Ripples

Star Tribune Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:41:34 GMT
Forum offers bleak view of Minnesota housing

Speakers at the event held in Minnetonka told of abusive mortgage lenders, bankruptcies, hard-hit communities and neighborhoods, and lost homes. ... "Minnesota's struggle in the housing crisis is growing quickly," said Matt Entenza, board chairman of Minnesota 2020, a public policy think tank that cosponsored the forum with the Minnesota Housing Partnership. "We have a real and serious issue." Speakers talked about neighborhoods losing their identities as longtime residents lose their houses and move away, about unscrupulous mortgage lenders targeting communities of color, about rising public costs as city crews try to reckon with vacant property, and about shifting economics in the value of land and buildings. "The reality is, the housing crisis is tearing apart communities, it's tearing apart lives," Entenza said.

[[keywords: Housing;PropertyTax;Metro;]]