Working in Bloomington, living in -- ? (Minneapolis, Edina: hair salon, apartments, rentals)

[lucy1965]

My husband grew up in Crystal, went to university out-of-state and never looked back. We've been living in the Intermountain West because of his job, and may be offered a better position in Bloomington. His mother (widowed) now lives in St. Louis Park; two of his brothers are in Woodbury (the third has settled overseas).

We're a couple in our 40s; son has graduated from university and is pursuing graduate work elsewhere. My husband was a member of GTCYS and is interested in playing out again; we both love classical music and live theatre. Not really into shopping, large houses or spending a lot of time commuting; our current neighborhood is walkable, but I've never lived in MSP and recognize that may be too much to ask.

We're looking for an apartment for one or two years (our goal is to go back overseas). Any suggestions would be welcomed.

[Thegonagle]

Bloomington (west side), Edina, SW Minneapolis, and St. Louis Park could all work pretty well, depending on what you find within your taste and budget, type of housing, etc, balance of work commute vs. proximity to mom. There are nice places to rent in all of those cities.

[golfgal]

Since you don't have to worry about schools, West Bloomington would be a good option depending on where in Bloomington the job is. South Minneapolis would also work.

There is a very large, very active "South of the River" band, South of the River Community Band, but if he is a string player, that won't work.

For strings,

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra

[GBCommenter]

You mention you do not like spending a lot of time commuting. That said, is the potential position in West or East Bloomington? IMHO, that makes a difference in suggestion.

If West Bloomington, then I could see you living in St. Louis Park or Hopkins. Both have options for more relatively walkable neighborhoods, and being older and more first-ring 'burbs may have more approachable neighborhoods. Both these cities also have smaller, more cozy houses plus some apartment developments to consider (try Main Street in Hopkins and Excelsior Blvd in SLP.) Both are also relatively approachable to downtown Minneapolis for the arts you mentioned interest in.

However, if the job is East Bloomington then I would look to either East Bloomington or Richfield. The commute from SLP/Hopkins to East Bloomington will not be much fun (again, IMHO). Both East Bloomington and Richfield will offer the apartments you are looking for (though both areas apartments may be somewhat older buildings - depends on your tastes). I would say Richfield will probably be relatively more walkable. Also note, East Bloomington/Richfield will be somewhat easier commute to the brothers in Woodbury (though still a drive) than SLP/Hopkins.

[lucy1965]

Originally Posted by Thegonagle

Bloomington (west side), Edina, SW Minneapolis, and St. Louis Park could all work pretty well, depending on what you find within your taste and budget, type of housing, etc, balance of work commute vs. proximity to mom. There are nice places to rent in all of those cities.

Thank you very much for your reply. Is there a particular apartment search site you could recommend? I'm finding plenty of student rentals and houses; I'd prefer something a bit higher-end. We're currently paying about $1500 for a house, but would spend that much for a good apartment: quiet, with high-speed Internet and on-site maintenance.

[Thegonagle]

I think you'll be able to find a nice apartment or townhouse for that amount.

I can't recommend anything specific, but I googled "apartments twin cities MN" and found the top several results, such as rent.com, apartments.com, forrent.com, etc. to be worth a look to get an idea what's out there and maybe some leads.

Search in the cities you're interested in, and sort your search results from highest rent to lowest in order to avoid the lowest cost units.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by lucy1965

My husband grew up in Crystal, went to university out-of-state and never looked back. We've been living in the Intermountain West because of his job, and may be offered a better position in Bloomington. His mother (widowed) now lives in St. Louis Park; two of his brothers are in Woodbury (the third has settled overseas).

We're a couple in our 40s; son has graduated from university and is pursuing graduate work elsewhere. My husband was a member of GTCYS and is interested in playing out again; we both love classical music and live theatre. Not really into shopping, large houses or spending a lot of time commuting; our current neighborhood is walkable, but I've never lived in MSP and recognize that may be too much to ask.

We're looking for an apartment for one or two years (our goal is to go back overseas). Any suggestions would be welcomed.

When you say "walkable," do you mean walkable to work, or just walkable in general? You'll have no problems finding a walkable neighborhood in Minneapolis or in some suburbs not too far from Bloomington. Whether or not you'll find something that meets your needs within walking distance to your work will depend on specific location.

A suburban fairly walkable option could be the Centennial Lakes area in Edina; it's very near to the Bloomington border, has a lot of nice apartments and townhouses, and is walkable. They have a lake with skating in the winter, paddle boats in the summer, walking paths, connected to walking paths to stores, businesses, etc., and could possibly be a very easy commute to work. I've never been in the actual buildings around there, but I think they're fairly nice.

[lucy1965]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

When you say "walkable," do you mean walkable to work, or just walkable in general?

Walkable in general (as we both work from home); within three blocks of my current house there are three grocery stores, Pilates and yoga studios, two coffee shops, five restaurants, a bakery, a deli, an ice cream parlor, our veterinarian, a chocolate shop, a bike shop, a "green" general store, more hair salons than I can count and one of the biggest parks in the city. I take the car out to drop packages at the post office.

A suburban fairly walkable option could be the Centennial Lakes area in Edina . . . .

Thank you; we'll check that area out.

[uptown_urbanist]

You'll find the most walkable areas in the city itself. If you don't mind a short commute (not too bad), I think the Uptown/Lyn-Lake area is the most walkable in Minneapolis.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by lucy1965

Walkable in general (as we both work from home); within three blocks of my current house there are three grocery stores, Pilates and yoga studios, two coffee shops, five restaurants, a bakery, a deli, an ice cream parlor, our veterinarian, a chocolate shop, a bike shop, a "green" general store, more hair salons than I can count and one of the biggest parks in the city. I take the car out to drop packages at the post office.



Thank you; we'll check that area out.

We have all of this within 6 blocks of our house too--but we are in the nasty suburbs . We can walk to the post office too but if you have heavy packages you might not want to .