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Farmer markets happen all over each week. Hyvee is worth checking, Cub Foods too, Cub being the biggest player in town. If you go on Instacart you can search many to get a ballpark of what they charge for certain things.
St. Paul Farmer's Market is pretty great, but as Warner says they occur everywhere each week into the fall. They are in full swing right now.
The Asian markets are fantastic for produce - the HmongTown Marketplace, Dragon Star, Ha Tien, Shuang Hur, etc. The best variety for sure.
Aldi tends to have lower prices and good quality for produce.
Farmers' markets are typically (at least in my L.A./MI experience) even more expensive than the premium stores. But thank you for the other places - Asian stores have always been favorites of mine in major cities. Aldi is also going to become a quick staple for at least veg, but I don't typically tend to love their fruit. Honestly, though, we aren't that hard up with my wife's work and my severance (pretty sure that we can stretch it out at least a year without having to dip into savings), but I like to at least exercise a modicum of control over the budget where it's possible.
Parking is around $40 per month for ”evening” parking, which presumably means you gotta clear out at the end of work. Website is a bit vauge, so I'd contact Parking & Transportation for the actual details. Otherwise full time parking is $80 per month. If you don't want to pay for the expensive parking, then you can take the light rail.
If you aren't right next to the light rail, then you could always check the bus lines, or just bike to the light rail. You can take bikes on both buses and trains.
[url]https://www.metrotransit.org/bike-n-ride-on-metro-lines[/url]
Once your on campus, its very bike friendly.
Just be careful as some areas are not so nice. Ideally pick a stop that has one of those blue security lights, that alert the police when the button is pressed.
Wow, 59 taps!! That’s the most I’ve ever seen other the Cannery near Fisherman’s Wharf in SF which has about 80. What do the keg rooms at these places look like?? And keeping all the lines clean organized , and make sure people buy the beers, gotta be a logistical nightmare.
Under the old owner, never an issue with tap lines as I recall (not to say there is an issue under the new owner - I simply have not been there since they took over but I hear great things). They also used to host lost of beer-themed dinners (which sold out) with reps from the breweries there to talk about each beer along the way. And, every once in a while, the manager would announced that they just found a keg of "insert" and it is on tap until it runs out. I was there the night they found a Surly Darkness key from about 2012 or so ... texting took off and the bar filled in about 20 minutes.
But, man, that patio. WA Frost's patio down the street as well. St. Paul has some great patios (Waldmann down on Smith Street is one of my favorites, too).
Last edited by WoodburyWoody; 08-25-2022 at 01:42 PM..
Parking is around $40 per month for ”evening” parking, which presumably means you gotta clear out at the end of work. Website is a bit vauge, so I'd contact Parking & Transportation for the actual details. Otherwise full time parking is $80 per month. If you don't want to pay for the expensive parking, then you can take the light rail.
If you aren't right next to the light rail, then you could always check the bus lines, or just bike to the light rail. You can take bikes on both buses and trains. https://www.metrotransit.org/bike-n-ride-on-metro-lines
Once your on campus, its very bike friendly.
Just be careful as some areas are not so nice. Ideally pick a stop that has one of those blue security lights, that alert the police when the button is pressed.
I appreciate the response. I think we're good re transportation for now (decided to pay 77 bucks/month for a surface lot close-ish to my wife's building).
Under the old owner, never an issue with tap lines as I recall (not to say there is an issue under the new owner - I simply have not been there since they took over but I hear great things). They also used to host lost of beer-themed dinners (which sold out) with reps from the breweries there to talk about each beer along the way. And, every once in a while, the manager would announced that they just found a keg of "insert" and it is on tap until it runs out. I was there the night they found a Surly Darkness key from about 2012 or so ... texting took off and the bar filled in about 20 minutes.
But, man, that patio. WA Frost's patio down the street as well. St. Paul has some great patios (Waldmann down on Smith Street is one of my favorites, too).
Sweeney’s has a unique tall walled (bricked) off patio in this general area also.
So, roughly six months in, I figured I'd provide an update.
Housing
All in all, the initial appeal of 740 River wore off rather quickly. The location remains our favorite aspect, but living in a 60-year-old building with gigantic windows (that are both drafty and really hard to slide open, because of age) and poor HVAC systems (the wall ACs overheat at the drop of a hat and management only just managed to fix the heat midway into winter) means that on sunny days we have shades drawn and are baking indoors (my room is 77 degrees right now, while it's -2 outside) without even being able to enjoy the Vitamin D. And dreary days (of which there have been far too many so far this winter) are even drearier because you can see them better through our 5 ft. by 11 ft. glass monstrosities. Management continues to try their hardest, in spite of really frequent turnover, but there's only so much you can do with what you're given here. Had we been paying $1700-$2000/month, I might have been OK with it, but at almost $2600 (and with only heat included, contrary to how the place was advertised), we aren't getting nearly our money's worth. So, because we were definitely hampered in our ability to find something quickly due to our circumstances, I am going to start a search for a new place sometime around April, to make sure that by August we have something picked out with which we'll be happier.
So far, the neighborhoods I like the most, apart from Highland, and that are at least within a shout of our expanded price range (now $2500ish, given that's what we're paying here) are Mac-Groveland, Summit Hill, Nokomis/Hale, the France corridor from 70th and up through Excelsior/Lake, and maaaaybe the areas of Eagan closest to the airport (west of 35E). Even at the expanded price range, it looks like we're going to have to make some sacrifices, since housing stock in the Cities is a bit different from what we were used to in Michigan and Illinois (e.g., lots of wooden/darker trim, which we really don't like; many single-story SFHs, which my wife doesn't feel safe in, many SFHs are older stock, which makes the aforementioned HVAC situations hit and miss unless they'd undergone comprehensive remodeling). But I'm sure that, given time, we'll be able to find something better.
Commute
This ended up being the least of our worries. My wife, who is a creature of routine and habit, LOVES Mississippi River Blvd and her employee parking lot is (a) reasonably priced, relatively speaking and (b) very close to her main building. My drive (to Minnetonka) sucks balls, thanks to inevitable gridlock in Downtown, but I work from home half the time, so it could be worse. Doing some after-work grocery shopping kills two birds with one stone, as well, and enlivens my return commute somewhat by varying it to a certain degree (I am decidedly NOT a creature of habit in that sense, so I like taking new routes).
Groceries/shopping
I've had to adjust shopping habits and expectations, to some degree. I definitely miss the gigantic ethnic supermarkets of Michigan (and they're $0.39 per pound tomatoes), having found absolutely nothing here that even loosely resembles them. That said, my job loss had made me pay more attention to prices and get creative where needed. Aldi has definitely become a mainstay. Trader Joe's has remained a firm favorite. And I've discovered that Whole Foods can, on occasion, be a viable option (e.g., $3.39 eggs right now, as well as out-of-season fruit for not-insane prices). Fresh Thyme and HyVee are also good value for certain things (so is our new Lund's, if I pay attention to weekly sales). And if I want to get fancy with my fruit selection, BF Yang in Shoreview and St. Paul is a good option (the other Asian markets, though absolutely phenomenal for choice, are WAY too expensive). I've also been pleasantly surprised with how many Eastern European stores there are here (Minsk in Eagan and Paradise Market in Hopkins are my weekly visits), but their prices...whoof (Ingebretsen's is a similar story, unfortunately). Chicagoland's Garden Fresh and Fresh Farms would absolutely clean up among the ex-USSR crowd here - too bad they're six hours away.
As far as non-food shopping goes... MOA is definitely an experience, but one we don't indulge in very often, because (a) prices and (b) crowds. The two outlets (Albertville and Eagan) are pretty dire, if I'm being honest, even though we've found some decent bargains there on occasion. The MSP IKEA feels like an afterthought for the corporation, given how some of the most popular SKUs are out of stock, seemingly all the time (e.g., we're trying to get my wife the simplest of 2x2 KALLAX storage units and they've been out of stock for more than a month with the next shipment due end of March). But, all in all, it's been alright. I do miss Meijer a bit, though.
Restaurants
Not having a job (or free time) for a while meant no takeout. Still, I did manage to check out a few places. Moscow on the Hill was great and we will definitely return there in warmer months when their patio is open. Pad Thai on Grand Ave is pretty good, if somewhat pricy for what you get. We've yet to find a firm favorite boba place - so far, Mu Mu is my favorite, while Simplicitea and Chatime will also do in a pinch, and I've literally just discovered that a chain we are familiar with from Michigan (Bambu) has a spot on 28th street. I also liked a place in Armatage called Ceres Coffee (had a job interview there). I also did stop by Cecil's randomly one day without seeking it out specifically, and marked it down in the back of my mind as a place to come back to. Their hamantaschen were excellent. Oh, and the Finnish Bistro in St. Anthony Park was cool (and the area surrounding it looked like something I'd enjoy exploring once it gets warmer).
Entertainment/sports/exploring the area
Running along the river and Bde Maka Ska has definitely become a favorite pastime of mine. Too bad my body won't let me do it at temps below freezing. Did also manage to find a soccer league in Plymouth, though am still on the lookout for more games if I can find them. Have gone out to areas around the airport to plane spot a few times - especially like the dog park on the northeastern side of the airport. Not much other exploring, to be honest. First I was hyperfocused on finding a new job, then it got cold. So, hopefully we can start venturing out more in the spring. I also have to say that, having subscribed to the CrimeMSP (or whatever it was called) Twitter account, I managed to scare myself off visiting some of the more "touristy" places around Downtown. Going to have to become a bit braver now that I've got my bearings about me a bit more.
All things considered, while I definitely don't yet feel at home here, I'm glad we made the move. My wife loves her job, despite working 12 hour days (first year Uni instructor blues), I managed to land on my feet reasonably quickly after losing mine and we are very much looking forward to making some improvements in our lives once our first year anniversary in Minnesota approaches, so that we can enjoy the area more.
740 River has to be the most overpriced building in the city for what you're getting. There are 2BRs for under $2000 in Mac-Groveland. Even w/o utilities you'll probably end up paying less for rent/utilities combined than your rent right now. And no these aren't single family homes.
For that price you could be renting a house. Almost any neighborhood.
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