Moving from near suburbs to Minneapolis, need advice on neighborhoods. (Edina: apartments, rentals)

[luckyleppie]

Hi! I'm looking to move in the next few months from Edina to a neighborhood in Minneapolis proper. My only stipulations are I'd need to have bus access to the 6 or the 4 (preferably the 6) because I am without a car and work in Edina and go to school at NCC. What neighborhoods might suit this need? I'm very familiar with Uptown and somewhat its surrounding areas (Whittier, etc) so I'd love to know if anybody has any inputs on neighborhoods I just haven't thought of/don't know about. I need cheap, accessible and preferably a very walkable, vibrant area (music, arts, local food all a HUGE bonus). If I look for shared housing, $400 would be around my budget maximum. I also might rent an apartment with a friend; then $950 would be the absolute maximum.

[Mason3000]

Forget about 3:00am walks & you might be in business. To be on the #4 or #6 bus lines you could find something in Loring Park, plenty of affordable rentals in nice old brownstones. I lived there and walked around late at night but never felt comfortable. Lot's of male prostitution going on & being a young male myself it was pretty creepy sometimes. You've got Stevens Square which I've read good things about on this forum, but it's always been pretty sketchy in my mind. Certainly not a late night stroll kind of place. Sounds like you already know about Whittier/Lowry Hill East/The Wedge, Uptown....it's not going to get any cheaper moving up Bryant or Hennepin into the 40's & 50's.

[luckyleppie]

Yea, I'm a five foot flat fairly petite female myself. I'm street smart and all; I know how to conduct myself to prevent myself from being an obvious target, but unfortunately, when it comes to gender and stature, if someone really was looking for an easy target I'd be a great candidate. Although, I've got some muscle! I'd also love to be able to stumble home from a bar moderately drunk all by my lonesome but I understand that that's probably not going to happen, seeing as my budget isn't all that impressive.

[xandrex]

If the 6 bus is your aim, then the most obvious choices for what you said seem to be right in Uptown. So any of those neighborhoods would be good - ECCO, Lowry Hill East (aka - The Wedge), East Isles, and CARAG.

Whittier would work for most of the requirements, but the 6 doesn't run through there. I don't know about the 4 bus, to be honest, so I can't comment on that.

I don't live in Uptown, but I frequently look at Craiglist for apartments in that area and there seem to be plenty of places that could potentially fit your budget. Looking around on there is your best bet.

[uptown_urbanist]

The 4 runs down Lyndale in that part of town, so it borders Whittier. I don't think the prices in the portions adjacent to Lyndale are much cheaper than what you'd find on the west side of Lyndale, however. I know both of those bus routes well, along with all of the neighborhoods on either side between downtown and Edina, and I don't think you're overlooking anything. The only other easy option that I can think of would be the portion of Northeast right across the river from downtown. That's also very walkable and urban with lots to do, and you could still have easy access to both the 4 and the 6. It would add a significant amount of time to your commute, however, so I'd probably continue to focus on neighborhoods like Uptown and adjacent. The problem with the neighborhoods farther south (than Uptown, I mean) is that the price isn't likely to get much cheaper (or in cases like 50th and France and Linden Hills, are generally much more expensive), and they're less walkable with less of an arts/music scene. If you can find a place in your budget (which I think is doable) I'd concentrate on CARAG and the Wedge, as that would put you in easy walking distance to both the 4 and the 6, as well as within easy walking distance of everything else you're looking for. The Wedge has more apartment options (and even more bars within closer distance), but if you could find something in CARAG you'd shave some time off the commute, as the 6 can be kind of slow as it goes through Uptown.

[audadvnc]

Lyn Lake and surrounding area is a wonderful place to live. I spent 3 years near there recently, and was very happy with the experience.