Opinion on best place to live (Minneapolis-Brooklyn Park Area) (Bloomington: apartment, house)

[tmicks100]

Hey all,

New to the board. A job offer from a company in Brooklyn Park would take me from Rhode Island to Minnesota. Im a recent college grad, 22 years old. Im looking for a 1 bed rm apartment that reasonably affordable ($500-$900ish/month).

As a recent college grad am i better off living in Minneapolis where there is likely more going on than finding a place in the suburbs which may be a little too quiet for this point in my life? Some previous posts have said North Minneapolis and parts of Brooklyn Park are not the best, how long of commute in rush hour would you estimate from other parts of the Minny to Brooklyn Park. Just general opinions about someone with my demographics where best live would be great. Also is there any reliable public transport from Minny to Brooklyn Park.

Thanks so much for you advice and opinions.

[Slig]

I was recently in your position coming out of college and was quickly bored to death by the Twin Cities suburbs. I was working in Champlin and then Plymouth at the time and I moved into Uptown Minneapolis as soon as I could. I later moved back home to save money, then changed jobs and moved to another suburb where I was very bored until I bought a home in South Minneapolis, where I currently very happily reside. As we've discussed many times on this message board, both North Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park/Brooklyn Center have their good and less good areas, sometimes it is block to block. From my experiences Brooklyn Park, for the most part, is your average suburb, hardly different than what you'd see in places like Bloomington, Maplewood, Crystal/New Hope/Robbinsdale, etc. I was there visiting a friend last Saturday who has lived there for most of his life. His neighborhood is aging but it is quiet and well kept. Somehow Brooklyn Park has developed a negative reputation, which is something I've never understood and something I feel is highly undeserved. It may partially be due to the fact that it is more diverse than most of the other suburbs.

Personally if I was working in Brooklyn Park I probably would've bought a house in North Minneapolis. I probably would've looked in the Harrison and Sumner Glenwood neighborhoods which are close to the big farmer's market as well as Bryn Mawr Meadows (awesome area in my opinion) or possibly up in the Camden neighborhoods north of Dowling Ave (other posters on here live there and love it). That's just me though.

[nick is rulz]

where in Brooklyn Park?

[tmicks100]

its a company located in the Northland circle area i believe its called

[nick is rulz]

do you know what the intersecting streets are? Brooklyn Park is pretty large, so depending on location I can give you a better idea.

[Duk123]

Originally Posted by nick is rulz

do you know what the intersecting streets are? Brooklyn Park is pretty large, so depending on location I can give you a better idea.

My guess would be Boone and 694 since that's what comes up when you google Northland Circle Brooklyn Park, MN.

[Judge, Jury, Executioner]

You'll want to live in Uptown.

Go on CraigsList and search for Uptown. You can get a real nice place down there for your current price range. Being next to Lake Calhoun would be best for the summer, and you'll also be close to the restaurants and bars.

There's no better place for someone of your age to be than there. You'll also have a way better chance of meeting people and having things to do any night of the week.

If you're driving from Uptown to Brooklyn Park, it would take you 15-20 minutes, depending on the traffic. There are buses that run there, too.

Trust me on this, though, you do not want to live in the suburbs when you first move here. Live in the city, meet some friends, have a good time, and enjoy yourself. You can do the suburb thing after you've lived here a little bit and have an opportunity to decide what you like.

[tmicks100]

thanks all for the input and advice, it will certainly help during the process

[rsdplaya]

There is public transport to Brooklyn Park from Minneap, but to be honest, you'd be better off just driving. It shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to get to wherever in BP you are going. I personally wouldn't recommend living in BP, you'd be much better off getting a place in Uptown. Soooo much more going on there. And the price difference from areas like BP to Uptown isn't THAT major.

[nick is rulz]

any area in the city would work. If you're looking for whats going to curtail to your age range, Id say Uptown/Whittier or NE or Seward or the University area (if you're a partier).

All of the commute times should be short as you will be going the opposite direction of everyone else.