Minneapolis, MN from 1973 to now.............. (Richfield, Arden Hills: apartments, condos, crime)

[snebarekim]

Growing up in Minneapolis in the 70's and 80's I have seen the city morph into what it is now.

Uptown and downtown were places I spent quite a bit of time in the evenings/weekends, I worked off of Hennepin Ave downtown for most of a year.

The city has gotten a bit less populated since 1970, but not by much.

But the culture of the city has changed a lot between 1970 and now. It isnt the city I remember growing up.

This article really nails it in my opinion.

More than 650 people were shot in the city last year; 95 died—just short of the city’s record. There were more than 2,000 robberies. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, carjackings in the city rose 537% from November 2019 to November 2020, and then rose another 40% in the 10 months after that. What happened?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/minneso...LORRWS0V_8xn7Q

[Yosh01]

I used to go to Uptown and Downtown for music, movies, theater, and food, but don't any more. The riots destroyed a lot and it's going to take a generation for things to get back to anywhere close to where they were.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I can’t go back that far but I can reminisce about an earlier memory of the city. Although I grew up in the suburbs I didn’t make it down to the city more than a few times a year to go to the Christmas parade, the display on the 7th floor of Daytons or to attend a Vikings or Twins game.

When I was in high school I got a summer job working in a pharmaceutical distribution company and worked in the Warehouse district off of Washington Ave. This would have been around the year 2000. Back then the warehouse district was very gritty. On one occasion every car in our parking lot had their tires slashed, there were bums and drug addicts constantly present, etc. The Colony gas station seemed to have a shooting or murder every other week. However, the movement of converting old warehouses into upscale condos and apartments was in the early stages and you could see things were in transition. Now that whole area is gentrified and full of yuppies and wine bars and organic eateries.

Similarly I lived in Lowery Hill East in 2005 and although there were a few nicer bars at Lake/Hennepin like Stellas and Drink, most of the businesses around were still dives. That summer a kid in his 20’s was mugged and when he attempted to resist he was shot and killed. I remember people in Uptown were freaked out about it and safety was a concern. Now that whole area is yuppified and the whole Lyndale corridor is gentrified too. Yes there is crime but the area feels safer to me now than it did back then.

Both of those areas are much more upscale and nice in 2021 compared to what they were in 2000-2005.

[knke0204]

My gripe with Mpls fall within a few things-

1) There are pockets of dead. Non vibrant. I am a suburban dweller, but like all major cities, it's a hub that draws in people from outside of the city. The city needs those dollars. Far too often I'll be down there and it'll be incredibly dead. Post-Vikings game, dead. Post event near Target Field, dead. I don't get it.

2) There are people who live in Minneapolis that literally tell suburbanites - "stay out, we don't need you". Ok.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by knke0204

My gripe with Mpls fall within a few things-

1) There are pockets of dead. Non vibrant. I am a suburban dweller, but like all major cities, it's a hub that draws in people from outside of the city. The city needs those dollars. Far too often I'll be down there and it'll be incredibly dead. Post-Vikings game, dead. Post event near Target Field, dead. I don't get it.

2) There are people who live in Minneapolis that literally tell suburbanites - "stay out, we don't need you". Ok.

You been to US Bank Stadium yet? You know, the place you guaranteed would be built in Arden Hills?

[snebarekim]

Originally Posted by Cruz Azul Guy

I can’t go back that far but I can reminisce about an earlier memory of the city. Although I grew up in the suburbs I didn’t make it down to the city more than a few times a year to go to the Christmas parade, the display on the 7th floor of Daytons or to attend a Vikings or Twins game.

When I was in high school I got a summer job working in a pharmaceutical distribution company and worked in the Warehouse district off of Washington Ave. This would have been around the year 2000. Back then the warehouse district was very gritty. On one occasion every car in our parking lot had their tires slashed, there were bums and drug addicts constantly present, etc. The Colony gas station seemed to have a shooting or murder every other week. However, the movement of converting old warehouses into upscale condos and apartments was in the early stages and you could see things were in transition. Now that whole area is gentrified and full of yuppies and wine bars and organic eateries.

Similarly I lived in Lowery Hill East in 2005 and although there were a few nicer bars at Lake/Hennepin like Stellas and Drink, most of the businesses around were still dives. That summer a kid in his 20’s was mugged and when he attempted to resist he was shot and killed. I remember people in Uptown were freaked out about it and safety was a concern. Now that whole area is yuppified and the whole Lyndale corridor is gentrified too. Yes there is crime but the area feels safer to me now than it did back then.

Both of those areas are much more upscale and nice in 2021 compared to what they were in 2000-2005.

I have to chuckle at a self proclaimed progressive expanding on the positive aspects of gentrification in dangerous areas of a city.

<fist bumps Cruz Azul Guy>

I went to an art crawl in the warehouse district back in 1999 or so. It was cool, there were "artists" smoking weed in the building (this was winter time), you could smell it strongly. I enjoyed the experience.

The gentrification started in the 90's in that area if I recall correctly.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by snebarekim

I have to chuckle at a self proclaimed progressive expanding on the positive aspects of gentrification in dangerous areas of a city.

<fist bumps Cruz Azul Guy>

I went to an art crawl in the warehouse district back in 1999 or so. It was cool, there were "artists" smoking weed in the building (this was winter time), you could smell it strongly. I enjoyed the experience.

The gentrification started in the 90's in that area if I recall correctly.

Self-proclaimed progressive? Me? Nah. When we’re talking about high-crime poverty stricken neighborhoods with boarded up houses, etc. I think gentrification is a very good thing. It isn’t always good though. It can be a bummer when a safe but historically modest income blue collar neighborhood becomes tear-downs and mcmansions.

If we’re talking about the northside and the southside of Minneapolis gentrification go wild I say.

[Lodestar]

Originally Posted by Cruz Azul Guy

Yes there is crime but the area feels safer to me now than it did back then.

Both of those areas are much more upscale and nice in 2021 compared to what they were in 2000-2005.

This exemplifies the issue I see it. As the OP says, the change in the culture is the problem. I agree. People who think it's safe there are either accultured to violence or comparing it to even more violent places.

The city and I go back sixty plus years and since a winters' stint of volunteer work in Richfield in 2007 I no longer go anywhere near. It's ugly, sad and socially irresponsible what has been allowed to happen there.

Making a place look "upscale and nice" when there is rot at the core is a waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned. There are some things money can't fix.

[wamer27]

Originally Posted by Lodestar

This exemplifies the issue I see it. As the OP says, the change in the culture is the problem. I agree. People who think it's safe there are either accultured to violence or comparing it to even more violent places.

The city and I go back sixty plus years and since a winters' stint of volunteer work in Richfield in 2007 I no longer go anywhere near. It's ugly, sad and socially irresponsible what has been allowed to happen there.

Making a place look "upscale and nice" when there is rot at the core is a waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned. There are some things money can't fix.

Exactly. For instance car jackings/armed robberies/murders/shootings have become so common now that nobody is surprised. The new trend is people driving and shooting other cars. Someone my wife knows was murdered last Fall on 169 via this trend. Road raged has morphed into shooting now and being accepted, it takes hearing from people not from here to realize it.

[Camden Northsider]

Yeah it's really too bad. I mean, I remember a time in the 70s/80s when, at any given moment, you might see a single professional lady just stand and spin around in the middle of a busy downtown street, smiling as she threw her hat into the air-- just because she MFing can! I bet you wouldn't see something like that downtown televised nationally these days....