Yup, another installment of what’s going on in and around the South Metro courtesy of the various media outlets that provide news on the South Metro:
1. Eagan had a little chat about their Gateway to the Mall of America (TM) last night with residents voicing their opinions on the project. Most asked for more green space and the all-around pointless “walkability”. The best part of the article came from Eagan resident Darcy Kupczak who didn’t want the area to become another Burnsville Heart of the City with a ton of vacant condos and storefronts.
The developers claimed that they were aware of the situation in the Heart of the Shitty (TM) and while the original plan called for a developer to put in a bunch of condos, that company has since dropped out of talks and those left said that their research shows that Eagan can support 250 apartments and a 128 unit senior housing complex alongside the motel they plan.
2. The Star Tribune’s South Metro Town Briefs give us a few tidbits including:
- The ability for Burnsville residents to tour the new public TV facilities at BCTV tomorrow (3/19/09) between 7 and 8:30 PM.
- Eagan’s mayor will be giving the annual state of the city address at 8 AM on Thursday and you will be able to view it online via the city’s website.
- Dakota County expects to cut emissions by spending $1.4 million in tax dollars through various equipment purchases including 5 hybrid sedans. Perhaps they should have thought of that back when they purchased Dodge Chargers and claimed they were more fuel efficient.
3. Savage is going to try to fall into line with what the Met Council wrongly feels is more appropriate housing types by attempting to attract more townhome construction. While Savage is currently 80% single family homes and 20% attached, they are going to see what they can do to get down to the 60/20 split that they “should” be.
Personally I fucking hate townhomes (yes, I live in one, yes it was a mistake, and I personally think that in 15 to 20 years they’ll all be slums) and I think that the Met Council should mind its own fucking business and keep their sights set on doing us all a favor killing themselves off.
4. The Star Tribune’s South Metro Police Blotter has really been shitty lately. Thankfully Mrs. Marcos has been listening to the Minneapolis Police & Fire and Hennepin County Sheriff & Fire audio feed that I found (it requires an audio player) and came up with this gem about a call about a fight yesterday.
5. There were two serious prank calls in Hastings which are being investigated. One including the caller telling a guest there as a gas leak and that she should break a window and get out. Another was to the Burger King where the caller said that there was a bomb threat.
6. A woman in Lakeville is accused of stealing over $1 million from her 89 year old mother between 2004 and 2007.
7. Two funny pictures from around the South Metro:
- This one from Eagan which I would like to retitle “In this world nothing is certain but pizza and taxes”
- This one from Burnsville which is just too good for words or grammar.
I have two questions for you today:
1. What do you think of Eagan’s redevelopment plans? Is walkability important to you in redevelopment projects? Do you think that Eagan can really support additional residential development as suggested by the developer or do you fear that this section of Eagan will end up like many other local south metro cities such as Burnsville and Apple Valley?
2. What do you think of the woman who stole $1+ million from her mother? Should people like that be put away forever or just shot on the spot?
So go ahead, read through them, and let us know what you think!
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Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
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March 18th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
As far as the lady who’s daughter stole the money? I guess I’m inclined to question what values said mom instilled in her daughter. You reap what you sow I guess…
March 18th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Hey, I live in a townhome! But I tend to agree. Huge townhome complexes are like large apartment complexes– the slums of the future. As we push the poor out of the city and into the suburbs they will increasing congregate in affordable housing, which will be townhomes and apartments.
But some townhomes, like mine, are done correctly. There are 9 units. The units are all 115+ years old. They are built well and gorgeous inside and out. They are in the ghetto, but will never be a slum.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I wish the Pizza and Lady Liberty would throw down on the sidewalk and have a “Jerry Springer” type fight in the intersection. Hilarity ensues!
March 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
So the Met Council wants Savage to be more like Shakopee in terms of townhomes? Let cities build what residents want. If people specifically looking for townhomes demand that they be in oh-so posh & tony Savage, then developers may just build some. Until then, stop trying to dictate what each damn city should consist of. BTW, not even townhomes are affordable in Savage as the ones adjacent to Super Target start in the $190s which, in this market, is a rip-off.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
But some townhomes, like mine, are done correctly. There are 9 units. The units are all 115+ years old. They are built well and gorgeous inside and out.
I imagine that the only motivation Savage would have for doing this would be financial from building permits, tax revenue, or incentives from the Met Douchebags themselves… Being that they seem to want to make money fast I assume that we’re going to be talking about pile of shit townhomes and not the ones you describe Kassie. That and the simple fact that there aren’t exactly a surplus of 115+ year old buildings to renovate and there aren’t really any number of people looking for hipster friendly living accommodations in Savage ;-)
March 18th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
But I think there is a place for smaller townhome projects incorporated into neighborhoods in Savage and other places. But, they need to be built well and follow the style of the neighborhood to be successful. Townhomes are what a lot of people are looking for, but they don’t want to be in a townhome slum. People want to live in real neighborhoods.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Kassie,
You’re right and I hope that Savage takes the time to research the perils that have befallen other South Metro cities (Apple Valley) that have tried to fit themselves into the model apparently suggested by the Met Council in a very short time frame.
Unfortunately, because of the huge disparity in the percentage of single-family homes to “attached” homes that exists in Savage, I have a feeling that the city’s planners will create the same sort of massive townhome black holes that have been created in just about every other South Metro city that wished to fit into the model suggested by the Met Council.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Check out this link. http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2009/03/hole.html
From the blog (HIS words, not mine, hopefully not copyright infringement on my part)
The half dozen blocks were built in the late nineteenth century by a developer who was angry that the wealthy citizens of nearby Mt. Auburn wouldn’t let him build a hotel there, so out of spite he built low-income housing on their doorstep. Preservationists hoping for potential redevelopment struggled to gain historic designation (and its tax benefits) because they couldn’t identify a single famous former resident or even identify an architect. After it was built the neighborhood soon became a slum, and was redeveloped under an urban renewal project in the 1960s (providing the strange plazas and incongruous midcentury streetlights). The rowhouses once again fell into major disrepair in the 1990s and have been vacant ever since, despite recent plans to turn them into condominiums (stalled indefinitely due to the economy).
March 18th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I would not mind having a townhouse. We are going to be taxed out of our house. Get this – the value our house went down $10,000 but our tax went up another $300.00. We pay over $3400.00 in taxes per year living in Bloomington MN. You would think that they would lower the tax on our property if the value goes down.
Pam Roehl Volk
Bloomington MN
March 18th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
The EPA estimates a carbon cost of $14 to $50 per metric ton on CO2 emissions. Dakota county estimates a 38 ton per year reduction in CO2 with the expenditure of $1.4 million – this would be reduction of 165 ton over 5 years at a cost of $8,480 per ton of carbon reduction – granted them may need the stuff they are buying; but putting out a PR bulletin touting the green savings is ludicrous.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:45 am
The only way your taxes will go down is when the folks doing the taxing (city, county, schools, met council, and others) need less money from the year before. Your value may go down and taxes go up because the taxing authorities needed either more or the same amount of taxes collected than the year before, but now there is a reduced amount of spread (based on values in the area going down). So in the end your paying more. It is confusing I know.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:48 am
looks like mz connie spent some of the dough on junior’s meth charges. ummm, sounds like a chip offin the ‘ol block. a nice piece of work to say the least.
if you put her away forever, who foots the bill, bill?
bb
March 19th, 2009 at 9:49 am
bb, true enough. Let’s just behead her and get it over with.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:38 am
This is the conversation I’m imagining between Lady Liberty and the Pizza Slice:
PS: “Does this inverted triangle make my butt look big?”
LL” “Oh, no way. The pepperoni have a slimming effect – you look dee-lish – I wouldn’t change a thing, except for the fact that you are on MY corner. Walk on over to 42 and Galaxie where you belong, and stay off my turf.
PS: “So much for the ‘give me your huddled masses’ bit, huh?”
LL: “F- you. Now move it along before I light your nylon ass on fire with my lamp.”
PS: “$7.50/hour is not enough pay to put up with this abuse.”
LL: “$7.50! Dude, where do I sign up for pizza duty? I’m getting only $3.50/hr to stand in the corner wearing this green plastic bag, all because I lost at rock-paper-scissors at the office.
PS: “Sucks to be you. I guess I own this corner now, greenie, so move on down your own self to Galaxie – say hi to those skateboarders for me, and you can hang out with the Shame on Apple Valley” crowd.” Now move it before I call over my pal the pizza cutter.”
March 19th, 2009 at 10:44 am
And then the fist-a-cuffs break out, right Whit??!
March 19th, 2009 at 11:30 am
You betcha. Mrs. Marcos, you are just spoiling to see a fight. Hmmm. Perhaps a bit of calming Chili’s therapy is in order? ;)
March 19th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Regarding the sign at #7, I’m not sure of the context of the rest of the quasi-Burma Shave pick-up-the-poops reminder, but I’m left wondering about the apostrophe. What is it exactly that the poops have/own, and is it something we should be concerned about?
March 20th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
ref the piece of shit that robbed mom, c. manson’s 74, been living off the ‘great’ state of california for 40+years. i’ll bet arnold would like some of that penga back!
bb
March 20th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I’m another townhome resident who wouldn’t do it again. At time, it was what my wife and I wanted, but our desires have changed since then, and once we’re out of this one (whenever and under whatever circumstances that will be), we’re not going to buy another home until we’re eventually able to build one to our specifications and are confident we’ll be living somewhere permanently.
That said, I think the demand for townhomes will come back once the overall housing market improves, and they’re a necessary portion of the housing mix. There will always be people who want the benefits of owning a home without having to do outside maintenance or who don’t need the space of an actual single-family house. Plus, there will be all the aging Boomers looking to downsize at some point, either by choice or necessity. My parents have talked about doing this once my father retires. Regarding the idea that they will become slums, it could potentially happen, but vigilant maintenance and proactive management can prevent this from occurring. As such, I don’t think the Met Council needs to intervene, not because I don’t agree with their goals (density is a very good thing for numerous reasons), but because in this case I think the market will take care of it on their own.
Now, as for Eagan’s redevelopment plans, I’ve been following this closely since I live nearby. I have concerns, but overall I’m more confident that this will end up alright than, say, Heart of the City in Burnsville. I like that they’re not rushing ahead and are altering their plans based on what the housing market and economy in general are doing. I think they were wise to abandon the idea of owner-occupied housing, at least for now, since there’s plenty in the area (I know that the condo building north of 13 has a number of units sitting empty, for example). I guess I don’t know why people want more green space — there’s already parks nearby, not to mention the state park and the refuge practically right across 13.
However, the big challenge there will be improving the access. That’s what led to the decline of the area in the first place, when the Cedar realignment made it too hard to get in and thus a lot of people stopped using the area.
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:59 am
Whit said You betcha. Mrs. Marcos, you are just spoiling to see a fight. Hmmm. Perhaps a bit of calming Chili’s therapy is in order? ;)
CRAP, I just saw this. Yes, the calming therapy that is Chili’s is always in order! Mmmmm fajitas!