Star Tribune:  "Fewer Minnesotans upside down than elsewhere in the nation."

Pioneer Press:  "State has high rate of underwater home loans."

Ice dams are caused when snow on the roof melts and then refreezes when it reaches the overhangs.  It can be caused by warm sunny days followed by cold freezing nights.  Or it can be caused by a warm attic, which causes a warm roof, which...you get the picture.  That melted snow reaches the overhang where there is no attic below it, and then refreezes.  That ice creates a dam that keeps new melt from reaching the edge.  It sits behind the dam and can eventually find it's way into my kitchen.  Roofs aren't meant to be submerged.  They need the help of gravity to shed water.

I don't know if there is really a way to completely avoid them in this Minnesota climate, and it certainly doesn't help to live in a 90-year-old house.  But here are some tips to help avoid them:

1.  Seal your attic from the house.  If your attic hatch isn't caulked shut...well caulk it shut! 

2.  Add some insulation to your attic to reduce heat loss from your warm house to your cold attic. 

3.  While you're up there, seal over any light fixtures.  They can not only be a source of heat, but an access point for heat loss from the rest of the house.

4.  Look for other "attic bypasses" that might be leaking hot hair air from the house.  Around the chimney or duct work is another common place to find them.

4.  Ventilate your attic.  Attics should be cold in the winter.  When you have a new roof installed, make sure the contractors follow guidelines for proper ventilation.  Especially on old homes, they tend to ignore the problem of adding soffit vents on antique homes.

5.  Remove the fuel.  Removing snow from your roof will eliminate one of the necessary ingredients for making ice dams.  A roof rake is a useful tool for getting snow off of hard to reach roofs.  A long roof rake is a better idea than getting up on a ladder in icy snowy conditions.  BE CAREFUL!  Keep in mind that using the roof rake can damage your shingles and take years off the life of your roof.

http://www.nokomiseast.org/hood-main.html#urban

My husband and I recently finished a serious landscape project in our backyard. The finishing touch was to place an Easter Island type head in our back yard. We call him Fred Head. Fred found a home in our backyard...primarily because we haven't tackled landscaping the front yard...yet. 

I've captured some of the yard art in Nokomis below. But this mini project got me thinking...I bet there's even BETTER stuff in your backyards! I didn't dare go schlepping through back yards in the neighborhood for fear of being accused of "casing" your homes. Please, send me you pictures of what you've done to make your yard your own! We'll post them here!

Posted by Lisa Dunn, Edina Realty

The pool features a zero-entrance beach like boarder that allows for the smallest of toddlers to experiment with splashing in the water.  The center of the pool has a large structure pumping out water falls, and there are two other areas with water jetting up several feet in the air.  Word is that Hiawatha's wading pool is going under a similar transformation.

http://seasalteatery.wordpress.com/

There is a ribbon cutting today at 3:00 near the deer to celebrate the 6 different found object art sculptures around the lake. 

I know the artist called this "Recycled Deer." I think he needs a name. Rusty? Clank? What do you think?

Sculptures are available for purchase, contact Diane Moe, Public Art Administrator Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board 612-370-4925 dmoe@minneapolisparks.org

Posted by Lisa Dunn

I've been named the forum manager for the Nokomis East forum, and that means it's my job to recruit the charter members. The forum will formally open in the coming weeks, once we recriut the first 100 members.

Become a charter member! Sign up to join in the conversation here: http://e-democracy.org/nokomiseast

Pass this on to your friends and neighbors. The Longfellow Neighborhood just launched their forum, and the Standish Ericsson neighborhood has over 500 members. If they can, we can!

If you're a Minneapolis Resident, but not in Nokomis East, there may be a neighborhood forum for your neighborhood.  You'll find related forums here too!

Posted by Lisa Dunn

The Nokomis neighborhood has seen a 49% increase in the number of new listings and a 14% increase in the number of closed sales. These homes are averaging 96 days on the market, down from 116 last year, with an increased median sales price of $198,000, up from $175,000 last year.

Longfellow has also climbed in the number of new listings but at a much slower rate than Nokomis with only a 19% increase and a slight drop in the number of closed sales by 2%.  Median sales prices rose to $165,000 from $156,500, with an average of 83 days on the market, a 21% decrease from last year.