House District 61B

100% urban. South-central Minneapolis including Bryant, Central, Powderhorn Park, Regina, Field and Whittier. These are moderate- and low-income neighborhoods with very diverse populations, including an increasingly large Latino community, and new immigrants from Africa, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. The district has an older housing stock that is being redeveloped. Strong neighborhood groups and social organizations continue to tackle urban challenges - affordable housing, senior health care, school issues and airport noise. Prostitution has recently become a problem along Lake Street, sparking vocal neighborhood concern and driving Powderhorn's Midtown Community Restorative Justice program for rehabilitating and reintegrating chemically dependent offenders. The district has strong non-profit community groups like the Sabathani Community Center and an active gay and lesbian community. Powderhorn's annual Festival of the Arts and May Day parade and celebration are popular neighborhood events and centers of less commercialized art and activism. Politically, the district is DFL-dominated. DFL activists come from the district's large communities of color, the gay and lesbian community and some labor. Green Party voters, environmental and social activists are also active here. The district has traditionally had low voter turnout, although voter turnout increased dramatically in 2004.