Another where to live thread... (Minneapolis, St. Paul: best neighborhood, how much, houses)

[Brandon624]

I've done a little searching/browsing, but it's probably easiest to start a new thread.

My wife and I (late 20's) are considering a move to the area in the next 6-12 months (depending on several factors).

One of the factors is whether or not we are able to find a community that has the characteristics we're looking for so I'm doing some preliminary research. In order of importance, here's what we're looking for.

Diversity - we currently live in a predominantly middle class inner ring suburb of Cleveland that's roughly 60% white. I'm not sure if something similar exists in the area, but we're looking for as diverse as possible.

Good schools - part of the reason we're exploring the move. We don't have kids now, but the schools where we currently are don't live up to my expectations.

Home price - we would probably be looking for something under $200k for a 3-4 BR/2 BA home. We prefer older more established neighborhoods - tree lined streets/primarily non-chain restaurants/good walkability/outdoor activities relatively close by.

Commute - we haven't explored the job market much, but I would probably be working downtown. I'd prefer to have a commute under 30-35 minutes (including rush hour). Proximity to a light rail station is a bonus.

Proximity to Card Clubs - my wife doesn't much care about this, but I like to play cards. Ideally, I'd like to be 20-30 minutes from one of the two rooms in the area (in Shakopee and Columbus).

Preferred area (based on my preliminary/brief research) - from what I've seen, it looks like the SW portion of Minneapolis (Plymouth down and around to Westside of St. Paul) have what we're looking for (although possibly not the diversity).

Thanks for your help.

[Slig]

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul proper have that level of diversity. If you're looking for a diverse suburb your best bet is Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, or Richfield...although those three are still probably 70% white. In the current market, you could find a home in that price range in any of the places I mentioned and the commute wouldn't be a problem because all of those places are inner suburbs or the cities themselves.

I can't comment on cardclub and the school question is going to create all kinds of debate. The truth of the matter is that the public school system as a whole here is very good and there are plenty of very good private/charter schools available as well.

[Thegonagle]

Check out Columbia Heights. That's where I bought my first home because it's very affordable, it's right next to NE Minneapolis, and property taxes are significantly lower than Minneapolis or virtually anywhere in Hennepin county (CH is in southern Anoka county). It's one of those places that you don't hear much about, because nothing very bad happens with any frequency.

It does tend to be a little "blue collar" for some people's tastes, but I like it. The shade trees are tall, my neighbors are great, and I'm out the door and in downtown in about 12-14 minutes most of the time, a real plus, because I don't like driving if I'm not getting paid for it.

I don't know about card clubs, but I thought I'd throw that out there, because the diversity is there, the affordability is there, and the convenience of big-city living is there.

[Camden Northsider]

I think you guys would be happy in the Camden area of Minneapolis, a very diverse area. There are seven neighborhoods in Camden and you will find a lot of variation/ differences between the Camden neighborhoods themselves. We live in the Victory neighborhood and love it here - I think the neighborhood and area have a lot of what you are looking for (I had originally included a bunch of hyperlinks to the things i mention below, but they dont' seem to be working for me tonight- google for more info).

Originally Posted by Brandon624

My wife and I (late 20's) are considering a move to the area in the next 6-12 months (depending on several factors).

One of the factors is whether or not we are able to find a community that has the characteristics we're looking for so I'm doing some preliminary research. In order of importance, here's what we're looking for.

Diversity - we currently live in a predominantly middle class inner ring suburb of Cleveland that's roughly 60% white. I'm not sure if something similar exists in the area, but we're looking for as diverse as possible.

As of 2000 census date, Victory was app. 70% white - I wish they would update these profiles as I would surmise that in the past 8 years it has become more diverse here (although can't say for certain or by how much). Other Camden neighborhoods tend to be more diverse than Victory and Camden as a whole I believe has been noted as one of the most integrated ZIP codes (55412) in the US. There are a lot of younger professional couples/ families in our neighborhood, on our block there's at least 7 or 8 homeowners in their 20s or early 30s.

Originally Posted by Brandon624

Good schools - part of the reason we're exploring the move. We don't have kids now, but the schools where we currently are don't live up to my expectations.

Our neighborhood is served by Loring Community School which was one of 2 schools in Minneapolis and 21 schools statewide to receive the Award for Excellence in Education award from Sen Mark Dayton in 2006. The Star Tribune featured Loring for its innovative teaching approaches in reading this week (which are now being adopted by some suburban school districts). And we've heard nothing but good things from neighbors with kids there.

Patrick Henry High straddles the border of the Victory and Webber-Camden neighborhoods (and serves much of Camden) and has been recognized as being one of the top high schools in the nation (Newsweek), has a top-notch and long established International Baccalaureate (IB) and pre-IB program, and its teachers seem to cnosistently be recognized with state and national awards - very diverse school doing some really great things.

There are a couple of private schools in Camden, Maranatha Christian Academy and St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School, and I know there are a number of kids in our neighborhood that attend De La Salle HS (Catholic) as well.

Originally Posted by Brandon624

Home price - we would probably be looking for something under $200k for a 3-4 BR/2 BA home. We prefer older more established neighborhoods - tree lined streets/primarily non-chain restaurants/good walkability/outdoor activities relatively close by.

Of the Camden neighborhoods, Victory is the most expensive - in the past you would have had no shot finding that much house in that price range here, but it seems in the current market its "anything goes" and you likely would be able to find something fairly decent right now. This, IMO, would be the best neighborhood in the area in terms of being older, more established, posessing tree-lined streets, a couple of nice restaurants in the neighborhood, and walkability/ outdoor activities very close by (do a search on this forum for other threads/ posts about victory on here or google it).

Originally Posted by Brandon624

Commute - we haven't explored the job market much, but I would probably be working downtown. I'd prefer to have a commute under 30-35 minutes (including rush hour). Proximity to a light rail station is a bonus.

I think the fastest time I've ever clocked to get downtown from here (and we live very close to the northwestern edge of Mpls) was 8 minutes, the longest commute time I think I've ever dealt with would be 20 minutes, average time is 10 - 15 minutes. I think this is one of the most convenient areas in Mpls to live (easy access to downtown and many suburbs via 94, 694, 100, 55, etc.). No light rail station close by (except when you get to downtown), if this is a big consideration for you my recommendation would be to look into the Longfellow or Seward neighborhoods of Minneapolis (they would also have a lot of what you are looking for and are diverse).

Originally Posted by Brandon624

Proximity to Card Clubs - my wife doesn't much care about this, but I like to play cards. Ideally, I'd like to be 20-30 minutes from one of the two rooms in the area (in Shakopee and Columbus).

You're likely not going to find many diverse places within 20 - 30 minutes of a card club unless you're on a reservation, but from my house I can get to Canterbury in Shakopee in about 35 - 40 minutes which would be about the same for most places in Minneapolis/ inner suburbs (but if you choose Mpls/ inner suburbs I would suggest being on the western end of minneapolis, either north or south, or close by 62, which I don't recommend because of airplane noise, if you are planning to make frequent trips there). Columbus is not anywhere near the metro, at least a 3 hour drive if not 4 hours- Shakopee's the only place close by (next closest places to play poker would be treasure island in welch, mn, at least an 1.25 hrs, or Grand Casino Hinckley, which is app. 1.5 hrs north of the metro).

Originally Posted by Brandon624

Preferred area (based on my preliminary/brief research) - from what I've seen, it looks like the SW portion of Minneapolis (Plymouth down and around to Westside of St. Paul) have what we're looking for (although possibly not the diversity).

Are you speaking of Plymouth, MN the suburb (not diverse) or Plymouth Ave N (very diverse)? SW Minneapolis is both not diverse and way out of your price range, and I can't speak knowledgeably about Westside of St. Paul although I believe I've heard that it's decent (and diverse). My advice woudl be to check out the northwest area of Minneapolis, good luck-

[Brandon624]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

You're likely not going to find many diverse places within 20 - 30 minutes of a card club unless you're on a reservation, but from my house I can get to Canterbury in Shakopee in about 35 - 40 minutes which would be about the same for most places in Minneapolis/ inner suburbs (but if you choose Mpls/ inner suburbs I would suggest being on the western end of minneapolis, either north or south, or close by 62, which I don't recommend because of airplane noise, if you are planning to make frequent trips there). Columbus is not anywhere near the metro, at least a 3 hour drive if not 4 hours- Shakopee's the only place close by (next closest places to play poker would be treasure island in welch, mn, at least an 1.25 hrs, or Grand Casino Hinckley, which is app. 1.5 hrs north of the metro).

Running Aces opened in July near Forest Lake (exit 129 off I-35). Mapquest says it's slightly closer than Shakopee, 33 minutes vs. 37. Running Aces

Thanks for all the advice. Northern Minneapolis sounds pretty close to what we're looking for.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Brandon624

Thanks for all the advice. Northern Minneapolis sounds pretty close to what we're looking for.

Don't limit your search to the northside though, I would argue the southside where I live is as diverse if not moreso and there is alot of cool stuff like great bike paths everywhere, several lakes, parks, lots of shopping, nightlife options, a light rail line, etc. I'm a bike guy so my biggest turnoff about the northside is that hardly anyone bikes up there and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of bike paths in that segment of the city. South Minneapolis is basically Minnesota bike central.

South and Southwest high schools are excellent and I've heard lots of good things about Lake Harriet lower/upper and Seward k-8 so lots of good schooling options on the southside.

[Brandon624]

Camden Northsider was talking about that area being out of our price range (<$200k) which might even be a stretch seeing as we're in a 3BR 1.5 BA now for $120k.

[Slig]

yeah, SW is out of your range but there are four communities in south Minneapolis where you will find a bunch of houses in your range, Powderhorn, Longfellow, Nokomis and Phillips. I bought my house in Powderhorn in May for 140k. 1380 sq ft, 3 bed 1 bath, 2 car garage, completely redone exterior, new furnace, new water heater, new windows, new carpeting, newly painted interior, etc. I know a great realtor who specializes in Minneapolis homes. PM me if you want to talk to him, otherwise I strongly recommend finding a realtor who is an expert in the Minneapolis housing stock and can help you find a great value.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Slig

I'm a bike guy so my biggest turnoff about the northside is that hardly anyone bikes up there and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of bike paths in that segment of the city. South Minneapolis is basically Minnesota bike central.

No bike paths?? Victory Memorial Parkway, Theo Wirth Parkway, Webber-Camden Pkway to Shingle Creek Parkway/ Humboldt Greenway to North Mississippi Regional Park to St. Anthony Pkwy in the NE and down from Theo Wirth south to Cedar Lake and the Chain of Lakes as referenced by Slig (and although our lakes aren't nearly as recreational, we're a few blocks from Crystal Lake, a nice lake in Robbinsdale, and Victory has Ryan Lake, a very small peaceful little lake in the NWestern corner). There may not be many cool urban bikepaths cutting through neighborhoods like in South, but there's a lot of paths on the park systems. Many of my neighbors are hardcore bike enthusiasts and/or commuters.

But I also agree that for a well-rounded search, the neighborhoods Slig mentioned would be good ones to check out for what you're looking for (I really like Longfellow and Seward and Corcoran seems like a nice little community as well). Even Columbia Heights, like the other poster mentioned, seems nice (IMO nicer than a lot of NE Mpls neighborhoods, although not as hip/ urban). Many of these areas were part of our search as well while we were in the market.

I hadn't heard about Running Aces, which doesn't say much as I'm not really playing anymore. Canterbury is huge and where all the action is at - I can't imagine a commute from any Mpls areas to Forest Lake would be much shorter drive time vs. Shakopee but might be wrong on that.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Slig

PM me if you want to talk to him, otherwise I strongly recommend finding a realtor who is an expert in the Minneapolis housing stock and can help you find a great value.

I agree with this - there seems to be more realtors per capita in the outer suburban communities with mad marketing skills that often times don't know anything about Minneapolis proper and think that diversity means an occassional family of color here and there in a neighborhood. I would say that once you decide on an area, get a realtor that's either based in that vicinity or has a lot of experience with homes there (or at least one of the areas you are looking in). Or ask a lot of questions of folks on here that live in or around the areas you are looking in-