Moving to Minneapolis from New York! (St. Paul, Bloomington: apartment, to rent, house)

[Quigleyj87]

Hey! I could use a whole bunch of help right now. I have desires to move to MN and just free from the binds of college. Most likely I plan to rent an apartment. But here are the topics that I need advice on:

Finding an apartment so far away, preparations before the move, most affordable area to move into (with good quality), and quickest ways to find a starting job!


Any help or resources would be greatly appreciated!

[Isaysos]

I think that most people on this forum can probably help you out by pointing out some areas of the Twin Cities that you may be looking for. Most affordable? Depends on what you mean by that. Are you looking for urban or suburban? Most decent places in Minneapolis/St. Paul are going to be more than in the outer ring suburbs. Cant go wrong with the southwest side of St. Paul. Most areas of South Minneapolis are ok. You might want to try to check out homeowners that rent out their second floor also. The StarTrib might have some listings for those. As for quickest ways to find a starting job, good luck with that. What kind of job do you qualify for? Unemployment here is probaly not as high as NYC, but were still in the same boat as the rest of the country.
Finding an apartment, most places should have some info online.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Isaysos

Most decent places in Minneapolis/St. Paul are going to be more than in the outer ring suburbs.

Based on what? I highly disagree with this statement. In fact, I pretty much feel the opposite. For me the outer ring suburbs are the least desirable areas to live in as well as spend time in.

[ET_MTB]

I moved from Westchester County, NY to Maple Grove, MN about a year and a half ago. I move to chase a great job opportunity. I am 40ish, married and have 3 and 6 year old girls. We will have another baby girl in the next couple of weeks. As the only male in the family I am completely out numbered and my power decreases as the girls get older. For a family I have found MN to be great. The schools, local community center, swimming club, beautiful parks, bike paths, and city events have all made me feel like I could be happy and spend the rest of my life here.
Yes the winter is extended and a little more extreme but don't let that deter you. There are plenty of beautiful 20 and 30 degree days to be taken advantage of. There is sledding, cross county skiing, and building snowmen. There are the days when you don't want to leave the house but those are opportunities to spend a cozy day with the family watching movies. My wife is the first one to complain about the cold when we are sledding. The kids could stay out for as long as we let them.
We are in Minneapolis every weekend to bring the kids to a free tennis program. It takes about 25 minutes to get there. Then we go out to the museum or find some interesting place to have lunch. We usually end up at Fat Lorenzo's and walk off our meal at the near by park.
When there is a tornado warning we go into the garage of the apartment building where we live. We have done this 3 or 4 times since we moved here. Not a big deal. The kids get excites and you get to interact with you neighbors.
Moving to MN has been a great experience.

[Isaysos]

Originally Posted by Slig

Based on what? I highly disagree with this statement. In fact, I pretty much feel the opposite. For me the outer ring suburbs are the least desirable areas to live in as well as spend time in.

Hence, why they costs more than the outer ring suburbs. I hate the suburbs to and would glady pay a little more to live in the city than have to drive from some god forsaken place like Shokapee or Farmington.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Isaysos

Hence, why they costs more than the outer ring suburbs. I hate the suburbs to and would glady pay a little more to live in the city than have to drive from some god forsaken place like Shokapee or Farmington.

If I turn into a billionaire some day I'm going to buy up entire neighborhoods in those places, plow them down and turn them back into farms.

[Mick St John]

Depends on what you like and need.
Some people like a high density congested urban environment.
Not for me. Been there, done that. I'll take a newer, more spacious suburban environment any day. Bloomington is becoming a higher density area than we really like, but we will be leaving Bloomington (hopefully leaving Minnesota) in a couple of years, so not really an issue.
If you're considering a commute to downtown, that's a different matter. I would not care to make a daily commute from an outer ring suburb. If you live in the city, public transportation is a more realistic option.

[uptown_urbanist]

To each his own on all of this. To the OP, the more details you can provide the more we can help you out. The Twin Cities has a fairly diverse array of different types of housing and neighborhoods. Your choice is going to depend on personal preferences, budget, and, ideally, knowing where you'll be working before you move (so you don't move to one outer suburb and end up with a job at an outer suburb on the other side of the metro area). Public transportation is very doable in some areas but much more difficult in others. Do you want to be around a lot of young people? Prefer a city neighborhood? What do you mean by affordable and good quality?

The Twin Cities have a lot of options, and you'll meet a lot of other new graduates who have also made the move.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Originally Posted by Slig

If I turn into a billionaire some day I'm going to buy up entire neighborhoods in those places, plow them down and turn them back into farms.

They turned over the top soil, so it isn't even good for corn and soy anymore.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

They turned over the top soil, so it isn't even good for corn and soy anymore.

crap...uhh, how about apple orchards?