From Washington DC to Minneapolis (Ada, Harris: for sale, real estate market, apartments)

[monyck77]

Hi all,
We are moving to Minneapolis during the summer. I got a job as a professor and my husband will change his job. I will have to do some commute (@1 hr), however, we want to live close to vibrant areas. So far we have been thinking about Downtown Mpls, Uptown, Loring Park, or similar areas. I would like to go back home and walk to a little restaurant or bar. We want a 2bed apartment/condo/loft, and planning to pay up to 1700$. I have been looking at posts and it seems that prices vary a lot....
How is the Northern part of Mpls? Prices are very low, but I am worried that the areas are not nice.
About the commute, I would like to know the typical areas of traffic in the city. I will need to take I-94 every week day in the morning (7am).
Parking is another issue. We both have a car, and it seems that you need a car in Mnpls, because there is not subway/metro.

This is a great place to get advice. I have seen the other post and they have been very helpful!
Thank you!

[DaPerpKazoo]

First off, though our light-rail system is just being born, we have one of the best-run bus systems in the nation, so if you do live in an area like Uptown or Downtown you can get by without a car and it won't be too much of a hassle.

94 has probably the worst congestion of any highway in the Twin Cities, though 62 and 35W are pretty bad right now with all the constiction as well.

What University have you been hired at? This may effect your commute and where you will want to live.

If you're looking for a dense urban environment and having nightlife within walking distance is important to you, I think Uptown is probably
Your best bet, with Loring Park up there too. Uptown has a very nice mix of charming old brownstones right alongside some brand new developments the have just been finished in the last year or so.

If you don't care so much about the nightlife but still want a dense walkaboe area, I'd look at the Mill District or Steven's Square. If you work at the U then the mill district is particularly nice, your commute would be extremely short.

Regarding the Northside, Northeast is kind of like a less-developed and cheaper Uptown, and crime really isn't an issue there. Most of the Northside isn't really that bad crime-wise, it just gets a really bad rap on the local news.

If you need parking for two cars , you'll probably have to look mostly at new developments. Take a look at Blue or Lumen in Uptown, or The Murals at Lyn-Lake. I think Uptown probably fits what you want the best, and those are all brand new upscale rental properties.

[Camden Northsider]

Hi monyck77,

Regarding your question about the Northside - I'm not sure if you're speaking about the "North Loop" or not, in which case this is basically an extension of downtown/ warehouse district area, and would have a lot of lofts/ condos, etc. and be close to a lot of nightlife and restaurants/ bars. Heritage Park area also has a lot of lofts/ condos from the very expensive (Intl Market Square) to the affordable/ mixed-use developments - great area for public transit but not too much that is easily walkable close by. Harrison neighborhood (directly to the west of Heritage Park) has also seen some development recently w/ new condos, also a great place for public transit but again, not too many close-by walkable restaurants, etc., although part of it is adjacent to Bryn Mawr (a neighborhood that also straddles the border of north/ south on the west side of Minneapolis proper) which does have a nice little commercial node with shops and coffee house - I don't believe they have a restaurant/ bar in their node, however. I would consider most all of the above to be pretty safe areas but they are diverse urban neighborhoods so you would want to use caution of course.

Outside of the above on the Northside, the only other place I can think of w/ walkability to little restaurant/ bar is the Victory nbrhd in Camden - it's "close" to vibrant areas of the city but much more of a sleepy SFH residential nbrhd with a couple of little commercial nodes - you really won't find much of anything in terms of apts/ condos/ lofts here, and it's pretty slim pickins in terms of SFH rentals, but if you do see a home for rent, it will probably be well within your price range (and with the craziness of the real estate market, a mortgage on most of the homes for sale here would also likely be w/in your price range as well). Very convenient place to live if you're driving, very safe, walkable to several restaurants (one w/ bar), community theatre, and parks/ trails. The only downside I have noted is that public transit options aren't the greatest...it takes app. 10 minutes to drive downtown via 94 most of the time, but on the bus it's 40+ minutes.

But if you're really looking for urban vibrancy with a ton of diversity in terms of the people, restaurants, bars, theatre, etc. - the Uptown/ Loring Park/ DT areas are good to check out, and I would suggest adding the 7 corners/ Cedar Riverside area to your list - this area also sometimes gets a bad rap but for the most part it is a fairly safe, walkable area. Also, none of the above covers anything in Northeast, which could be another good option for you. Depending on which way you area travelling on 94 will depend on what's best in terms of traffic for you - in the city itself, I would say that the DT/ Loring Park/ Uptown areas can be the worst as far as city traffic goes (which isn't too bad, just means it takes longer to get onto and off interstates, or travel city streets) - and you'll want to find a place with a garage if living in these areas.

And although boards like this are helpful, I wouldn't make up my mind before coming here and checking things out in person (I once helped a friend find a place to relocate to in Mpls as he couldn't travel to look prior to moving - the place I chose on his behalf was one that he had asked me to check out- a stone's throw from Lake Harriet making for an easier commute and it met most all of his prerequisites - for whatever reason, he wasn't happy with the area at all).

Good luck w/ your decision-

[Slig]

There are plenty of nice apartments downtown and uptown in that range and in most you'll have the option of getting underground parking. If you're looking at some apartments in the north loop (AKA Warehouse district), that is a part of downtown and not the same as the "bad" north Minneapolis people on here commonly refer to (NW quadrant of the city, approx bordered by Dowling Ave to Olson Memorial Hwy north to south and the river to Penn Ave east to west). You probably won't find alot of $1700 2br apartments there.

I agree that metro transit provides excellent public transportation. Right now it consists of alot of buses and one light rail line, although more rails are currently in the works.

www.metrotransit.com

[uptown_urbanist]

You can get a nice place in Uptown or Lyn-Lake in that budget, or else maybe the area around Marcy-Holmes would be of interest. All are walkable, interesting city neighborhoods with plenty of great restaurants nearby. Parts of Whittier are also very nice; higher crime (and cheaper) than Uptown, but very urban, fabulous restaurants (home to "Eat Street" along Nicollet), and still a central location.

I've lived in both DC and Minneapolis, and agree with the others that you don't need to automatically discount Twin Cities public transportation just because there's not a subway. I don't drive, never have, and depending on your family's personal situation you could easily get by with one car. Public transit isn't as good as it is in DC, of course, and it's on the expensive side compared to some cities, but areas like Uptown and the neighborhoods near downtown are very well served by bus.

What are your favorite DC neighborhoods? Are you looking for something similar? I'd say that Uptown is a bit like Dupont Circle, Lyn-Lake is sort of like Adams Morgan, and Linden Hills (another very nice Minneapolis neighborhood) is like Cleveland Park.

[Globe199]

Someone should make a sticky note with these answers. This question gets asked here ALL THE TIME.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Slig

that is a part of downtown and not the same as the "bad" north Minneapolis people on here commonly refer to (NW quadrant of the city, approx bordered by Dowling Ave to Olson Memorial Hwy north to south and the river to Penn Ave east to west).

My definition would be a much, much narrower geographic area than that.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

My definition would be a much, much narrower geographic area than that.

I would agree with that. I would say North loop is a fairly small area bordered by I94 on the West, 3rd st on North, 3rd ave on the east and glennwood on the south.

Not an official neighborhood, so it does escape formal definition some. I would say anything west of 94 is going to be near north or harrison. Anything north of 3rd is probably warehouse district.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

I would agree with that. I would say North loop is a fairly small area bordered by I94 on the West, 3rd st on North, 3rd ave on the east and glennwood on the south.

Not an official neighborhood, so it does escape formal definition some. I would say anything west of 94 is going to be near north or harrison. Anything north of 3rd is probably warehouse district.

I was defining the "bad" north Minneapolis people on here commonly referring to, not the North Loop. The North Loop is an official neighborhood part of the Central community (aka Downtown). See the map:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/abou...ghborhoods.pdf

I was being very general with my definition of the "bad" north Minneapolis. If you really want to get picky you can move the south border Olson Memorial HWY up some and move the east border from the river to 94.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Slig

I was defining the "bad" north Minneapolis people on here commonly referring to, not the North Loop. The North Loop is an official neighborhood part of the Central community (aka Downtown). See the map:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/abou...ghborhoods.pdf

I was being very general with my definition of the "bad" north Minneapolis. If you really want to get picky you can move the south border Olson Memorial HWY up some and move the east border from the river to 94.

My bad. I assumed you could not possibly be throwing the whole NW quadrant into the bad bucket, but it sounds like you were. Since you had North Loop and "bad" in the same sentance it was not clear.

Warehouse District is not official neighborhood, but North Loop is. I got it backwards.