Comments on Minneapolis Crime Watch: Strib wants to you know that North Minneapolis is ...

Thanks for your comment. It's a good point. I wil...

2008-01-17T09:38:00.000-06:00

Thanks for your comment. It's a good point. I will post it over at the new site in a new post I'm working on at buzz.mn

Even though NRRC is practically insolvent, other o...

2008-01-16T22:23:00.000-06:00

Even though NRRC is practically insolvent, other organizations are still working on the northside. West Broadway Alive! is providing some much needed commercial redevelopment and beautification. Although the northside is being hammered by foreclosures, but several organizations are working hard to continue to redevelop residential properties too.

Everyone hates doom and gloom but Mpls. will conti...

2007-11-13T19:56:00.000-06:00

Everyone hates doom and gloom but Mpls. will continue to get worse and worse at least with non-murder crimes. The fact is we have a new and growing underclass thanks to welfare that has transformed the region and making the old safe areas not so safe. The economy isn't going to improve soon especially with the housing foreclosures. The re-release of offenders after short jail stints magnifies the problem immensely.
I think those in positions of management (or whoever deals with these issues) don't understand how fickle minnesotans are with crime. I know friends who have moved just from one burglary happening on their street. There is already a tax shift going on to the growing suburbs farther out like Maple Grove.
Also any city that can't control robberies is going to decline like Mpls. has as the general public or those not into "dangerous lifestyles" view this as the measure of how safe a place is. Mpls. is probably one of the most dangerous cities in the US in this department.
I think this city had a good chance to change things when they were getting a hold on crime in the late 1990s but things are too bad now for bringing back 'old Minneapolis'. Ok sorry for this long rant...

85% of a lot is still a lot.Murders may be down, w...

2007-11-13T11:59:00.000-06:00

85% of a lot is still a lot.

Murders may be down, which is good, but routine burglaries, car thefts, robberies and muggings are now common in neighborhoods where before they were rare. The perception is definitely not that crime is down.

But clearly there is a PR push going on to try and change perception. When police floated the unsupported rumor that the murdered bicyclist was trying to by drugs that was a clear sign that they are actively trying to manage the perception since the reality seems to be out of control.