New girl in town (Minneapolis, Welcome: apartments, to rent, lofts)

[porcelain]

I'll be moving to Minneapolis in a little more then a month for a job and was wondering if I could get some advice please?

I'm coming from Tampa Florida to work at the new Twins ballpark and would like a place as close as possible (renting). I'd like it to be safe since I'm female and will be coming up alone (at first). My fiancee will be moving in April to attend the U of M so if at all possible I'd like to be close to that as well, perhaps somewhere in between?

I'd like someplace safe in the area of 700 - 900 a month, one or two bedroom. I've been looking online but it's difficult to tell with a lot of the places how close they actually are to the ballpark or university.

Any other advice would be great as the closest I've ever been to the city is going through the airport a time or two!

Thanks in advance.

[Ghengis]

Welcome to Minnesota!

While I worked downtown for many years until recently, I don't really know what you will find for your price range for housing near the ballpark. My guess is that $900 won't get you much but I'll leave it to some of the more astute posters here to comment on that. You do have the advantage of the light rail dropping you off at work which opens up a lot more in the way of South Minneapolis for you to live. Probably better value away from downtown. The light rail is about 3 blocks from the ballpark but it will be extended all the way by next April.

Can you pitch or play 2nd base? Say hi to Harmon for me.

[gweilo845]

You're not going to find anything right next to Target Field (warehouse district) in that price range - mostly pretty expensive lofts/condos in that area.

Also, you really do not want to rent around the U of M (Dinkytown). Most of the apartments are crappy and run by glorified slumlords.

You probably want to look around the Loring Park or Uptown neighborhoods. If you're willing to spend $900/month, you could get a really nice 1 BR or a decent 2 BR in those areas, and they're close to both Target Field and the U of M. If you have a car, I'd probably look more around Uptown since parking around Loring Park is fairly awful unless you pay to rent a parking space.

[DaPerpKazoo]

I would take a look in Loring Park. It's a great urban neighborhood. You would have either a 15 minute walk or a 5 minute bus ride to work and he would have a ten minute bus ride to the U of M.

[Latchkey Kid]

It's only a 10 minute bus ride to the U if you take the express bus, which has a limited route and limited schedule. Otherwise it takes about 30-45 minutes, depending on the weater and traffic conditions. I think the other times are bit optimistic as well. Even though the distance isn't far to Target Field, it's right thru the heart of downtown and traffic can really slow you down. I'd check the bus times at www.metrotransit.org as you come across possible apartments.

[DaPerpKazoo]

30-45 minutes to the U from Loring park?!?!

I take the 4 up Bryant from 42nd, past Loring Park, down Hennepin, transfer to the 16 to the East Bank.

Takes me about 50 minutes. So maybe it's 15 from Loring to the U. Possibly 20. No way is it 30-45.

[Latchkey Kid]

Yes way! Tho I must say I was factoring in the time to walk to the bus stop, etc. I just ran it thru the trip planner on metrotransit.org and the results were from 27-36 minutes, not including the walk to the bus stop.

[Slig]

East bank or West bank? Either way that makes for a miserable commute. I drive to the West Bank in under 10 minutes. I could also take the light rail to the Cedar Riverside station and walk over to the building where I take class in around 20 mins.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Latchkey Kid

Yes way! Tho I must say I was factoring in the time to walk to the bus stop, etc. I just ran it thru the trip planner on metrotransit.org and the results were from 27-36 minutes, not including the walk to the bus stop.

I would suggest from Loring Park that 6U is the best option for east bank campus. No transfers needed and fairly frequent route. For west bank, 2 bus is probably better. I tend to use the time it takes as door to door myself, but many people use time in the bus or car instead. I believe there is also an express from uptown station to the U 115? I know I took that one time when the weather was bad and 6 was a no show. It would be worth checking the time on that too. It would not take long to get from Loring to Uptown Station. Even though it is a bit odd in terms of going the wrong direction, it might end up being faster anyway.

[DaPerpKazoo]

As I've said before, the 2 is a TERRIBLE route for traveling any real disatance. The crap it does over in the Cedar-Riverside area takes up soooo much time. Not to mention how slow it is in the first place.