Contributed by Michael LaPlante, President of  Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association Recent research in Baltimore and Philadelphia by Temple University criminologist Ralph Taylor and several colleagues confirms that mixed uses increase both crime and the cost of policing. While some developers assert that mixed use development is associated with lower crime this conclusion does not seem consistent with research on crime and crime prevention. In fact, findings from many studies seem to indicate that mixed use development is more prone to…

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The Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association is one of the founding members of this collaborative effort to address Rochester’s public safety concerns. The Neighbors for Safety (NSF) group, headed by Joe Powers, Canadian Honker owner and RNeighbors executive director, Rene Lafflam now boasts several members and organizations, including the Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association. In a nutshell, we have been successful in our combined efforts to address part of Rochester’s public safety concerns but more needs to be done. We once again…

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The annual Litter Bit Better campaign is planned for the week of April 17-24. Our neighborhood association will participateagain this year by picking up litter in both East and Mayo parks from 9:30 AM-12 noon on April 17. We will meet at the East Park pavilion at 9:30 AM. We will also do our part to keep the Zumbro River banks clean as well on the following Saturday, April 24. We will meet by the Mayo Park pavilion at 9:30….

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Eastside Pioneer neighbors came together for two Saturday brainstorming sessions held on January 13 and once again on February 23 of this year. The purpose of these brainstorming sessions was to come up with our own ideas regarding neighborhood improvement without undermining the established small town, single family attributes of the neighborhood. I grew up in this neighborhood and without whitewashing the past too much, I remember well the days when neighbors bought and fixed up their own homes and…

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The Minnesota Legislature recently weakened Minnesota Statute 609.115 governing victim input into pre-sentence investigations (PSI) associated with felony violations of Chapter 152 involving the sale or distribution of a controlled substance. The new language says that PSI’s do not necessarily have to include any adverse social or economic effects the offense has had on persons who reside in the neighborhood where the offense was committed. This significantly diminishes the contact that court services departments will have with crime victims. This…

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