Thinking about moving to North Minneapolis. (St. Paul, Victoria: apartment, lease, crime rates)

[St.PaulGal]

My boyfriend just bought a duplex in North Minneapolis, right by North Commons Park and North High School. I am thinking about moving in with him but am unsure about the neighborhood. My family thinks I am crazy, as I currently with in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St. Paul. Am I crazy? Is the crime in this area really that bad?

[losadair]

Depends on what you're looking for, really...your current neighborhood has significantly lower crime rates, I'm nearly certain. But maybe at his place there are other features you want - more space, a yard, shorter commute, etc.? Plus, you'd be together

I personally wouldn't choose your boyfriend's neighborhood, for a variety of reasons. I used to do home visits in that area as a social worker, and there were times where it felt pretty sketchy. In my case, my job and friends are all south, anyway.

We don't have big swaths of marginalized neighborhoods that look like war zones, as you might see in Chicago or Detroit or Philadelphia. What's considered a "bad" neighborhood here is usually pretty nice by the standards of those cities. The feel of an area will often vary block by block. Most people, of course, are just trying to work and raise their kids and get by, like everyone else...but there are some groups of people who give the area a bad reputation and bad vibe.

Before getting rid of your own place, I would suggest spending some time at your boyfriend's place on different days & times to see whether you feel comfortable. That's the only way to be sure. Everyone has different priorities and a different perception of risk. Depends on your lifestyle too...if you work nights and would be walking to your job alone, for instance, you might want to play it extra-safe.

good luck deciding...

[Duk123]

Unless you plan on buying drugs, selling drugs, being a ho, or associating on a regular bases with anyone who does any of the above you don't have very much to worry about. Does random crime and acts of violence happen here? Yes they do but with a little common sense you can avoid situations that put you in danger.
What is the big difference maker is your level of comfort so I agree with losadair suggestion that you spend alot of time at your bf's before you make a decision on giving up your place.
FYI in my opinion over the last 6 years that my wife have lived in North late Aug. to mid Sept is really the worst as far a general craziness/stupidity so right now really is a good time to see how bad the neighborhood is going to be.

[Minnehahapolitan]

For what it's worth, if I lived on the Northside south of Lowry, I would live in that area.

[Duk123]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

For what it's worth, if I lived on the Northside south of Lowry, I would live in that area.

I agree there are alot of great housing stock in that area. An as far as police presence I can't think of an area of north that is better patrolled.

[lalife]

Why on earth would you leave the Cathedral Hill neighborhood to move to N. Minneapolis? Those areas are night and day in differences.

If my job was located around St Paul, I would live in Cathedral Hill in a heartbeat. I wouldn't live in many parts of N. Minneapolis even if it was free.

[Kebinminn]

Spend a month there and then see if you like it.

[Sarah Maske]

There are a lot of exciting things (good things) happening on the northside and I have had no hesitation in helping find clients homes there including single women. An enormous revitalization is going on. Check out the NoMi website - google it - there are two guys up there who started the "Get to NoMi" campaign - they do home tours monthly, host a kick ball team and stay terribly active in the community. They know what's going on - even on a block to block basis. Just do your homework on the area - Go NoMi!

[silverjet]

Sad to hear you're potentially leaving the Cathedral Hill neighborhood! But anyway, I agree that you should spend some time over at his place to determine how comfortable you are first before you move in. I don't know that much about how safe your particular area is, but many parts of North Minneapolis aren't that bad. I wouldn't hesitate to live in Victory or Shingle Creek, for example.

[Camden Northsider]

St.PaulGal- no, you're not crazy. Check out this thread for 2008 neighborhood crime statistics analysis- look at "Near North" neighborhood (a lot of folks aren't aware that 'near north' is both an area and a neighborhood', both are pretty sizable in their own rights)- these give per capita rankings for the various big ticket crimes of all neighborhoods in Minneapolis. IMO, the blocks east of Emerson in Near North (famous for all of the big Victorians) tend to be better than west of it, but that's just a relatively vague notion I've always had in my head. I've always enjoyed driving the area around North High School/ North Commons for the housing stock, and chances are your boyfriend will have some great active neighbors on his block as is common in the area- I would recommend he (and yourself should you choose to live there) become active with any local block clubs and the local neighborhood association (Near North and Willard Hay have a somewhat unique one that is an active nonprofit community developer in its own right- see here: http://www.nrrc.org/).

There are blocks of Near North that are great, and others that aren't so great, so I wouldn't hastily conclude that it's not a livable area. The broader area has a great urban vibrancy that is unique to Minneapolis, and one of Minneapolis' best kept secrets is that there are some really great businesses on the West Broadway corridor and a lot of great redevelopment/ revitalization happening there (the area is actually very walkable- enter an address around W. Broadway and the score will be in the 90s). For what it's worth, I've spent a lot of time in this neighborhood on West Broadway through work, as has my wife, and neither of us have ever felt unsafe at any time. And, I have also been noticing some changes in demographics in this neighborhood...as is happening in a lot of the north neighborhoods, you will find some hipster residents traversing about the area- something that was relatively unheard of in this specific n'hood just a few years ago. And, actually, one of the hippest new bars in Minneapolis (created by the owners of Psycho Suzi's) just opened up across W. Broadway in the Hawthorne neighborhood- Donny Dirk's Zombie Den.

So, I would recommend exactly what others have here- keep your lease at the apartment (if it's about to come up negotiate a month-to-month situation with the landlord and promise to give a good amount of notice) and spend some time there with your boyfriend to get a feel for the area and your comfort level with it. Spend some nights there, take a walk around the neighborhood, go to a neighborhood meeting or two, hang out at the Bean Scene or another local business. At some point, it's likely that you'll see some type of criminal activity taking place, but it's not too likely that any activities will be directed at or involve you- traversing West Broadway on foot, the likeliest disturbances you will encounter are panhandling and cat-calls.