First trip to the cities (Minneapolis, St. Paul: where to stay, for sale, rental) - Minneapolis - St. Paul - Minnesota (MN) -Twin Cities - City-Data Forum

amosmj · 02-26-2008, 06:42 AM

Hey all,

My wife and I have picked Minneapolis as number one pick on a list of two possible places to move to in a couple years. In that spirit we are beginning our reconnaissance. This summer (July 23 - 28) we are visiting Minneapolis, my wife has been several years ago and I drove through it once but that is the grand total of our experience in Minneapolis. We're trying to figure a few things out and I was hoping I could tap into your experience for suggestions.

We were thinking of staying in the Old Town area to get a good feel of the city happenings but suggestions have been made that we should stay near the Mall of America only because it's easy to find and is close to the airport. I'd like to hear your opinion on which one as well as any particular places to stay.
What are the touristy things we need to do, we'll probably spend two to three days doing the tourist stuff. I don't know what people like to see in Minneapolis.
What are good neighborhoods to look at for single family homes. I don't know the neighborhoods yet, I believe I have heard that Edina is a good one. I don't know how far in or out of the city we will be living, we just want to look at some homes to get an idea what you buy for how much out there.

If you can think of other things I should be thinking about, please feel free to share them with me. I should probably also mention that we will have a car available to us for most if not all of the trip.

Thanks for anything and everything.

golfgal · 02-26-2008, 06:50 AM

Are you city dwellers or are you more suburbanites? What kinds of things do you like to do?

As for where to stay, the metro area is pretty easy to get around in so unless you are very directionally challenged you can stay pretty much anywhere.

Honestly there are 1000's of great family neighborhoods around the Twin Cities area so picking a couple to look at isn't all that easy. Too bad you aren't coming during one of the Parade of Homes times. That is a good way to get around the cities and see a lot of areas, complete with easy maps to follow. Also price range makes a big difference in where you want to look as well as where are you going to be working?

amosmj · 02-26-2008, 07:02 AM

Golfgal,

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfgal

Are you city dwellers or are you more suburbanites?

In terms of Minneapolis, I'm not sure. I imagine we will be suburbanites, only because we want to get a property with a yard. However, we are moving from Baltimore so we have survived more metropolitan areas. That is part of what we are trying to feel out with these little trips.

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfgal

What kinds of things do you like to do?

Well, that's a good question. We do the usual book store, dinner, occasional movie type stuff. I personally do a lot of working out, including outside, which is why we want a bit of a yard. My wife is more of the Art type, she is a singer and enjoys operas and musicals. We both do museum type thing and occasional shows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfgal

Also price range makes a big difference in where you want to look as well as where are you going to be working?

We think we will probably not go over $300,000 when we make the final move. We expect to move there into a rental for a year and make our final move to a single family home at that point.

When is the parade of homes? This won't be our last reconnaissance trip before we move, not to mention the year of rental we are planning. So I imagine we will make it to that sometime.

sugarbeet · 02-26-2008, 07:22 AM

There's not much in Edina under $300,000, but since you're going to be here for a few days, you might like to just drive around and see what the different areas are like. Even Mpls and St. Paul have significant amounts of residential areas, however, in general you will pay a premium to live in the nicer parts of these two cities.

Regarding the Parade of Homes, it's going on right now and will happen again in September. This is all for new construction, but even if you're not planning to buy new it will be a good way to see a lot of different areas and the resale homes available there.

You could certainly stay near the MOA, as there are a lot of hotels and it's convenient to get to other parts of town from there. As golfgal said, it's easy enough to get around that you have many options for places to stay. On my trips here before I moved, I always liked to stay downtown, so if you like the city atmosphere you may enjoy that. From downtown you'll be able to take the light rail to the MOA and the few other stops it makes. That's a fun way to get around and see the sights from a different angle.

Do you mean Uptown rather than Old Town? There aren't a lot of hotels around there - it's a dense residential, retail and commercial corridor just south of downtown Mpls. However, Uptown and adjacent Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet are definitely places you should check out. During the summer there will be concerts at the Lake Harriet bandshell. You might like to visit the Walker Art Center and take in a show at the Guthrie. St. Paul also has lots of interesting activities - the MN Historical Society does a great walking tour of Summit Avenue.

Although there isn't much sightseeing to do in the suburbs other than malls, you might like to check out any of the parks in the Three Rivers Park District. In the summer you can walk and bike and go to the public beaches.

golfgal · 02-26-2008, 07:24 AM

There is a Parade of Homes going on right now and then one in the fall.

For stuff to do--Mall of America, obviously, Guthrie Theater, Ordway Theater, Walker Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Art, stroll along the lakes, spend a day antiquing in Stillwater (take the trolley for a tour of the town), take a cruise on the Mississippi on the Jonathon Paddleford, take in a Twins or Saints baseball game.

When you come pick up a copy of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune or the St. Paul Pioneer Press and hit some open houses (Saturday and Sunday). Hit those in your price range and you will get a good idea of neighborhoods, etc. $300,000 is going to limit you some but who knows.

amosmj · 02-26-2008, 11:55 AM

Thank you both for responding.
I did not realize that the Twin Cities had a light rail system. I think that will put us at the Mall of America is we can easily catch the rail to Uptown (what I called Old Town earlier, my mistake). Thanks for all the other ideas of things to see. I don't know that I could enjoy spending much time in the Mall of America nor is my wife a shopper, we can send the mothers over there :-).
I hadn't considered the possibility of renting bikes, that is a wonderful idea. I don't know if we will make it to any lake this trip although I understand that is the quintessential Minnesota experience.
We are planning on driving some of the neighborhoods and we do hope to walk through a few houses in different neighborhoods. We are guessing we will spend about 8 hours over the course of this first trip actively seeking and visiting open houses and homes for sale. We will definitely start with the local paper as a resource.

In the mean time I have been doing some online research. When I plug in a price range like 200K - 300K, 3+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms, I get tons of hits for the St. Louis Park area. I have also spent some time searching these forums. It seems that St. Louis Park comes pretty highly recommended with a couple caveats (the bike trails are in disrepair and if you work on the other side of the cities it's a bad commute). We will try to keep all these things in mind. As it stands right now, we haven't even begun the job hunt. Twelve or eighteen months from now we will probably start being more active in that area.

You guys have always been helpful, I appreciate your time.
I'll be in touch as the time draws closer.

sfw1979 · 03-11-2008, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amosmj

Hey all,

My wife and I have picked Minneapolis as number one pick on a list of two possible places to move to in a couple years. In that spirit we are beginning our reconnaissance. This summer (July 23 - 28) we are visiting Minneapolis, my wife has been several years ago and I drove through it once but that is the grand total of our experience in Minneapolis. We're trying to figure a few things out and I was hoping I could tap into your experience for suggestions.

We were thinking of staying in the Old Town area to get a good feel of the city happenings but suggestions have been made that we should stay near the Mall of America only because it's easy to find and is close to the airport. I'd like to hear your opinion on which one as well as any particular places to stay.
What are the touristy things we need to do, we'll probably spend two to three days doing the tourist stuff. I don't know what people like to see in Minneapolis.
What are good neighborhoods to look at for single family homes. I don't know the neighborhoods yet, I believe I have heard that Edina is a good one. I don't know how far in or out of the city we will be living, we just want to look at some homes to get an idea what you buy for how much out there.

If you can think of other things I should be thinking about, please feel free to share them with me. I should probably also mention that we will have a car available to us for most if not all of the trip.

Thanks for anything and everything.

Last summer my husband and I took a bus tour of Mnpls/ St Paul...it was pretty fun and wonderful not to have to drive around the cities but be driven. I forget the name of the tour bus but they pick you up at the Mall of America and it's about 3 hrs and hits all the major places to see in the cities..it's worth it, we had a great time.

Cruz Azul Guy · 03-12-2008, 08:44 PM

I noticed you mentioned "easily" taking the light rail to uptown. Just as an FYI the light rail doesn't go through uptown. It follows Hiawatha Ave which is about 3 miles east of the uptown area. The unfortunate thing is that Minneapolis isn't like cities like Baltimore in the sense that you can just grab a cab anywhere. If you got off the Lake street stop from the light rail it could be a bit of a problem catching a cab there if you wanted to go to uptown. I would probably call one ahead if that's one of your desired destinations.

akronbball · 03-13-2008, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slig

If you got off the Lake street stop from the light rail it could be a bit of a problem catching a cab there if you wanted to go to uptown. I would probably call one ahead if that's one of your desired destinations.

Could also take the bus (line 21 goes along lake street between light rail and uptown)

Haver · 03-13-2008, 10:05 AM

You might be better off taking the light rail downtown and then catching a bus to the uptown area (#6 I think) and picking it up again to maybe get to Southdale. Spending 45 minutes on a Lake Street bus just isn't all that exciting - its been in chronic "revitalization" for 30 or 40 years. If you've ever watched the Rockford Files its "typical LA street driving scene" minus the palm trees.

If you're really looking for the "old town" feel you should be hitting along the river, anyways - especally around St. Anthony Main area.