Moving to Duluth - questions (Cloquet, Hermantown: crimes, credit, house)

[MidniteBreeze]

Generally speaking, the "bad" neighborhoods in Duluth are central hillside (as someone else said, basically downhill from 9th street/skyline parkway), west end (aka Lincoln Park) and to a lesser extent, some areas of west Duluth. There has been a bit of an "urban renewal" thing going on in central hillside where they're trying to fix up and/or rebuild some of the more run-down buildings/homes and give home buying incentives to lower income people in hopes that folks will take more pride in the neighborhood. And yes, you will see some big, expensive homes in close proximity to "ghetto" housing...pretty weird.

A friend of mine lives in the east hillside area and while she hasn't personally been crime victim, she says there's still a lot of undesierable activity going on. There are also quite a few college rentals in that area. Of course your average college student isn't out to hurt anyone, but there a lot of complaints about parties, parking issues, etc.

The neighborhood around London Road is one area you might want to look into...close to the lake, more "historic" and some reasonably price rentals if you look around. Also my old neighborhood (skyline parkway area west of mesabi ave. and east of Inger Tower) has great lake views and while it's located kind of in between the hillside/west end neighborhoods, it's situated in such a way that it's physically isolated from most of the riff raff.

[babrent]

I lived in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth. Here is what I can share with you: I used to read these post with everyone saying things were dangerous and so forth. For what I can tell you yes 1st street, the -cozy bar- is a bad place.. not city gang bad or anything close to that. I have had a drink there. If your a total weakling then yes it might intimate you. There are a few hookers and drug deals and stabbings but that is really it. Central hillside has poverty. Now north Saint Paul on the other hand is somewhat bad. I don't know who writes this stuff but they have never lived in a big city or Duluth. In uptown a few years back, uptown, a man was robbed and shot for saying "why are you doing this". My take is Duluth is bad to Duluth people as many of them have never seen anything else but really it's not that bad.

I used to work down town by the electric fetus. Here is the deal. It's quite, the traffic is not that bad, and duluth people seem to be a little more stand offish then lets say the metro. I'm not sure why that is but I had a hard time getting smiles back. A summer day and tourist session everyone is very nice.

It's a very very pretty area. The mall closes at 7 though. If you work 8-5 it will be hard to get to anything that is open as most bizness are only open 8-5 lol. Lovely. I really enjoyed Duluth and I hope you do to. I think it's a very quite, safe, city. I would move east of downtown or by the skyline drive, Superior WI is very nice too. Look west you'll find some very nice places. . I don't care what anyone says never had a single problem with safety. But then again I never have a problem with safety in the metro. Duluth allows you to feel like you don't need to lock your doors when your in your car parked. It's a lot smaller when you move there though then when you visit. So keep that in Mind.

[knke0204]

Duluth is garbage.

Awful weather
Awful Roads
Awful government.

The city council voted to not have a long grass ordinance. Why? Because the Administration costs would outweigh the benefits... Ok, idiots. Because manicured lawns lead to manicured neighborhoods, which leads to more upkeep, which increases property values, which increases property taxes, which increases money in the city's pocket..But the city council wouldnt get that because they are stupid.

Horrible, horrible weather, today was July 1st and it was 49 degress when i woke up. 49 in July? are u kidding me?

roads.. OMG , they built roads in 1928 and never replaced them. its a city filled with hippies, hikers, hunters and hicks.

Oh yea, the school system is laughable, and way under par compared to rest of the state. The school system is broke, so dont plan on raising your kids in the awful duluth school disctict, which by the way is closing its doors to another High School

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by knke0204

which by the way is closing its doors to another High School

It's closing the doors of "another" high school (which one was closed last time?) as part of a consolidation plan due to declining population. If you don't have the student base to support three high schools, then why have three high schools? You don't keep things around for the sake of keeping them around and looking pretty.

[roneb]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Duluth is garbage.

Awful weather
Awful Roads
Awful government.

The city council voted to not have a long grass ordinance. Why? Because the Administration costs would outweigh the benefits... Ok, idiots. Because manicured lawns lead to manicured neighborhoods, which leads to more upkeep, which increases property values, which increases property taxes, which increases money in the city's pocket..But the city council wouldnt get that because they are stupid.

Horrible, horrible weather, today was July 1st and it was 49 degress when i woke up. 49 in July? are u kidding me?

roads.. OMG , they built roads in 1928 and never replaced them. its a city filled with hippies, hikers, hunters and hicks.

Oh yea, the school system is laughable, and way under par compared to rest of the state. The school system is broke, so dont plan on raising your kids in the awful duluth school disctict, which by the way is closing its doors to another High School

So tell me knke0204, do you ever write anything positive? Crime stats on Duluth say that it is much safer than ANY larger city, including my own over-hyped Portland. And I'd say Portland is a very safe city. Duluth is a fantastic place that has simple struggled to reinvent itself economically since the iron and timber industries collapsed. I'd move there in a heartbeat!

As far as the high school closure, it surprises me that you'd care. Judging by the tone and language of your posts you've been stuck in middle school for a while now! Or maybe that IS why you care

[bcgr]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

It's closing the doors of "another" high school (which one was closed last time?)

Morgan Park High School

[aluminumpork]

You're right, Morgan Park High School was closed in the 1970s along with US Steel, hardly part of the current issues.

[Flicka6]

Originally Posted by babrent

The mall closes at 7 though. If you work 8-5 it will be hard to get to anything that is open as most bizness are only open 8-5 lol.

The mall is open 10am-9pm Monday through Friday.
Simon Malls | More Choices — Miller Hill Mall Information, Miller Hill Mall Gift Cards

Not sure what stores you're visiting, but most are open until 9 M-F.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

It's closing the doors of "another" high school (which one was closed last time?) as part of a consolidation plan due to declining population. If you don't have the student base to support three high schools, then why have three high schools? You don't keep things around for the sake of keeping them around and looking pretty.

SO why dont they do something to sustain a population? Or do something to increase the population by bringing in families and making it a desirable place to live? People dont want to live here. Why do you think Hermantown, Proctor, and Cloquet have had increasing populations? People want clean streets, nice new buildings, and new roads. It's the same cry baby arguments as Detroit "WE LOST JOBS, AND EVERYBODY IS LEAVING"
So, do something about it, be smart, increase jobs, wages, and have strong public service provision. I'm not the only one who is angereed by the city council and local goverment.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by roneb

So tell me knke0204, do you ever write anything positive? Crime stats on Duluth say that it is much safer than ANY larger city, including my own over-hyped Portland. And I'd say Portland is a very safe city. Duluth is a fantastic place that has simple struggled to reinvent itself economically since the iron and timber industries collapsed. I'd move there in a heartbeat!

As far as the high school closure, it surprises me that you'd care. Judging by the tone and language of your posts you've been stuck in middle school for a while now! Or maybe that IS why you care

So you're comparing crime from a city of 500,000 people to a town of 80,000? Even if it is relative stats, they still dont speak much. Nobody wants to commit crimes when its too cold to be outside from October to May.