Whittier, Minneapolis

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Whittier
Nickname: Eat Street, Nicollet Avenue Neighborhood
Motto: The International Neighborhood
Location of Whittier within the U.S. city of Minneapolis
Location of Whittier within the U.S. city of Minneapolis
Coordinates: 44°58′48.36″N 93°15′6.72″W / 44.9801, -93.2518667
Country United States
State Minnesota
County Hennepin
City Minneapolis
Community Powderhorn
Elevation 866 ft (264 m)
Population (2007)[1] [2]
 - City 15,455
 - Urban 387,970
 - Metro 3,502,891
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code 55404, 55405, 55408
Area code(s) 612
Website: http://www.whittieralliance.org/

Whittier is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, bounded by Franklin Avenue on the north, Interstate 35W on the east, Lake Street on the south, and Lyndale Avenue on the west. It is known for many diverse restaurants, coffee shops and Asian markets, especially along Nicollet Avenue ("Eat Street"). The neighborhood is also home to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the Children's Theatre Company.

While the neighborhood is technically grouped with other neighborhoods within the greater Powderhorn community, it is separated from those areas by Interstate 35W. As a result, Whittier is more often associated with adjacent neighborhoods, such as Lowry Hill East in the Calhoun-Isles community to the west and Stevens Square neighborhood in the Central community to the north.

Contents

[edit] History

John Blaisdell settled on land just south of downtown Minneapolis in 1849. Considered a squatter, Blaisdell began selling off timber for the booming lumber industry and leased his land for the Morrison Farm. After the Civil War, Minneapolis began growing in population again and with his land cleared, Blaisdell opened land for development in soon to be South Minneapolis. Entrepreneurs and businessmen soon moved out of Downtown East and built their mansions in the modern-day Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District. Fair Oaks Park, at the center of this district, was formerly the site of William Washburn's late mansion. Meanwhile the southern end of Whittier grew as an agricultural and industrial job center with working-class wood housing due to the Milwaukee Road rail trench delivering grain from southern Minnesota (the modern day Midtown Greenway).

Whittier eventually filled along streetcar routes as the Lyndale and Nicollet Avenue lines extended south from downtown, aligned on a grid with true north instead of the Mississippi River. The neighborhood maintained a dense population and high rental occupancy up towards the city's population peak in the 1950s. The latter 20th century followed similarly with other inner core neighborhoods. The postwar boom of the 1960s depleted Whittier's population and it's upper-class elite to the suburbs while crime and prostitution increased. Neighbors who stayed formed a neighborhood association, the Whittier Alliance in 1977 to monitor the weakened community and rehabilitate housing. The City attempted several times to bring about a citizen participation model to bring up neighborhoods until with the Legislature's assistance created the Neighborhood Revitalization Program in 1987 to formally address urban issues with funding.

Whittier Elementary on Blaisdell Avenue closed in the 1960s and finally replaced with a new Whittier Elementary in 2001 with major assistance from Whittier Alliance NRP funding at 25th and Grand. In the 1990s, the first schools after half a century moved into Whittier, the "City of Lakes Waldorf School" and Watershed High School. Both schools renovated the American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company building (constructed 1922) at the corner of 24th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Behind this building, at the corner of 24th Street and Blaisdell Avenue, the "play yard" occupies the former site of a Dayton's family mansion.

The Whittier Alliance organized residents and the Whittier Business Association to revitalize Nicollet Avenue which by the mid-1980s had a distinct vibrant influx of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Mexican businesses joining one of the city's only authentic German restaurants. Building on the hard work of those immigrants, the Eat Street branding was complete in 1997 with a complete streetscape reconstruction. Today Whittier is marked with a combination of independent businesses, neighborhood volunteer activists, neighborhood organizations, neighborhood focused planning, and a healthy local economy and housing market in recent years, while still maintaining the 90% rental occupancy of the mid-20th century.

[edit] Demographics

As of the 2000 census, 15,247 people live in Whittier. Census race groups consist of Caucasians (47%), Hispanics (Latinos) (21%), African Americans (20%), Native Americans (2%), Asian Americans (6%), and other (4%) (who are largely Somali in origin). 89% of residents rent. Whittier is the most populous neighborhood in Minneapolis, and second only in density to its neighbor Stevens Square. As reported single ancestry in the 2000 Census, the top five ancestries were German (1,780 people), Subsaharan African (1,070 people), Norwegian (870 people), Irish (830 people), and Somalian (490 people).

[edit] Government

Whittier is in Ward 6 of Minneapolis under Councilmember Robert Lilligren (elected 2005). The neighborhood is currently officially represented by the Whittier Alliance, a community organization founded in 1977, which is recognized by the City of Minneapolis and its Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP). These NRP funds allow the Whittier Alliance to work with individuals, families, and businesses to build the community in terms of safety, economic development, and livability. Another informal organization is the Whittier Neighbors, founded in 1996. The Fifth Police Precinct (Precinct Inspector Kris Arneson in 2007) serves the neighborhood under Sector One.

Whittier is in Minnesota Senate District 61 (Linda Berglin 1980) and Minnesota House district 61A (Karen Clark in 2004) while the southern end is in Minnesota House 61B (Neva Walker 2004). Minneapolis Public Schools Area 23.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Twin Cities Region Population and Household Estimates, 2006 (PDF). Metropolitan Council (2006-04-01). Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  2. ^ Table 2: Population Estimates for the 100 Most Populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas Based on July 1, 2006 Population Estimates: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau (2007-04-05). Retrieved on 2007-04-16.

[edit] Further reading

Nicollet Urban Plans
Whittier Urban Plans
  • Minneapolis City Planning Commission. 1960. Comprehensive Planning for the Whittier Neighborhood. Minneapolis, MN: City of Minneapolis Planning Commission.
  • Minneapolis Department of Planning and Development 1976 Whittier East Design Study. Minneapolis.
  • Team 70 Architects 1977 Whittier urban design framework. Minneapolis.
  • Whittier Alliance 1978 Whittier Urban Design Framework: program implementation guide. Minneapolis.
  • McNamara, John 1979 Whittier Alliance Program Activities Year 2 Action Plan. Minneapolis.
  • McNamera, John, Ranae Hanson, and Dayton-Hudson Foundation 1981 Partners. Minneapolis: Dayton-Hudson.
  • Minneapolis Planning Department, NRP 1991 Whittier: planning information base. Minneapolis MN: Office of city coordinator.
  • Whittier Alliance 1992 Whittier Neighborhood Phase I Action Plan. Minneapolis, MN: Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
  • Whittier Alliance, and Change Architects. 2001. A Decade of Change: The Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program & The Whittier Neighborhood. Minneapolis, MN: Whittier Alliance & Change Architects.
  • Whittier Alliance 2002 Whittier Neighborhood NRP Phase II Action Plan.
  • Whittier Alliance 2005 Whittier Neighborhood NRP Phase II Neighborhood Action Plan.
  • Heritage Preservation Commission (Gail Bronner) 1976 Washburn-Fair Oaks: A study for preservation.
Research Articles
History
  • Adams, John S., and Barbara VanDrasek 1993 Minneapolis-St. Paul: People, place and public life. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. (historical for Nicollet)
  • Dipman, David, and Hila Dipman 1974 Whittier's Early Beginnings. Notes for the Whittier Day Celebration, September 8, 1974. Minneapolis, MN.
  • Hart, Joseph 1997 How Little Asia Was Born. City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul. March 12.
  • Martin, Judith 1983 Minneapolis Survey: How the City Grew and What Should be Preserved. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.
  • Olson, Russell L. 1976. The Electric Railways of Minnesota. Hopkins, MN: Minnesota Transportation Museum. (includes Nicollet Ave line)
  • Thornley, Stew. 1988. On To Nicollet: The Glory and Fame of the Minneapolis Millers. Minneapolis, MN: Nodin Press. (includes history of the old Nicollet line out to the ballpark)
  • Whittier Alliance (John Share, Carol Anderson, Sally Grans, Lisa Kugler) 1985 History of 2-1/2 Story Walk-up Apartments in Whittier. Minneapolis, MN: Whittier Alliance.
News Articles
  • Hammond, Ruth 1977 There's an effort underway to improve Whittier neighborhood's poor self-image. Minneapolis Tribune. December 10.
  • Hammond, Ruth 1982 When Dayton's became a pal to Whittier, the whole neighborhood brightened up. Minneapolis Tribune. April 3.
  • Inskip, Leonard 1982 Whittier: a model partnership for improvement. Minneapolis Tribune. March 9.
  • Inskip, Leonard 1984 Grant leaves Whittier neighbors a stronger, more effective group. Minneapolis Star and Tribune. April 25.
  • Leydon, Peter 1992 Homeowners Take Over Board. Star Tribune 11/5/92. Minneapolis.
  • Leydon, Peter 1992 Whittier’s Vision, city agenda in conflict. Star Tribune 2/25/92. Minneapolis.
  • Buchta, Jim 1993 Spotlight on Whittier. Star Tribune Home Section 11/2/93.
  • Iggers, Jeremy 1997 Eat Street. Minneapolis Star-Tribune. January 3.
  • Jossi, Frank 2002 Neighbors plan Nicollet's facelift. The Business Journal, Minneapolis - St. Paul. May 17.
  • Smith, Scott D. 2002 'Eat Street' plans more retail. The Business Journal, Minneapolis - St. Paul. May 15.

[edit] External links

Community Organizations in Whittier
Information About Whitter