Quote:
Originally Posted by MNNative
Spawned from recent chat about schools and continuous comparisons of neighborhoods, I'm singling out the Victory neighborhood and requesting info.
[cut: questions]
I think that's good for now. Your replies are VERY much appreciated!  |
*What is the general perception of the Victory neighborhood?
I think that many people know about the area as a great place to live - it has had somewhat of a visible presence due to the annual victory garage sale (frequented by people all over the metro), the Victory 10K/ 5K, the annual ice cream social, and other events. Us and several of our neighbors have noted that people from the surrounding suburbs will bring their kids here to go trick or treating, not sure what that is about, but the parkway areas seem to be an ideal trick-or-treating destination for whatever reason. Similarly, I believe the argus leader profiled Victory either in the late 90s or early 00s in an article titled something like "Victory - the gem of North Minneapolis". Nick is right, however, that a lot of people are unfamiliar with the area - there is generally a feeling of it being a hidden best kept secret. I have friends that live in surrounding neighborhoods of Lind-Bohanon, Shingle Creek, etc. and they sometimes refer to us as "parkway snobs" for living in Victory, but otherwise I've heard people talk on this forum about the great, interesting, and active people in the neighborhood. When realtors describe Victory in home listings, you will often find the words "choice", "desirable", "great neighborhood", and proximity to the parkway in their ads.
*What types of people populate that neighborhood?
It's a neat mix of people - a lot of younger professionals (singles, couples, families), a number of retirees that either grew up here or have lived here for years (and we've found that they make for a great 'neighborhood watch'), and everyone in the middle. The people I meet are generally in the middle to upper middle income bracket (the neighborhood average household income exceeds the city of minneapolis average), but you will find working-class/ moderate income folks and retirees living on their social security, etc. as well. The neighborhood has a very high rate of home-ownership to rental ratio, and people take great pride in their homes and yards (really after living here, we drive around other areas in Minneapolis and St. Paul that we were looking at to purchase- Northeast, South, and St. Paul - and we usually comment on how dumpy those neighborhoods now look to us). The people here are generally pretty active in their community, liberal, socially conscious (the neighborhood's housing committee, headed by a partner in a local green design/ build firm, is planning to implement a lot of "Green" standards with the low-interest home improvement/ rehabilitation loans that they provide). Although it's unfortunate that the neighborhood itself isn't as diverse as many surrounding neighborhoods, there is still a strong diversity here - ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, age, politics, sexual orientation, etc. that gives a somewhat eclectic feel to the neighborhood that you will not find in the suburbs.
*How's the crime rate?
It's probably the quietest neighborhood that I think I've ever lived in (and I've lived in a variety of city/ rural areas) and it's very safe and comfortable walk any time of day and night. With that said, it's in a metropolitan city so there of course are incidents/ occassional spates. I would guess that the crime here is much lower than a majority of city neighborhoods on annual, and probably less than a number of inner-ring suburbs. There are tons of block clubs - probably at least 60 - 70% of blocks in the neighborhood, that are active, and the neighborhood organization sends out alerts to residents if there is anything ever 'going on'.
*How's the degree of "neighborhood feel"? Everyone-knows-each-other or good-luck-ever-meeting-your-neighbor? Any block/neighborhood parties or the sort?
ALL THE TIME. Extremely "neighborhood-y". We've met tons of people just going out on walks on the parkway areas. Like I said above, there is the annual events here, but in addition to those in the summer there are neighborhood-sponsored "spring cleaning" events, in the summer there are OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHTS with a projector screen at the Victory Flagpole (neighborhood historical landmark), regular band concerts in the parkway, the ice cream social, and many block parties throughout the neighborhood - people here seem to like to get together. We've become active with the neighborhood organization and that has been great and another way to meet neighbors, and we've met people at the local restaurants as well (and it's funny how often, in the course of work, I meet or realize that someone I know lives in the neighborhood). When we first moved here, we thought that we must look like another well-known couple in the neighborhood as, having lived in more dense neighborhoods for a while, we were shocked by how many people would stop and talk to us at length when we went out on walks.
*Aside from living directly on the Parkway, are there areas of that neighborhood that are preferred? Any that are not recommended?
Not really, it's a matter of personal preference- drive around and see what feels like home. There is only one street besides Penn (I believe Thomas) that has a bus line servicing it, most people want to be as close to the parkway as they can - we live just off Dowling (the block as far south in Victory as you can get) and we're very happy with our street/ blocks around us.
*To which schools do most people who live in that neighborhood send their children? Private or public? Names?
Loring Community Elementary School is I believe where most parents want their kids if they can get in (i've heard there's a wait list). Olson Middle School and Patrick Henry High, both rated in the top 5% of middle/ high schools in the nation. I see a lot of yard signs for a Catholic school up here - Elizabeth Seton, as well as Maranatha Christian Academy which is actually in Victory. I have heard of a few parents, due to wait lists or some other issue, having kids in school at Robbinsdale (they can get on the bus on the parkway) although I think that's relatively rare. And there's that one experimental or magnet school (5 or 7- 12?) that's downtown - I'm forgetting it's name right now, but it has an amazing reputation, I believe it's publicly funded but your kids need to go through an application/ acceptance process and it's relatively small.
*What is there to do around there? (We prefer not to go downtown.)
Besides what I mentioned above, Victory is home to The Warren, an Artist Habitat(
The Warren_An Artist Habitat) which is home to the Workhouse Theatre Co. (
Workhouse Theatre Company | Minneapolis) - their shows are usually pretty good and often fun, the last one we went to sold out for numerous shows. There is a "cheap theatre" just north of us in Brookdale where you can see $3 movies with cheap concessions and a major movie complex just north of 694/ Hwy 100 so that's a pretty short drive as well. In the winter you can go ice skating at Webber Park (on the Webber-Camden parkway east of our neighborhood, maybe 15 min walk) and utilize free ice skates if you don't have any and a warming house - this is also located next door to the Webber library which is going to get rebuilt maybe a half mile west of its current location in a multimillion dollar project. There is an interpretive center (kroenig?) at the mississippi river due east of our neighborhood (less than 5 minute drive). And the newly rebuilt North Regional Library isn't too far and sits on Lowry, the border of Near North and Camden areas.
But the main thing to do is go for a walk, bike ride, or run in the neighborhood. There are miles of parks and paths to do so, and one little lake (Ryan Lake) in the northwest corner of the neighborhood, and the larger Crytal Lake just west of the parkway in Robbinsdale. Theo Wirth Park areas and their amenities are just to the south of Victory Memorial Parkway
*We do most of our shopping online but frequent grocery stores and occasionally hit up a mall or Target...any of those things nearby?
This is anotehr thing we were pleasantly surprised by when we moved here - being in the NW corner of Minneapolis, not only are we in easy commute to downtown, we are a stone's throw away from Robbinsdale's shopping district/ downtown areas as well as Brookdale Shopping District - so we have several major grocery stores (Rainbow and Cub Foods - Robbinsdale; Cub Foods in Brookdale area, not to mention Aldi on Penn/ Lowry) and smaller grocery/ convenience stores close by; the Brookdale Target is very close, several CVS Pharmacies and Walgreens close by off of 81, and if you want to go to a Menard's or Home Depot (that is, if a close-by local hardware store on penn/lowry doesn't have it) - Menard's in golden valley and fridley, home depot in brooklyn park or fridley, and other suburban Super Targets which are all about a 10 minute drive if that.
*Any great restaurants? (Both family friendly and fine-dining)
Robbinsdale has some great restaurants that we are still slowly discovering - a number of ethnic (mexican/ chinese) restaurants, etc. Brookdale has some cheesy family-friendly offerings like Applebee's, local bar and grills, and a wierd 50s theme place. In Victory itself, you have Rix Bar and Grill, which recently changed ownership and will soon be a French or French fusion restaurant called "Sauced" (fine dining), Papa's is probably an inbetween of fine dining and family-friendly and is, like Nick said, AWESOME italian/ pizzeria as well as a newly opened gelato (
Papa's Pizza and Pasta). Emily's Family Restaurant (diner feel) is a neighborhood restaurant for breakfasts and extremely affordable, i believe they're open 7 days for breakfast and lunch- no dinner. SteamWorks Coffee (
Steamworks Coffee & Tea Company) won Best of Twin Cities "Coffee" in 2000 or 2001 has great coffee, espresso, muffins/ cookies, etc. as well as offers light breakfasts and lunches- I recommend the belgian malted waffles.
I think that's good for now. Your replies are VERY much appreciated!
Feel free to throw out/ DM any other specific questions you have Moving, and if you do decide to move here, Direct Message me so I can make sure you get on the list to get a neighborhood welcome packet (neighborhood and city needed information, coupons to many of the above restaurants, etc.)and/or we can take you and yours to Papa's some night. Good luck-
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Victory Neighborhood
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