A sudden change, please advice

[Minnehahapolitan]

You could try to pull off that St. P is quasi-european. Prob. the closest that any Western or Midwestern city gets (bar, perhaps, San Francisco). Really, St. P just didn't get "urban renewal" crazy like Mpls. They have a good majority of their pre-war buildings left. Bike trails here are nice and well-used. Minnesota in general is a pretty outdoorsy state. I would personally contend that "quality of life" is better here than Indianapolis, but you pay for it. If you are leaving Colo. for cheaper houses here, save the 500 miles from DSM. Mpls. is known for the Chain of Lakes, but every house in the city is within 6 block and the city has 50 miles of parkland in a loop a la Boston's Emerald Necklace. Your question on housing stock confused me. There are alot of new houses, but really far from the City proper. Its crazy to me, but I can't compare it to another city. There are plenty of old houses in the city and inner suburbs. Most have been well cared for. (esp. relative to other Midwestern cities) The Southwest quadrant of Mpls is nicer than most suburbs. Hope I helped without being totally redundant. The best of luck
----------Minnehahapolitan

[patrickmich]

"If you are leaving Colo. for cheaper houses here, save the 500 miles from DSM. Mpls. is known for the Chain of Lakes, but every house in the city is within 6 block and the city has 50 miles of parkland in a loop a la Boston's Emerald Necklace".

Hi! thanks for your response. I am having trouble figuring out what you meant to say. MPS is known for the Chain of Lakes? it's actually the first time I've heard of the idea. Is there a circle around Minneapolis of lakes, presumbably connected by trails? Could you expand on the 50 miles of parkland in a loop?
I am not familar with Boston's so-called Emerald necklace. Lastly,
every house in the city is within 6 blocks? Please expound on this.
Thanks again!

[Navelinski]

Minneapolis/St Paul sounds like it is the place you want to be. We were just ranked #3 IN THE WORLD for best travel destination by Frommers: http://www.frommers.com/articles/4056.html

We have tons of outdoor activities, the cities are very clean compared to others, and it isn't THAT expensive to live here. Right now, there are 193 homes / condos / townhomes / duplex units available in the 100K to 125K price range in the city of Minneapolis. Granted, some of these are fixer uppers or may not be in the area where you want to live, but there ARE good deals out there if you shop around for them. In the meantime, there are plenty of nice homes for rent. We are just coming off of a very hot homesellers market, and home prices are coming down.

I've been to Indianapolis many times, and I have to say I think Minneapolis is nicer. And per capita, we have the more boats than any other state in the US!

Check out CityPages for some good information on the cultural activities - we have many great theatres, concerts, museums, festivals, and outdoor activities: http://citypages.com/

Our Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources and other state departments have lots of information you will want to check out before your trip:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/index.html Dept of Natural Resources
http://www.exploreminnesota.com/ Mn Travel & Tourist Info
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/visitors/ Minneapolis Online Visitor's Center
http://www.takemefishing.org/ Take Me Fishing! (also boating info)

And while you are here, you've got to visit "Erik the Bike Man" - bike shops all around the Twin Cities - they have tons of info on trails. Here is a downtown bike map. http://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/minneapolis/index.htm

I HAVE seen people biking downtown in the middle of winter. I guess it just depends on how hardy you are! Many of our buses have bike racks on them so you can bus part of the way and ride part of the way.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by patrickmich

Hi! thanks for your response. I am having trouble figuring out what you meant to say. MPS is known for the Chain of Lakes? it's actually the first time I've heard of the idea. Is there a circle around Minneapolis of lakes, presumbably connected by trails? Could you expand on the 50 miles of parkland in a loop?

This map might help illustrate:

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/grandrounds/map_CL1.htm

and here's some more info:

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/grandrounds/home.htm
http://www.a1trails.com/biking/mn/twincities.html
http://wwwa.co.hennepin.mn.us/files/HCInternet/EPandT/Transportation/Bikeways%20and%20Trails/Bicycle%20Maps/bike_side_2007_map_only_web.pdf (broken link)
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/abou...rails24x36.pdf

[Minnehahapolitan]

Yes, the "Grand Round" or whatever it is they call it contains the Chian of Lakes, but goes north to Wirth Park (see the quaking bogs and wildflower gardens) and Victory Memorial Parkway (which would be the Champs d' Elysses of the Midwest if it had anything besides houses on it, truely gourgeous) and East to Minnehaha Parkway (which surrounds a creek) and the Mississippi Parkway (which out-of-towners were surprised to learn actually looks natural, if you are boating on the river you would never know that your in the city, seriously) It forms a loop. This was common in alot of older and well developed cities (Boston, Chicago, San Francisco) as part of the "Bity Beautiful Movement" The Mpls. Park system was basically created by Theo. Wirth about 100 years ago. He made it so that every house in the city is no more than 6 blocks from some part of the city parkland. (The Rounds, public square, et. cetera) Unless you consider some new condos in downtown, I cannot for the life of me find a house that breaks the rule. The trend was continued in suburbia. Bloomington is 1/3 parkland and there is a national wildlife refugish area along the Minn. River. Even our old beltline highway is known as Lilac Way.

[howswelegant]

This is a pretty bike friendly city. There a couple of great bike enthusiast shop/cafe places I can direct you to if you like. There are year round bikers here. You just have to take special precautions because of the slush and sand on the roads.


As far as the European thing goes, and I speak strictly about downtown areas: Minneapolis was built for people to go to work. It's mostly skyscrapers, with the older buildings a few blocks away in the warehouse disctrict. In St Paul, yes there are skyscrapers, but they are smaller, older, and have small shops surrounding the buildings on all street sides. The small shops relaly contribute to this feel. Also, if you sit on a bench in Rice Park on a Friday night after something lets out of the Ordway and look across at the Landmark Center - yes, it looks European. The drawback is, if there's no cultural or sporting event, downtown St Paul is dead after 7pm. downtown Minneapolis is dead on weeknights after the dinner hour as well, except near the Target Center and Hennepin Ave. Real nightlife happens elsewhere.