Gentrification City

"And in a city with leads the nation in the "achievement gap", Minneapolis has become very good in producing poor folk."

Gentrification. A big word for a growing problem. More and more cities are catching this disease. And Minneapolis is a poster child for it. You know Minneapolis, with its starry eyed Euphorian Mayor. The Mayor who loves to say "Brag Minneapolis" as it is such a nice place to live. That is....if you are part of the well healed class.

However, gentrification causes a huge problem with many. And in a city with leads the nation in the "achievement gap", Minneapolis has become very good in producing poor folk. And then what do we do with them? They really don't fit the mold of "Brag Minneapolis". Not by a long shot.

Here are some statistics which should give the city planners in Minneapolis some pause. The poverty rate in Minnesota remains at 11%. That is one of ten people living in poverty. And whether folks like to admit it or not, much of the poverty that exists in Minnesota resides within the Twin Cities. And the poverty is not fair either. It hits the non-white segment at a much higher rate than the white sector. About four times higher.

Chicago is a great example of a city which has been "hollowed out" due to gentrification. They have stuck their poor folk in fine places, the likes of the former Cabrini Green. So Chicago is split between the "Miracle Mile" folks, and the poor folks stuck living in the shooting gallery. In fact, the poor sections of Chicago are so bad right now, it is more deadly than living in a combat zone. Since 2001, the number of US troops killed in Afghanistan was been 2,000. During the same time frame, the number of people killed by gunfire in Chicago has been 5,000.

What is Minneapolis doing to ensure they do not become another Chicago? Not much. In fact, today in the newspaper was an article about another high buck condo tower which is going to be built in town. Forty stories of wealth and affluence. Probably high security to keep "those other people" out.

Well Mayor Betsy, here is a news flash. Those "other people" need a decent place to live also. If you keep sticking them in sink hole type neighborhoods, the abject poverty they are subject to most always leads to more crime.

And as most of us know, the downward cycle of poverty and crime is a tough one to break out of. In fact, most never do. It becomes generational.