Moving to downtown Minneapolis- (Grant, Stephen: apartments, renters, crime)

[SpaceCadet_B]

I'm sure this has been asked a million times already and I've looked through some threads but none of them really covered the areas I was looking into (that I saw w/ a few posts).
I'm moving in January and the majority of apartments I've looked in to are in the Whittier, Loring Park/Heights, Carag areas. I was just wondering if these are relatively safe areas to live, or if there are any good areas I should look more in to in the downtown Minneapolis area.
My price range for apartments is $750 max, for a 1 bedroom.
Thank you for any help given!

[uptown_urbanist]

Loring Park: safe, but can be pricey. Parking is tough, so if you'll have a car either make sure you have a space available or be prepared to spend some time looking for spaces.
Whitter: mostly safe, and you'll get more for your money here than in CARAG. Some blocks (like around the kmart) have higher levels of crime than others. Overall, though, Whittier is a great neighborhood.
CARAG: This overlaps both Lyn-Lake and Uptown. It's safer than Whittier, but also more expensive.

In any neighborhood, though, use basic common sense. Lock your doors, if you have a car don't leave expensive items sitting inside, etc.

I wouldn't hesitate to move into any of those neighborhoods, and in fact all are on our list of places to consider as we slowly make our way towards buying a place of our own.

[Slig]

With that range you won't find too much downtown, maybe a few studios here and there. All three of those areas are safe in my opinion. All are very dense so you will see minor crimes showing up on the crime maps for larceny and theft from motor vehicles, etc, but for the most part there is nothing major going on in those areas. I personally like Whittier the best of those three but it's personal preference more than anything. Carag tends to be more uppity. For me, Whittier is slightly more conveniently located than Loring Park and parking is slightly less impossible there. That's completely my own personal opinion though, I'd probably live in any of the three areas.

[SpaceCadet_B]

Thanks a lot, for both replies! I figure common sense would keep me for the most part safe, just wanted to make sure they were generally good neighborhoods. I've mostly lived in the St Louis Park areas and have visited all the areas I'm thinking of moving to, but never stayed overnight, and don't know of anyone who does live around there to get their opinions, so I appreciate the help!

[uptown_urbanist]

I've got to stick up for CARAG here; I don't think it's uppity. I think there are some active neighborhood residents who seem intent on reshaping the neighborhood in a direction I don't agree with (and think border on "uppity" in their views), and think that some of those same residents are snobby towards renters. That said, those are just a small minority (although vocal in neighborhood politics) of CARAG residents. Neighborhood demographics have changed over the years, but there's also still a core group of people who have lived there since its less trendy blue collar days, as well as those who move there not because it's trendy but because they like living in a safe, walkable, urban neighborhood with decent public transportation.

Whittier has its problem neighborhood politics, too, plus more slumlords than in CARAG. I've also heard plenty of negative comments from Whittier homeowners about renters as a group. That's mostly where I see snobbery coming out, but unfortunately that seems to be pretty common across the Twin Cities. Renters make easy scapegoats.

And just a note that CARAG and Whittier aren't downtown, although they are within easy commute to downtown Minneapolis. Loring Park is sort of skirting the edges, and Stephens Square/Loring Heights is just south of downtown.

[Slig]

While I will admit that Carag is less uppity than the part of Uptown west of Hennepin Ave. there are still people who live there who tend to be "above" the rest. Let me give you two examples of events that have happened to me this year while driving in that neighborhood.

A. I guess this is technically in the Lowry Hill East neighborhood but right after Lake branches off into a one way on Lagoon I was driving and a girl started crossing the street about 50 feet from my car. I didn't have a red light or anything so I kept driving. The girl must have expected me to stop for her and when I didn't she gave me a really dirty look as if I should have bent backwards for her or something....pretty obnoxious if you ask me. She wasn't at a crosswalk or anything so I had no obligation to stop for her.

B. Again I was on Lake St but this time going eastbound and I was a few blocks from Lyndale Ave. Suddenly the car in front of me stopped and I had to quick stop but I was partially blocking the street for a car to turn out, so the car who was waiting to make a left turn had to wait about 20-30 seconds for traffic to move so he could get out. (the courteous thing for me to do would obviously have been to stop before the street and allowed the car to get out, however, like I said, the car stopping in front of me came unexpected). Anyways, when I was able to move and the car pulled out a kid opened the window and threw his beverage full of ice onto the back of my car.

You may think these aren't the best examples but this kind of crap always seems to happen to me in that area and nowhere else. For me people are just more uppity and rude around there...maybe it's coincidential, I don't know.

[gweilo845]

I've lived in the Loring Park area for about 5 years, so here's my 2 cents.

Overall the area is nice. It's great being close to downtown and Uptown, as well as Eat Street - easy access to lots of shopping, bars, and restaurants.

Besides the gay pride festival, it's pretty quiet, which is nice, and most people in the neighborhodd are friendly.

As uptown urbanist said, parking is a hassle, especially in winter. Some of the buildings offer off-street parking, but that is another $50-100 per month. If you are taking the bus, several major routes like the 18 and 6 run through the area, so it's fairly easy to get around the city.

The area is safe. I regularly walk home late at night from Uptown and downtown and haven't had any problems. There was a spike in crime a couple of years ago (lots of muggings, bulgaries, etc.) but the police stepped up their patrols and things cooled down. Even a lot of the bums/panhandlers that used to infest certain blocks have dwindled - though there are still areas where they hang out, like by the Superamerica on Lasalle and Grant.

You should be able to find a 1BR for $750, but it'd probably be in one of the older buildings and wouldn't be anything fancy.