Coon Rapids Could Get Name Change

Johnny wrote:

Either way, Coon Rapids and Ham Lake are UGLY names. Especially compared to Woodbury, Eden Praire or Apple Valley. Those names just conjure up images of serenity. While Coon and Ham sound like... NASCAR trailer parks. Ha!
I live in Blaine and people always make fun of Coooooon Rapids! We think your name stinks! Even Podunk, Mudville or Dipstick MN would be better. I say change it!

Who gives a crap what you think about another towns name!! BTW,,, I live in BLAINE!!

good

a person must have way too much time on their hands if that's all they have to worry and think about is the name of a city. I never really sat and thought about how ugly a citys name is
have a good day

Coon Rapids--what a joke.

I live in blaine but i think that they shouldnt really be working to change the name of the city there are better things to worry about than the name of the city!

Marie wrote:

Coon Rapids--what a joke.

Let me guess:

you're related to Mike?

Kate wrote:

I think this is a perposterous idea! I think that Riverview is horrible alternative, it is the name a waterpark! Most people within MN know that Coon Rapids is a big suburb open and tolerant of new ideas. I do not think that "political correctness" needs to be extended to a city name. All the city signs and addresses of the 61K people would need to be changed as well. It would be very time consuming, ineffective and confusing a process to undertake. I do not think that it would be economically sound, when weighing the pro's against the con's. Just keep it the way it is! And isn't there something more beneficial for the city to undertake than changing the name of it? I think the councilmembers should be tackling tangible problems and spend that time wisely!!!

To right this you are obviously white and have never experienced racism or realize what the name could represent to those of another race in this world! Changing the name would also be a part of history and frankly alot more change needs to be done in that city. I think you should check your facts. Racism still happens and black people are portrayed as the coons thus the reason for the change. Blacks are treated very poorly in this city and maybe many others but at least the other cities dont show their racism in a name! Keep in mind that Coon Rapids has a 1% population of Blacks for a reason. My boyfriend is one of them and I have seen all of the hate that has been brought against them in that neighborhood because of their color! It is not right. Along with a new name they need a new police department that doesnt have as many crooked racist officers!

Jen wrote:

<quoted text>
To right this you are obviously white and have never experienced racism or realize what the name could represent to those of another race in this world! Changing the name would also be a part of history and frankly alot more change needs to be done in that city. I think you should check your facts. Racism still happens and black people are portrayed as the coons thus the reason for the change. Blacks are treated very poorly in this city and maybe many others but at least the other cities dont show their racism in a name! Keep in mind that Coon Rapids has a 1% population of Blacks for a reason. My boyfriend is one of them and I have seen all of the hate that has been brought against them in that neighborhood because of their color! It is not right. Along with a new name they need a new police department that doesnt have as many crooked racist officers!

Give me a break.

If anybody was smart they would know coon rapids is named such because coons use to play in the rapids in coon creek and the mississippi. Look it up. Come on people. A name change is outrageous.

I'm a resident of Coon Rapids, white, and had no idea that "coon" was a racist comment regarding someone who is black. Still, I've never thought the name Coon Rapids was a particularily great name for a city (sounds kind of hill-billy-ish) and think Riverview has a nice clean sound to it. I'd be open to it, but would like to know what it might cost the city to do it considering all of the references of the current name.

Good Lord people!!! Coon Rapids is Coon Rapids, period the end. Why change it now? It has NOTHING to do with race! Who cares anyway? It's just a name. It's the people who make it what it is. If you have problems in your town, then spend the money working on them instead of a stupid name change. I'm from Elk River, and believe me, we have plenty of problems too. Maybe we should change our name.

Riverview? No thanks. That has a faceless, sterile and generic sounding ring to it.

None this matters, this has been a dead issue for a while now as Sidoti backed off from this quite a while ago after getting zero support. He was sorry that he even brought this up. If you don't believe me, ask him sometime. The name is not changing.

Mr.Soditi is obviously of color and and doesn't like the word Coon. Who else would push for something like this other than people of "ethnic diversity"! When is this garbage gonna stop? When they get everything they want their way? Just something to whine about, why not try to get a job or something rather than cry about the name of the city they live in. I'm tired of hearin' about stupid matters!

To Jen who's boyfriend is of color. Sorry to hear your negative attitudes towards Coon Rapids and their police dept. You are obviously young and somewhat ignorant to think that your boyfriend is being racially profiled or treated unequal. Maybe you two should move somewhere else. Like Minneapolis where the percentage of blacks is higher then he'll just blend in. Nobody feels sorry for any of you cry babies just gives me fuel to write this comment, so if you want to keep whining great but nobody cares.
Keep up the good work Coon Rapids Police!

I've lived in Coon Rapids for a long time, I call it my hometown and I feel no need to change the name. Yes there are a lot of Blacks living here now, but i've asked a few people on this topic and half of them dont even know what "COON" means lol. But the name has to do with RACOONS not Black people. But when people see the COON they probably think of the large population of Blacks, and then continue to think that Coon Rapids is a terrible city. I would like though to see the city be a bit nicer, through the years it has gotten very urban. But anyway the only people who make it seem like a bad name are the people who obsess over it.

I agree with most everyone here, Roni Nordeen I also agree there should be less obsession on changing the name of "COON RAPIDS", and more to do with the city's crime rate, and other problems. But also for someone who claims to have lived in Coon Rapids for 13 years, I think it is ignorant to say the police do nothing to stop the high crime rate. All the cities i've ever lived in I never would see police cars, but when I moved here for a cheaper house, I heard police sirens constantly, and i'm always seeing police cars. So obviously they have to be trying to do something about the very high crime rate. But to everyone else the name "COON RAPIDS" has nothing to do with the large population of Blacks living hear. If you look on Google it used to be called Coon Creek Rapids for all the racoons (COONS). The name may make people think it's a terrible city, but Coon Rapids wasn't always the way it is today. It used to be much more suburban, but in the last 5 years more lower income apartments popped up, and the houses are mainly of lower middle class, plus it's less then 10 miles from Minneapolis, which makes it a more urban city.

To those of you who think Coon Rapids became a bad city once the low income apartments popped up across the street from Coon Rapids Middle School. I would disagree with that. First of all those apartments were built in the 80's, and back then Coon Rapids wasn't ghetto. In my opinion ever since 2001 the crime rate went up, because the city was getting larger, and there were already a lot of low income housing before that. Plus like the last person said it is less then 10 miles from Minneapolis. But the name has to do with racoons. And to all the blacks who live in Coon Rapids, figure that out. Because I would bet in a city that isn't very diverse that was named Coon Rapids it would never get so much negative feedback. It's because already Coon Rapids isn't the nicest city, and has a lot of blacks living there. So in my opinion thats the only reason people would think it is racist.

Its kinda funny, I moved here from Chicago in 2002 and when I was looking for a home I found Coon Rapids. Okay I did kinda giggle for a seconds just thinking of the things people would say when I moved here but, to be honest I've never heard anybody called a "coon". And even if they changed the name would the town be any better? Take that money you would spend and help out the homeowners!

When I used to live ther people would snicker and say "Oh so your from N---er Falls." I still do not think they should change the name of the city. There is a town of "White" should we change that name too? It is bad enough that Grand Rapids Highschool had to change from being the Indians to the Thunderhawks and SquawLake to Eagleview, please not Coon Rapids too.