Lease dilemma (Minneapolis, Crystal, Nicollet: apartments, leasing, neighborhoods)

[joslyngabs]

Hello, I'm a 23 year old female moving to Minneapolis this April. I just got back from visiting the area with my parents this weekend. My dilemma is, I will be attending Dental Hygiene school at Herzing University in Crystal but would like to live in a more hip area with kids my age. I have a small dog and would love to find a roomate to share a two bedroom apartment and safety is a concern of mine.

I was very impressed with the Uptown/Downtown areas. But, had a difficult time finding an affordable situation. Does anyone have any suggestions of where I may look? My budget is around 600-750 a month and I need a dog-friendly complex. I also am interested in any ideas of where I may find a listing of possible roomates around my age.

I looked at the Laurel Village Apartments today and wasn't too impressed with the mangement and I have heard nothing but horror stories. I also heard that the Loring Park Apartments may be another option, if anyone has any other options that allow pets in that direct area I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

[DaPerpKazoo]

The best place I know of for finding roommates would be Craigslist. Perhaps there is another reasource out there, but I don't know of any.

As far as apartments in your price range in those areas go, you're probably going to have a tough time finding something right in the heart of either Uptown or Downtown, but you can definantly fimds units nearby. You might want to try something near the commercial nodes on Nicollet, Hennepin, or Lyndale to get an Uptown feel without the Uptown price.

One company I know of that would have a lot of units in these areas in your price range is JAS Apartments. I used to be a maintenence worker for them up until two summers ago, and most of their buildings are in pretty good shape. Some of the buildings in the Minnehaha area that they own are a little ratty, but they have a lot of beautiful old 1930s buildings, mostly in the area between Uptown and Downown (Whittier, Lyndale, Stevens Square, and Loring Park) that are all in very good shape; I helped remodel a few of them during my time there. They also allow dogs, except fora few breeds (pittbulls and the like) which are likely to cause damage. I would check them out. I would also look at other buildings in the Stevens Square or Whittier neighborhoods. Often older, smaller builds are just as or close to as nice as newer ones, but they are usually much cheaper.

NOTE TO MODERATOR: I am no longer employed by JAS, and I was never involved with their leasing team. I believe that this does not constisute advertising by your TOS because: 1) I am currently unaffiliated with the company, 2) I did point out the cons of the company, and 3) I did not provide a link, which is expressly banned in the TOS.