Is This Crime Map of Minneapolis Accurate? (St. Paul, Bloomington: low income, apartment complexes)

[SmoothOperator545]

Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Hey folks, I've been doing a ton of research on Minneapolis as I plan to relocate there in a few months, and I stumbled across something I find strange.

I ended up on Neighborhood Scout and did a crime search for Minneapolis and was surprised by two things. The first is that, according to the website, Minneapolis is only safer than 5% of other US cities, and the second is how dangerous each section of the city supposedly is.

From my other research, the impression I have gotten about Minneapolis is that overall it's a very safe place, with the exception of Northern Minneapolis areas like Brooklyn Park. According to this map though, the area just east of Uptown and south of Downtown is also just as, if not more dangerous, than that.

Do both the overall crime rates and spread of crime seem to make sense to you folks living there, or is something fishy here?

I did a quick look at other cities to see how they fared and overall it seems like it's very difficult for a city to score well on overall crime, so I'm taking that with a grain of salt right now, but the map is what's really perplexing me.

Thanks for any help in advance.

[Glenfield]

It's not a particularly dangerous city by any means. I've heard that 5% thing before but it makes no sense to me. The two areas you cite are not the greatest and may face more property crimes.

[SmoothOperator545]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

It's not a particularly dangerous city by any means. I've heard that 5% thing before but it makes no sense to me. The two areas you cite are not the greatest and may face more property crimes.

Yeah the more I've looked in that site, the more doubts I have.

I searched Brooklyn, NY since it's where I'm from and according to it, Brooklyn is safer than 37% of US cities. NYC may be a much safer place than in the late 20th century but that seems incredibly high compared to the 5% Minneapolis got, especially considering how many good suburbs are included in the MPLS ranking.

[Minnesota Spring]

A few quick observations; minneapolis does include pockets of poverty in its small city limits which can skew the numbers. Crime statistics may also be reported differently by city and state, also skewing the numbers. I would have a hard time believing that MPLs is more dangerous than many other cities. Going by the site you posted, even Des Moines Iowa is more dangerous than Brooklyn. Also, compared to Brooklyn, Minneapolis has a much higher per capital ownership of vehicles and private property, which one would think would correlate into a higher per capital rate of car thefts, breakins and general property crime. I have several friends that live in MPLs and st. 0aul proper and never really hear them express crime concerns. Some of them don't even lock their doors when they go out, which I would not do, but just another observation. As long as you are not involved in a gang or doing drug deals at 3am, I would say you don't have much to worry about. If you have questions about specific neighborhoods let us know.

[SmoothOperator545]

Originally Posted by Minnesota Spring

A few quick observations; minneapolis does include pockets of poverty in its small city limits which can skew the numbers. Crime statistics may also be reported differently by city and state, also skewing the numbers. I would have a hard time believing that MPLs is more dangerous than many other cities. Going by the site you posted, even Des Moines Iowa is more dangerous than Brooklyn. Also, compared to Brooklyn, Minneapolis has a much higher per capital ownership of vehicles and private property, which one would think would correlate into a higher per capital rate of car thefts, breakins and general property crime. I have several friends that live in MPLs and st. 0aul proper and never really hear them express crime concerns. Some of them don't even lock their doors when they go out, which I would not do, but just another observation. As long as you are not involved in a gang or doing drug deals at 3am, I would say you don't have much to worry about. If you have questions about specific neighborhoods let us know.

It's good to know that for the most part things are quiet, sounds like the suburbs of Chicago to an extent. Some are dicey but most are just fine.

How are Bloomington and the suburbs across the river in Dakota and Scott counties? I don't hear much about those.

[Izzie1213]

The map looks somewhat accurate from area shown for the most part. Minneapolis is generally a safe area but there are pockets of unsafe areas. North Minneapolis as had more problems in the past few years.

I have lived in Brooklyn Park for 25 years and have never had a problem personally but I am not out at night hanging out with trouble makers. The high crime areas in Brooklyn Park are mostly caused by an area along Zane Ave where there is a heavy concentration of multiple apartment complexes that have long been a issue with the city . The city actually bought and torn some down, but still too high a concentration and still a problem . Poor city planning from the 1960_1970. The northern part of BP is much different with better city planning. upper middle class homes and town homes. The rest is a mix with a middle class homes, in my opinion too many rental homes.

Don't know of much about Dakota and Scott counties. They are second ring suburbs are generally very safe. I know Burnsville is a nice suburb but have small pockets of problems but no real inner city problems. If looking for first ring or west side most all these cities are fine: Robinsdale, Crystal, St Louis Park, Golden Valley, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Edina(higher priced area), Eden Prairie, Bloomington (mostly OK)... Most everyplace has pockets of not so good so you just have to check out each neighborhood.

[Citykid3785]

I know nothing of that website, but I can say this. I've traveled the entire country, and it only takes graffiti and panhandling to make me feel unsafe, lol. The twin cities are extremely safe. What I like best, is that the violent crime we do have all happens within a few small isolated areas that you would otherwise never have a reason to visit. Some areas that come to mind or north Minneapolis (geographically NW), the Phillips neighborhood, east St. Paul, and Brooklyn center and the southern part of Brooklyn Park (south of 85th). Once again, no compelling reason to even go to these places.

Dakota county is all safe, it's where I live and it's a great place. Parts of east Bloomington (just west of 77/MOA) has some low income apartments and is a bit rundown.

The famous "broken window theory" applied in our city in that we are a well maintained city, and thus crime would stand out and is discouraged

[Minnesota Spring]

Originally Posted by SmoothOperator545

It's good to know that for the most part things are quiet, sounds like the suburbs of Chicago to an extent. Some are dicey but most are just fine.

How are Bloomington and the suburbs across the river in Dakota and Scott counties? I don't hear much about those.

Coming from Brooklyn , you will be bored out of your mind in those places. If not Minneapolis , check out St. Paul.

[SmoothOperator545]

Originally Posted by Minnesota Spring

Coming from Brooklyn , you will be bored out of your mind in those places. If not Minneapolis , check out St. Paul.

I've already investigated St Paul and we've (my fiance and me) decided that we'd prefer the Minneapolis area in general.

Although I'm from the city, we're actually looking for a nice quiet suburb so that isn't an issue. Of course, it helps to have things to do around, but it seems like the drive from Eagan or Burnsville really isn't that long.

[Citykid3785]

You are correct. Burnsville isn't bad, but certainly not as nice as eagan