They hide a lot of things.  As lake street gets its face lift, the illegal activity gets pushed to different areas of town and back into the shadows.

When I spent a lot of time working in the city I would hear common neighborhood chatter of where the problem areas were.  I drove through on Lake street a couple months ago and was surprise at the new look.

I am sure LE is patting their backs saying that they are curbing the things that happen in the shadows, but as shadows move so does the crime.

I am sure if you look around you can find everything that used to be on Lake street in another part of town not far away!

Probably as simple as stopping at a local store where people hang out to gossip.  They will be in there complaining as to where the new problem areas are.

As for the place for a good burger or pizza,  Go to Lake and Hennepin area, some very nice places to eat.  If you like to eat and run(to the restroom that is) there is a McDonalds and Taco Bell at Lake and 35 amd a White Castle a little bit west about 10-12 blocks! lol

In the end... live on the edge with a roll of TP in one hand and a few bucks in the other, when done hit the restroom and showers and possibly a clinic to be safe!

Like TER, AM or SB working the streets is just about doing your homework and being safe!

The same goes for Saint Paul except that it has not done a lot of new construction of the problems areas so its crime is still pretty much in the same areas.  Frogtown, midway and behind the scenes and much heavier in the Somalian and eastern European neighborhoods.  I would tread very lightly in those areas!