The ‘North Side’ lives
By Mike Mitchelson

When the murder of Pizza Hut delivery driver Toua Xiong occurred near the 2900 block of Colfax Avenue in North Minneapolis in August, most of the Twin Cities metro area gave a collective groan.

The groan was one of frustration at the seemingly endless reportage of criminal activities ravaging the north side for, literally, decades. Frustration at the delicate issues of race and economics that combine to deteriorate a once vibrant area of Minneapolis, and the lack of political will from both sides of the aisle to truly confront the area’s problems.

There was another groan that sounded, too—that one amongst North Minneapolis residents and business owners who feel the senseless killing and continued crime reports will destroy their livelihood and neighborhoods—many of those neighborhoods they insist are perfectly safe.

“This was a tragic and senseless killing,” said Border Foods founder and CEO Lee Engler, adding that delivery drivers rarely carry much money with them. Border Foods owned the Pizza Hut which employed Xiong. The company is one of the largest franchisees in the United States, operating a total of 175 restaurants, including 87 Taco Bells and 80 Pizza Huts.

According to Engler, the Minneapolis Police Department told him that a reward is often the stimulus to get people in that neighborhood to talk about a crime. The company offered $25,000 for information, which apparently lead to a tip which lead to the capture of Jermaine Mack-Lynch, a convicted felon who, according to other reports, was seen earlier carrying a weapon similar to the weapon found near the murder scene.

But bad news continued into last month, when 15 year-old Courtney Brown was killed near 38th Avenue North and Lyndale Avenue for his basketball jersey and a candidate for the State House of Representatives campaigning near West Broadway and Penn avenues was assaulted.

Not that there hasn’t been good news, however. Police have rounded up gang members and their weapons, and both Xiong’s and Brown’s alleged murderers were arrested. The $25,000 reward was instrumental in capturing Xiong’s alleged killer, and neighborhood activism to catch Brown’s. It is this sense of community that north side residents and business owners wish to emphasize.


Neighborhood fixtures

“I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs,” said Lili Johnson, who has owned Tootie’s on Lowry with her husband, Nick Johnson, for 18 years. Tootie’s, often listed as one having one of the best hamburgers in the Twin Cities, is located near North Memorial Hospital, more than a mile west from where Xiong’s murder occurred. She said they haven’t had any problems—even in her parking lot—for more than three years.

But still, when there’s a serious crime in North Minneapolis reported in the news, Tootie’s feels the effect. “Whenever there’s a big news story, even if it’s not my general area, business drops for a while, and that’s hard for us,” Johnson said. “And we’ve got a lot of good people in the neighborhood keeping up their yards and doing the neighborhood watch.”

Customers from the neighborhood know they have nothing to worry about, and continue to patronize the restaurant, she said. “But we’ve lost some of our customers that come from the Robbinsdale, Crystal and New Hope area—we have a lot of customers from there.”

There are efforts from the city to revamp parts of the area, including Lowry Avenue and its bridge connecting North and Northeast Minneapolis. But even that effort seems not to have been thought out carefully, and taxes the area significantly in the short term. Lowry is closed off completely near the bridge while work is completed. “I would like them to just leave one lane open,” she said. “Some businesses down Lowry have closed as they’ve done that, so that doesn’t help.

The cumulative experiences have made the Johnsons re-think their decision to continue business on the North side. “That’s sad, because I don’t really have any crime myself that we deal with, but it’s just people’s perception and the news media,” she said “We’re all wishing that the news media would be more careful about what they say, where things are located. … We don’t want to leave, and a lot of it is that I grew up here and we know a lot of the neighbors. We really feel like if we left, nothing would probably go into this building, and it would just be a bigger hardship for the neighbors. When you start having vacant buildings, that’s when the trouble starts.”

Johnson said the number of restaurants in North Minneapolis is dwindling. “There were more, but I’d say, within the last three to five years, many of the newer ones have closed.”

Rix Bar & Grill is one of the “newer” restaurants still operating in North Minneapolis. Operating for about a year and a half, Rix has established itself as a neighborhood “joint” in its short life. But, although it’s farther from the Xiong murder site than Tootie’s, it still felt the repercussions, said Rix General Manager Tim Selkner.

“We’re a little bit north of where some of the occurrences have been, so I feel like it probably has affected us less than some other businesses that are closer,” Selkner said. “But looking at sales numbers, they’ve been down, especially this summer versus last summer.”

He was quick to add that there are several factors that go into restaurant economics, and the reports of crime can’t solely be blamed—at least in their case. But he agreed that there is a conspicuous absence of suburban “regulars” since the uptick in crime reports.

Selkner also reported that there aren’t a great number of restaurants in North Minneapolis, and that some of those still operating are “obviously struggling.” But for those that are open, the neighborhood makes efforts to support them. “People who come here are constantly thanking us, saying, ‘Don’t ever go away,’” he said. “I think the people who live here are saying that, ‘I don’t want to not go out to eat just because this is going on. I don’t want to be scared indoors.’”

Neighborhood loyalty, fortunately, isn’t a problem, and keeps businesses going through difficult times. But for long-term survival, guests from beyond are required, Johnson added.

“I’d just like to get the word out that it’s much safer than people think,” Johnson said. “I wish it wasn’t a blanket statement ‘North Minneapolis’ every time something happens, because North Minneapolis is huge.”