what are some main streets, downtowns, central business districts, etc.? (Minneapolis: houses, neighborhood)

[buckaroo17]

Hello all. We are trying to focus our few days of a scouting trip to the TC, so I humbly seek your vaunted local knowledge.

We are trying to get a sense of a variety of areas, and I thought a drive-by on the main streets and CBDs would be a good start. Having no familiarity with the area, it is hard to determine simply from maps or websites. Not seeking the huge chain malls, which are easily found.

I know that some of the 'burbs don't have "downtowns" in the usual sense, so please direct us to the closest thing, realizing that there will be some overlap. Others might have multiple main drags. What thoroughfares should we cruise in these areas, knowing that it is only a superficial taste of these communities:

St. Louis Park
Plymouth
Minnetonka
Hopkins
SW Minneapolis
Mac-Groveland
Highland Park
St. Anthony Village (? the standalone town)
New Brighton
Shoreview
Arden Hills
Mounds View

I know this is rather broad and vague, but any and all responses are much appreciated.

[knke0204]

Plymouth doesn't have anything. Plymouth is a McMansion suburb. Great Suburb, safe, clean, friendly, etc.... But nothing of character there.

Mounds View, Shoreview or Arden Hills don't offer much. New Brighton either for that matter.

Check out White Bear Lake, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Highland park if you want a "downtown"

[Rhody2Mn]

Originally Posted by buckaroo17

Hello all. We are trying to focus our few days of a scouting trip to the TC, so I humbly seek your vaunted local knowledge.

We are trying to get a sense of a variety of areas, and I thought a drive-by on the main streets and CBDs would be a good start. Having no familiarity with the area, it is hard to determine simply from maps or websites. Not seeking the huge chain malls, which are easily found.

I know that some of the 'burbs don't have "downtowns" in the usual sense, so please direct us to the closest thing, realizing that there will be some overlap. Others might have multiple main drags. What thoroughfares should we cruise in these areas, knowing that it is only a superficial taste of these communities:

St. Louis Park
Plymouth
Minnetonka
Hopkins
SW Minneapolis
Mac-Groveland
Highland Park
St. Anthony Village (? the standalone town)
New Brighton
Shoreview
Arden Hills
Mounds View

I know this is rather broad and vague, but any and all responses are much appreciated.

In the order you asked:

St. Louis Park - doesn't have a "downtown" but the area by Excelsior (Avenue) & Grand (Way) is perhaps the closest thing. You could also go to the West End, which is located at the intersection of Interstate 394 and Park Place Blvd. That area offers many outside, walkable shops and restaurants.

Plymouth - doesn't have a "downtown" but its neighbor Maple Grove developed its own at the intersection of Main Street and Elm Creek Blvd. It even made created an urban style "Main Street."

Minnetonka - another suburb lacking a traditional downtown, (although it is next to Hopkins which has an old-fashioned Main Street). Stores/restaurants in Minnetonka tend to be located near the Interstate 394 strip and around Ridgedale Mall. The intersection of Highways 7 and 101 also have a small cluster of stores including SuperTarget.

Hopkins - has a quaint, old fashioned Main Street with antique stores, shops, and restaurants. You can get to this area by taking the Excelsior Blvd exit from Highway 169.

SW Minneapolis - the chain of lakes and Uptown areas are likely what you're looking for here. Excelsior Boulevard (from St. Louis Park) turns into Lake Street and leads right into this vicinity. The intersection of Lake Street and Hennepin Ave is considered the "heart" of Uptown and there are numerous shops and restaurants in the area.

Mac- Groveland - there is no "downtown" since it is a neighborhood of St. Paul which of course has its own separate downtown. Summit Ave forms the northern border of the neighborhood and the homes on that street are definitely worth checking out! And Grand Avenue (the next major street south of Summit) has terrific shops and restaurants and is very walkable.

Highland Park - is another neighborhood of St. Paul. I recommend checking out the area around the intersection of Cleveland Ave and Ford Parkway. There are great shops and restaurants in this area including the original Punch Pizza (well known to locals).

St. Anthony Village - while the area is very pleasant, in my opinion there isn't much to really "see" as a visitor. In my opinion, you'd be better off going to the St. Anthony Main area a few miles south of St. Anthony Village as it boasts a real old fashioned Main Street (SE Main) and access to the Mississippi River/Stone Arch Bridge. To my knowledge SE Main Street is Minneapolis's oldest street.

New Brighton, Shoreview, Arden Hills, and Mounds View - these are all very nice suburbs but don't have any traditional downtowns. Roseville is close to these cities and has Rosedale Mall along with a variety of shops and restaurants.

____________________________

I'm not sure what you're looking for when you "scout" the Twin Cities, but I recommend visiting the town of Excelsior which has an old fashioned Main Street on Lake Minnetonka (the biggest lake in the metro area). You might also look at Wayzata on the other side of the lake as it also sports a small downtown.

In the east metro, you could check out Stillwater, the birthplace of Minnesota. There are a lot of antique shops and restaurants in the historic downtown.

The 50th and France district (at the intersection of 50th Street and France Ave) on the border of Minneapolis and Edina is also a nice area with a variety of shops and restaurants.

I think you will really like the Twin Cities (especially now that spring is here and warm weather is coming).

[Thedosius]

In SW Minneapolis you may also want to check out Sheridan Avenue and also 50th street. Both have significant business nodes though Sheridan's is only a couple blocks long whereas 50th has several nodes interspersed along its length.

[tjasse]

Originally Posted by buckaroo17

St. Louis Park
Plymouth
Minnetonka
Hopkins

St. Anthony Village (? the standalone town)
New Brighton
Shoreview
Arden Hills
Mounds View

These are all strip mall, residential suburbs.

SW Minneapolis
Mac-Groveland
Highland Park

mac groveland has a small area around Macalester that has some cool stuff. Then further down grand there's another strip of shops and restaurants.

Highland park has a business area near Cleveland and Ford Parkway. It's sort of like a combination of a strip mall area and a tiny 'downtown.'

SW Minneapolis has a bunch of tiny little business nodes scattered throughout. Linden Hills is a major one.

[jennifat]

Originally Posted by buckaroo17

St. Louis Park
Plymouth
Minnetonka
Hopkins
SW Minneapolis
Mac-Groveland
Highland Park
St. Anthony Village (? the standalone town)
New Brighton
Shoreview
Arden Hills
Mounds View

Of these suburbs, the only that has a real, pre-war downtown is Hopkins. The rest are all bland post-war first- and second-ring suburbs or just parts of Minneapolis or St. Paul.

If you want real pre-war suburban downtowns, try Anoka, White Bear Lake, Stillwater, Shakopee, Hastings, Chaska, or Excelsior.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by tjasse

These are all strip mall, residential suburbs.

Not Hopkins. It has a main street and a large area of houses in a grid layout, and was an independent town long before the Minneapolis-related development came out to meet it. Still has an annual Raspberry Festival, too. My mom remembers it being called West Minneapolis, and it was a town out in the boonies but still accessible by streetcar.

Another area to possibly check out is the area around 50th and France in Edina.

[jennifat]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

My mom remembers it being called West Minneapolis, and it was a town out in the boonies but still accessible by streetcar.

Yep, it was originally called West Minneapolis when it was founded. Hopkins was actually a very busy commercial node along the streetcar route that connected the resort town of Excelsior to Minneapolis during the Victorian era.

[tjasse]

I forgot about Hopkins in that list. Is there any interesting thing to do over there? I've never been there.

[steel03]

St. Louis Park actually does have a tiny little """downtown""" area around the intersection of Lake St and Walker St, near St. Louis Park High School, but it's really nothing anymore, it's not worth seeing. There are like... two or maybe three businesses and a gas station. Excelsior & Grand and West End are the much more active commercial areas.

The closest thing to downtown Plymouth is downtown Wayzata, which is very nice, but not as nice as downtown Excelsior on the other side of Lake Minnetonka.

Minnetonka itself doesn't have anything. It's very woodsy and sprawly.

Downtown Hopkins is very cute. That one is worth seeing if you're in that part of the metro.

SW Mpls (meaning south of Lake St, west of I-35W) your closest bet is Linden Hills, which is honestly super cute and you'll fall in love with it. 50th & France is nice too, but it's mostly in Edina I believe.

Mac-Groveland is centered at the intersection of Snelling & Grand. I'd recommend driving the entire length of Grand from Cretin Ave all the way to Dale St, and then on Selby from Dale to the Cathedral of St. Paul. That will give you a pretty good sense of southwest St. Paul.

As others have said, the node of Highland Park is Cleveland & Ford.

It's confusing when you say St. Anthony Village, because "St. Anthony" on its own could refer to 4 different places in 3 different cities, all pretty close together. There's St. Anthony Main in NE Mpls, which is really just an extension of actual downtown Minneapolis. Then there's St. Anthony Park, which is both a literal park in Minneapolis and an extremely adorable and endearing neighborhood along Como Ave in northwest St. Paul. Then there's the City of St. Anthony, which is what I believe you are referring to. And unfortunately I don't know anything about the Real Actual City called St. Anthony.

Don't really know anything about New Brighton, Shoreview, Arden Hills, or Mounds View either.