Carless in Minneapolis? (St. Paul, Bloomington: 2013, apartment, rent)

[StillLisa]

Hello all,

I am moving with my teenagers to the Minneapolis-St Paul area in September 2013 from the Washington, DC area. I have easily lived without a car for years while working in DC and living in a close suburb of DC. I use the bus, subway, taxis and Zipcar (car sharing). Can I do the same while living in the MSP metro areas? Are there neighborhoods that are more convenient for folks without cars?

Any advice on car free living in the Twin Cities area would be appreciated. I am especially interested in living in Bloomington, MN, but I am open to other areas and neighborhoods. Both of my teens will be looking for work and attending community college.

Thanks all.

[Pisces69]

In that case, living near the Hiawatha light rail would be ideal. E.g. downtown, South Minneapolis or Bloomington.

[Beenhere4ever]

Or the Central Corridor light rail about to start up. It is so long there are many neighborhoods along its route. And more new housing is going up.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by StillLisa

Hello all,

I am moving with my teenagers to the Minneapolis-St Paul area in September 2013 from the Washington, DC area. I have easily lived without a car for years while working in DC and living in a close suburb of DC. I use the bus, subway, taxis and Zipcar (car sharing). Can I do the same while living in the MSP metro areas? Are there neighborhoods that are more convenient for folks without cars?

Any advice on car free living in the Twin Cities area would be appreciated. I am especially interested in living in Bloomington, MN, but I am open to other areas and neighborhoods. Both of my teens will be looking for work and attending community college.

Thanks all.

Are you working in Bloomington? If so, depending on where in Bloomington you work, then I agree it makes sense to live near the Hiawatha Line.

That said, I don't think Bloomington is the easiest place to live in the metro area without a car, although depending on where you live it is realistically doable (and is, overall, probably easier than in most suburbs). My favorite area in the Twin Cities for carless living is Uptown, as it has great bus connections and has all of the amenites that you could need within easy walking distance, as well as has multiple HOURCAR (the Twin Cities' answer to Zipcar) locations, but that's just one option. You may also want to consider living somewhere in or near downtown, and then just commute out to Bloomington. That would put your kids close to MCTC downtown for school, and all of you in a very central transportation hub. (Mall of America is also a big transportation hub for the suburbs out that direction, but I think that, overall, you'll find the Twin Cities suburbs to be far less amenable to those without cars than are many of the DC area suburbs; on the other hand, cost of living is lower, so buying a car isn't necessarily as big a strain on the budget, either.)

HOURCAR locations: Car Locations | HOURCAR

[1stpontiac]

While it is possible to live in the Twin Cities without a car, and the suggestions people have given are good as far as that goes, I'd really recommend having a car, especially with teenagers. There are just too many cool things to do in parts of the city that aren't as convenient by public transit, as well as outside of the metro. If you can swing getting even a rust bucket, I think you'll be happy you have it.

[StillLisa]

A car may be in our future, but I would like to do without one starting out at least. We are really just jumping out there on faith - selling all our stuff, moving in with my parents to save some money to start out with and then just moving. So keeping expenses low at first is important. I know Uptown has some "vintage" apartment buildings with rent under $1000. I was considering Bloomington because of the light rail stop and the affordability of housing. I don't mind getting an Hour Car for out of town trips or a special event. We do that all the time now.

Thank you for the insight. Keep it coming.

[Glenfield]

In my opinion, you will find this much easier to manage if you move to the city of Minneapolis proper, or perhaps to St. Paul. I would not want to try to get around the suburbs on a regular basis without a car. The buses don't run as frequently and are generally set up for people commuting to the downtown areas. The light rail does run frequently to Bloomington, but it would not be easy getting from a residential area in Bloomington to a light rail stop on foot.

Here are a couple of things to help you get started. This is a link to the metro transit website. Just the route map with give you some feel for the size of the bus system in the core cities vs. the suburbs. When you drill down to the frequency of buses, the advantages are even more pronounced.

Maps & Schedules - Metro Transit

Here's a link to the Hour Car website. Again, the locations are in the cities.

I realize there are many fine things to be said about the suburbs, but IMHO, living without a car is not one of them.

Good luck.

Car Locations | HOURCAR

[StanleyVegas]

The NICERIDE bike-sharing program is another option in the core cities, at least during the warmer months. Biking for transportation is pretty popular here. Some people do it year-round, but it can be a little intense in the winter.

https://www.niceridemn.org/

The central corridor light rail is still 18-24 months away from completion, but it will link downtown St. Paul to the Hiawatha line between Minneapolis and Bloomington.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by StillLisa

A car may be in our future, but I would like to do without one starting out at least. We are really just jumping out there on faith - selling all our stuff, moving in with my parents to save some money to start out with and then just moving. So keeping expenses low at first is important. I know Uptown has some "vintage" apartment buildings with rent under $1000. I was considering Bloomington because of the light rail stop and the affordability of housing. I don't mind getting an Hour Car for out of town trips or a special event. We do that all the time now.

Thank you for the insight. Keep it coming.

In that case, all of the advice you are getting is great then. Focus on the core cities, and/or along the light rail, so you have options. Niceride is a great system, the bus and rail density is highest in those areas, and there are higher concentrations of interesting things within walking distance of bus stops there.

Plus, if you have family in the area, there is at least an option of borrowing a car from time to time, too.

[golfgal]

Bloomington has an extensive bus system with bus stops on nearly every corner to take you pretty much everywhere you need to go, including the MOA and the light rail but also to the major businesses, etc. right in Bloomington. There is also a large community college in Bloomington (Normandale). Sounds like a great fit for you.