Downtown's Next Renovation?

Views from the Street and from the High-Rise

One of the things that makes Elliot Park so fascinating is that upscale condo owners and lower-income residents have, so far, resided side by side with remarkable harmony.

Equally remarkable has been the plunging crime rate in Elliot Park. When Luther Krueger, a community crime prevention specialist with the City of Minneapolis, began covering the neighborhood in the mid-’90s, “things were just nuts,” he says, mostly because of a dozen problem properties where drug dealing and even homicides were rampant. Krueger says neighborhood vigilance pushed laggard landlords into making tenant background checks or selling to more responsible owners.

Still, the realities of Elliot Park can be a surprise for condo buyers. Newcomers “are taken aback” by homeless people walking through the neighborhood from one social service provider to another, says Susan Braun, executive director of neighborhood association Elliot Park Neighbor-hood, Inc. “So there’s been some of that kind of tension, where people that come in haven’t recognized what the history of the place is and what the intentions are.” Many condo buyers “thought they simply bought a view of downtown,” she adds wryly.

But condo residents are beginning to attend EPNI meetings, joining its board, and getting involved in neighborhood improvements. “They’re looking for a true urban experience,” Braun says, “and welcome the fact that we’re trying to create a sustainable, economically, culturally, racially integrated diverse community.” 

—G. R.