penn aBRT station got nixed.

Wait, what? What did I miss?

They delayed/blocked the C Line stop near Victory. No stop between Brooklyn Blvd and Penn/43rd.

Now, bringing that to mandatory fines and a tow for driving without insurance/DL? There's tension here. I would say that not having insurance or a valid driver's license means you probably have some combination of not been through driver's training and driving record history.

Maybe I misunderstood--is this "cars get towed without both license and insurance" or w/o either/or? If the former, perhaps, but there are many reasons that someone might not have insurance, only a few of which relate to their skill as drivers.

I think that's mincing words a bit. Yes, not having insurance is not a perfect 1:1 correlation with reduced driving skills. I was making a bigger generalization that could easily be dissected, and would be happy to be proven wrong.

Getting O/T here, sorry:

If you are very poor (but still own a car), car insurance is going to be one of the very first things you decide you cannot afford, because it is completely voluntary and you're pretty unlikely to face any consequences, ever - you don't need insurance unless you get pulled over or in an accident. Hell, plenty of people that can afford car insurance make the intentional choice to not pay for it. As a society we simply aren't strict enough about driving privileges to require proof of insurance at the time of vehicle purchase, etc. The state recently changed a law requiring proof of insurance at the time of registration, but it's basically unenforceable. It's way too easy to simply write down "State Farm" or "Progressive" and some made up policy number and give it to an hourly-wage DMV clerk who couldn't care less if it's legitimate. They just punch it into the computer to make sure the requirement is met...there's no verification if it's a valid, current policy or not. I think we'd all be pretty alarmed at the true number of people driving around without insurance - DPS pegs it over 10%.

But yeah I can see an argument for not towing someone without insurance. Give them a ticket to show up in court with proof of insurance, but don't tow their car... UNLESS they also lack a valid license. Then yeah, you should be in huge trouble for driving without a license AND insurance.

I had an older car that I had dropped collision on, still carried other required insurance. An uninsured driver blew threw a red light and t-boned me. Somewhat miraculously, I was uninjured, but the car was totaled, and I never received any compensation whatsoever. Talked to a city attorney about trying to go to court to get some money back, but they advised (probably correctly) that it would be like trying to get blood from a turnip. It sucked, full stop.

It's a debatable point, but maybe not much of one.

Driving without insurance, no driver's license is certainly a safety issue. So you can certainly make the point that social justice be damned, you don't just shake your finger at someone doing something dangerous give them a ticket and let them go on their way to keep doing it. That said, it is precisely what is done for equipment violations like a broken taillight and even (based on a 30 seconds of googling) child car seat violations (?!?).

Turning the conversation, Prince still owns/ owned a house in North Minneapolis.

https://gis.hennepin.us/Property/map/de ... ,0,0,0,0,0

Anyone know what's up with that building being built across from wells Fargo on 7th and oak lane? Looks like they are about 3-4 stories up already.

Anyone know what's up with that building being built across from wells Fargo on 7th and oak lane? Looks like they are about 3-4 stories up already.

Self storage Facility (see last post on page): https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?f ... 64&p=74727

I think this is a self storage building. We discussed it somewhere on the site once...

Locked: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... oject.html

Two story medical office proposed for the city RFP at Broadway and Penn (I think).