Starting this spring, the City of Minneapolis will be conducting code enforcement sweeps in the Corcoran neighborhood.  In particular, inspectors will be focusing on vacant properties or properties with repeated nuisance violations.  Common violations that inspectors will be looking for include: tall grass and weeds; inoperable vehicles; vegetation overhanging the sidewalk, alley, or street; garbage, litter and junk; brush and branches. 

Let’s work together to ensure a safe, healthy, and livable neighborhood.  Consider mowing your elderly neighbor’s lawn or informing your renter neighbors that inspectors are coming and what they’re looking for (the City only notifies property owners).  Have an intentional prairie or an eclectic outdoor collection?  Be sure to put a sign noting the intention and give the inspections department a call ahead of time to avoid confusion. 

The City has partnered with a handful of businesses offering home improvement discounts.  Stop in the CNO office for a coupon or visit www.minneapolismn.gov/regservices

Questions?  www.minneapolismn.gov/inspections or call 311 (612-673-3000 from phones outside of Minneapolis)

The new Hennepin County South Minneapolis Human Service Center opened on May 15, 2017 at 2215 East Lake Street.  The completion culminated nineteen months of construction and years of planning.  The South Minneapolis Human Service Center is the sixth human service center in the County’s effort to decentralize services beyond downtown Minneapolis.  Other county human service center locations include Brooklyn Center, Bloomington, Hopkins, North Minneapolis and downtown Minneapolis.  A full list of services offered at the human service centers can be found at this link: www.hennepin.us/residents/human-services/resource-directory

CNO's newest Board Members, from left to right - Siyad Warsame, Mandie Kender, Lori Kinzel-Auer

On the beautiful spring evening of May 10th, over 50 residents gathered at Corcoran Community Garden to enjoy live music by Parks and Wreck drummer Joe Forest and guitarist Oscar Cozza (with a special appearance by Oscar del Sebastien), to enjoy grilled burgers and share homemade dishes, to mingle with neighbors, and to elect members for the CNO Board.

The month of June at the Midtown Farmers Market is an exciting time as we enter summer and stalls begin to fill with produce. Strawberries will be arriving, the weather will be heating up, and there will be lots of activity at the market. Along with the ever growing selection of produce there will also be plenty of great programming at the market this month as well. We’ll be celebrating Bees and Pollinators on June 10th and the African American community on June 24th. The 24th will also include the second installment of our Summer Poetry Series at the market. There will also be a 2nd Saturday Arts for All activity on the 10th, along with Market Science activities and gardening advice from Hennepin County Master Gardeners each week.

Corcoran Neighborhood Organizers are working on a project that brings energy efficiency incentives to tenants and landlords. If you are a tenant with a refrigerator that is leaking, air conditioner that is not running correctly, or cracked windows, you might benefit from these programs. Programs include the Low Income Energy Assistance Program and Energy Assistance Program.

Empowering music makers, learners, and builders to create together.

Charlotte Matis, Neal Swanger and Russel Rayfield | 612-326-5745

I love music, but am no musician, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into Blackbird’s Music Store to interview Charlotte and company.  Having put my clarinet down years ago, I never took to strings and am often intimidated by those more musically talented than I. 

Upon entering the store, I was immediately greeted with smiles, offered a choice of coffee or tea and told to make myself at home.   As I looked around, I was surrounded by stringed instruments of all kinds lining the unassuming walls. The cheery chirping of Charlotte’s resident finches filled the air rather than the usual awkward silence of some stores.  Blackbird’s has a homey, somewhat familiar feel that put me at ease.  The group likes to joke about their “folk retailing”, but it does describe their relaxed atmosphere quite well.

Saturday, June 10th, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Start spring-cleaning now for the largest neighborhood garage sale in Minneapolis! The 15th Annual Standish, Ericsson & Corcoran Neighborhood Garage Sale will be on June 10th. Last year’s event involved over 120 households, brought approximately $25,000 into the neighborhood, and rehomed thousands of items.
 

Developers for the first phase of housing at the 2225 Lake Street East site presented their plans at the April 6, 2017 Land Use and Housing Committee monthly meeting.  The apartment building will sit on top of the new parking ramp immediately south of the new Hennepin County service hub.  The building will stand six stories high with 123 apartment units, including 36 studio units, 69 one-bedroom units, and 18 two-bedroom units.  Rents will be capped at the affordability level for 80% of the area median income.  Those monthly rates will tentatively start at $975 for a studio, $1,295 for a one-bedroom, and $1,546 for a two-bedroom unit.  The building will have dedicated on-site parking for 70 vehicles, and an additional 120 parking stalls will be shared with the Hennepin County service hub.  The developers intend to begin construction next month, and hope to open the building for tenants in May 2018.

Join us on May 6^th for our Opening Day Food Truck Fest as we kick off our 15^th Anniversary Season with a bang! Inaddition to hosting a slew of amazing food trucks, this year Midtown will also be celebrating our 15 years with a number exciting giveaways, great live music and so much more! As construction of Hennepin County’s Family Service Center will be completed adjacent to the market site this spring, Midtown will be operating in the same space as the last two years as we eagerly await our new home at 2225 E. Lake St. See the map below for our exact location for the 2017 season.

Friends and neighbors gathered at Susan Hensel Gallery on Saturday, March 11, to write postcards and make more buttons.  Susan bought one roll of postcard stamps and the productivity outstripped the stamp count! Around 150 postcars and another 500 buttons were made  in the afternoon.

If you want to join the project, you can download postcard files and databases for writing to your legislators whenever you want  from the website: www.civility-project.com.

So far, The Civility Project and its community has distributed close to 1000 buttons inviting people to talk and listen.  They have been distributed coast to coast: California, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Kentucky, Florida, Minnesota, and South Carolina.  One distributor told me that she distributed some in a school in Harlem.  How cool is that?.

What is the Civility Project?