North Minneapolis neighborhoods (Blaine, St. Louis Park, Fridley: homes, high schools, incomes)

[ghoststeve]

Are there any North MPLS neighborhoods that are "in transition" or safe? We're looking for a cheap fixer upper.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by ghoststeve

Are there any North MPLS neighborhoods that are "in transition" or safe? We're looking for a cheap fixer upper.

Check out Victory or possibly Bryn Mawr.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

I've heard nothing but great things about Victory, including the schools! I picture Victory as Minneapolis' version of Shaker Heights, OH (where I live now), which is primarily a half-black, half-white suburb of Cleveland with varying incomes and home prices (with perhaps less variability in both, as Shaker has uber-rich and also very poor areas).

[northsub]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

I've heard nothing but great things about Victory, including the schools! I picture Victory as Minneapolis' version of Shaker Heights, OH (where I live now), which is primarily a half-black, half-white suburb of Cleveland with varying incomes and home prices (with perhaps less variability in both, as Shaker has uber-rich and also very poor areas).

I was skeptical of the schools being solid, but the numbers of the couple I checked out look decent. Henry High School has the highest math proficiency score of any high school in Minneapolis (still below state average, but Henry is 86% free/reduced lunch students). Henry also has by far the highest multiple measurement rating of Minneapolis high schools on the state department of education website (it's above schools like St. Louis Park and Hopkins, slightly below Blaine, Fridley, and Spring Lake Park).

[bbr1973]

Victory is always a good choice, but since I live in Homewood -- one of the other "brand name" neighborhoods in NoMi -- I'll trumpet the tremendous quality of its homes and its overall safety.

However, neither Victory nor Homewood tend to have cheap fixer-uppers. For that, you may want to look in the rest of Willard-Hay (Homewood is an enclave within it), particularly the parts closest to Theodore Wirth Parkway, or Cleveland (again, toward the Parkway).