There was no wood smoke this evening until after 2:30 AM. It was too hot and windy for bonfires until the air cooled. I was lulled into complacency by the strong winds and thought we could get away with leaving the windows open and enjoy the wind blowing through the house as the night air cooled. I was wrong. In the past eight years or so we have gone to bed with the windows open only a few times. Late night burning is common in North St. Paul. You never know who will start burning after midnight. It happens all the time in this town. Some drunk gets home from the bar and decides he wants to smoke up the neighborhood and there is nothing we can do about it.
5:20 PM: No smoke. 96 degrees and sunny with strong winds. The high temperature reached a record 98 degrees in the Twin Cities for this day.
10:30 PM: No smoke. Strong winds continue. We went to bed with the windows open as the night air was cooling fast.
I woke up at 2:30 AM to smell wood smoke blowing through the house. Even in strong winds burners will burn in North St. Paul. Fire safety is not something you are going to see often among the pyromaniacs in this town. I see dangerous burning all the time. Burning right next to garages, under trees, burning leaves on windy days with burning embers flying all over.
Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated
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WELCOME TO HELL ON EARTH
The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.
WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!
Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!
Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.
The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.
Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.
Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?
Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.
Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.
You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.
If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.
Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.
North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.
Tell others about this blog!
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The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.
WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!
Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!
Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.
The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.
Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.
Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?
Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.
Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.
You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.
If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.
Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.
North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.
Tell others about this blog!
Monday, May 20, 2013
Monday 05/13/2013 Air Pollution
There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. It was a miracle! We do not get evenings of fresh air like this often in North St. Paul. It was windy this evening which may account for our lack of smoky air.
5:00 PM: No smoke. Sunny, windy, 68 degrees.
5:40 PM: No smoke. 70 degrees with strong wind gusts.
No smoke this evening Wonderful fresh air! That is something we do not get often in North St. Paul.
5:00 PM: No smoke. Sunny, windy, 68 degrees.
5:40 PM: No smoke. 70 degrees with strong wind gusts.
No smoke this evening Wonderful fresh air! That is something we do not get often in North St. Paul.
Sunday 05/12/2013 Air Pollution
Another smoky Sunday. Never a day of rest from the burning when the weather permits.
4:35 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. 57 degrees and sunny.
4:53 PM: Faint to light wood smoke varying with the breeze.
8:00 PM: No smoke.
9:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
10:15 PM: Faint wood smoke continues. I saw two fires burning in the area at this time. One was a recreational bonfire and I think the other was burning waste. There is not much of a breeze at this time. I am not sure which burner is making our air smoky. This was the last check of the evening.
4:35 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. 57 degrees and sunny.
4:53 PM: Faint to light wood smoke varying with the breeze.
8:00 PM: No smoke.
9:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
10:15 PM: Faint wood smoke continues. I saw two fires burning in the area at this time. One was a recreational bonfire and I think the other was burning waste. There is not much of a breeze at this time. I am not sure which burner is making our air smoky. This was the last check of the evening.
Saturday 05/11/2013 Air Pollution
There was almost no wood smoke in the air this evening. The weather was not favorable for bonfires.
5:15 PM: No smoke. 53 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy.
8:30 PM: The air is not fresh. There is something in the air that is not strong enough to tell what it is.
10:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke. Not much.
11:00 PM: The air is not fresh but I cannot identify any pollutant in it.
5:15 PM: No smoke. 53 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy.
8:30 PM: The air is not fresh. There is something in the air that is not strong enough to tell what it is.
10:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke. Not much.
11:00 PM: The air is not fresh but I cannot identify any pollutant in it.
Friday 05/10/2013 Air Pollution
It was a normal, very smoky Friday evening in North Saint Paul, Minnesota.
6:15 PM: No smoke. 66 degrees and sunny. Nice.
8:07 PM: Light wood smoke coming in the windows. Close the windows! The bonfires are starting.
8:42 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.
10:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky right now. You don't want to breathe this air if you don't have to. All over the neighborhood people who are not burning are inside their stuffy houses with their windows closed.
10:27 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Light rain just started to fall at this time. Will it be enough to extinguish the bonfires? No. The rain lasted only minutes.
11:00 PM: Another spotty shower for a few minutes. Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time.
Very faint wood smoke continued after 1:30 AM.
6:15 PM: No smoke. 66 degrees and sunny. Nice.
8:07 PM: Light wood smoke coming in the windows. Close the windows! The bonfires are starting.
8:42 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.
10:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky right now. You don't want to breathe this air if you don't have to. All over the neighborhood people who are not burning are inside their stuffy houses with their windows closed.
10:27 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Light rain just started to fall at this time. Will it be enough to extinguish the bonfires? No. The rain lasted only minutes.
11:00 PM: Another spotty shower for a few minutes. Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time.
Very faint wood smoke continued after 1:30 AM.
Thursday 05/09/2013 Air Pollution
There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. Rain earlier in the day left everything wet. It was windy and cloudy with a temperature of 50 degrees at 4:30 PM.
Wednesday 05/08/2013 Air Pollution
6:55 AM: I stepped out of the house to smell very faint wood smoke in the air. Could be from a fireplace, could be from a bonfire left smoldering all night long. That happens all the time in this town.
I was told there was smoke from grass burning in the air around 9 AM. I was not around to notice it.
The weather forecast called for rain this evening.
4:30 PM: No smoke. Cloudy, 74 degrees.
5:50 PM: No smoke. Light rain falling at this time.
There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening due to spotty rain showers.
I was told there was smoke from grass burning in the air around 9 AM. I was not around to notice it.
The weather forecast called for rain this evening.
4:30 PM: No smoke. Cloudy, 74 degrees.
5:50 PM: No smoke. Light rain falling at this time.
There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening due to spotty rain showers.
Tuesday 05/07/2013 Air Pollution
More waste burning this evening. This year is the worst for waste burning ever!
1:00 PM: I stopped home at this time t smell very faint grass smoke. I wonder how often yard waste burning occurs during the day when I am not around to notice it.
4:10 PM: No smoke. 76 degrees, sunny, beautiful. A beautiful day for some illegal yard waste burning in North St. Paul for some people.
4:23 PM: Very faint wood smoke. Already it is starting.
4:27 PM: Faint wood and grass smoke. What yard waste burners like to do is start a bonfire then dump their grass clippings or other waste into it. This happens all the time in North St. Paul.
4:42 PM: Faint to light wood and grass smoke continues. A little heavier than before.
5:08 PM: Very faint to faint waste smoke. I can't say what all is being burned. 75 degrees and sunny.
6:45 PM: No smoke. 78 degrees.
There was no more wood or yard waste smoke pollution this evening up until I went to bed at 10:15 PM.
1:00 PM: I stopped home at this time t smell very faint grass smoke. I wonder how often yard waste burning occurs during the day when I am not around to notice it.
4:10 PM: No smoke. 76 degrees, sunny, beautiful. A beautiful day for some illegal yard waste burning in North St. Paul for some people.
4:23 PM: Very faint wood smoke. Already it is starting.
4:27 PM: Faint wood and grass smoke. What yard waste burners like to do is start a bonfire then dump their grass clippings or other waste into it. This happens all the time in North St. Paul.
4:42 PM: Faint to light wood and grass smoke continues. A little heavier than before.
5:08 PM: Very faint to faint waste smoke. I can't say what all is being burned. 75 degrees and sunny.
6:45 PM: No smoke. 78 degrees.
There was no more wood or yard waste smoke pollution this evening up until I went to bed at 10:15 PM.
Monday 05/06/2013 Air Pollution
Welcome home to yard waste burning! Trees are starting to bud and I saw flower blossoms on a tree for the first time today.
4:12 PM: Very faint grass smoke varying with the breeze. Somewhere off in the distance is an illegal yard waste burner. 73 degrees, mostly cloudy.
5:30 PM: The air is not fresh at this time.
6:30 PM: Light grass smoke. 74 degrees and cloudy.
7:10 PM: A very faint some of some type is in the air. I do not know what it is.
8:30 PM: No smoke where we are. I went out this evening. I found four homes within a tenth of a mile of city council member Jan Walczak's home burning this evening. Three were burning wood and one was burning yard waste. The closest burner to Walczak was across the street from her one house down. Most of the smoke was drifting to the west-southwest. It was a little smoky in front of her house as I passed down the road, the smoke is not heading her direction. Funny thing was that she did not have her windows open. Why not, Jan? Let that wood smoke into your home. We have to breathe smoky air every day because of you, the least you can do is let the smoke pollution you support into your home!
There was no more wood or yard waste smoke where we live this evening.
4:12 PM: Very faint grass smoke varying with the breeze. Somewhere off in the distance is an illegal yard waste burner. 73 degrees, mostly cloudy.
5:30 PM: The air is not fresh at this time.
6:30 PM: Light grass smoke. 74 degrees and cloudy.
7:10 PM: A very faint some of some type is in the air. I do not know what it is.
8:30 PM: No smoke where we are. I went out this evening. I found four homes within a tenth of a mile of city council member Jan Walczak's home burning this evening. Three were burning wood and one was burning yard waste. The closest burner to Walczak was across the street from her one house down. Most of the smoke was drifting to the west-southwest. It was a little smoky in front of her house as I passed down the road, the smoke is not heading her direction. Funny thing was that she did not have her windows open. Why not, Jan? Let that wood smoke into your home. We have to breathe smoky air every day because of you, the least you can do is let the smoke pollution you support into your home!
There was no more wood or yard waste smoke where we live this evening.
Sunday 05/05/2013 Air Pollution
It was a beautiful spring evening ruined by yard waste burning. Every damn day in this horrible city people are burning. Every day the air is smoky when the weather is nice.
5:00 PM: No smoke. Sunny, 66 degrees, beautiful!
6:15 PM: No smoke. There is a home burning yard waste in the area. None of the smoke is making it down here.
7:15 PM: No smoke.
7:44 PM: Light to moderate smoke from burning grass. Close the windows!
7:54 PM: Light to moderate wood and waste smoke. I can't say what all is being burned. It reeks!
8:45 PM: Faint yard waste smoke continues. Why can't these asshole yard waste burners hurry up and get their burning done quickly so we can open our windows again? I can see smoke rising from a second house in the area off in the distance. The smoke is not coming our direction from either house. There must be a third burner we are getting our smoke from. There are two or more residents in the area burning at this time.
9:45 PM: Light to moderate wood and waste smoke being burned. It stinks!
11:00 PM: No smoke but the air is not fresh.
None of our neighbors around us burn. If the smoke is this heavy here, I shudder to think of how heavy it must be living next door to it.
North St. Paul sucks!
5:00 PM: No smoke. Sunny, 66 degrees, beautiful!
6:15 PM: No smoke. There is a home burning yard waste in the area. None of the smoke is making it down here.
7:15 PM: No smoke.
7:44 PM: Light to moderate smoke from burning grass. Close the windows!
7:54 PM: Light to moderate wood and waste smoke. I can't say what all is being burned. It reeks!
8:45 PM: Faint yard waste smoke continues. Why can't these asshole yard waste burners hurry up and get their burning done quickly so we can open our windows again? I can see smoke rising from a second house in the area off in the distance. The smoke is not coming our direction from either house. There must be a third burner we are getting our smoke from. There are two or more residents in the area burning at this time.
9:45 PM: Light to moderate wood and waste smoke being burned. It stinks!
11:00 PM: No smoke but the air is not fresh.
None of our neighbors around us burn. If the smoke is this heavy here, I shudder to think of how heavy it must be living next door to it.
North St. Paul sucks!
Saturday 05/04/2013 Air Pollution
The grass is turning green.
5:30 PM: No smoke. 48 degrees, sunny.
6:45 PM: Faint wood smoke comes and goes with the breeze.
8:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke comes and goes.
9:00 PM: No smoke.
11:00 PM: No smoke.
5:30 PM: No smoke. 48 degrees, sunny.
6:45 PM: Faint wood smoke comes and goes with the breeze.
8:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke comes and goes.
9:00 PM: No smoke.
11:00 PM: No smoke.
Friday 05/03/2013 Air Pollution
There was a little smoke in the air this evening that could have been from some recreational fireplace use. The weather was bad for bonfires or waste burning. It snowed a little in the morning. Around 4 PM or so we had sleet and freezing rain in the Twin Cities.
8:30 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke. Probably from a fireplace. 35 degrees.
10:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke comes and goes.
8:30 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke. Probably from a fireplace. 35 degrees.
10:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke comes and goes.
Thursday 05/02/2013 Air Pollution
There was no smoke pollution this evening because of unfavorable weather. There was a little snow this morning that quickly melted away. The temperature at 5:30 PM was 47 degrees. It was wonderful to step outside and take a deep breath of clean air! We cannot do that often in this polluted dump of a city.
Wednesday 05/01/2013 Air Pollution
There was no wood or waste smoke this evening due to bad weather. The temperature at 5:30 PM was 38 degrees. It rained with sleet earlier in the day. There was light drizzle around 6:30 PM.
We get an evening of precious clean air thanks to bad weather!
We get an evening of precious clean air thanks to bad weather!
Tuesday 04/30/2013 Air Pollution
More burning this evening. Every day somebody is burning wood or some type of waste. Every miserable day!
4:55 PM: Light waste smoke. I don't know what is being burned but it stinks terrible. 68 degrees, cloudy. Close the windows!
5:15 PM: Faint waste smoke coming and going.
5:45 PM: Faint wood smoke. No chance of opening the windows for a while.
6:00 PM: No smoke.
There was no more wood or waste smoke pollution this evening.
4:55 PM: Light waste smoke. I don't know what is being burned but it stinks terrible. 68 degrees, cloudy. Close the windows!
5:15 PM: Faint waste smoke coming and going.
5:45 PM: Faint wood smoke. No chance of opening the windows for a while.
6:00 PM: No smoke.
There was no more wood or waste smoke pollution this evening.
Monday 04/29/2013 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke tonight. But as always, somebody was burning something and tonight it was more yard waste. Where are these people getting the yard waste from so soon after the snow melted?
5:10 PM: No smoke. 73 degrees, partly cloudy, beautiful.
6:15 PM: No smoke. 73 degrees, mostly cloudy.
6:48 PM: Faint grass smoke. More yard waste burning. There is more yard waste burning this year than ever before!
7:25 PM: Faint smoke from something unknown. I don't know what the hell is being burned now.
8:05 PM: No smoke.
There was no more smoke pollution this evening. This is about as good as it gets in hell on earth North St. Paul.
5:10 PM: No smoke. 73 degrees, partly cloudy, beautiful.
6:15 PM: No smoke. 73 degrees, mostly cloudy.
6:48 PM: Faint grass smoke. More yard waste burning. There is more yard waste burning this year than ever before!
7:25 PM: Faint smoke from something unknown. I don't know what the hell is being burned now.
8:05 PM: No smoke.
There was no more smoke pollution this evening. This is about as good as it gets in hell on earth North St. Paul.
Sunday 04/28/2013 Air Pollution
There is no day of rest for burning in North St. Paul. You cannot enjoy a relaxing Sunday without smoke from wood or yard waste coming into your home in this horrible city.
4:30 PM: No smoke. 77 degrees, sunny, a little warm for this time of year but nice.
4:45 PM: Faint smoke from something being burned, I don't know what. Close the windows! The smoke is blowing in from the south.
5:10 PM: No smoke. 80 degrees. Storm clouds are moving in.
5:48 PM: No smoke. Cloudy now. Storms have made their way into the northwest metro.
6:27 PM: A few drops of rain fell then stopped.
6:40 PM: Faint to light grass smoke. Somebody took the opportunity to burn some yard waste during a gap in the rain. Where are they getting the yard waste from? The ground was covered with snow five days ago, yards are too soft to rake.
6:44 PM: Very faint grass smoke continues.
6:50 PM: No smoke.
7:00 PM: No smoke.
7:50 PM: Faint to light grass smoke.
8:10 PM: Light to moderate possible wood and waste being burned. It reeks! Some type of waste is being burned.
I did not bother to check the air any more this evening. The air was smoky again this evening and I need to document no further.
4:30 PM: No smoke. 77 degrees, sunny, a little warm for this time of year but nice.
4:45 PM: Faint smoke from something being burned, I don't know what. Close the windows! The smoke is blowing in from the south.
5:10 PM: No smoke. 80 degrees. Storm clouds are moving in.
5:48 PM: No smoke. Cloudy now. Storms have made their way into the northwest metro.
6:27 PM: A few drops of rain fell then stopped.
6:40 PM: Faint to light grass smoke. Somebody took the opportunity to burn some yard waste during a gap in the rain. Where are they getting the yard waste from? The ground was covered with snow five days ago, yards are too soft to rake.
6:44 PM: Very faint grass smoke continues.
6:50 PM: No smoke.
7:00 PM: No smoke.
7:50 PM: Faint to light grass smoke.
8:10 PM: Light to moderate possible wood and waste being burned. It reeks! Some type of waste is being burned.
I did not bother to check the air any more this evening. The air was smoky again this evening and I need to document no further.
Saturday 04/27/2013 Air Pollution
12:05 AM: Very faint to faint wood smoke continues.
1:00 AM: No smoke.
3:00 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It smells like two-by-fours are being burned. Burning of waste is common in North St. Paul, MN. This isn't smoke from logs. This smells like construction materials. There is no real breeze at this time. Wherever the burning is happening, the smoke is drifting down and hanging in the air. I can see a smoky haze in the street lights. The temperature is 51 degrees in the Twin Cities and may be a few degrees cooler in the suburbs. With a temperature this low it could be a fireplace being used. I can't think of why anyone would use a fireplace at 3 AM.
6:00 AM: No smoke. Fresh air! Open the windows!
It was another smoky night in North St. Paul.
4:40 PM: The air is not fresh. There is something in it even if I can't identify it.
5:15 PM: No smoke. 74 degrees, sunny, very nice.
5:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke coming and going on the breeze. Somebody is burning. It turned out to be asshole frequent burner burning for the first of what will be many times this season. Close the windows!
6:45 PM: Light wood smoke from asshole frequent burner comes and goes.
7:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
7:05 PM: Light grass smoke. We had snow on the ground three days ago. Where is asshole frequent burner getting the yard waste? Is it left over from last year?
8:00 PM: No smoke. Could asshole frequent burner be done? He usually burns for hours at a time.
Went out after this time. Smoky patches could be found all over the northern half of the city. Wood, yard waste, it was all being burned here and there. I saw 10 bonfires in an area of about three-quarters mile wide by a half mile north to south. I was not trying to look for them. I happened to pass that many.
9:35 PM: Light wood smoke. Now the bonfires are going strong. It is going to be a long, smoky night.
10:40 PM: Light wood smoke continues. This was my last check of the evening. I did not wake until morning.
1:00 AM: No smoke.
3:00 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It smells like two-by-fours are being burned. Burning of waste is common in North St. Paul, MN. This isn't smoke from logs. This smells like construction materials. There is no real breeze at this time. Wherever the burning is happening, the smoke is drifting down and hanging in the air. I can see a smoky haze in the street lights. The temperature is 51 degrees in the Twin Cities and may be a few degrees cooler in the suburbs. With a temperature this low it could be a fireplace being used. I can't think of why anyone would use a fireplace at 3 AM.
6:00 AM: No smoke. Fresh air! Open the windows!
It was another smoky night in North St. Paul.
4:40 PM: The air is not fresh. There is something in it even if I can't identify it.
5:15 PM: No smoke. 74 degrees, sunny, very nice.
5:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke coming and going on the breeze. Somebody is burning. It turned out to be asshole frequent burner burning for the first of what will be many times this season. Close the windows!
6:45 PM: Light wood smoke from asshole frequent burner comes and goes.
7:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
7:05 PM: Light grass smoke. We had snow on the ground three days ago. Where is asshole frequent burner getting the yard waste? Is it left over from last year?
8:00 PM: No smoke. Could asshole frequent burner be done? He usually burns for hours at a time.
Went out after this time. Smoky patches could be found all over the northern half of the city. Wood, yard waste, it was all being burned here and there. I saw 10 bonfires in an area of about three-quarters mile wide by a half mile north to south. I was not trying to look for them. I happened to pass that many.
9:35 PM: Light wood smoke. Now the bonfires are going strong. It is going to be a long, smoky night.
10:40 PM: Light wood smoke continues. This was my last check of the evening. I did not wake until morning.
Friday 04/26/2013 Air Pollution
The first nice evening of spring was smoky as I knew it would be. If the weather is nice, the evening air is smoky almost always.
5:00 PM: No smoke. 71 degrees, no smoke. Sunny, beautiful. Another evening soon to be ruined by smoky air. The heat is off for the first time since October, the windows are open, and that means people will be burning tonight.
6:30 PM: No smoke.
11:00 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke in the air. It is enough to require closure of windows before bed.
The air did not get really smoky until well after midnight.
5:00 PM: No smoke. 71 degrees, no smoke. Sunny, beautiful. Another evening soon to be ruined by smoky air. The heat is off for the first time since October, the windows are open, and that means people will be burning tonight.
6:30 PM: No smoke.
11:00 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke in the air. It is enough to require closure of windows before bed.
The air did not get really smoky until well after midnight.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Burning season starts soon!
It has been a long winter. With temperatures running a good 10 - 20 degrees below normal for the past two months, spring arrives in a big way today and with it will come smoky air. With this city's many bonfire burners not having burned for 5 months or longer, there is a lot of pent-up pyromania that will be unleashed probably as soon as tonight as the temperature is forecast to reach 70 today. Most of the snow we got this past Tuesday has melted and the ground may be a little soft, but that will not stop burners in this town. The rule of living in North St. Paul is that if the weather is nice enough to open the windows in the evening, you will not be able to because the air will be smoky.
Winter is the least smoky season in North St. Paul, MN. As with most winters, the evening air was smoky half or a little more of the time in November and December but after the new year arrives, recreational fireplace use drops. From December through last week the air was smoky at 7 AM only twice all winter. After the new year, we had very little smoke in the evening air. It was nice to go outside and take a deep breath of clean, fresh air which is something we usually cannot do in this city because of all the nightly burning.
I believe the last time I looked at this blog or checked my emails was last November. I really neglected this blog last year and did not make regular updates as I have been since spring 2008 when this blog was started. As a result of not posting regularly, the number of visitors to this blog in 2012 dropped by well over 3,000 visitors from 2011. I still have all the burning data in my notepad and I will update for 2012 soon.
I have dozens of emails to read through so that may take me a few days. I am back and soon the smoke pollution will be back as it always is.
Winter is the least smoky season in North St. Paul, MN. As with most winters, the evening air was smoky half or a little more of the time in November and December but after the new year arrives, recreational fireplace use drops. From December through last week the air was smoky at 7 AM only twice all winter. After the new year, we had very little smoke in the evening air. It was nice to go outside and take a deep breath of clean, fresh air which is something we usually cannot do in this city because of all the nightly burning.
I believe the last time I looked at this blog or checked my emails was last November. I really neglected this blog last year and did not make regular updates as I have been since spring 2008 when this blog was started. As a result of not posting regularly, the number of visitors to this blog in 2012 dropped by well over 3,000 visitors from 2011. I still have all the burning data in my notepad and I will update for 2012 soon.
I have dozens of emails to read through so that may take me a few days. I am back and soon the smoke pollution will be back as it always is.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Bonfire burner complains about smoky air
Update: I did find out the resident lives in the city of North St. Paul. At the time I made this post the blogging service was suffering technical difficulties. Here is a link to her original comment.
It was another smoky hell of a night last night in North St. Paul, MN. The smoke pollution was brutally strong all night long. The burning started before 5 PM and only got heavier as the evening progressed. The smoke cleared enough to open the windows around 2:30 AM this morning. Since I was up, I thought I would check my blog and visitor statistics. I see some people coming from links on stories about a movement to ban recreational burning and the pollution it produces in Edina, MN.
For whatever reason, I am unable to respond to or comment on my own posts. I guess the blogging service is having technical difficulties of some sort. So in order to respond to a comment on a post I allow comments on, I have to start a new post and respond here. Here goes. The commenter writes (in blue) with my reply following:
Hi, Faylyn. Thanks for your comment. I accidentally deleted a few other comments because I pushed the wrong button. I haven't been checking this blog often this year.
Do you live in the city of North St. Paul or on the north side of the city of St. Paul? I wish the founders of North St. Paul had chosen a more unique name for the city because it creates a lot of confusion.
I always get a kick out of receiving comments or emails from bonfire burners who complain about other people's burning. That holier-than-thou wood burner stuff doesn't work with me. All burning produces smoke. Some are under the impression that if only "clean, dry wood" is burned it will be smokeless. It isn't. I imagine you never gave much consideration to the impact your burning has on others around you. When people have bonfires, they position themselves so the smoke blows away from them. But in a dense residential neighborhood, that smoke is blowing into somebody else's yard, and into their lungs and homes if they have their windows open. Maybe some of your neighbors have asthma as you do. Or maybe they want to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air or have their windows open so the breeze blows through their house, but they can't do that because of your burning. Please think of that next time you consider having a bonfire. I suppose in a way you are getting a taste of your own medicine with your asthma problems. Karma.
People don't seem to realize how far wood smoke travels from the source. With a gentle, steady breeze, the smoke from a small bonfire can be a nuisance as far as a half mile away. I never bothered to track it farther than that. The smoke blows wherever the wind takes it. Without a breeze, the smoke from one bonfire can blanket an entire neighborhood.
Living in the middle of a square mile of residential homes, there is someone burning every night when the weather is nice. Usually there are multiple homes burning within a quarter mile radius of us. That is why our air is always smoky and why I have been complaining about it for 5 years now.
North St. Paul was a great place to live in the late 1990s. Back then there were never any bonfires. Yard waste burning was rare as well. We never once had to close our windows because of smoke. That all changed starting in the early 2000s. It grew worse with every year. By 2006 or 2007 the air was smoky every night when the weather was nice with almost no exceptions and yard waste burning which was infrequent became common. It's like living in hell. We dread coming home. Maybe we will get a few hours of fresh air before the smoke starts. Or like last night, it might start before 5 PM and be heavy all night long.
North St. Paul's air quality is not getting any better. Every year there are more of those metal firepits and outdoor furnaces. The burning encourages only more burning. If the air is going to be smoky every night anyway, why not contribute to it?
While most homes do not burn, I have noticed that the burners tend to cluster together. I think some of the burners are burning out of vengeance. One person has a smoky bonfire one night, the next night a neighbor burns yard waste, the next night another neighbor has a smoky bonfire, and so on. It's a cycle of disrespect that leads to decay and tears apart the social fabric of the city.
There are other problems with North St. Paul. Next to the city's nightly smoke pollution, two other problems are the conversion of residential homes into rental properties and a lack of home maintenance. Rundown properties are everywhere you look. It's shocking to see how formerly well-maintained properties are becoming rundown. It's almost like people don't care any more. Being a good neighbor is no longer a consideration people have these days. That is why they don't concern themselves with blasting their neighbors with thick clouds of smoke pollution.
If you live in the city of North St. Paul and are concerned about this city's smoke pollution problem, I strongly suggest you write a letter detailing your concerns and your issues with asthma and send copies to the mayor and each of the idiot city council members. They are the only ones with the power to do something about it. Don't expect much action to be taken. While the mayor did express some sympathy about this city's wood smoke pollution problem back in 2009, the city council has stood strong in its support of burning and the smoke pollution it produces. But it never hurts to have one more person complaining. The only way anything will ever get done is if enough people complain.
But you must also consider the impact that your burning has on those around you, even those living a quarter mile away or more who are breathing the smoke your bonfires produce. Nobody around you – and I mean NOBODY! – wants to breathe your smoke. Nobody would choose to breathe your smoke when they could enjoy fresh air. Nobody closes their windows on beautiful evenings or runs their air conditioner on cool summer nights because they want to. They do it because they cannot stand to breathe the smoke pollution people like you produce. Please remember that.
It was another smoky hell of a night last night in North St. Paul, MN. The smoke pollution was brutally strong all night long. The burning started before 5 PM and only got heavier as the evening progressed. The smoke cleared enough to open the windows around 2:30 AM this morning. Since I was up, I thought I would check my blog and visitor statistics. I see some people coming from links on stories about a movement to ban recreational burning and the pollution it produces in Edina, MN.
For whatever reason, I am unable to respond to or comment on my own posts. I guess the blogging service is having technical difficulties of some sort. So in order to respond to a comment on a post I allow comments on, I have to start a new post and respond here. Here goes. The commenter writes (in blue) with my reply following:
I found this blog right after moving to North Saint Paul. At first, I thought you were a bit overzealous. But after the heat wave died down, I started smelling the wood smoke. About a month ago I started having asthma attacks. I haven't had an asthma attack since I was 8. I've had more in the last month than in my entire life up until moving here. I no longer think you're overzealous. I enjoy a bonfire once in a while, but not every night and I always put mine out... I don't leave them smoldering for hours and hours. It really is horrible with the thick smoke lingering in the air all the time.
Hi, Faylyn. Thanks for your comment. I accidentally deleted a few other comments because I pushed the wrong button. I haven't been checking this blog often this year.
Do you live in the city of North St. Paul or on the north side of the city of St. Paul? I wish the founders of North St. Paul had chosen a more unique name for the city because it creates a lot of confusion.
I always get a kick out of receiving comments or emails from bonfire burners who complain about other people's burning. That holier-than-thou wood burner stuff doesn't work with me. All burning produces smoke. Some are under the impression that if only "clean, dry wood" is burned it will be smokeless. It isn't. I imagine you never gave much consideration to the impact your burning has on others around you. When people have bonfires, they position themselves so the smoke blows away from them. But in a dense residential neighborhood, that smoke is blowing into somebody else's yard, and into their lungs and homes if they have their windows open. Maybe some of your neighbors have asthma as you do. Or maybe they want to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air or have their windows open so the breeze blows through their house, but they can't do that because of your burning. Please think of that next time you consider having a bonfire. I suppose in a way you are getting a taste of your own medicine with your asthma problems. Karma.
People don't seem to realize how far wood smoke travels from the source. With a gentle, steady breeze, the smoke from a small bonfire can be a nuisance as far as a half mile away. I never bothered to track it farther than that. The smoke blows wherever the wind takes it. Without a breeze, the smoke from one bonfire can blanket an entire neighborhood.
Living in the middle of a square mile of residential homes, there is someone burning every night when the weather is nice. Usually there are multiple homes burning within a quarter mile radius of us. That is why our air is always smoky and why I have been complaining about it for 5 years now.
North St. Paul was a great place to live in the late 1990s. Back then there were never any bonfires. Yard waste burning was rare as well. We never once had to close our windows because of smoke. That all changed starting in the early 2000s. It grew worse with every year. By 2006 or 2007 the air was smoky every night when the weather was nice with almost no exceptions and yard waste burning which was infrequent became common. It's like living in hell. We dread coming home. Maybe we will get a few hours of fresh air before the smoke starts. Or like last night, it might start before 5 PM and be heavy all night long.
North St. Paul's air quality is not getting any better. Every year there are more of those metal firepits and outdoor furnaces. The burning encourages only more burning. If the air is going to be smoky every night anyway, why not contribute to it?
While most homes do not burn, I have noticed that the burners tend to cluster together. I think some of the burners are burning out of vengeance. One person has a smoky bonfire one night, the next night a neighbor burns yard waste, the next night another neighbor has a smoky bonfire, and so on. It's a cycle of disrespect that leads to decay and tears apart the social fabric of the city.
There are other problems with North St. Paul. Next to the city's nightly smoke pollution, two other problems are the conversion of residential homes into rental properties and a lack of home maintenance. Rundown properties are everywhere you look. It's shocking to see how formerly well-maintained properties are becoming rundown. It's almost like people don't care any more. Being a good neighbor is no longer a consideration people have these days. That is why they don't concern themselves with blasting their neighbors with thick clouds of smoke pollution.
If you live in the city of North St. Paul and are concerned about this city's smoke pollution problem, I strongly suggest you write a letter detailing your concerns and your issues with asthma and send copies to the mayor and each of the idiot city council members. They are the only ones with the power to do something about it. Don't expect much action to be taken. While the mayor did express some sympathy about this city's wood smoke pollution problem back in 2009, the city council has stood strong in its support of burning and the smoke pollution it produces. But it never hurts to have one more person complaining. The only way anything will ever get done is if enough people complain.
But you must also consider the impact that your burning has on those around you, even those living a quarter mile away or more who are breathing the smoke your bonfires produce. Nobody around you – and I mean NOBODY! – wants to breathe your smoke. Nobody would choose to breathe your smoke when they could enjoy fresh air. Nobody closes their windows on beautiful evenings or runs their air conditioner on cool summer nights because they want to. They do it because they cannot stand to breathe the smoke pollution people like you produce. Please remember that.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Another brutal, smoky hell of a night. 14 hours of smoke in the air and counting!
It was another brutal, smoky hell of a night here in North St. Paul, MN. It is 6 AM as I write this and the air is still too smoky to open the windows. One or more of last night's burners left their wood smoldering all night long. This is common for weekends and happens sometimes during the week as well. I can go out for a walk on a Sunday morning and find smoldering bonfires all over without even trying to look for them.
One of the area yard waste burners started burning yard waste before 4 PM. I don't know what time he started, but his burning was going strong at 4 PM. His yard waste smoke came and went with the breeze and was heavy at times, so we could not open the windows. Within an hour or so asshole frequent burner started burning. It's not even 5:30 PM and two homes in the area are producing huge clouds of smoke. The smoke only got heavier as the night went on as bonfires started. By nightfall the smoke pollution was off the charts. The smoke was so heavy you could not stand to breathe the air. With smoke this heavy, you step outside for 30 seconds and your clothes reek of smoke so badly you need to change. A couple minutes of breathing air this polluted leaves your sinuses burning. Your lungs resist your attempts to inhale in an effort to protect your body against the heavy pollution.
It's been 14 hours of nearly constant smoky air as I write this. Maybe in a couple of hours we will be able to open the windows and enjoy a few hours of fresh air before the burning starts again. If we are lucky.
If the air isn't smoky at night, that is unusual in North St. Paul. The smoke pollution isn't limited to our area, it is all over the city. North St. Paul is like a giant campground with bonfires burning all over the place. When you find one smoky area, you will not have to go more than a tenth or two-tenths of a mile to find another home that is burning. Sometimes several homes on a block are burning at the same time.
None of our neighbors burn. The smoke blows in from down the street or burners a quarter mile away or more. The smoke goes wherever the wind takes it. If the smoke is heavy a distance away, how heavy must it be for the poor souls living next door to the burner?
I first started complaining to the city about the smoke pollution in spring of 2008. I have had no contact with anyone from City Hall since fall 2009. The city will not do anything about the heavy pollution that has been plaguing our city for the better part of ten years now.
The smoke isn't the only problem in North St. Paul. The whole city is going to shit. Rundown properties are everywhere you look. You might think the homes are vacant, but they are not. The homeowners just don't care anymore and don't bother to maintain their properties. North St. Paul's schools are not good either. If good schools are important to you, buy a home in another city.
Do you want to live in a city like this? North St. Paul is a horrible place to live. If you buy a home in this city you will regret it! You will curse the day you moved to North St. Paul, MN. Take it from someone who knows. North St. Paul sucks!
North St. Paul is hell on earth. You have been warned.
Update: The wood smoke cleared enough to open the windows at 7:30 AM making fifteen-and-a-half hours we had to keep the windows closed. There was very little breeze this morning when I went for a walk. I found one smoldering bonfire a tenth of a mile to the northeast and another smoldering bonfire a quarter mile due west.
One of the area yard waste burners started burning yard waste before 4 PM. I don't know what time he started, but his burning was going strong at 4 PM. His yard waste smoke came and went with the breeze and was heavy at times, so we could not open the windows. Within an hour or so asshole frequent burner started burning. It's not even 5:30 PM and two homes in the area are producing huge clouds of smoke. The smoke only got heavier as the night went on as bonfires started. By nightfall the smoke pollution was off the charts. The smoke was so heavy you could not stand to breathe the air. With smoke this heavy, you step outside for 30 seconds and your clothes reek of smoke so badly you need to change. A couple minutes of breathing air this polluted leaves your sinuses burning. Your lungs resist your attempts to inhale in an effort to protect your body against the heavy pollution.
It's been 14 hours of nearly constant smoky air as I write this. Maybe in a couple of hours we will be able to open the windows and enjoy a few hours of fresh air before the burning starts again. If we are lucky.
If the air isn't smoky at night, that is unusual in North St. Paul. The smoke pollution isn't limited to our area, it is all over the city. North St. Paul is like a giant campground with bonfires burning all over the place. When you find one smoky area, you will not have to go more than a tenth or two-tenths of a mile to find another home that is burning. Sometimes several homes on a block are burning at the same time.
None of our neighbors burn. The smoke blows in from down the street or burners a quarter mile away or more. The smoke goes wherever the wind takes it. If the smoke is heavy a distance away, how heavy must it be for the poor souls living next door to the burner?
I first started complaining to the city about the smoke pollution in spring of 2008. I have had no contact with anyone from City Hall since fall 2009. The city will not do anything about the heavy pollution that has been plaguing our city for the better part of ten years now.
The smoke isn't the only problem in North St. Paul. The whole city is going to shit. Rundown properties are everywhere you look. You might think the homes are vacant, but they are not. The homeowners just don't care anymore and don't bother to maintain their properties. North St. Paul's schools are not good either. If good schools are important to you, buy a home in another city.
Do you want to live in a city like this? North St. Paul is a horrible place to live. If you buy a home in this city you will regret it! You will curse the day you moved to North St. Paul, MN. Take it from someone who knows. North St. Paul sucks!
North St. Paul is hell on earth. You have been warned.
Update: The wood smoke cleared enough to open the windows at 7:30 AM making fifteen-and-a-half hours we had to keep the windows closed. There was very little breeze this morning when I went for a walk. I found one smoldering bonfire a tenth of a mile to the northeast and another smoldering bonfire a quarter mile due west.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Arrests Made In North St. Paul
Here is a handy tool to find out all the people who have been arrested in the city of North St. Paul, MN. Sometimes we do find people living near us on the bookings list.
North St. Paul Arrests
The website lists the jail bookings for Ramsey County. To limit the search results to those criminals arrested for crimes in North St. Paul, select "North St Paul" from the box at the bottom that says "Search by arrest city". The arrested's name, date of birth, city of residence, and booking charge are listed for arrests made by the North St. Paul Police Department only. It looks like most of the people arrested in North St. Paul do not live here.
I was disappointed to see seven people arrested for prostitution on May 16, 2012. All seven people were arrested at an apartment building located at 2061 McKnight Rd., North St. Paul, MN. I suspect that a prostitution ring was being run out of the apartment. Four or five of the arrested were female, likely the hookers. Two men were arrested, likely the pimps. I cannot determine a gender based on the name of one of the arrested. All the suspects on the booking list are over the age of 18. If any juveniles were arrested their names would not be available to the public.
North St. Paul Arrests
The website lists the jail bookings for Ramsey County. To limit the search results to those criminals arrested for crimes in North St. Paul, select "North St Paul" from the box at the bottom that says "Search by arrest city". The arrested's name, date of birth, city of residence, and booking charge are listed for arrests made by the North St. Paul Police Department only. It looks like most of the people arrested in North St. Paul do not live here.
I was disappointed to see seven people arrested for prostitution on May 16, 2012. All seven people were arrested at an apartment building located at 2061 McKnight Rd., North St. Paul, MN. I suspect that a prostitution ring was being run out of the apartment. Four or five of the arrested were female, likely the hookers. Two men were arrested, likely the pimps. I cannot determine a gender based on the name of one of the arrested. All the suspects on the booking list are over the age of 18. If any juveniles were arrested their names would not be available to the public.
Crime Reports Map
I found a handy website that lists locations and categories of crime reports. As of this writing, North St. Paul is not among the cities represented. Maplewood and White Bear Lake are. As Maplewood envelopes the city of North St. Paul on three sides, it is informative to know what is going on around us. If neighboring cities are included on the crime reports website, it may only be a matter of time until North St. Paul's crime reports are included. I hope the North St. Paul Police Department will make the data available.
You must have Flash enabled to view the website.
Crime Reports Map
You must have Flash enabled to view the website.
Crime Reports Map
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Updates coming with a new direction for the blog
It's another brutal night of heavy wood smoke pollution in North St. Paul. It is almost 4:30 AM as I write this and the air is so smoky there will be no chance of opening the windows for hours. Again we are forced to live as prisoners in our own home. After a long heat wave, temperatures have dropped to a point where the windows can be opened again. As always in North St. Paul, MN, when the weather is nice the air is too smoky to breathe. North St. Paul is hell on earth.
Maybe the air will be clear enough by 6 or 7 AM to finally open the windows and get some fresh air in the house. Maybe the bonfires will smolder until long after sunrise. Maybe we will get 10 or 12 hours of fresh air before the burning starts again. Maybe we will not.
It's been two months since my last update. With this summer's above normal temperatures there has been much less burning than normal. High heat and humidity is not only a deterrent for bonfire burners, but for yard waste burners as well. When this blog is not updated regularly, my readership drops. The visitors that drop the most are from search engines like Google and Yahoo. I want more people reading about this shitty city, not less. So after years of deliberation I have decided to expand the scope of this blog.
The reason this blog was started in spring 2008 was to serve as a public document of the heavy wood smoke pollution we endure. I honestly thought the stupid assholes who run this city (Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong) would do something about it. I was wrong. My intent was never to bash the city of North St. Paul or the stupid assholes on the city council. I just wanted people to know the daily hell we experience as residents of this once nice city, especially prospective home buyers who will have no idea what they are getting into. Would you want to invest $150,000 or more in a home and breathe smoky air every evening?
The wood smoke problem isn't limited to our neck of the woods (as some emailers try to tell me). It is all over the city. I can go for a ride on a Friday or Saturday evening and find patches of wood smoke all over the place, in the northern section of the city where we live and in the southern portion of the city, and when I find one smoky area I can find another within a block or two.
North St. Paul was once a wonderful place to live. As recently as the late 1990s or very early 2000s, North St. Paul was nice. Then the wood smoke pollution started. Then by 2005 or 2006 it became nearly an every day thing. As the bonfire burning picked up, the yard waste burning gained in popularity as well.
North St. Paul is going to hell rapidly. The nightly wood smoke pollution is just a symptom of a greater underlying disease. Parks are neglected. Streets look terrible with patches of asphalt filling potholes. Properties are not being maintained. Residential homes are turning into rentals. There is no respect for one's neighbors (as the wood burners demonstrate) and very few homeowners are taking pride in their properties these days.
On my walks this summer and last, I was astounded by how many homes and yards are not being maintained. Driveways crumbling and sagging into the soil. Homes and garages in dire need of a fresh coat of paint, with the existing paint peeling off all over. Vandalized mailboxes not being repaired or replaced. On some blocks there are few homes with nice yards, with most of the yards consisting entirely of crabgrass.
I have passed by homes that at one time had nice yards. I have seen the decorative plantings that have been allowed to grow wild and have become infiltrated with weeds. I've seen yards with hardly a trace of normal grass, that are filled with crabgrass, weeds, dandelions, and clover. On some blocks, a majority of properties are like this. There is a block on 2nd St. N. between 17th Ave. and 19th Ave. that has only one home on it that I would call well maintained. That entire block is an eyesore.
There is a house over by Poplar/Swan that once was a stately home. I would not go so far as to call it a mansion, but it may be the most expensive home in the city. It, too, is falling into disrepair. I cannot think of the type of homeowner who would spend almost $1 million to buy a property and not perform necessary maintenance to keep the property looking nice. The driveway is all cracked up. The pickets on the fence are damaged with peeling paint. The shrubbery growing behind the fence looks like it is both growing wild and dying. The grass looks terrible. You would think that a homeowner who pays more than $11,000 a year in property tax would spend a little money to keep the property maintained. Not in North St. Paul.
So I have decided to expand the scope of this blog to include documentation of the decay taking place all around. I'm not interested in becoming a City Hall watchdog. To be frank, I couldn't stomach researching the stupidity that has come out of City Hall the past few years. When the city leadership should be working on the issues harming our quality of life like the nightly wood smoke pollution, our city leaders have been concocting schemes to spend money this city does not have. First there was the fiber optic internet system in 2009 that was estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $20 million. Had that system been installed and failed, it could have bankrupted the city. Then last year we had the crazy scheme from our city leaders to spend millions of dollars to make streets narrower and to put in drainage ditch rain gardens and sidewalks where they are neither needed nor wanted. Both of these schemes were met with resounding opposition from the citizens of North St. Paul and the plans were abandoned.
I am going to focus on things that make North St. Paul a horrible place to live. I will continue to document the nightly wood smoke pollution. But I intended to do more like publish photographs of the big clouds of smoke produced by bonfire and yard waste burners. Pictures of yards carpeted with weeds, retaining walls bulging, rundown homes, and things like that. Next time I see a living room chair dumped in a city park like I did last fall, I hope I have a camera with me.
Anybody considering buying real estate in North St. Paul should be aware of the rapid decline of the city. North St. Paul is not going to get any better. It is only going to get worse. Buyer beware.
Maybe the air will be clear enough by 6 or 7 AM to finally open the windows and get some fresh air in the house. Maybe the bonfires will smolder until long after sunrise. Maybe we will get 10 or 12 hours of fresh air before the burning starts again. Maybe we will not.
It's been two months since my last update. With this summer's above normal temperatures there has been much less burning than normal. High heat and humidity is not only a deterrent for bonfire burners, but for yard waste burners as well. When this blog is not updated regularly, my readership drops. The visitors that drop the most are from search engines like Google and Yahoo. I want more people reading about this shitty city, not less. So after years of deliberation I have decided to expand the scope of this blog.
The reason this blog was started in spring 2008 was to serve as a public document of the heavy wood smoke pollution we endure. I honestly thought the stupid assholes who run this city (Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong) would do something about it. I was wrong. My intent was never to bash the city of North St. Paul or the stupid assholes on the city council. I just wanted people to know the daily hell we experience as residents of this once nice city, especially prospective home buyers who will have no idea what they are getting into. Would you want to invest $150,000 or more in a home and breathe smoky air every evening?
The wood smoke problem isn't limited to our neck of the woods (as some emailers try to tell me). It is all over the city. I can go for a ride on a Friday or Saturday evening and find patches of wood smoke all over the place, in the northern section of the city where we live and in the southern portion of the city, and when I find one smoky area I can find another within a block or two.
North St. Paul was once a wonderful place to live. As recently as the late 1990s or very early 2000s, North St. Paul was nice. Then the wood smoke pollution started. Then by 2005 or 2006 it became nearly an every day thing. As the bonfire burning picked up, the yard waste burning gained in popularity as well.
North St. Paul is going to hell rapidly. The nightly wood smoke pollution is just a symptom of a greater underlying disease. Parks are neglected. Streets look terrible with patches of asphalt filling potholes. Properties are not being maintained. Residential homes are turning into rentals. There is no respect for one's neighbors (as the wood burners demonstrate) and very few homeowners are taking pride in their properties these days.
On my walks this summer and last, I was astounded by how many homes and yards are not being maintained. Driveways crumbling and sagging into the soil. Homes and garages in dire need of a fresh coat of paint, with the existing paint peeling off all over. Vandalized mailboxes not being repaired or replaced. On some blocks there are few homes with nice yards, with most of the yards consisting entirely of crabgrass.
I have passed by homes that at one time had nice yards. I have seen the decorative plantings that have been allowed to grow wild and have become infiltrated with weeds. I've seen yards with hardly a trace of normal grass, that are filled with crabgrass, weeds, dandelions, and clover. On some blocks, a majority of properties are like this. There is a block on 2nd St. N. between 17th Ave. and 19th Ave. that has only one home on it that I would call well maintained. That entire block is an eyesore.
There is a house over by Poplar/Swan that once was a stately home. I would not go so far as to call it a mansion, but it may be the most expensive home in the city. It, too, is falling into disrepair. I cannot think of the type of homeowner who would spend almost $1 million to buy a property and not perform necessary maintenance to keep the property looking nice. The driveway is all cracked up. The pickets on the fence are damaged with peeling paint. The shrubbery growing behind the fence looks like it is both growing wild and dying. The grass looks terrible. You would think that a homeowner who pays more than $11,000 a year in property tax would spend a little money to keep the property maintained. Not in North St. Paul.
So I have decided to expand the scope of this blog to include documentation of the decay taking place all around. I'm not interested in becoming a City Hall watchdog. To be frank, I couldn't stomach researching the stupidity that has come out of City Hall the past few years. When the city leadership should be working on the issues harming our quality of life like the nightly wood smoke pollution, our city leaders have been concocting schemes to spend money this city does not have. First there was the fiber optic internet system in 2009 that was estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $20 million. Had that system been installed and failed, it could have bankrupted the city. Then last year we had the crazy scheme from our city leaders to spend millions of dollars to make streets narrower and to put in drainage ditch rain gardens and sidewalks where they are neither needed nor wanted. Both of these schemes were met with resounding opposition from the citizens of North St. Paul and the plans were abandoned.
I am going to focus on things that make North St. Paul a horrible place to live. I will continue to document the nightly wood smoke pollution. But I intended to do more like publish photographs of the big clouds of smoke produced by bonfire and yard waste burners. Pictures of yards carpeted with weeds, retaining walls bulging, rundown homes, and things like that. Next time I see a living room chair dumped in a city park like I did last fall, I hope I have a camera with me.
Anybody considering buying real estate in North St. Paul should be aware of the rapid decline of the city. North St. Paul is not going to get any better. It is only going to get worse. Buyer beware.
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