Confused about Duluth. (Minneapolis, Maple Grove, Woodbury: real estate, housing, rental)

[Auntie Bob]

You can't mapquest Lakeside, Lincoln Park etc because those are just neighborhood names, not cities or anything. The far Eastern part of Duluth is Lakeside.
I think Hermantown itself might be hard to find a rental in unless you go into the new townhouse developments and they are pricey. But, I think you'll find that housing prices are coming down substantially from what they were even the first part of this year as far as buying one. It's definitely a buyers market now.
Hermantown is a lovely place to live but.. pricey now that it's gotten a little more popular with the folks that want to be out of the city proper.

If you are going to be working in Hermantown, then either Proctor, Esko or Cloquet might be options as far as where to live. They are more or less bedroom communities to Duluth now. Crime rates are really low in all three.
The school systems in both Esko and Cloquet are Excellent. About on par with Hermantown and above Duluth.
Actually, the atmosphere of Esko and Cloquet might be more like what you are used to also. More of a small town feel. Cloquet has a population of about 11,000 now I think and Esko is much smaller.

There's also an area of Duluth close to Hermantown called Duluth Heights. Nice neighborhood, very community oriented.

BTW, Good luck with the interview. If you do end up moving here, I'm pretty sure you won't be sorry. It really is a great place to live.

The stats on Carlton County (Cloquet & Esko)
http://www.city-data.com/county/Carlton_County-MN.html

Originally Posted by snowblind9

Well I have an interview finally for the job I started this thread out on. I have done some researching again. The areas you describe up above, (Lakeside, Lincoln Park) I cant find on mapquest. I will have to drive around and look for rental units. I like what I saw online in Hermantown (Deerfield I think) $1289.00 month though. I would like a decent apartment in a good neighborhood. Whatever town I live in my children will be going to school til they graduate. I want something with great schools. I have heard that Hermantown is a good option. Any others? And is there anyplace that has good schools and affordable housing in one?

[Bloviator]

I couldn't hack the winters in Duluth. I live in the south (Iowa - lol), but if you end up there, you will be very close to some great vacation spots. We have vacationed in Tofte and Lutsen (about 90 miles north of Duluth). It is gorgeous there, especially in the fall. Between Duluth and Grand Marais, you will find gorgeous state parks with awesome hiking trails and breathtaking views.

I think overall you will find good schools just about anywhere in Minnesota. That's pretty much true for most of the midwestern states, though I'd probably steer clear of very small school districts. I assume that Duluth has one main school district? I doubt it's large enough to have more than one district.

[katsisco]

Well, I came here homeless so I have seen the bottom and darn little of the top. Walked everywhere, some panhandling in the summer. Good bus service. Has best homeless shelter, unfortunately been in several--avoid Mn/St P. Just build new low income housing/shelter, best of everything, could give up house and taxes and live there, also new city owned subsidized building, market rate. Lots of subsidized high rise from when business abandoned Duluth. Only new business is Cirrus and you should know Cirrus being from ND. I expect as soon as the federal dollars stop flowing courtesy of our senator, Cirrus will pick up and move to its ND facility to consolidate.

Everyone hanging on by fingernails as all good jobs federal, state, municipal, town, other words government are held by long term employees and don't look for them to retire soon. Hospitals downtown and two universities provide employment but only hires are lower level as you would expect. Politico just came to agreement on past due cash contributions to retirement fund after 20 years; due to fact that Gov Pawlenty made it clear he wanted the issue settled by 'failing' to include expansion of entertainment facility on waterfront in state funding bill.


Politics rule, byword is that Duluth isn't business friendly which is the way the politico get the school board to sell the one property that had sufficient land to build new school, now goes to business for new co-ops. Two old schools get dressing up through massive bond issue which leads me to the high cost of taxes here. Almost no leadership; everything seems to be determined by which way the business wind is blowing.

Have never been in Hermantown as it is not on the bus route. A little further out is Cloquet, downtown nice, homes very reasonable. Beware Wrenshell (part of Cloquet, Carleton, etc) has LNG storage facility. Bowled me over, couldn't believe it. Also gas storage units.

Across the river is Superior with its refinery, ever seen a refinery?

What is it you don't like about wide open spaces and cows?

As in most cities except yours they live and breath tourism. Our downtown casino undergoing expansion next year, two floor added up. Currently refurbishing many sites on main street Superior for water view from apts.
Of course famous Lakefront with many concrete overpasses so quiet even though interstate is flowing underfoot. Bike paths for miles, lovely green relaxing spaces but effectively divides Duluth into 3 parts, Lakefront (tourist) downtown which is inseperable from the Hillside (straight up) and the flats (all big box stores.)

The major problem is to connect these areas and due to the geographical topography, that is not possible. Will help when Casino expands, long planned Lakewalk entrance directly onto Superior street actually happens, and the new hospital expansion and parking garage is connected to the Skywalk. All this is planned, dust off, they are so old, but always waiting for the money and that is slow coming. Aquairium was hoped to be money maker, turned into massive blood-letter, and best hope for is break even in about 5 years.

If any helps, well good.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by laxpenguin

don't be scared of duluth mn.
I've lived in duluth for 19 of my 26 years and I would definetely not tell someone to avoid moving there because of crime fears. In the vast majority of areas I would not think twice about my wife walking alone even at night. Most of the suburbs are especially safe feeling, especially ones like hermantown. My parents still live near hermantown and to this day keep their keys in there unlocked $30K+ vechiles and never lock the doors to the house. It might not be smart, but shows you how comfortable they are in the area. Other than central hillside, i never really felt uncomfortable around duluth. Even most of west duluth is pretty safe and friendly.
You do have a point with the inflated house prices though. Last year the duluth newstribune printed an article that stated that national real estate experts rate duluth as one of the most overpriced real estate markets in the country in relation to local incomes. It is a little better for buyers lately, but still not a cheap as someone would guess.
hope some of this insight from a native duluthian helps. if you have a decent job set up, can take the snow and cold, and will take advatage of the outdoor opportunites the area has to offer, I'd say duluth is definetly worth a go.
good luck

I've never understood why people are so afraid of Duluth. I've lived here 21 of my 21 years. Maybe my point of view is different because I didn't spend my entire life inside city limits (lived out in Normanna township). But from my time in town, I've only seen good things happening. I made a post about the neighborhoods in Duluth awhile ago, you can find it here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/2014103-post76.html

I currently live in Duluth Heights, which is a great neighborhood with close access to shopping, but with many large lots. We got our house for under $130,000 here (3 bedroom, attached garage, finished basement, 1 acre lot), there are some deals out there. Otherwise Woodland (especially upper woodland) is very family friendly, as well as Lakeside and Congdon. Lower Woodland has many college rentals, but it's a college town, what do you expect for a neighborhood close to the schools. Crime has always been a non-issue for my friends, family and I. I've roamed Lakeside, Woodland and Duluth Heights at 3am many a time. Central Hillside is, as everybody else agrees the "bad" neighborhood in town.

You mentioned rental units and new construction. A block from my house in Duluth Heights is a brand townhome development you could check out. Probably 50+ new homes and I doubt they're all filled.

Maybe I'm young and naive, or just haven't seen how bad Duluth has been, but with all the new construction and renovations going on, I'm actually excited to be living here and I wanna stick around and raise a family here.

[VictoriaBC]

If you get a motel, get one "over the hill" close to the mall area and Hermantown, it will be cheaper. Hermantown used to be part of Duluth but they incorporated several years ago. You can't tell the difference between Duluth and Hermantown, though. lol. The hotels close to the lake will charge a fortune because of the lake view.

Crime: I moved from home in 2000. At the time I lived in the Central Hillside. There were very few problems. When I moved, I was hearing rumors about someone coming to Duluth from Chicago who was involved in gangs. He went back to Chicago and told the gang that Duluth was "Virgin territory" as far as crime and drugs.

Since I've been gone, there have been more crimes happening. More drug traffic. The drug traffic used to come up to Duluth from Minneapolis/St paul area, but now it's coming from the Chicago area. I have been getting the Duluth paper and have kept up with what is going on there.

If you want to go to the area, my guess Hermantown or Proctor are better bets. Also, getting over the hill away from the lake is warmer in the summer, too. Another plus!*Grin*

[rhartong]

It's not that I'm doubting these stories about gangs and drugs from Chicago invading Duluth, but...

Who in the heck are all these gangsters selling their drugs to?

College students?

Is drug use REALLY as much of a problem in northern Minnesota as some seem to think? I mean... if all these gangsters have come to the Northland, they've got to be selling this stuff to somebody!

[boatguy]

Let me give you some of my impressions. My wife and I moved back to Duluth in the spring from Florida, we were both from Northeren Wisconsin originally. We have both been very disappointed in Duluth, terrible snow removal, high rents, low wages, I took a 25% cut in pay to my current job. Which is said to be a "good"job by Duluth standards. i personnaly think it is one of the reasons for bad snow removal. The City gives tax breaks to scab businesses to move to Duluth, no tax money, no OT for city crew, 500 locals employed with wages they can't live on here. Fine place. Don't know about crime, but I don't live in a "bad" area, but my neighbors car was burglarized in broad daylight, so what that means I don't know.
Good luck with your move, my wife and i are thinking of moving west ourselves, Duluth ain't what it should be.

[stormchaser]

I'm not sure if you've got this all cleared up yet and are settled there or not. I can maybe give you a little perspective from a ND Native (Williston) who went to Duluth for college. Personally I loved living there.

As far as safety goes, for the most part Duluth is a pretty good city with a community feel. I felt pretty safe most places there. I lived on campus for a year, and off for 3 years in a less than ideal (not bad, but not good either) neighborhood for awhile (on 1st street a few blocks east of the hospital). Driving around downtown by the hospital area by day you won't see much but some people looking down on their luck. At night you might see some women working the corners a bit farther west. I've heard of people seeing dealers, but I never did. The Western part of the city has some rougher areas but it really isn't necessary to go into them for any reason either. I'd say safety is only an issue after dark in most places. I think anyone who has good common sense can avoid most issues with safety. I will say for the record that I don't have kids though I'm not sure it'd be an issue for me if I did.

As for Hermantown, I had a professor/ research advisor who lived there. He raved about how great the schools were. His kids were elementary school aged. One of my friends also lived with two other girls renting a townhouse up in Hermantown. It was a nice 3 bedroom with 2 bathrooms. The living room wasn't huge, but the complex had a playground and some other nice features. The rent was $900/month total for the place. I'd say cost of living would be the biggest downfall for Duluth. I'd also agree that the Cloquet area seemed nice as well on my trips through there.

The recreational opportunities were incredible though. Head up the North Shore and check out Gooseberry Falls, Grand Marais, all the little scenic stops on the way. Way up the shore is Grand Portage with some nice hiking and another beautiful water fall. Hit skyline parkway to check out Hawk Ridge, and Enger Tower. My favorite restaurants include Bellisio's (pricey) and Taste of Saigon. The college offers great outdoor program activities open to community members as well as students. I did whitewater kayaking, rafting, and ice climbing. They also have rock climbing hiking, harbor kayak tours, fly fishing, bird watching, and even sailing. I think that's posted on the U's rec sports/outdoor program website. You can also take the family for a little walk or blading or cycling trip along parts of the Munger Bike Trail (Paved) for some scenic activity.

I moved away for more school, but I'd definitely consider living there again.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by stormchaser

The Western part of the city has some rougher areas but it really isn't necessary to go into them for any reason either. I'd say safety is only an issue after dark in most places. I think anyone who has good common sense can avoid most issues with safety.

I agree with you about West Duluth, for the most part. While it does contain the bad neighborhoods of Duluth, it also has many very nice, safe neighborhoods. I have a few friends that live in West Duluth and live very homey, safe feeling areas. Great post though!

[chakita123]

I was born and raised in Hermantown and still live there today. Hermantown is by far one of the safest areas of the duluth suburbs. You can walk a dog at 2am and be fine. The only places I would say to not even think about moving to in Duluth would be Lincoln Park, West Duluth, and Central Hillside all of those areas are very high in crime and are not good areas to raise children at all. Lakeside, Hermantown and the Piedmont area are your best bets. Any other questions let me know