Confused about Duluth. (Minneapolis, Cloquet, Hermantown: low income, appointed, rentals)

[wallstreet1986]

I vouch for motel 6. Cheap, nice rooms, safe. Decent place to stay and easy expressway access. It was around 30 dollars/night yeah.

[Eurogal]

Are you talking about the Motel 6 across the sewage treatment plant???Pwwwuuu...
Doesn't exactly reflect a good night in a good place. It stinks terribly and it is in the industrial kinda desolated part of Duluth...
If you're looking for cheap rates, there is a Best Western downtown. Ok, ok, looks rather crappy from outside but actually the inside is ok. The only thing is the noise in the hallway: the ice machine or people passing nearby. The rates are about 55 bucks in the weekdays and 70 something during the w-e. We had booked through hotwire.com, so the average was like 66 bucks/night. And there is breakfast included.

[darstar]

I pity anyone coming from ND, to somewhere else, it won't be anywhere the same. ND has the best health per capata, clean, almost no crime,.......for that part , almost no people ! Thats when things start going wrong, get a lot of people together, and , you got problems. Ethnic mix, haves and have nots, it all spells trouble. I know , I grew up on a farm in Iowa........I was not ready for the real world, when I got off the bus in Chicago. It was tough, but I stuck it out, and , am better for it today......give it a try, you can not live in a wheatfield forever.....or maybe you can,...but it would be boring !

[snowblind9]

Why the *%&# are the housing prices so high? It would make sense if the population is declining and not loads of new housing going on that housing would be reasonable. Here in Bismarck I can build a new home for around $150000. Or buy a decent used one for that area. Everything I see out in the duluth area for $150000 is a modular home with some land or some old dump.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by snowblind9

Why the *%&# are the housing prices so high? It would make sense if the population is declining and not loads of new housing going on that housing would be reasonable. Here in Bismarck I can build a new home for around $150000. Or buy a decent used one for that area. Everything I see out in the duluth area for $150000 is a modular home with some land or some old dump.

You are not in Bismarck anymore Dorothy....! Like I said before, ND is a special place. Duluth has a more industrial infrastructure, than farming, and , that tends to raze prices for homes, and other necessities of life. Its another world...

[sebthered]

I spent a fortnight in Duluth one weekend

[wallstreet1986]

Originally Posted by Eurogal

Are you talking about the Motel 6 across the sewage treatment plant???Pwwwuuu...
Doesn't exactly reflect a good night in a good place. It stinks terribly and it is in the industrial kinda desolated part of Duluth...
If you're looking for cheap rates, there is a Best Western downtown. Ok, ok, looks rather crappy from outside but actually the inside is ok. The only thing is the noise in the hallway: the ice machine or people passing nearby. The rates are about 55 bucks in the weekdays and 70 something during the w-e. We had booked through hotwire.com, so the average was like 66 bucks/night. And there is breakfast included.

Yes I'm talking about the Motel 6 across the sewage treatment plant. There's nothing in that part of town but you can drive a couple miles on the easy to access expressway to the downtown or wherever in the area. Duluth-Superior is so small and the traffic so light that getting anywhere is not a big deal except for icy hills in winter.

I'm a college student and when I travel I am on an extreme budget. I never stay anywhere nicer than a Motel 6 and rarely pay more than 35-40 dollars per night.

The Duluth motel 6 had clean sheets, clean bathroom and i could smell nothing from the plant. Even outside I could not smell the plant. It wasn't until I got lost going to the highway in the morning and stumbled across the plant a couple hundred yards away on the other side if it that i found the plant there.

Additionally 55-70 bucks/night is in a totally other class of hotels. I don't pay that much a room yet but the motel 6 won't kill you, its cheap, and it doesnt smell.

[Delaneyland]

I dare you to stay there tonight, there has been a wind off the lake for three days...and west Duluth isn't a place you want to be outside after dark...

[laxpenguin]

don't be scared of duluth mn.
I've lived in duluth for 19 of my 26 years and I would definetely not tell someone to avoid moving there because of crime fears. In the vast majority of areas I would not think twice about my wife walking alone even at night. Most of the suburbs are especially safe feeling, especially ones like hermantown. My parents still live near hermantown and to this day keep their keys in there unlocked $30K+ vechiles and never lock the doors to the house. It might not be smart, but shows you how comfortable they are in the area. Other than central hillside, i never really felt uncomfortable around duluth. Even most of west duluth is pretty safe and friendly.
You do have a point with the inflated house prices though. Last year the duluth newstribune printed an article that stated that national real estate experts rate duluth as one of the most overpriced real estate markets in the country in relation to local incomes. It is a little better for buyers lately, but still not a cheap as someone would guess.
hope some of this insight from a native duluthian helps. if you have a decent job set up, can take the snow and cold, and will take advatage of the outdoor opportunites the area has to offer, I'd say duluth is definetly worth a go.
good luck

[snowblind9]

Originally Posted by Liz1_06

Ok ~ I just gotta say here .... *smile* Delanyland ~ lol

I lived in Duluth for many yrs.... Maya is my Favorite ... Love it ...

and I still own a house in Lakeside ( less then a mile ) from the Glensheen/Congdon Mansion...

It's a great area very little crime there, and the housing prices even though they are going up you can still find a great house for a great price.. all you gotta do is look ....

Stay AWAY from Lincoln Park !!!!! and up by the Hospitals which is known as a very Bad Area....

West Duluth has it's Bad spots, but I lived there before buying my house and I never had any problems or didn't know anyone who did...

Up "on the Hill " is becoming worse and worse, by the mall and close to the colleges...

Some parts of Duluth mainly the East Side have become the party spot for the college kids.... I had problems with drunk students going from door to door in a group looking for the next party... they never caused a problem but it was very annoying having ppl just walk in my house... (wink, but my big dog loved it.. lol )

My suggestion is that you rent for a yr if possible and really check the surrounding areas out....

There is so much good .... and in the wrong spots so much bad... ya just gotta live there for awhile to feel it out and see whats best for you and your family....

Good Luck ~

Well I have an interview finally for the job I started this thread out on. I have done some researching again. The areas you describe up above, (Lakeside, Lincoln Park) I cant find on mapquest. I will have to drive around and look for rental units. I like what I saw online in Hermantown (Deerfield I think) $1289.00 month though. I would like a decent apartment in a good neighborhood. Whatever town I live in my children will be going to school til they graduate. I want something with great schools. I have heard that Hermantown is a good option. Any others? And is there anyplace that has good schools and affordable housing in one?