Before and After: Refreshing 26th and Penn

Vacant building on Southwest corner of 26th and Penn

The intersection of 26th and Penn doesn't have a lot going for it. (Unless you count that train that's going to stop one block away!) Yeah, there's a lot going on there, but not a lot of good. I will say, the no-accounts don't hang out in the parking lot of this building anymore. They used to congregate way up against the building, under the overhang, in the darkest spots possible, sitting on the little ledge where the glass meets the foundation. The Butt Ledge.

I can vividly remember driving past this building about 9 or 10 at night, headed east on 26th, and I could actually see the motion of a hookers head bobbing up and down. *Gross* (Of course I called 9-1-1 but I also called Don Samuels, he was in his crime-fighting socks again).  But the past few years, for some good reason the no-accounts leave this building and the parking lot alone.

Not a lot of good is right. Until recently. There was a project sponsored by The Pohlad Foundation, to refresh the facade of a long-time vacant building. The real purpose of the project seems to have been put people to work, put money in their pockets, brush up their skills or train new ones. I'm all for that and if it means the hardscapes of our streets are brightened, refreshed and improved then, really, what is there to complain about? It's a win-win. (Thanks, Pohlads! Your help in our community is welcomed and greatly appreciated!)

Here is a write up in the Strib, and some before and after pictures for history's sake.

 

Possibilities for this building being used (soon) are in the works and as soon as any info is made public, I'll keep readers informed as best I can. In the mean time, here's my vote to make sure this neat vintage parking lot light fixture is preserved, for character's sake!

Bringing the LRT to NoMi

Photo of Hiawatha LRT from tboard's flickr photostream

As a NoMi passenger, I see the development of Light Rail Transit (LRT) as an important, no, VITAL, step in the resuscitation of this urban core neighborhood.

Most readers probably know that there is a new LRT route in the works to connect the northwestern suburbs with downtown Minneapolis. One of the proposed routes for that line would come through NoMi via West Broadway (the North Memorial Hospital)to Penn Ave towards Highway 55, a.k.a Olson Memorial Hwy. Part of this blog's mission will be to organize, advocate for and promote that proposed route through NoMi. It simply must happen.

Thinking about the reality of having that LRT line be developed, built and run through a slice of our community makes my mind boggle with hope. Excitement. Complete fascination with witnessing first hand the changes in thousands of people's lives that would ensue. And for the record, yes, it does conjure up the desire to go into a certain amount of defense and preservation mode.

What I mean by that is, despite what some neighborhood activists will cry, there are many, repeat MANY other revitalizer activists that DO want to preserve the diverse ethnic culture and character of our northside community. I consider myself one of those revitalizer activists who believes there is a happy-medium to be found with the right balance of high standards of livability, high reaching goals and expectations for community, family and education, and high expectations for public conduct and civilization combined with the acceptance and embracment of diversity and culture. An integration of class, race, religion, age and lifestyle that is an integral part of the fabric that makes up NoMi. As another blogger would put it: Urban Utopia. I believe it is possible. I know it is, and I've committed myself to helping to find and achieve it.

The most recent piece of news that got me thinking about the LRT development was this article, click here. For a quick summary, the article mentions a recent bill passed by congress that grants federal dollars to various projects in Congressional District 5, including $250K for the Bottineau Corridor LRT {Bottineau Blvd is the new name of County Road 81 that travels NW/SE from Minneapolis into the suburbs of Robbinsdale, Crystal, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove and Osseo}.

So as I sip my Sunday morning coffee, listen to my favorite radio program, Acoustic Sunrise, and enjoy my candle-lit house become bathed in the light of day, I read this article with a more hopeful vision of being the first passenger at the NoMi LRT platform located at Penn/WBro in a few years down the road.

Cheers to that.