Single male in 20s looking for a new place. Currently work in Roseville (Minneapolis: apartments)

[krillbee]

So here's the deal. I've lived in Roseville all my life. After I graduated college, I got a great job in Roseville, and work only 3 miles from where I live. I've been commuting by bike to work for the last 7 months and love it.

The only problem is.. it seems like nothing happens in here in Roseville. There are lots of people with families here and lots of retired people, but where is the young crowd? City data shows that the average age here is 40, whereas the average age in Ramsey/Hennepin county is about 30. I live in the central park area, which probably explains why few young single people live neaby, probably because they couldn't afford the homes! I couldn't either if I didn't live with my parents. About the only good thing we have (besides our nice parks) is Rosedale mall, which seems to attract a younger crowd these days (who are in their teens).

I've currently been going down to Minneapolis a lot on the weekends to meetup with friends and go clubbing and barhopping (it would sure be nice if I didn't have to bike 8-9 miles home afterwards). The cycling community also thrives down in Minneapolis so that's another positive thing I want to be more a part of. I like the idea of being close to lots of people, things to do neaby, and a short distance from all the stuff I need.

The trouble is... I still work in Roseville, and I want to bike to work. I work at Fairview and C roughly. The diagonal trail provides pretty good access to Roseville (albeit not complete access), so I'm thinking perhaps Northeast Minneapolis is a good spot to move to. I've heard a few positive comments about it, but I've only biked through there a little, so I don't know too much about it.

I've also heard a lot of positive things about uptown on this forum, and how this is the ideal spot for young adults. I've been there a few times, and honestly I haven't been too impressed. I felt like a lot of people there were snooty, and I've had better luck with meeting and flirting with women downtown than in uptown. Did I just have bad luck?
Also, do any bars in uptown besides Bar Abilene have a fun dance floor?

I've also heard good things about Grand Avenue area in St. Paul. That's not quite as close to my work as Northeast, but I'd be curious to hear what people think about that area as well. My limited experience I've had in that neighborhood was positive.

So, let's hear it people!

[golfgal]

Ok, just want to make sure I understand you, you want to move to Minneapolis so you don't have to bike 8 miles home on Friday and/or Saturday night which would cause you to bike 8 miles to work Monday-Friday? I would say, stay in Roseville so you can bike where it will do the most good and take a cab into Minneapolis and back on the weekend.

[VICTORY NEIGHBORHOOD ROCKS!]

If I were you I'd look into living nordeast. There are alot of great bars there and you're right across the river from downtown. You'll find a little bit of everything there and you're only 5-6 miles from work. Also, ton of great riding by the river.

Just my opinion

[krillbee]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Ok, just want to make sure I understand you, you want to move to Minneapolis so you don't have to bike 8 miles home on Friday and/or Saturday night which would cause you to bike 8 miles to work Monday-Friday? I would say, stay in Roseville so you can bike where it will do the most good and take a cab into Minneapolis and back on the weekend.

I know, it's ironic, isn't it? Here are my reasons why I want it that way:

1) I hope to become more involved in the Minneapolis community, meet more people here, and hangout with more people here (because there aren't too many singles to hangout with in Roseville). If I spend time with people here every day of the week, then I'd be making more trips to somewhere in Minneapolis than work, and that is eventually my goal, and I would assume that would happen once I made a lot of friends.

2) For the price of a cab 2 nights a week (a one way trip from Roseville is likely around 40 bucks), renting a room from somebody isn't much more, so I could have 2 apartments and I'd be paying the same if I had only one but paid cab fares all the time.

3) It doesn't necessarily have to be 8 miles. Right now I am east of where I work, so I could shave off some time from my commute by moving further west in Roseville, and I'd also be closer to Minneapolis. I could move 3 miles west and still be the same distance from work as I am now, but I'd be 3 miles closer to Minneapolis. So yeah, I've considered staying in Roseville, but on the border of it. Ideally though, it'd be great to say that I live in Minneapolis.

[Slig]

I biked 9 miles to work and back this summer so it can be done. I also recommend moving into Minneapolis for a change of pace. At your age you don't want to be stuck in the boring suburbs so you can watch your youth go roll along with the tumbleweeds. To make things easier for you from a geographical standpoint check out northeast Minneapolis.

[Clifford63]

Best advice I can give you is to find a place you enjoy living as priority one. You may change jobs many times, and most people don't consider moving every time they get a new job. Sounds like the bike is your main source of transportation, so that does make things interesting. Have you looked at bus service as a potential plan b? Service to Roseville is pretty good, and many busses have a bike rack on the front, so you can take the bus part way and bike part way.

[krillbee]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

Best advice I can give you is to find a place you enjoy living as priority one. You may change jobs many times, and most people don't consider moving every time they get a new job. Sounds like the bike is your main source of transportation, so that does make things interesting. Have you looked at bus service as a potential plan b? Service to Roseville is pretty good, and many busses have a bike rack on the front, so you can take the bus part way and bike part way.

I have looked at bus service. I can take a bus up Snelling most of the way to work if I lived by the Grand Ave area.

I could also take the 801 bus from the transit center on 41st and Central over to Rosedale and bike the rest of the way. But honestly I'd rather live further south than the Columbia Transit center (because technically that isn't even in Minneapolis).

There is another commuter bus to Rosedale that runs along Lowry (32) and yet another one that departs from Central and University that takes the freeway to Rosedale (260).

I guess service isn't too bad. My only concern would be if the bike racks on the busses were too full. Maybe I'd have to use a suitcase bike, lol.

[JenLee]

Have you considered looking at Lauderdale or along and near University Ave. by Highway 280? Or around the U of MN St. Paul campus? Those areas seems to have a lot of 20-something adults and would be about half way to both downtown and your job; you could bike to both!

[krillbee]

Originally Posted by JenLee

Have you considered looking at Lauderdale or along and near University Ave. by Highway 280? Or around the U of MN St. Paul campus? Those areas seems to have a lot of 20-something adults and would be about half way to both downtown and your job; you could bike to both!

If I were to bike to both, I would probably want to live near Raymond or the transitway as both would help me get to work.

Are the young adults up there mostly college students? I'm out of college now, so I'm a bit worried that the others there wouldn't be as accepting of me if they are still in college. I'm 24, which isn't that old, but it feels different.

The other thing I was wondering is, how bad would it be if I tried living closer towards Snelling along university? They have a high frequency bus line there that would get me up to Rosedale. The only downside is that I see less young adults in that area and more homeless people wandering the streets in that area.

[Sun_Country_Greg]

Biking from uptown would be quite a haul, but I really like living here. I'm a 21 yo young professional and love the mixture of people you can find in uptown. I find the scene(s) to be more mid-late 20s at the youngest so I'm slightly out of place, but it's still a fun place.

Bar Abilene is really the only bar I can think of that I'd think of going to dance at.