Help with finding the right neighborhoods - returning to TC from CA (Minneapolis: crime)

[Serow225]

Hi all, my wife and I are returning to the Cities in a few weeks, after spending the last several years in central California.

My wife grew up in St. Paul and she's a big fan of the area (especially SAP), but I am not very familiar with many of the neighborhoods and would really appreciate your help!

Here's some info:
- We're in our early 30s and will be looking to start a family soon.
- She's working in the Capitol Building area, I'll be working in the center of Edina (Hwys 494 & 100)
- Budget for house is $250 - $300k, and we'd like 3+ bedrooms (4 would be great).
- Looking for a fairly progressive/liberal neighborhood.
- We like being able to walk to a cute 'downtown' area with non-chain shops, like Grand Ave, 50th & France, etc

Some of the candidates that we've been thinking of are:
- Saint Anthony Park & Summit/Cathedral Hill > nothing available that fits our budget...
- Summit & Mac-Groveland
- Highland
- The area around Lake Como - is the West side better, or the East side?
- West Seventh or Dayton's Bluff near Indian Mounds Park - I've never visited these areas though
- Linden Hills/Fulton/Lynnhurst

Thanks so much for your advice!
EBS

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by Serow225

Hi all, my wife and I are returning to the Cities in a few weeks, after spending the last several years in central California.

My wife grew up in St. Paul and she's a big fan of the area (especially SAP), but I am not very familiar with many of the neighborhoods and would really appreciate your help!

Here's some info:
- We're in our early 30s and will be looking to start a family soon.
- She's working in the Capitol Building area, I'll be working in the center of Edina (Hwys 494 & 100)
- Budget for house is $250 - $300k, and we'd like 3+ bedrooms (4 would be great).
- Looking for a fairly progressive/liberal neighborhood.
- We like being able to walk to a cute 'downtown' area with non-chain shops, like Grand Ave, 50th & France, etc

Some of the candidates that we've been thinking of are:
- Saint Anthony Park & Summit/Cathedral Hill > nothing available that fits our budget...
- Summit & Mac-Groveland
- Highland
- The area around Lake Como - is the West side better, or the East side?
- West Seventh or Dayton's Bluff near Indian Mounds Park - I've never visited these areas though
- Linden Hills/Fulton/Lynnhurst

Thanks so much for your advice!
EBS

Others on here are more knowledgeable about St. Paul, but I'll thow in a couple comments. I've got relatives who live in the Dayton's Bluff area, and I wouldn't place that too high on your list. Occasional nice looking houses up there, and the park is cool, but there are some crime issues and in general that area seems kind of run down.

The West side of Como is definitely better. Its a really cool little neighborhood basically between Lake Como and the state Fairgrounds, but you will run into some price issues there, as well, although there should be a couple in your range. Just north of Lake Como is a little cheaper, and seems alright to me, so I'll be curious what others say about that.

Mac-Groveland is frequently mentioned here as a good, reasonably priced area in St. Paul.

You might also look up around St. Anthony Village, around Stinson Blvd and Silver Lake Rd. Seems like a pretty nice area when I've driven through, and gives some more options in your price range.

4 bedrooms will be challenging anywhere you are looking, but 3-bed plus a basement shouldn't be hard, and in some cases, you might be able to bring that up to code for a 4th bedroom.

[uptown_urbanist]

Might also want to add somewhere like 48th and Chicago to the mix; it's a nice neighborhood commercial node in south Minneapolis. It's more affordable over there than a neighborhood like Linden Hills, too. (we sometimes go to Sovereign Grounds in the winter for its indoor "playground"). Very family-friendly.

[chilaili]

It's no secret I'm a huge proponent of Highland as it has just about everything within walking distance as well as easy access to Minneapolis or downtown St Paul. It's also quite family-friendly.

If you do a quick search on Zillow.com for the various neighbourhoods that you're interested in I think you will find some very interesting prospects.

[Serow225]

Thanks everyone, good info so far!

I'll take a look at those locations and see what comes up. Saint Anthony Village might be a little far for our work commutes, actually Highland might be a good option in terms of splitting the two commutes evenly...

Keep on coming with any more suggestions! Any other options in Minneapolis come to mind, maybe the South side East of 35W? I feel like I know a lot less about Minneapolis than I do about St Paul.

Thanks

[dravogadro]

Seward/Longfellow is quite progressive and has a number of non-local shops but I don't know if I would describe it as 'cute'. It has everything within a few miles (groceries, parks, bike paths, good restaurants).

[golfgal]

Something else to consider is to not split your commutes evenly and just have one person commute. When the kids come along it will be very nice to have someone close to the day care center for when the kids get sick and just general drop off and pick up situations. If one of you is 5 minutes or less from work/daycare, that saves money in day care costs, car upkeep and it's just more convenient. As the kids get older and they are in school, that allows one of you to run over quick for a school program, meet with a teacher, etc.