North Minneapolis (school, money, pay)

[IncredibleKaren]

Originally Posted by CTownNative

Actually,Milwaukee does have one of the highest unemployment rates among Black males.The highest unemployment rates for black males in the country are in the Midwest and Northeast.The government really needs to put more money into the cities that are struggleing the most,most of which are in the Midwest and Northeast,I get the feeling the government doesn't really care to much about the cities of the Midwest.I feel part of the responsabilty to rebuild struggling cities has to be on the government,but some of it also has to be on the residents of the neighborhoods in the cities.Many of the cities that are struggling right now have alot of positives,the positives just have to be utalized more,and alot of struggling cities can be rebuilt.I don't think you can get rid of crime and poverty for good,but I think they can definetly be reduced.

I think the emphasis on rebuilding the city needs to be more on the people who are residents in that city than on the government. So the government pours more money into bad neighborhoods. Will that extra money really make a difference if certain mentalities and behaviors aren't changed by the people who live in those areas? I agree totally with your last statement.

[dankling]

I was just researching articles on the future of North Minneapolis due to the current foreclosures and came upon this forum. First of all I think we can expect a huge increase in crime, possibly the highest in history over the next 2-3 years due to the fallout from the foreclosures. The foreclosures now are causing the house prices to plummet, which doesn't attract any homebuyer investment, which then in turn doesn't attract any business investment - it's the economic cycle of housing. I live in South Minneapolis - have been up in North only a few times; not much up there. No Caribou Coffee, no Best Buy, only a single grocery store carrying a regular section of fresh produce. It goes without saying - North Minneapolis is a different world from the one in which most of us live.

And we should treat it as such. When we (everybody that hasn't lived in North Minneapolis) try to figure out what needs to be done to 'fix' the North side we have to accept that our current way of thinking is wrong, no matter how smart we think we are - because we are thinking from Golden Valley, from Edina, from Burnsville and beyond.

Reading the posts from people outside of North Minneapolis I see the recurring theme of "you have to help yourself, we are all equal, this is America." Good statement, but we have to be taught these things just like anybody else. We have to be taught how to help ourselves, have to be taught what equality means (what does it mean, really?) and we also have to be taught whether America stands for 'We all help each other' or 'Help yourself.'
This is where the disconnect happens in a conversation between a suburbanite and a north sider - the person from the suburbs most likely learned these things (and many others) so long ago they can't imagine the world through the eyes of someone not knowing; The north sider most likely didn't - but the north sider learned survival skills on the street so long ago they probably can't imagine the world from the point of view of someone who hasn't. Very literally, these two people live in very different worlds.

Some grew up in the hood and were fortunate enough to learn how to help themselves; they grow up to be successful. But sometimes they end up resenting those back in hood who weren't as lucky - instead of going back to the hood and helping.

The gap between these worlds can be seen in the differences of speech, mannerisms, ideas and actions. Northsider14 talks and types like a Northsider who is 14. That concept can be hard to understand, some of those who don't understand it seem to deal with it by making a joke about it, condemning it or avoiding it. Do what you please, I respect your freedom of speech more than the government; but the message that's given off is "They are different in the North side" - there is no equality in that message - only separatism and bigotry. I look at the differences of culture like an artform - jazz, blues, graffiti, rap, even the speech (oral or written) and can't help but be amazed by the art and beauty I see in it. These all provide windows into a different world, passing judgement fogs up the windows.

It is what it is. Once you accept it then you can understand it.
Once you understand it then you can help it (if you want).

[music7lover]

I don't have pity for anyone in Mpls who can't get it together and get a decent job etc. There are programs here for people to get an education and even free computer classes are offered. I think that it is just lack of awareness of what is out there for people that leads them to think that they have to be stuck in the "hood" forever. North Minneapolis is not South Central LA. Mpls has plenty of jobs nearby for those that want them. For some people, it probably is easier to do drugs and get drunk.....but the time comes when there is a price to pay for that kind of lifestyle.

[Guero]

The parents need to instill these things, not the government. No amount of government has much of a chance at all of changing the situation. If the child does not have guidance at home, I dunno how you folks think a faceless entity can. Unless your answer is just "pour on money", which simply doesn't work, and history bears this out. Social problems need social solutions.

Now, before I am flamed for being an outsider, I'm not, I have lived in North several different times. My home was robbed once, my car parked on the street (no where else to park it) was hit by drunk drivers NO LESS THAN 3 TIMES, and I was threatened with bodily harm on a MTC bus for simply glancing at a person on the way home from a Twins game. Minding your own business is not the cure. Just a few months back, 2 guys were killed execution style a couple blocks of where I used to live. They were walking home from a pub, minding their business, and were murdered for a few dollars.

It also doesn't help that the City of Minneapolis officials have never been able to bring themselves to admit that that there ARE major issues in North. because this IS Minnesota right? We just don;t have those sort of problems!??

Open your eyes Hennepin County and City of Minneapolis.

[Guero]

Originally Posted by music7lover

I don't have pity for anyone in Mpls who can't get it together and get a decent job etc. There are programs here for people to get an education and even free computer classes are offered. I think that it is just lack of awareness of what is out there for people that leads them to think that they have to be stuck in the "hood" forever. North Minneapolis is not South Central LA. Mpls has plenty of jobs nearby for those that want them. For some people, it probably is easier to do drugs and get drunk.....but the time comes when there is a price to pay for that kind of lifestyle.

Exactly.

There's the HHH Job Corps, there is day labor, there are temp to perm hiring services. And there are many county programs, some of which will help find you a job. I work and have worked with many blacks from North. I don't know where people get the idea that they are unemployable. That mentality makes me think that some folks just want the ka-ching and that they make excuses and ignore the help that is already out there.

[Resolved]

I have lived in the Camden neighborhood, in upper North Minneapolis, for the last 4 years. Years ago my grandparents owned this house, a 1920 Arts and Crafts house, and I spent much of my summers here. This has always been a wonderful neighborhood. People here really look out for one another and there is a since of real community that you don't get in the suburbs. Unless you live here, you don't know that.

The Camden neiborhood is going down hill because the police have turned their back on us. We will complain about a house that we all knnow is a drug house, and they will turn their heads. Most of the police just hang out all day at the quick shop on 41st and Lyndale. Once my house was robbed when I went on vacation. When I came back and realized it was robbed, I ran out of my house and called the police. It took 3 hours before they came out. My neighbors were out there with me, also calling on their cell phones. This is how the Camden neighborhood is treated. Everyone knew who robbed me. One of my neighbors gave me his social security number and his licence plate number. He had been robbed by the guy 6 months prior to that but the police didn't help him. I reported it, and talked to a detective and he said he would investigate it. I tried calling him back numerous times and left messages, but he never returned them. I finally got ahold of his supervisor and he said he wasn't even assigned to my case, and that no one would be. That is how you are treated in Camden. If I lived in another area of Minneapolis, I am pretty sure I would have gotten some response from the police.

At community meetings, the police tell us that there isn't a significant crime problem in the Camden neighborhood. Our city council representative (Barb -who doesn't live in our neighborhood but the more upscale Victory neigborhood) tells us the same thing - no crime problem. When you turn your back to the problem, the criminals will florish. They know when there is no heat on the street. They would flourish in your neighborhood too, if they could get away with it. Last week a garage burned down that had a meth lab in it on 41st and Colfax, one block from me. We all knew that the meth lab was in there but the police did not respond to our complaints. People had been driving up to the garage and picking up their drugs like a drive by window at McDonalds.

The upper North Side has not deteriated like the lower North Side, but it will because the city has turned their back on us. We not only need more police action, but we need police that actually are willing to do their job and to listen to the residents here. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[Guero]

Originally Posted by Resolved

The Camden neiborhood is going down hill because the police have turned their back on us.

This is what I was alluding to above. The City itself is in denial. And they have been for LONG TIME. I got the same treatment from the police when my brother and I were robbed. They just "ho-hummed" it, said it was totally random (even though 3 other homes in our area had been burglarized within a month or so) and forgot about us, though we lost 1000s of dollars of irreplaceable items, and what hurt most was losing my dad's possessions who had been killed accidentally a couple of years prior.

I am very sad to hear this about Camden. My father's side of the family are from Camden. I have many nice memories as a child of seeing movies at the old theater, getting my (used) ice skates each year at the skate exchange, and hiking along Shingle Creek, etc.

[srands]

Originally Posted by northsider14

Im a 14 year old girl that lives in north minneapolis. I ve been reading a lot of peoples post about the northside. yall cant talk about it unless you live here. i lived here all my life and i love it. yeah we got the nickname Murdeapolis.but you aint even got to get caught up in all of that mess. if you stay out of other peoples bussiness you aint gonna get murked aka killed.yeah most of our murders didnt have a pourpose but mostly everybody who got killed were either snitches or hung around gangbangers. yall people talkin so much about us why dont yall try to help out.us kids have nothin to look forward to. all the boys hustle most of the girls are pregnant or have kids.get us programs ive us jobs so we can have somethin to look forward to. quit barkin and start biting.

There are alot of programs out there. You have to find them. Get your self involved in school sports and activities. There is financial help for sports. Find a church with a active Youth group, they are great!

Innocent people get murdered! Many of them children. I worked in North Mpls and I was robbed at gun point at work.

You make the choices , make the right ones. If you need help or finding a church or groups or anything, please email me I would help you find one!!!

[Slig]

The latest stories, the delivery truck driver getting shot and a little girl getting shot in the head. This kind of stuff doesn't normally happen and in my opinion shouldn't ever happen.

[ladysmurfofficial]

im from north minneapolis too and i rep tmf /smurf gang/ lady smurf and i know you can rise above the negativity i got a job and go to school and i still bang so quit slacking and stop making the hood look worser than it already appears to be! everything is up to us kids today including the future so no excuses girl! lol

although we get unfair treatment its not as unfair as people make it out to be...

especially now that we have a black president;change is going to come!

OBAMA BABY!!! (: