Might be moving to the Twin Cities for a job (Minneapolis: apartments, rental)

[psulions2007]

Hi guys! I recently applied for a job in Burnsville, and I think it is the most likely place for me to get a job...so I'm here to ask a few questions!

I don't know if I want to live in Burnsville or not...from what I've researched *so* far, it seems to be a more conservative area (not that I have anything wrong with that, but after living in conservative areas, it would be nice to live in a fairly liberal area for once lol).

My ideal place is something along these lines:

-Generally looking for apartments or rental townhouses
-Nice with low crime
-Parks/Trees/Lakes Nearby
-Large Young (20s and 30s) Demographic
-Within 15-30 minutes of Burnsville (a long commute in winter would not be fun for me lol)
-Trader Joe's, other nice supermarket (whatever that may be in MN), Buffalo Wild Wings, and other selections of restaurants/markets/shops nearby would be a plus
-Edit: Oh and also, a nice, walkable area where I don't have to drive EVERYWHERE (i.e. walkable to bars, restaurants, shops from apartments...or walkable access via good mass transit) would also be great!


Thanks!

[uptown_urbanist]

The Uptown or Lyn-Lake area of Minneapolis sounds like a good fit, but I don't know how long the commute would be. Burnsville's kind of a long ways out. Another possibility, closer to Burnsville, might be Richfield; it's an inner city suburb where you can actually walk and take the bus. Otherwise you're heading increasingly into modern-American-style suburban territory, which doesn't sound like a good fit.

Overall, I think Uptown really sounds like what you're looking for: apartments, check; parks/trees/lakes (all three), check; nice with low crime, check; large young population, check; commute - not so sure, but I assume within 30 minutes; nice supermarkets, check; and extremely walkable with lots of bars, restaurants, and shops, as well as with good public transit. Good for biking, too, if you're into that. And as far as political leanings, the 10th ward is very liberal (as is most, if not all, of Minneapolis). You'll be in hard-core DFL territory there.

[psulions2007]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

The Uptown or Lyn-Lake area of Minneapolis sounds like a good fit, but I don't know how long the commute would be. Burnsville's kind of a long ways out. Another possibility, closer to Burnsville, might be Richfield; it's an inner city suburb where you can actually walk and take the bus. Otherwise you're heading increasingly into modern-American-style suburban territory, which doesn't sound like a good fit.

Overall, I think Uptown really sounds like what you're looking for: apartments, check; parks/trees/lakes (all three), check; nice with low crime, check; large young population, check; commute - not so sure, but I assume within 30 minutes; nice supermarkets, check; and extremely walkable with lots of bars, restaurants, and shops, as well as with good public transit. Good for biking, too, if you're into that. And as far as political leanings, the 10th ward is very liberal (as is most, if not all, of Minneapolis). You'll be in hard-core DFL territory there.

Thanks! I looked at the Lyn Lake area, and it looks awesome! Lots of lakes, a trader joe's nearby...very, very awesome. (Question though...I was a little confused, is Uptown and Lyn Lake the same general area or is Uptown somewhere else?)

I think from that distance, it wouldn't be too bad...the job is on the far north side of Burnsville (literally, it is very close to the river)...and traffic during rush hour would mostly be heading towards Minneapolis, whereas I'd be going the opposite direction.

I really hope I get this job....the TC sounds like a really fun place, with awesome weather (I love variety...storms, snow, etc.).

[uptown_urbanist]

As to whether or not Lyn-Lake is Uptown, or whether they're separate places depends on who you ask; Lyn-Lake has a different vibe to it than does core Uptown (the Uptown business district centers around Hennepin and Lake), and Lyndale as a street has a different feeling than does its Hennepin counterpart. Lyn-Lake (the Lyndale-Lake intersection) is 8 blocks from Hennepin and Lake, so the neighborhoods are close. If you want to look at formal neighborhood websites (Minneapolis has formal neighborhoods that don't necessarily follow the boundaries of informal neighborhood designations) check out the Wedge (technically LHENA, or Lowry Hill East) and CARAG. Both of those areas are bordered on one side by Lyndale, the other by Hennepin. In other words, Lyn-Lake (other official surrounding neighborhoods include Lyndale and Whittier) sort of blends into Uptown (other Uptown formal neighborhoods include ECCO and East Isles). Yeah, I know the terminology gets kind of confusing. Each formal neighborhood has a neighborhood organization with power to make some neighborhood funding decisions, etc., and because the formal boundaries tend to be along major streets larger informal neighborhoods (aka "Uptown") consist of multiple formal neighborhoods.

As far as Trader Joe's goes, there's a TJ's in nearby Saint Louis Park (sounds like you found that) and there's currently a bitter battle going on whether or not there will be one coming in on Lyndale. There's also the Wedge Co-op on Lyndale, as well as some other bigger local grocery store chains (Kowalski's, Lunds, Rainbow) in the greater Uptown area.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to plug my own blog or not, but in this case it seems relevant and I hope appropriate: Uptown, Minneapolis - Past, Present, and Future I have a bunch of links related to both areas, among other things (including some posts about what is Lyn-Lake and what is Uptown).

Good luck with the job - Minneapolis (and the Twin Cities in general) is a great place to live.

[insert_name_here_00]

Good luck with the job - Minneapolis (and the Twin Cities in general) is a great place to live.

^ co-signed