Moving from Austin, TX - need vibrant, diverse neighborhood (St. Paul: middle-class, for sale)

[apone]

Hi there. My husband, my 6 month old, and myself are moving from Austin, TX. We live in a happening, close-in neighborhood here and would like an equivalent. Would love green space to run, ethnically/culturally diverse community, safe, with easy walk to neighborhood stores/bars/restaurants, old house with cool woodwork. No burbs for these urbanites. Our area in Austin was initially an up and coming when we bought and now is officially cool and artsy. our budget is around 230 at the high end. We have looked at places northeast, longfellow, and nokomis. Any other suggestions? I also really liked the Central neighborhood, but was told to watch out for "certain problem areas", but no one seems to be able to tell me where these areas are. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Oh - and my husband does contracting/remodeling here in Texas, so we can handle a fixer-upper.

[mplsinvestor]

good resource is http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/[/url]
This site will tell you a lot about the very many neighborhoods of MPLS. You have a great opprotunity right now with the large amount of forclosures. I would check out the south side neighborhoods east of Lake and Hennepin near uptown or the Bryant neighborhood. At your price you can get near uptown, which should fit what you are looking for. Also to find out about neighborhood safty, there are block clubs for all of the mpls areas, you can pre-screen by contacting them as well.

[golfgal]

You can look in the Highland Park area of St. Paul but finding a house in your price range could be difficult, finding a house in your price range anywhere in the metro is going to be difficult but since you are handy that will help.

I know you said no suburbs but there are 3 that might interest you, Stillwater, Northfield and St. Louis Park. They have what you are looking for--Stillwater and Northfield will have a higher percentage of older homes too. A lot will depend on where you are working. Do you know where that will be?

[Sarah Maske]

The Victory neighborhood is good for fixers in your price range. You could potentially get a house on the parkway (LOTS OF GREEN SPACE) for near your price range or below if you want a more major fixer. Stillwater as Golfgal said, is really pretty but it is quite the drive. It's on the St. Croix River - really pretty there.

I think your best bet in your price range is going to be Victory neighborhood. Read some of the posts by Camden Northsider and Chewie on these forums. I think both are residents of Camden and one or both might live in Victory which is the parkway end of Camden. N Mpls has a stigma here but it's based on people's opinions who don't know enough about it. Victory is a historic and well kept neighborhood. The streets to look for are York (which is technically Robbinsdale), Xerxes, Washburn, Vincent, Upton, Thomas, Sheridan, Russell, Queen. Look between Dowling and 49th. In fact, I remember a darling block, I THINK it was the 4300 block of Queen where there were some REALLY cute homes for sale (that was late last winter). One up there sold for around $129K and it needed a lot of work but the block it was on and the surrounding blocks were darling...and very vibrant.

Also, check out the stretch of the parkway around Washburn and 27th (?) going north. I was just looking at something there the other day and it was a great pocket with easy access to the park and the lakes chain. You can go from this area and bike all the way to Lake of the Isles and Calhoun and so on. There is a nice strip there that has some great homes.

I hope you find something you like very soon!

Some neighborhoods in St Paul might be good - but again as said above, I agree, it could be tough in your range. There are quite a few foreclosures around so sometimes you can get one of those in one of these cool St Paul neighborhoods. In fact, I should say instead of "sometimes" - it's more like "often." Keep your eyes peeled!

[apone]

I appreciate all of the feedback. We have found a lot of homes in our price range there and you can get more for the money than in Austin. So, it's nice to have info on areas so we can narrow the search a bit. It's hard getting good feedback on areas. The area we live in here is located on the east side of town, which people always say is a bad area (specifically because we are diverse). However, our home values are some of the best in the city - with light rail and neighborhood theaters and restaurants popping up all the time. I think that's why I have been attracted to and wondering about some areas north, as well as Central. Any more info/advice - please keep it coming. Thanks!

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by Sarah Maske

N Mpls has a stigma here but it's based on people's opinions who don't know enough about it.

It is not at all based on the 4th precinct having the highest rates in the city for every serious crime?

[Minnehahapolitan]

The fifth precinct contains Kenwood and Whittier. People don't make sweeping generalizations about the Southwest quadrant of the city, though.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Northeast is a good area to look. The neighborhood has always been stable but pretty ungentrified. There are alot of artists and things to do. Less diverse, though.

Whittier is much more urban. Nicollet has easy access to downtown and the neighobrhood is prob. the most diverse in Mpls. It is somewhat sketchy, but generally OK. Lots of old middle-class houses and close to dozens of restaurants.

Elliot Park is very urban, but there are a few houses with small lawns. A weird combination of urban poverty and million-dollar condos. It is oft-overlooked by most people. Literally a couple blocks from downtown. You can still get some good deals figuring how close to the core it is.

[Slig]

Central is in the Powderhorn community where I live, although I live east of there in the Corcoran neighborhood. Central fits your description in alot of ways. The neighborhood is up and coming and has improved quite a bit in the last 5 years. However, I would still consider Central as a whole to be a neighborhood in transition. It is very diverse, it's very close to most amenities and a nice walk/quick bike ride to the chain of lakes and uptown area. Historically the largest problem intersection in that neighborhood would be 38th and Chicago Ave on the southern edge. I would also consider Lake Street in that neighborhood (from 35W to Chicago Avenue to be a slightly rough stretch of road. Historically some of that neighborhood has been battled turf by Latino Gangs and the Rolling 30's Bloods although I'm not sure if activity has been strong there in recent years. This would probably be something you'd want to talk to the police in the 3rd precinct about as well as the people living nearby where you're looking at houses. On the bright side, you'd be really close to Powderhorn Park and the Midtown Greenway, both of which I consider to be city gems.

If you like the area but it seems a bit too rough for you I would recommend checking out Powderhorn Park and Corcoran. You'd be able to find a nice house in your range and they are a little bit more quiet. Corcoran is kind of nestled in a nice little pocket and then you'd be close to the light rail. This would be exceptionally convenient for you once the other lines are built and everything is connected.

[Sarah Maske]

Originally Posted by moving123456

It is not at all based on the 4th precinct having the highest rates in the city for every serious crime?

Apone,

As I alluded to before; there is an ongoing debate on this forum between those that think N Mpls has some great areas and those who think the whole thing stinks and it is completely riddled with crime. The highest crime rates are in parts, PARTS, of N Mpls...HOWEVER, there are other parts that are not. No amount of statistical mudslinging is ever going to convince anyone on here who thinks N Mpls is a big joke - but that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to let you know that there are great parts of N Mpls. It's fact, not opinion. That fact is based on what you said you were looking for, because it meets your criteria.

I think the best thing you can do is drive around and get a sense of the different areas of Mpls for yourself. Someone mentioned above Powerdorn and Corcoran. Like N Mpls, there are areas of SW Mpls that are hit and miss too. Also, you might want to try Seward, ECCO and CARAG.

Best of luck to you in Mpls!

Sarah