Podcast 185

Gentrification. A walk through Uptown Minneapolis on a Saturday night. What used to be a bohemian hipster paradise is lousy with 1 percenters. How Uptown was, when it changed, how it changed and what it is like now. Share memories of the Uptown Punks, the run down houses, the Port Arthur, Vonns, The Uptown Bar, Uptown diner, the Rainbow, and the beginnings of the changes in Uptown; Calhoun Square. Sure the people in the neighborhoods wanted a little more vibrant business district, but did they get more than they bargained for? Do government tax breaks, zoning laws, ‘affordable housing’ initiatives, light rail help, or hurt a neighborhood? Sure there are a lot of twenty somethings coming to the bars, and packing in roommates in the expensive new apartments, but what happens when millennials start families? Will they be able to afford houses in Uptown? Minneapolis leads the nation in gentrification; when wealthier residents and businesses pushing out middle and lower middle class businesses and residents. Moreover, tax increases to provide the tax breaks and special deals to get those expensive condos and rental apartments built means residents of the city of Minneapolis pay more, whether it is a carrot cake and coffee at a trendy cafe, or groceries. It’s no secret Minneapolis has one of the most progressive governments in the United States. Are the goals of progressives being met when the 99 percent has to move to cheaper suburbs, and the one percent moves into their old neighborhoods? And yes, I keep calling it ‘regentrification’ but it is in fact, gentrification. Sponsored by X Government Cars. Cover photo art courtesy of Mitch Rossow.

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Podcast 175

The News Cycle is boring me. A listener asks, I am tired of being pushed around and I want to run for office. What do I do? So called conservatives are long on outrage but short on basic political skills. How does one run for office? Forget the 2014 cycle, since the filing process, delegate process, conventions and soon the primary will be over. The candidates have been selected and they’re out campaigning. But, how DOES one run for office. I say you have to learn politics from the ground up, FIRST. That means volunteering to drop lit, door knock, work in your local political party office, become a leader by actually doing something for someone else once in awhile. Plus some short updates on the week’s top stories, and of course, the impending doom of the ‘polar vortex’, which will be cooling the upper midwest this week. All while we walk down the rail road tracks on a beautiful summer evening, as the sun sets. Lawn mowers, softball, the dog park, throwing rocks at big metal rails, and those incessant footfalls! Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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The Bob Davis Podcast

Podcast 174

Updating the top stories. It’s all about immigration as President Obama tries to change the subject, from the economy to immigration. As the crisis on the border intensifies into a media circus, its up to voters to decide whether this fourth tier issue in previous political polling for this election cycle, can trump Jobs and The Economy with enough froth from the Bully Pulpit. In this podcast, a citizen from Houston, Texas asks a really good question; What about my neighborhood? What about my kids? Meanwhile, Israel is about to send troops into the West Bank to stop Hamas missile attacks, and both sides blame US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent attempts to ‘force peace’ for the fighting. In Iraq, ‘The Islamic State’, formerly known as ‘ISIL’ or ‘ISIS’ now has ‘nuclear material’, and the remnants of Iraqi chemical munitions. Yet analysts persist in saying ‘The Islamic State’ will be short lived. A new study says there is no such thing as a ‘moderate’ voter, and Bob Davis celebrates being vindicated after years of decrying so called ‘moderates’ and useless ‘independents’. Listen and find out why. Finally, the South West Light Rail fight between Saint Louis Park and Minneapolis might be back on, since the dreaded Freight Rail Reroute option is back on the table in the latest ‘agreement’. Sponsored by Sedation and Implant Dentistry of Saint Paul. 

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