St. Louis Park - any undesirable areas? (Minneapolis, Plymouth: real estate, apartments)

[TxTnVtMn]

Hi there. We are relocating to the Twin Cities later this summer. Really hope to rent a single family home, and have an eye on St. Louis Park for renting and perhaps eventually buying. It splits the difference well between my office and in-laws.

Just wondering if there are any parts of SLP to avoid when looking at rentals or real estate listings. My impression of SLP is that it is generally leafy and moderately upscale (but less so than Edina or Golden Valley). I suspect it might be hard to go wrong, though I do wonder about the area close to Knollwood Mall.

Thanks!

[xandrex]

The only area I've heard anyone be concerned about was the area near the Knollwood Mall. Otherwise, I've pretty much only heard good things. That said, I think you'll hear from a few more people on this with better suggestions, which may very well depend on your budget.

[icicles]

I would rent before buying. St. Louis Park has some good spots, and also has some bad spots. I would consider it in the lower percent of desirability when compared to other "lake conference" schools and places to live. I am sure the housing is cheaper there, but just make sure you find the right place you want to live in.

[back2M]

I grew up in St. Louis Park and still have family members that live there. It's a good affordable area which has housing built in the 1960's through to 1990's. Your correct in thinking the area near Knollwood mall is probably the "worst". Stay on the north side of Hwy 7 is much better. Any area between Minnetonka Blvd and towards 394 is great. I grew up not far from the Mpls golf club just north of Cedar Lake Road. The closer you live to the highways, the noisier it will get. There is more areas to be concerned about in Hopkins. Minnetonka is a very nice area but will be cost more. Also hands up for Plymouth.

[TxTnVtMn]

Originally Posted by back2M

I grew up in St. Louis Park and still have family members that live there. It's a good affordable area which has housing built in the 1960's through to 1990's. Your correct in thinking the area near Knollwood mall is probably the "worst". Stay on the north side of Hwy 7 is much better. Any area between Minnetonka Blvd and towards 394 is great. I grew up not far from the Mpls golf club just north of Cedar Lake Road. The closer you live to the highways, the noisier it will get. There is more areas to be concerned about in Hopkins. Minnetonka is a very nice area but will be cost more. Also hands up for Plymouth.

Thanks! I was wondering about highway noise since SLP is certainly boxed in by freeways. How bad can it get, or alternately, how far from a highway does one need to be for the noise to be tolerable? We live in rural northern New England now, so I know there's going to be an adjustment here no matter what. I hope it doesn't sound like an expressway is going through our front yard, though!

Regarding Knollwood and the advice to stay north of Hwy 7 - are areas near Aquila Park or Oak Hill Park risky on account of being closer to Knollwood, or mostly fine since they are north of Hwy 7?

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by TxTnVtMn

Thanks! I was wondering about highway noise since SLP is certainly boxed in by freeways. How bad can it get, or alternately, how far from a highway does one need to be for the noise to be tolerable? We live in rural northern New England now, so I know there's going to be an adjustment here no matter what. I hope it doesn't sound like an expressway is going through our front yard, though

I think it depends on how much noise you're willing to considerable bearable. I live in Minneapolis about 6 blocks from I-35W and while it's pretty quiet, I will occasionally hear the "hum" of the freeway. It's not noticeable almost ever, though. Lots of trees and houses and other stuff in the way.

You'll probably not get total silence from the freeway unless you're a solid few miles away (and you'll still hear traffic or ambient noise coming from elsewhere). But a lot of the "center" of St. Louis Park is going to be quiet enough. East of 100 you also have a lot of neighborhoods I've never heard any complaints about quality-wise (they're near arguably the wealthiest parts of Minneapolis).

[icicles]

Originally Posted by TxTnVtMn

Thanks! I was wondering about highway noise since SLP is certainly boxed in by freeways. How bad can it get, or alternately, how far from a highway does one need to be for the noise to be tolerable? We live in rural northern New England now, so I know there's going to be an adjustment here no matter what. I hope it doesn't sound like an expressway is going through our front yard, though!

Regarding Knollwood and the advice to stay north of Hwy 7 - are areas near Aquila Park or Oak Hill Park risky on account of being closer to Knollwood, or mostly fine since they are north of Hwy 7?

I think you are pushing it living by Aquila Park. I would consider that area to be so-so. I personally would not live there.

I grew up on the hopkins/Minnetonka border just west of 169. I would bike to aquila park and hit baseball theres as a kid.

Those apartments/townhomes in that area aren't very nice, and you do see some pretty shady stuff going on around there. I don't think there has been any killings or anything, but it still doesn't give me a good gut feeling being around there. I think it has gotten worse over time, not better.


The good parts of st. louis park is the eastern north edge, by Benilde. My grandma used to live back behind Benilde and it was really nice back there. I would live back there. But it all depends on what you can afford and where you want to live. I agree with the person above that between mtka blvd and 394 is a nicer spot.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

The BEST part of St. Louis Park is Minnekahda (SP) Vista, which is Edina-like in both price and quality, and is VERY close to Lake Calhoun and Excelsior & Grand (a nice urban district). If you can't afford to live there, the majority of SLP has very humble 2BR 1500 SF homes that are priced fairly high for their size ($$/SF). The reason is because SLP has amazing a.) proximity, b.) accessibility (roads/transit), c.) schools, and d.) neighborhoods, especially for the suburbs. Somebody made a mention that SLP wasn't among the best Lake Conference schools, but I'm fairly certain that the high school is top 5 in the state.

The only areas I've heard of or seen that can be sketchy are near Aquila Park, the far-East side near the intersection of Hwy 7 and Minnetonka Blvd (5), and the Texa-Tonka area. None of these areas are very dangerous though, and homicides are fairly rare, at MAYBE one per year for the city.

Good luck with your move!

[Rail-to-Rail]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

The BEST part of St. Louis Park is Minnekahda (SP) Vista, which is Edina-like in both price and quality, and is VERY close to Lake Calhoun and Excelsior & Grand (a nice urban district). If you can't afford to live there, the majority of SLP has very humble 2BR 1500 SF homes that are priced fairly high for their size ($$/SF). The reason is because SLP has amazing a.) proximity, b.) accessibility (roads/transit), c.) schools, and d.) neighborhoods, especially for the suburbs. Somebody made a mention that SLP wasn't among the best Lake Conference schools, but I'm fairly certain that the high school is top 5 in the state.

The only areas I've heard of or seen that can be sketchy are near Aquila Park, the far-East side near the intersection of Hwy 7 and Minnetonka Blvd (5), and the Texa-Tonka area. None of these areas are very dangerous though, and homicides are fairly rare, at MAYBE one per year for the city.

Good luck with your move!

Yes when I think of St. Louis Park, I mostly think of the area south and east of the Miracle Mile shopping center, that is a very nice area and super convenient. I suppose that is between Hwy 100 and France Ave?

Excelsior Blvd by the Miracle Mile got a big face-lift a few years back, very nice streetscaping and then there was a great deal of development just west of the Miracle Mile with new buildings, shops and residential. If you lived near there you could pretty much walk to everything you need and the number 12 bus route is quite good with a lot of frequency of service.

[ocsid]

No part of SLP is really that bad. I would probably agree that the area right by Aquila Park is about the worst, and I'd avoid anything right around the Meadowbrook apartments (or is that still Hopkins).

Overall, SLP is a nice older suburb. We lived at Cedar Lake Rd. and Louisiana for a year, and really liked the area. Pretty much anything off Cedar Lake Rd. will be decent, and off Minnetonka Blvd. as long as you aren't right at Texas Ave. (that would be Aquila Park). The neighborhoods south of Miracle Mile are also quite nice. Overall, it's a pretty good place to live.