The snow brings a new problem with the high number of foreclosures in the Twin Cities. All those empty homes mean no one is around to clear the sidewalks. Kathy Nitschke shovels out her own property, but sees that no one is looking after the vacant home in her Minneapolis neighborhood. "A lot of traffic through here, so it's unfortunate when they don't clean things up," said Nitschke. In Minneapolis, there are 50 percent more homes in foreclosures this year than last. In St. Paul, there are four times more vacant homes than in 2006. It means more work for the city--both Minneapolis and St. Paul have a rule, stating snow must be cleared within 24 hours. If a sidewalk stays covered in snow for more than a day, a letter is mailed to the address. If nothing happens, city crews come and do the work. The city of St. Paul charges $160 an hour, while Minneapolis charges $300 an hourâplus a $103 citation. "We only have limited resources to do the work," said Minneapolis city spokesman Mike Kennedy. If there are no homeowners to pay the snow removal costs, it will be forwarded to the bank that owns the foreclosed home. http://kstp.com/article/stories/S274209.shtml?cat=89 Ha, ha, ha...too funny !
I never understood this whole sidewalk clearing law. If the sidewalk belongs to me, pedestrians and get the f*ck off my property, if it belongs to the city, that's their friggin problem.
So the banks that foreclose are not only paying cities for crews to clear snow, they're paying for maintenance, debris clearing, lawn mowing, now they're even paying fines? I"d short banks here.
Very interesting story... Who would have thought how far this real estate bubble could have stretched, I think its only going to stretch further as the years go on. This is just the beginning of these problems. I say let the snow sit there, doesn't the city know what houses are in foreclosure and if so why should they care if they are just going to send the bill to the banks, its extra money for the city.
The city of Minneapolis told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it answered more than 100 calls reporting snow-covered sidewalks on Monday alone. Who is making these calls, residents? If my neighbor doesn't shovel the snow in front of his or her house I could care less, as long as my sidewalk is nice and clean. They are like little babies.
I've lived in the Twin Cities for more than a decade now, and I am constantly amazed at the amount of folks who complain to the government. People around here complain about everything, and EXPECT the government to take care of all of their problems. It is really not surprising that very liberal democrats are routinely elected here, in what the locals not so jokingly call The People's Republic of Minnesota.