Newbie guide to Duluth (Hills: apartment, loft, low crime)

[kizzeith]

Hello Everyone

I'm 23 and moving to Duluth to work at the News Tribune. I'm wondering about the area because I have only been there a couple of times and didn't do much outside of lakewalk/canal park.

I'm looking at a place on the 1700 block east on first street. It seems like a safe area but I wanted to get some of your opinions.

My only concern about my place, is to feel safe at night. The place in question is a nice building with income requirements and it is in my price range, but may not be for a lower-income person. What are your thoughts on that area?

I looked at a place in downtown right above the radisson and I pictured myself sitting up at night wondering who was going to break in first. I also checked out a place by the CoOp and although the building was decent, the area just freaked me out a bit. I think it was actually near the recent murder.

What bars are good for a person like me? I want a relaxing place to meet nice people (not for romantic purposes)...even college type bars would be fun. Basically, what bars should I not go to?

I thank you in advance for any help you can give this recent college grad.

Thanks

[Delaneyland]

The 1700 east block of First street isn't a whole lot different than the 5th west block of First (near the Raddison)...like I've told others that have posted about Duluth, I would seriously URGE you to go in the neighborhood you're considering after dark. You will be amazed at what you see once the sun goes down, if you've got your eyes open. I've lived here most of my life and can tell you, it isn't the place you're dreaming of. I can't give you any advice on bars...I can't even remember the last time I was in one after darkola. I know the ones on Canal Park stay pretty busy with tourists / yuppies, I'm sure you'll find something here...good luck on your new job, do us all a favor and shake up the paper a little!!

[kizzeith]

Well now I'm scared! LoL. It seemed quiet/safe...

The area by the Radisson was about 3 blocks up Central Hillside in an old loft building...something flats...either way that wasn't an area I could sleep at night.

The house I chose was in a quiet, residential neighborhood with big apartment/house, so I hope that you are wrong and it isn't like the Radisson area! I need to sleep at night.

What do you think needs to be "shaken up" with the paper though? I would love to go in with some feedback from readers....

[Delaneyland]

Originally Posted by kizzeith

Well now I'm scared! LoL. It seemed quiet/safe...

The area by the Radisson was about 3 blocks up Central Hillside in an old loft building...something flats...either way that wasn't an area I could sleep at night.

The house I chose was in a quiet, residential neighborhood with big apartment/house, so I hope that you are wrong and it isn't like the Radisson area! I need to sleep at night.

What do you think needs to be "shaken up" with the paper though? I would love to go in with some feedback from readers....

I think a lot of Duluthians ought to be scared...in the last week, there was (what the paper terms) the "first gun related death of the year".. the other day there was a drive by shooting. Sad thing is, the fellow that got murdered just got home from a 22 month stint in Iraq, was home less than a week. About the paper, I can read news from FOX, Star Trib, just about any other paper and it doesn't show up here for at least three days....I'm pretty sure they get the same A.P. feeds that all the others get. In my humble opinion, the Duluth News Tribune fails to report the news, they soft peddle and editorialize instead of reporting. I don't want to read incomplete stories, I just want to know what's going on....I could go on for hours. They do have a new publisher, we'll see if he can re-invigorate the paper.

[JameeLynn25]

Duluth has about one murder a year! Please dont be scared of this city. Its very low crime. The murder that happened last week were between 2 drunk men that were fighting with each other at a party! You will do fine here if you can stand the 50 below winters and terrible drivers!

[Delaneyland]

Originally Posted by JameeLynn25

Duluth has about one murder a year! Please dont be scared of this city. Its very low crime. The murder that happened last week were between 2 drunk men that were fighting with each other at a party! You will do fine here if you can stand the 50 below winters and terrible drivers!

You may want to check your facts. If you go to CD's info page and find Duluth, you'll find correct statistics on crime in Duluth. And, there was a lot more to the murder than "two drunk men fighting at a party" as you describe it. If you take the time to look at the criminal trends in Duluth, you may look at it a little differently.

[JameeLynn25]

Originally Posted by Delaneyland

You may want to check your facts. If you go to CD's info page and find Duluth, you'll find correct statistics on crime in Duluth. And, there was a lot more to the murder than "two drunk men fighting at a party" as you describe it. If you take the time to look at the criminal trends in Duluth, you may look at it a little differently.

I dont mean to start an arguement, but I just checked out Duluth Mn Crime Stats. Are you sure you arent looking at Duluth, Ga? Compared to the rest of the US smaller and medium sized cities it makes Duluth Mn look like saints. As for the fight that happened with the 2 men, the headline story clearly indicate the 2 men were drunk, the one man shot was shot with his own weapon! My heart goes out 2 both families, however he shouldnt have been tresspassing with a gun. If he didnt bring that stupid gun do you honestly thing this would've happened?

[Delaneyland]

Originally Posted by JameeLynn25

I dont mean to start an arguement, but I just checked out Duluth Mn Crime Stats. Are you sure you arent looking at Duluth, Ga? Compared to the rest of the US smaller and medium sized cities it makes Duluth Mn look like saints. As for the fight that happened with the 2 men, the headline story clearly indicate the 2 men were drunk, the one man shot was shot with his own weapon! My heart goes out 2 both families, however he shouldnt have been tresspassing with a gun. If he didnt bring that stupid gun do you honestly thing this would've happened?

I'm not arguing at all..but having lived here most of my life, I've seen the decline in quality of life in dramatic terms across the entire state. As far as the soldier that was shot is concerned, maybe he shouldn't have been carrying or trespassing, however, he shouldn't have been beaten by three men before being shot either. The beating was the incident that caused the gun to be drawn. A simple phone call to 911 if the homeowner felt threatened would have made a little more sense than a beat down and a shooting. For me, its pretty tough to put the blame on the soldier that lived with a gun in his hands for eighteen months.

[JameeLynn25]

Originally Posted by Delaneyland

I'm not arguing at all..but having lived here most of my life, I've seen the decline in quality of life in dramatic terms across the entire state. As far as the soldier that was shot is concerned, maybe he shouldn't have been carrying or trespassing, however, he shouldn't have been beaten by three men before being shot either. The beating was the incident that caused the gun to be drawn. A simple phone call to 911 if the homeowner felt threatened would have made a little more sense than a beat down and a shooting. For me, its pretty tough to put the blame on the soldier that lived with a gun in his hands for eighteen months.

Your right. Its a tragedy that had to happen! I feel bad for both sides of the family. One is now dead and the other most likely will be going to jail for a long time! Unfortunatley,I think this happens alot more than we hear about all over the place.

[BigSassy]

Kizzieth, Let me start by saying that Central Hillside you want to avoid like the plague. Lots of half-way houses and seedy areas. If you can, try to stay on the East side of Duluth. Anything past 14th Ave. East is fine. This is what the police told me when I first moved here.

I currently live at 1711 E 1st St. Is that the place you're looking at? If so, the apartment building is fine. I lived here with my wife for almost 2 years now. I write payroll software in Canal Park and she is about to finish her Master's in biology at UMD. The building mostly consists of Biology undergraduate and graduate students. In fact right now I think each apartment has at least one UMD Biology student.

The neighborhood is very safe. I've never felt unsafe walking around and neither has my wife. This includes walking home late at night from Fitger's, riding my bike to work everyday in the summer, and my wife walking to and from the bus stop.

The only problem is the building next door. Most of the people in there are fine. But when I first moved here there was one woman who was nothing but trouble. A couple times she had screaming matches with someone over the phone and one time the cops were there at the building. But I believe she's been gone for over a year now. I haven't had any trouble with them for a long while now.

If you have any questions you wanna ask me, feel free to contact me. My email address is bigsassy at gmail dot com. Replace the at and dot with the @ symbol and . symbol respectively.

EDIT - As for Bars, you have Grandma's Sports Bar in Canal Park, but as Delaneyland said it's mostly tourists and yuppies with popped pink polo collars. The place you're looking for is the Red Star at Fitger's. Very relaxed atmosphere and intelligent interesting people.