For the latest string of murders - bring on the vigils

First and foremost my heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones in the ongoing murders occurring in Minneapolis. All life is precious and we should mourn when one is cut short. These vigils that happen after a murder has been committed maybe good for community healing, but do nothing towards eliminating the problem. The best time that can be done to honor the memories of those gone is to take action to solve the problem. No amount of hand holding and singing of hymns is going to solve anything. It takes action by the “elected” officials, police, and the community to rid ourselves of this reoccurring problem. Unless our city council members, Mayor, and other “elected” officials take the kind of action needed to solve this; we are going to continue to break out the hymn books and candles. It’s past time to demand action!

A City ranking to be proud of!

Congrats to the city of Plymouth from The Minneapolis Shadow and the Urban Renaissance Coalition for ranking number one among cities with population between 50,000 and 300,000 according to Money magazine. See the StarTribune article for details http://www.startribune.com/local/west/25335494.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName.
Now this is a ranking one can put some stock into when choosing a place to live and a perfect place to begin our MICR effort. It is rooted in comprehensive analysis and based on the key livability factors of education quality, cost of living, business climate, and crime. A serious ranking regarding the quality of a city must be rooted in an honest assessment of factors such as these. The other rankings, some highlighted on our blog, are rooted in the more subjective factors and sold as “best places to live”. The more honest approach would be to label the lists based on the subjective nature. A list that covers green friendly factors should read “Best Cities to Live for the Earth-Friendly Minded” or such other title is appropriate. This is the problem with most of the “best city” rankings.

Minneapolis one of the best places to build net worth…more Hogwash

Surveys such as this from Salary.com in an article from the StarTribune http://www.startribune.com/local/24034604.html?location_refer=Minneapolis:highlightModules:5 can be very deceiving. Given the fact that we are one of the highest taxed areas in the nation, the education results in Minneapolis are horrible, and the sprawl of the Twin Cities area; the conclusion can be drawn away from these survey results. Need I say more!