St. Paul living for a single, mid-30's woman?

[bhdavis1978]

StellaS, I can back up what zeno44 has said. We're living just a little bit further west of Laural and Victoria and we've definitely noticed that you don't have to go very far north before things get a bit rougher, although at least where we are, things aren't too bad until you cross the I-94 and get closer to University- then it gets kind of ugly. That said, we're very happy were we are living now, and we came from a very safe (and trendy) area in Vancouver. There are a lot of nice shops around Victoria and Grand too.

[silverjet]

Originally Posted by lalife

West 7th and Montreal would be kind of creepy after dark. I lived in Highland Park for 5 years and loved it, however I was living about 3 blocks from the village. It was awesome to walk to the Barnes & Noble, grocery store, bank, restaurants, Starbucks etc when living that close to the "village"

Cathedral Hill is really nice too. Tons of charm in the architecture over there, plus there are restaurants etc to walk to.

Dale & Marshall has nice architecture and charm too, however there are some rougher buildings right across from the St Paul College ( about 1/2 mile east of Dale / Marshall). Probably not a great area to be walking alone at night ( by the college).

If you get an apartment close to Grand, I think you would be happy too. Tons of amenities, restaurants etc.

I live right by St Paul College near Kellogg and Summit and it's perfectly fine, there's nothing rough about where I live. However when you get closer to the capitol building it does get shady, or at least appears that way. I know there is a lot of public housing behind and in other places near the capitol building.

I happen to like the W 7th area, particularly closer to downtown. There are a lot of neat stores and bars, coffee shops, etc. It's a long stretch of street and while I don't think any part would be dangerous to live in, it's the kind of area you'd really have to experience for yourself to see how comfortable you'd be, and I therefore don't recommend it for someone brand new to town.

I do agree however that Grand Avenue and Cathedral Hill are great areas and it will probably be easier for you to find something you will be happy with there.

[powerlifter405]

Contact St. Paul PD and Ramsey county and talk to a community safety/Dare officer. There is usualy an officer who assignment is related to community relations. I spoke to several officers in different agencies which helped keep me out of several communities. I do the job for a living and I didn't want to deal w/ it when I got home. My research did discover that overall crime rates seemed to drop if you stayed out of the twin cities area. Really, figure out where you're gonna be working and start w/ that as a your initial focal point. Good luck, contact me and I can share some of my findings.

[StellaS]

Thank you very much for the advice!

[santos]

Good advice from Silverjet. I think whether you are afraid of local color or not afraid comes with exposure, ie., diversity. If you haven't experienced anything but the suburbs than you will be fearful of the West 7th area. My uncle lived there in the 1940-60s and it has always been the same so I consider it "stable". Yes, yes, there have been changes, but overall it looks stable to me in terms of personal safety. I wouldn't recommend living there to someone unaccustomed to handling themself. Likewise the Selby-Dale area. Personally I avoid the capitol area, Frogtown, even during the daylight but that's me--maybe it's ghosts haunting me since that is where my family lived.