From "Blighted" To "Rapidly Revitalizing," NoMi Turns The Corner!

Photo By John Hoff

In the relatively short span of time since I started this blog, so much has changed in NoMi that it makes my head spin. And sometimes the transformation of my neighborhood forces small changes on this blog. Change is good!

And here comes another change...

My blog announces its journalistic activist mission on the "banner" at the top, with words like "Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures, etc."

Part of those words mention my son, now age 12. Twice now, I have changed the age of my son since he was 10 when I started the blog. But I have never changed the part about his dream of studying math and robotics at MIT for one simple reason: he never lets go of that idea. My son is far more focused than I was at his age. And, I might add, much better looking.

But enough about my son. The words in my banner also made reference to the "North Side" of Minneapolis and to this neighborhood being "arguably blighted."

Well, somewhere we turned the corner and reached a tipping point, the kind of rapid movement toward positive change some residents have struggled to achieve for DECADES, and god bless them.

Maybe that turning point came when Lavender Magazine announced it will be naming NoMi the hot "gayborhood" of Minneapolis. Maybe it was all the hard police work and the resulting rapid drop in crime. It might have something to do with all the new residents with fresh energy and affordable new homes they want to protect and improve, rather like reinforcements arriving to back the tired, muddied and bloodied revitalization troops; longtime residents who have fought this wretched battle for years, their deeds often unsung.

In any case...something has changed. And I can't look at this neighborhood and call it "arguably blighted" anymore when the term "rapidly revitalizing" seems to fit better. So I'm changing the words on my banner. And I'm also adding the word NoMi, because that's what this place is called, now.

The handle I use is "Johnny Northside" but, for the record, my alias has a middle name, too, and it's "NoMi."