Question - West Side St. Paul..I think? Help? Area Attractions? (Minneapolis: houses, neighborhoods)

[Troy&Katie]

Long story short - My fiance and I are both 27, young professionals w/ 2 month old baby. We both work downtown Minneapolis.

We've looked at close to 50 homes in the last 6 months (Sorry Bruce (Realtor), but by now we have a pretty good idea of areas, attractions, crime, etc. One area, though I'm not too familiar with one particular area - Without giving the exact address, The home we really want is a couple blocks east of Smith, Near Baker park (which is just off Dodd Road).

My questions are ..1), which neighborhood is this? It's advertised as "The Bluffs" neighborhood, but we can't figure out if it's West Side, West End or West St. Paul. Either way, we spent a considerable amount of time driving (day/night) and talking to neighbors - all equal to a pretty quality area??

We know the commute, the price difference between Nokomis, SW Minne, etc. vs. Highland Park, Lilydale etc. Just not too familiar with this area. Are there shops around? I know Robert Street is close. Downtown (St.P) is close.

Anything to note? Neighborhood restaurants, pubs, coffee, etc? Anything?? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated. Overall, the area seems pretty nice - house to house in terms of 'Really Nice' vs "not so nice'...but overall seems pretty nice. YOung couple on the block we're looking at (King st), with a young baby like us...which is nice.

Okay - Sorry for rambling...anyone have any insight???

Thank you So much!

Troy & Katie

[silverjet]

That is what is considered to be the "West" side of St Paul...not to be confused with the suburb of West St Paul (Annapolis St is the northern boundary) or the West End (West 7th/Fort Road). I know the West side is divided into separate neighborhoods (The Bluffs, Cherokee Park, etc) but I don't know much about what each one is like.

The West side is generally not thought of to be the most desirable area to live in, but the area West of Robert Street, where your house is located, is generally nice. The West side is home to a sizable Hispanic population. I think any shopping and entertainment you'd want to do would mostly be in downtown, Grand Ave, and West 7th. I have no idea of what the schools are like.

I also found this while I was looking around for info -- you may find it interesting: Self-Guided Tour of St Paul's West Side (pdf)

Good luck!

[Troy&Katie]

Oh thanks, that's very useful!

[Troy&Katie]

Anyone else... have any input? Live in the area?

[golfgal]

I used to live in the general area, my Brother-in-law just moved from that area a few months ago and had lived there for a little over 10 years. Basically the difference between a good neighborhood and a bad neighborhood there is about a block. You can have 5 nice houses in a row then have some pretty bad ones for the next several blocks. My BIL had a nice house, well kept yard, etc. The house behind them was a well know crack house, their neighbors across the alley would park their truck right behind their garage so they couldn't back out of their garage--never mind he had room for about 5 cars to park on their side of the alley. If they said anything to him about it, their garage door would mysteriously have a huge dent in it the next morning. They replaced their garage door about 5 times in 10 years. Oh, the drive by shootings provided enough entertainment too.

Their kids could never play outside by themselves, they couldn't walk to their friends' houses, etc. If this house is south of Annapolis and east of Robert street, do not buy it. Keep in mind that if it is close to that border, it is still close to all of this mess.

It is really too bad that this area is in such trouble. The city tried to revitalize the area, which is why my BIL bought there, it never happened.

I looked up Baker Park on Google--my BIL's house was in the same general area about 5 blocks away.

[Troy&Katie]

See , I don't that vibe at all around this house..The address is 257 King. (2 Blocks East of Smith, 8 blocks North of Annapolis and 10+ West of Robert).

We talked to neighbors, drove around extensively..Not saying what you said isn't true or didn't happen. We looked at several places in South Minneapolis that ppl would probably say isn't the best by name, but it's pretty 'block to block' - specifically the Corcoran neighborhood.

[Slig]

I was in the West Side of St. Paul for the Cinco De Mayo festival last May, good times. I briefly looked at houses there too but I generally found the blocks to be poorly kept, lots of houses with shoddy exteriors, unkept yards, etc.

If you want any information about the Corcoran neighborhood, I've lived there since April 08 and I'm pretty involved with the neighborhood organization. Send me a PM

[Troy&Katie]

I agree with you, Slig about some of the yards and shoddy exterior. The particular block the house we like is on, is exactly like that - great row of houses, then boom - right on the corner, some odd looking, multi-colored dumpy house. I dont get it..

I'll be in touch about Corcoran!

Thanks

[Troy&Katie]

Please keep chiming in...this is great.

[Explorer John]

I live in downtown St. Paul and work on the West Side. Like others have said, housing seems to vary block to block. I have a coworker who grew up on the West Side that vouches for this as well, although she says the general area has gotten a lot better since the 60s and 70s. She's very involved in the community (church, Cinco de Mayo planning, etc.) and speaks of a pretty thriving group of nonprofits/volunteers that are active.

As for places to check out, Boca Chica is great for sit down Mexican food, while Taco House across the street (owned by Boca Chica) has good a la carte style food at a good price. El Burrito Mercado is a very vibrant little market that carries all sorts of imported Mexican food and also has a great a la cart menu (best burritos around). All are on Cesar Chavez Street.