Very OT - Moving to Minneapolis
I have now graduated from M, and my work is taking me to Minneapolis. However, I have no idea where I should live or even start to look.
For any MgoMinneapolitans out there, where should I look? I'd like to live in the city but don't really know the nieghborhoods. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks and Go Blue!
if by December you meant November, Dec, Jan, Feb, March & April, then yes.
I just took an internship in Minneapolis for the summer and got here not too long ago. Having not spent any free time here before, I don't know much (yet). I will say it seems like many people in their 20s live in Uptown, so that's a good place to start.
I second the Uptown recommendation. I have lived here for a few years now (currently have a house in a suburb). Also, there are a lot of young people living on and near Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Like Uptown, that Grand area has a lot of restaurants and bars. Another nice place is the Warehouse District, which has a wide selection of condos and townhomes, if you are buying, though you can also find units to rent. Oh, and as for Uptown, you can also look at apartment units near Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. Those are very nice areas with great "scenery"
Uptown is definetly a good area for young people, as mentioned above. South Minneapolis in general is a good area to be in. Northeast is also a pretty cool neighborhood.
Eden Prarie how can you go wrong? Money Magazine ranked Eden Prarie MN (a suburb of Minneapolis) the #1 greatest city in America to live.
If you are upper-middle class with a wife and two kids, maybe. Not so much if you are a, presumably, single, recent college grad.
I've lived in Minneapolis for two years now as a grad student at "the other U of M." I live in south Minneapolis, which isn't super nice but not bad either, and rather cheap. I like that I can ride the light rail from my house to downtown, the airport, and the mall of America. Uptown is nice for going out to bars and restaurants, but full of hipsters as well. Dinkytown has lots of undergrads (read: Greek system) but also good food and decent bars, close to campus. Northeas is fairly near downtown, has good bars, and a nice art discrict too. North Minneapolis and midtown tend to have poorer neighborhoods, but midtown has some of the best ethnic food, especially Latin American. Eden prairie is kind of a rich white snooty suburb in my experience, but certainly nice enough... Hope this helps.
Hi! One of my friends lived there and says to check out Burnsville!
I have a few friends that live in Blaine which is basically the cities. it's not a bad place at all.
Is 20 minutes outside the cities if you don't get caught in traffic. If you want suburbs go Roseville.
Nah. I go to school in Mankato, so living in the cities just wouldn't do it.
Born and raised in Ann Arbor, moved to Minneapolis for grad school 13 years ago (wow...time flies) and have lived in many different neighborhoods. I agree with general consensus that Uptown would be your first bet. It used to be hippie, but now is gentrified with bars and restaurants. It is very close to a few nice lakes within the city where you can jog and people watch. Uptown is a few miles south of downtown. Northeast Minneapolis is now more of the place for hipsters, lots of old school corner bars and a fledgling arts scene. I don't think too many people actually live in Downtown but if you have a job there, that would be another good option. The Grand avenue area near St. Paul is another nice place for 20-somethings. A little more laid back in St. Paul, also a good vibe from a variety of liberal arts colleges (Macalaster, Hamline, etc.). Unless you want to be near your job and want to buy a house with a yard, I wouldn't recommend anywhere outside of Minneapolis or St. Paul. A few suburbs are nice (Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Woodbury) but basically for old men (like me) with families.
I think Minneapolis is a great town. Restaurant and culture scene are thriving - great food here. Lakes are great in the summer and lots of skiing and hockey in the winter. I think it's hilarious when people from Michigan make any comment about the weather in Minnesota like there's a difference. Minneapolis is considerably sunnier and about 10 degrees colder than Michigan during winter. It also gets less snow. I for one would rather have a bunch of winter sun with highs from 15-25 than 4 months of clouds and lots more slush/ice.
I think it's hilarious when people from Michigan make any comment about the weather in Minnesota like there's a difference. Minneapolis is considerably sunnier and about 10 degrees colder than Michigan during winter. It also gets less snow.
What part of Michigan are you comparing it to? Southeast Michigan does not get more snow than Minneapolis. Detroit gets a full foot less. The 10-degree difference is about accurate. Personally, when it gets below 20 degrees, I can't stand it, no matter what I'm wearing. Above that, I can get by. There are a lot more days below that threshold in Minneapolis than here. It is a little sunnier, but that doesn't compensate IMO for stepping out of your car and getting blasted by the horrible chill.
that you will find in the Twin Cities that you don't ever find here in A2 is a string of days where the "high" temperature (new definition) doesn't climb above 0. In my ten years there, the longest such streak was about 96 hours or so, which was a stunning experience that left my vehicle unusable (had to park outside).
Having said that, some people never really venture out into the cold, moving from their heated garage to their heated parking structure (aka "ramp") to the heated skyways. Winter can certainly be long, but there's a ton of activities that make it more than bearable, unless you just can't bear it.
Fair point. Looks like Minneapolis snowfall is 45-50" while Detroit is 41" and Grand Rapids/ Kzoo are around 70". Average temps in winter are colder but it is sunnier. I really wasn't trying to start something, just remembering all the conversations with friends/family when I am back in A2 about how "cold and snowy it is in Minnesota" when it's all basically the same thing - a long winter. I guess living in Minneapolis for this long has affected me - defensive about the city's merit and talking too long about the weather!
wait nevermind no theres not
wait nevermind no theres not
Good place in general. About as close to the city of minneapolis as you can get without being "in" the city. Got my drink on there myself last night. And I am 2 blocks from the metrodome.
I'd concur with most on this thread that Uptown is the way to go for recent grads if you want to stay in Minneapolis. There are multiple bars for every type of scene-- you really can't go wrong.
Hopefully you have a chance to come check out where you're going to be living befor you move. A lot of places that are listed as Uptown are definitely not in Uptown...If it's cheap, it's not Uptown.
We moved here from Ann Arbor in 88 after being born and raised in MI.
Very great place to live. I think you will be happy here.
I agree with a lot that psonda wrote.
I would focus a search on Uptown or if you can afford it, new condos, lofts, etc. that have been built along the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis.
The con of Uptown is that you usually don't get an indoor parking space and you have to move your car around constantly during our snow emergencies. I'd try to look at places in Mpls where you have a garage spot below the building. You'd be within walking distance to Target field and lots and lots of great bars and restaurants and the Guthrie Theatre. You would also be near the light rail line where you could easily get to the airport.
I personally would not do North Minneapolis, but as someone mentioned above it is an up and coming area in some part, but be very careful if you go that direction. Stay South Mpls, Uptown or downtown.
The Mac-Groveland area of St. Paul is nice, as are many places near Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Mac-Groveland would be more residential and you'd need a car - our transportation system is not that great here. Grand Ave, depending on the area, has tons of great bars and restaurants.
The ring suburbs (Blaine, Roseville, Burnsville) are for young families and restaurant chains, don't do that now.
We live in Minnetonka but we're 50 with 2 kids. If I were your age, I'd head right for Uptown where it's the really happening place or downtown Mpls with a condo on the river. Lyn-Lake is a fun area as well but I'm not sure of the housing situation there.
I love Minneapolis. There are multiple nice neighborhoods through out St. Paul and Minneapolis, and I would spend time driving and walking around. Uptown is great, but there are othe nice neighborhoods.
If you have a family, suburbs like Eagan, Eden Prarie, Blaine are all great.
I have a house for sale/rent in Southwest Minny between 50th & France and Lake Harriet depending on your age and need...you'll love Minneapolis...
I do have a house for sale/rent for real though if you're interested and would hook up a fellow Mgoblogger!
you mean living in Minneapolis, then it's going to depend on what kind of money you have to spend; whether or not you are going to rent or buy; and what kind of meighborhood you are looking at.
As noted by many, the Uptown area is quite hip, has a good selection of places to eat/drink and is close to downtown (although Minneapolis is a fairly accessible city if you're not out in the 'burbs). The Lakes are, of course, wonderful places, but generally expensive.
I would recommend looking into the area south of Lake, west of I-94, and east of the lakes - something around Nicollet and 35th or so. This is part of South Minneapolis without the crime, and is a fairly affordable part of town. Some other areas west of Dinkytown are decent, with a mix of students and families. You can also check out the River Road area north and south of Lake Street - convenient to St. Paul and Minneapolis.
As for the 'burbs - stay away, unless you like spending long hours in your car or riding your bicycle into town.
Good luck, and have fun. Will you be able to pick up BTN there?
Somehow the Gophers are still members of the conference.
BTN is basic in every state in the B1G footprint.
On another note, this got me thinking about the B1G cities I would like to live in, and I think Minneapolis might be fourth, behind, in this order, Evanston, A2 and Bloomington. I've only spent a very small amount of time there, but it seemed like a pretty alright place.
First, thanks for everyone's help. It has certainly helped me in getting an apartment search going.
Second, there seem to be a lot of available units in the stevens square and loring park neighborhoods. Anyone have info on these specific neighborhoods?
Thanks.
I'd be somewhat weary about the Stevens Square neighborhood. I don't think the neighborhood itself is that bad, but things are pretty bad along Franklin on the other side of 35W, and I don't know to what extent that bleeds over. I'd avoid pretty much all of South Minneapolis that's east of 35W.
I haven't heard much either way about Loring Park, but I get the impression that it's a relatively nice area.
Whittier is the name of another neighborhood that's kind of inbetween Uptown and Downtown that you might want to consider.
Lastly, public transportation is pretty good here, so you might want to pay attention to where buslines are if commuting to work that way is a possibility. www.metrotransit.org
Loring Park is nice, short walk to the bars/restaurants and downtown...also some seedier sorts in the area, but overall very nice. 110 W. Grant is always full of the young ladies who work at Target HQ, and there's a pool there. Very nice in the summertime if you're into that kind of thing...
These are basically two parts of the same neighborhood; they are separated by I-94. The Loring Park area is almost downtown, fairly close to the lakes, has excellent trail connections for bicycling/in-line skating, has the Walker (cherry on the spoon thing) and not far from the Institute of Art.
Stevens Square is probably a bit more diverse, perhaps higher crime levels, not quite as leafy , but less expensive. It's a quick shot to what's known as "Eat Street," the area around Nicollet and Franklin that has a an intense concentration of ethnic restaurants. Both sections of the neighborhood are pretty close to Uptown, but I always felt like Stevens Square was a bit more hemmed in, perhaps because of the freeway. It's certainly a more recent re-development that has some attractive residences.
Either way, you're going high urban with all the positives and negatives that that implies.
Congrats on graudating.
I lived in Minneapolis for a few years, and of the many many places I've lived, Minneapolis is my favorite. I'm kind of jealous of you, I've wanted to move back to Mpls for a while. Sounds like you have some ideas as to where to live already. Good luck
Same here. I have live in Minneapolis for 2 years and moved to LA and now I'm here in the Philippines with my wife and 2 children. We are planning tovisit the place where I've spent my college days maybe next year.