Swift Descent: How Decline Quickly Turns to Desperation
Today’s story continues our discussion on the potential permitting by the city to allow Lakeshore Care Inc to operate a 24/7 respite center for the homeless at 918 West Lake Street. Regardless of whether you favor or oppose the opening of this center, there are several red flags worthy of exploration before granting this company the right to operate. The latest development is that the owners have withdrawn their request with the intention of resubmitting it in September.
A Brief Overview of Uptown
To understand why surrounding businesses and neighbors might oppose this project, it’s important to understand the context—the current state of Uptown. When we moved to Minneapolis in 2006, Uptown was a great place to be. It was vibrant, every storefront was occupied, and the energy was palpable. It made moving from the hustle of New York to Minneapolis an easy transition. As young parents, the area offered more arts, entertainment, and dining than we could afford to enjoy. When we had visitors from out of town, we were happy to show off Uptown.
Bellwether
One final example, which may be the most telling, is the closing of the Bronto Bar and the end of weekend lunch service at Kim’s. While her name has been in the news most recently because of disputes with workers forming a union, Chef Ann Kim has been a frequent and proud booster of Uptown. She owns the corner building housing her restaurant and is committed to the neighborhood’s success, but even her optimism has hit the wall of reality. “Due to a decline in business,” they are cutting back. Both Unite Here 17, the employee union, and Vestalia Hospitality, which operates the restaurant, are arguing across empty sidewalks. When there are no customers, no one wins. It may feel somewhat heretical to state this given the city’s politics, but in our capitalist society, businesses need to make money to operate and pay workers. Businesses that fail to turn a profit because people no longer frequent the neighborhood cannot pay workers and eventually go out of business.
The Light
It would be interesting to know how many of the parents that rejected us remain and how many have decamped to Edina or Eden Prairie to avoid the knotty issues of those less fortunate than themselves. For those of us who remain and call the city home, we plan to contribute to Uptown’s reboot. We own a business in the neighborhood, and our son works in the neighborhood—we are not just passing through. We are committed to improving Uptown and the city. However, it won’t happen without help from City Hall and the completion of construction.
Next, we will discuss NIMBYism, and we’ll do it with dumpster fires lighting the way.
Part 1 – Uptown 2040
Part 2 – Dumpster fire: Uptown 2040
Part 3 – NIMBYism: Uptown 2040
Part 4 – Building a Better Uptown: Uptown 2040
This piece has been edited from its original publication in the Better Minneapolis newsletter.
