Victory Neighborhood (Minneapolis, Richfield, Brooklyn Center: crime, appliances, buying a house)

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by MNNative

I'm quoting something that CamdenNorthsider said once upon a time. I wasn't using it to be negative at all. lol My husband and I have no problem becoming a "Parkway Snob". lol We really love that neighborhood. I tend to interpret it as meaning that Victory is somewhat nicer than nearby areas...and that the parkway is something that it is known for. I'm wondering if any of the other neighborhoods I mentioned would have similar things they are known for and any "connotations" associated with the neighborhood. <~Perhaps I should have been more clear.

To reiterate/clarify my question: Previously we concentrated our Mpls search to only the Victory neighborhood. We've exhausted pretty much every home on the market in that neighborhood that is in our price range...so we thought about opening up our search to neighboring areas (Shingle Creek, Lind-B, Webber-C) before thinking about settling for one we've seen already but didn't pursue (we've had tons sell and been stuck in multiple offer situations...it's definitely obvious that the neighborhood is prime). Just wondering what insight people could share. We've found some possible options in Shingle Creek in particular along the park, more so on the northern side (you know how it kinda stretches across the neighborhood)...but we've just started browsing outside Victory. Any thoughts would be swell!

Hi MNNative and Camden Redhouse - yeah, my comment about "parkway snobs" was what a friend (who lives in Lind-Bohanon) has jokingly referred to us as and was meant to be tongue-in-cheek; believe me, despite the fact that there are beautiful homes all over the area, people around here are anything but snobby (if they were they would be aspiring to live in areas with a much more 'prestigious' reputation).

I lived in Webber-Camden close to Henry High and the neighborhood was nice and quiet - I think Webber-Camden is more like the majority of Minneapolis neighborhoods where it can be a block-by-block situation where there will be a stretch of blocks that are extremely stable, but others a little rougher. Part of this has to do with the fact that Webber-Camden has been hit harder than any of the neighborhoods mentioned with foreclosures and that the section of Fremont running through it tends to be a busier thoroughfare with more activity. However, when we were in the market, we checked out homes around crystal lake cemetary, henry high, and the webber-camden parkway as these all gave us the impression of being pretty solid areas. A new library is going to be built close to the parkway in Webber-Camden so there is some development activity going on.

Lind-Bohanon and Shingle Creek are all very stable and safe areas. The housing stock isn't as diverse, much more post-war ranches and story and a halfs that don't have as much character as you find in many other north neighborhoods, but you will find some variations/ older homes here and there. Shingle Creek parkway areas seems very nice, some nice luxury condo developments there look to be well occupied. Lind Bohanon, from what I can tell, has a very active and engaged neighborhood association/ group of residents that live there and is close by a number of the bigger local schools (i tend to view it as having a lot of younger families, not sure how true this is or not). All neighborhoods are connected as part of the Camden neighborhoods, so you will still find that strong sense of community, and the nrbhd associations tend to work together on projects and things. But I guess I can't say if any others are "known" specifically for anything.

Hope this gave a little more insight, there are some really nice areas in the communities you listed, I just don't have too much first-hand experience with them but have friends in all neighborhoods mentioned that seem very content w/ their areas. With the exception of the node around lyndale/ 44th in webber-camden, shingle creek and lind-bohanon are all pretty straight residential without many businesses directly in the neighborhood. You might want to check out Camden Community News, The First Northside Online Newspaper, Covering the Northwest Area of Minneapolis to find neighborhood association websites and possibly get a better feel for the broader Camden community-

[Sarah Maske]

Hi!

Victory Neighborhood is wonderful! It's a fantastic time to buy there.
I live in Robbinsdale, located on just the other side of The Parkway. Victory neighbors enjoy all the restaurants Robbinsdale has to offer too. We have Woullet Bakery, Stems & Vines Floral, Thistles restaurant, and many other cute spots.

I think you'll be very happy in Victory! There are some amazing deals over there and it's a wonderful community.

Thanks,
Sarah

[Luke9686]

I think you're reputation actually keeps the area a secret, which is a good thing. When I first looked on a map I thought to myself 'I thought N. Minneapolis is rough'. It helps keeping down to earth, friendly people there.

[Sarah Maske]

People always tell me, "My friend (or someone else) told me to stay away from N. Minneapolis." N Mpls has an undeserved reputation. Yes, there are spots that aren't great, bad in fact. BUT, there are is a significant amount of neighborhoods there that are fantastic. If people are going to be so narrow-minded about an entire quadrant of the city, then they should probably not live there...wouldn't fit in too well.

[nick is rulz]

Originally Posted by Luke9686

I think you're reputation actually keeps the area a secret, which is a good thing. When I first looked on a map I thought to myself 'I thought N. Minneapolis is rough'. It helps keeping down to earth, friendly people there.

yessir. Probably 8 years ago I had a friend who was looking at a place near Crystal Lake cemetary on Newton and I warned him it would be a horrible idea because its a "bad area". Since then I have known multiple people who have lived around/in the area and have had no complaints to speak of.

[Luke9686]

I went online and checked out the real estate in that area. Very affordable. If the neighborhood is as described, it would be a great value.

[Jeanie Hoholik]

Camden, you never overkill. You're very thorough and insightful!

[Jeanie Hoholik]

I second that!

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Hoholik

Camden, you never overkill. You're very thorough and insightful!

Thanks Jeanie, I appreciate the shout-out (but I now feel like I'm really going to be expected to produce with my posts.

By the way, to second what I believe camden redhouse said (? - could be wrong about who said it), if anyone is interested in checking out the Victory or other Camden neighborhoods, what used to be the annual Victory Garage Sale (now I think it's the Camden garage sale and includes a number of other Camden neighborhoods) is coming up on Saturday May 31st this year - lots of good sales, conversation, and food (hot dogs, lemonade, etc.) around.

Luke9686, it's funny that you said:

"I think you're reputation actually keeps the area a secret, which is a good thing. When I first looked on a map I thought to myself 'I thought N. Minneapolis is rough'. It helps keeping down to earth, friendly people there"

I actually agree with your statement quite a bit - I actually had a moral dilemma about publicly (on this website) telling people about our experiences in the neighborhood once upon a time (I like that there is still a great neighborhood out there that's affordable for 1st time homebuyers/ families, and the people here are awesome so who would want to potentially ruin that 'secret'). After giving it some thought, though, I realized that if I were in the market right now I'd appreciate someone on here to tell me about it, and that no matter how much I or other neighbors might say about the neighborhood, it's still going to be the friendly, down-to-earth and open-minded folks that find their way to the area despite all of the over-generalizations they've heard from non-Northsiders and the local media. Like other North neighborhoods, there is diversity here - racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, etc. - and I personally think that most people that live here (regardless of income or whatever other demographic) realize that it's a very unique, special place to live and something worth taking care of. And although some of the nicer, well-kept homes in the neighborhood seem to be somewhat 'hot' (well, maybe lukewarm) in the current market, there are still a number of dilapidated fixer-uppers and/or foreclosures that have seemed to stagnate on the market this past year that would be great opportunities for people to find a home with character that they could rehab and make their own (our own house was at one time vacant and boarded up) - the same goes for most other North neighborhoods as well.

[Sarah Maske]

I love reading your posts, Camden, about CAMDEN! It is so refreshing to hear someone talk about this area of the city. What a wonderful neighborhood Victory (and other areas of Camden) is!





I wish I could buy something over there that's in foreclosure and fix it up! One house I dealt with a month ago was awesome and I wish I could have bought it for myself! It wasn't a foreclosure either. Perfectly kept up house (used to be grandma's) and it was on a great lot. LOVE LOVE LOVE the area!