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| [Actual scorched earth.] |
Today, this just crossed my desk, a letter from the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood to the City Council supporting the development.
Dear City Council members:
As president and vice-president of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association, Doug Carlson and I would like to share our perspective on three points:
MHNA support for the OPUS development
MHNA master planning and the potential of a moratorium
MHNA policies welcoming renter members and leadership by renters and students
As you review a development proposal in our neighborhood tomorrow, we wanted to clarify today how we are advancing our mission to "improve and enhance the quality of residential life" in our Mississippi river - U of MN - downtown neighborhood.
Thank you for your consideration.
Meanwhile, Phyllis Kahn's ridiculous slippery slope argument in Minnpost is worth reading, pretty much an extreme example of NIMBY nonsense.
Pretty much the only thing to say is this:
I think a real issue here is how fast a neighborhood can be changed by a big-money developer. First UTEC, (yes, an insanely ugly building, but one whose occupants did quite a bit of good for the neighborhood and city), and now three long term pillars of independent, local business.
ReplyDeleteSure, Dinkytown is a community in almost constant transition: students moving in and out, folks coming in from other parts of the metro to enjoy shows or nightlife. However, there are quite a few of us who call this area our home and the center of our working life. For our home to be so altered in such a short stretch of time is discombobulating and also serves to remind how money is ultimately boss.
And to present redevelopment as a fait accompli; that if we challenge it we will end up in some kind of bleak urban hellscape is disingenuous and, frankly, reads like the righteous pronouncements of a true drama king. This area is extremely vital. If we lose the Hot Topics and Buffalo Wild Wings promised by this new development, it's certain that something else will move in. However, one thing is for certain: new businesses have one hell of a shadow to fill in the absence of the Bookhouse and the Podium.
Also, density? Have you been to Dinkytown? We've got density like a motherfucker.
Very thoughtful comment.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing you get wrong, though, is the last bit. It might seem odd, but Dinkytown is NOT dense. Much of it is surface parking. A few 2 and 3 story buildings. Mostly one-story buildings. The Chateau is dense, but that's an exception that proves the rule. (New developments, OTOH, are adding density.)
Anyway, it's not dense in sense of having lots of people living there; it might be dense in the sense of having many small businesses in one small area. Is that the same thing?