North Minneapolis (Duluth, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale: renting, violent crime, how much)

[randomrun]

hi! okay, so i have searched through and read quite a few other threads about this part of town, but i have a couple questions for the folks that live over north.

i'm a pretty small, single, white 27 y/o female, and i'm looking to buy my first home. i love the architecture that's available in north, and it's in my very limited price range. i'd be moving after renting for 7+ years in the heart of Uptown.

so, here's the thing. i'm surrounded by lots of conveniences here, and i'm a little worried about a: my safety (will i be able to walk my dog when i get home after work around midnight?), and b: where am i going to get my prescriptions filled at 2 in the morning if i need. oh, and food. are there any delivery services up there? how far is the grocery store (maybe a better question is where are they)? what about walgreens? safe gas stations?

also, approx. how much do security systems cost each month? that's an additional expense that i'll need to budget in.

another thing...is it easy to get to 94? or NE (is the only bridge Lowry?!)?

are there any gyms up that way? i go to the YWCA and also run outside...i'm guessing jogging will be out of the question, so i'll def. need a gym.

Thanks!

[Slig]

There is a Cub Foods and Walgreens off of W Broadway and Lyndale. You can get onto 94 from W. Broadway and Dowling Ave. You can cross the river into NE from Lowry as well as Broadway. I don't think there are any gyms in that part of the city but I could be wrong. A lot of this depends where in North you're buying a house.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

There is a ymca on broadway..

[Slig]

yeah you're right it's just north of North High School

[nick is rulz]

There is The Firm off Glenwood Ave, and a small gym off 42nd and Lyndale in Camden.

Personally, I dont know that I would necessarily feel comfortable walking around after midnight in many neighborhoods. Along Victory Memorial would probably be fine. Any conveniences that are lacking in the immediate North area are usually in close proximity in either Northeast, Golden Valley, or Robbinsdale.

Grocery Stores...Theres a Cub Foods off 100 in Robbinsdale, a Byerlys off Duluth Street/Golden Valley Rd and another Cub in Brookdale aside from the Broadway one mentioned.

Delivery services...pretty limited to Pizza Hut off Broadway.

Gas stations....the ones along Dowling arent terrible. Generally any of them right within North I tend to avoid.

If you're considering making the move I would look in the Camden area. I work with a girl who has a house in Camden she bought 7 or 8 years ago and she said shes been very happy there. Victory is nice, but its a little more pricey.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by randomrun

hi! okay, so i have searched through and read quite a few other threads about this part of town, but i have a couple questions for the folks that live over north.

i'm a pretty small, single, white 27 y/o female, and i'm looking to buy my first home. i love the architecture that's available in north, and it's in my very limited price range. i'd be moving after renting for 7+ years in the heart of Uptown.

so, here's the thing. i'm surrounded by lots of conveniences here, and i'm a little worried about a: my safety (will i be able to walk my dog when i get home after work around midnight?), and b: where am i going to get my prescriptions filled at 2 in the morning if i need. oh, and food. are there any delivery services up there? how far is the grocery store (maybe a better question is where are they)? what about walgreens? safe gas stations?

also, approx. how much do security systems cost each month? that's an additional expense that i'll need to budget in.

another thing...is it easy to get to 94? or NE (is the only bridge Lowry?!)?

are there any gyms up that way? i go to the YWCA and also run outside...i'm guessing jogging will be out of the question, so i'll def. need a gym.

Thanks!

A) (Safety): Overall yes, you will be fine, but your feeling of safety is definitely going to depend on what neighborhood in North you buy in (there are many). In Victory neighborhood, we have always felt safe going for walks/ jogs in our neighborhood and on the parkway, and we often walk into cleveland neighborhood and into weber-cammden as well. In living/ working in north, there have only been a couple of times where I've felt a little guarded when walking at night- these were the occassions when I left work very late and then once when my car broke down, both were on Fremont Ave corridor where there can be a lot of activity but otherwise i have always felt pretty safe.

Delivery Services? - don't know if you're talking about grocery/ pharmacy delivery, but restuarant food delivery is fine - the usual and some good local pizza places (and I believe chinese but haven't tried) will deliver - around us these include domino's, Pizza Napoli, Pair-of-Dice Pizza, etc.

Pharmacies/ Other Shopping - living in Camden we are very close to shopping in North Mpls(44th and Penn, Lyndale/ 42nd, West Broadway corridor), as well as the major shopping centers of brooklyn center (brookdale) and Robbsindale (both less than 5 min away). We have a Rainbow Foods and Cub Foods in Robbinsdale that could be walkable/ bike-able/ is less than a 2-3 min drive, there is an Aldi Foods opening on Lowry and Penn Ave N (mpls) the beginning of 2008, and there is similarly another Cub and other grocery stores in Brookdale area which is like a 5 minute drive. There is also a Walgreens on the corner of West Broadway/ 81 and 42nd/ Lake Drive in Robbinsdale as well as a couple of CVS' on 81 (one on west broadway in north and i believe another on west broadway in robbinsdale, as well as one on brooklyn blvd in brooklyn center), then there is a Park Nicollet clinic in Brookdale that has an on-site pharmacy as well (close by the Target there). Long story short, a lot of access/ convenience to shopping from north.

Gas stations - there are a lot around, one on Dowling and Penn Ave N, Lyndale and 44th, on brooklyn blvd in brookdale area, on 81 in Robbinsdale, multiple other north Mpls locations on west broadway, etc.

Security Systems - don't know as neither myself or most of my neighbors have security systems, but a friend of mine that does I believe pays somewhere around $25 a month?

Is it easy to get to 94??? I would say it's better getting to 94 in north than in Uptown as here you don't have to compete with all of the Uptown traffic. There are entrances to 94 from w broadway, dowling ave n, and 7th st n/ Olson Memorial Hwy; if you live off of dowling you can take 4th st/ 7th st directly into downtown on 94 E....to get to NE you can take 42nd st (bridge), lowry ave bridge, west broadway ave, and i think there's another bridge farther north of 42nd street as well (and depending on how far northeast you're talking about, 94 to 694 is only a couple of minutes from dowling ave.

gyms - there is a ymca on west broadway, some folks go to the y in new hope from around here, and there are a number of the strip-mall fitness places around here in robbinsdale and possibly brookdale shopping areas that are 24 hr.

I understand your concern about leaving uptown conveniences, but i would say that in some ways it is more convenient up here, you don't have to battle with as much traffic/ parking issues here and you have a lot to choose from both in north as well as very close by shopping centers in robbinsdale/ brooklyn center. good luck!

[trini1691727]

Well my wife I purchased ahouse in N. Minneapolis about 2-1/2 years ago in the Folwell neighborhood of Camden. We love it. We are both 30, college educated young professionals and this was our first house and was in our price range. I think people tend to forget that N. Minneapolis is a relatively large geographical area, just as S. Mpls. is. Just as S. Minneapolis, there are good parts and not so good parts. We are fortunate enough to have some great young neighbors who we hang out with with every once in a while.

Victory Memorial Pkwy. is a great safe place to go jogging as we do in the summer and if you like biking, you can take it all the way to the lakes (Cedar, Calhoun, Harriet, etc.) as it turns into Theodore Wirth. It is part of the Grand Rounds. In the summer we run from our house over to Victory Memorial and do about 5-6 miles each run. We have not had any negative incidents considering that we live not too far from Penn and Lowry. In terms of getting downtown, it is extremely convenient as you can just jump on Washington and take it in through the warehouse district.

Just as anywhere else, you need to be aware of your surroundings and make intelligent common sense decisions. I don't know if we'll live here forever but for our first house we've been very happy. I would say that in general, you would want to look for a house north of Lowry as there tends to be less "action" than the areas closer to Hgwy. 55.

Hope this provides some good input.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

Originally Posted by MapGuy

Info for your review:

http://www.startribune.com/local/11244851.html (broken link)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259761,00.html
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/2517

Is that somehow related to her question????

[nick is rulz]

that moron has posted those links in like three other topics. Theres few to no Somalians in North. They mostly live around Cedar-Riverside.

[Haver]

Quick note on the Victory neighborhood. It has always been a quiet peaceful area and a good place to live, but for the past couple weeks there's been a sudden jump in violent crime along the parkway (4th precinct weekly crime maps Dec 4-10 and week previous). Not a trend or anything, but sometimes criminals seek out places "people feel safe" and for now its "Tag your it" up there.

It happened in my neighborhood (Nokomis) a couple years back - there was a lot of coverage of a bookseller who got violently beat up and there were some other incidents as well, and it came to a halt once they caught the two kids who were terrorizing people on 34th street.