Minehaha / Nokomis East Neighborhood (Minneapolis, Morris: amusement park, houses, buying)

[kcitti]

Does anyone know anything about this portion of Nokomis? What sorts of people live there, crime, good-to-knows?

Thanks!

[yoyoma02]

Yes, I grew up on 28th Ave and 50th St. It's a great neighborhood. Very little crime... Nothing much more than a few bike or car robberies every now and then.

It’s slightly more “blue collar” than the west side of Nokomis.

Most of the kids that I knew growing up in that neighborhood went on to college and all work professional jobs now, so it's a good spot to raise kids.

Is there anything specifically that you want to know?

[kcitti]

Curious as to the type of people that live there mainly. Are there young families, an active neighborhood/community feel etc?

[codydog2]

It will depend on the specific blocks you are looking at as to what type of people live there. We lived a few blocks from the VA and it was mostly older couples and retired people. There didnt seem to be a lot of younger families but that could have just been our block. We also had a block captain that was really good about organizing things and keeping everyone informed about what was going on. We had a very involved block relative to the others in the area.

There seems to be a constant fight against graffiti in parts of the area. Our neighbors on the corner were hit several times as well as some of the shops on 54th St. I think car break ins were also an issue at one point.

Overall it is a nice neighborhood, affordable and with little major crime. The main concern for me was the airplane noise. It was one of the main reasons we moved.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by kcitti

Curious as to the type of people that live there mainly. Are there young families, an active neighborhood/community feel etc?

It is absolutely a family oriented neighborhood, moreso than most anywhere in Mpls. It has a ton of parks Keewaydin Park, Morris Park & Lake Nokomis Park are walking distance with Lake Hiawatha Park, Pearl Park, Hiawatha (school) Park & Minnehaha Falls all being a bike ride away. Lake Nokomis itself is great for taking your kids to the beach in the summer or biking/walking, plus there's a ton of bike/walk trails in the neighborhood. You're right by the Mall of America, which has an indoor amusement park (nice on those cold winter days) & indoor water park, the Nokomis Library was just finished & is brand new, Riverview Theater is close enough to call it part of the neighborhood where you get $2 movies & cheaps treats (where else can I take my wife/3 kids for $20 including popcorn/drink?) in a beautiful old movie theater & the local schools Wenonah Elementary & Keewaydin Middle School are both very good. Stop in and see them for yourself, don't go by on-line rankings (imo). I moved away from the area a few months ago & we really regret it. We didn't lock our doors during the daytime, left my car windows open quite often & kids roam freely & unmolested in the neighborhood. There's such a boom of young families in fact that the city is building a new Grade/Middle School for the neighborhood as well. Hope this helps

[uptown_urbanist]

Yes, lots of families and young kids, and tons of parks; actually, I find it amazing that the prices over there are still so relatively low, given that it has so many things working in its favor. With access to the creek and two lakes it has many of the same benefits of Southwest Minneapolis, but at a fraction of the price. I assume it's mostly airport noise that's keeping the prices in check. FWIW, there's a fabulous wading pool by Lake Hiawatha. If you have kids, they will love it there. (and if you don't have kids, you'll still love the park.) A lot of my friends grew up over there, and many of them are now buying houses and raising their own families in the neighborhood.

[yoyoma02]

It seems like the families and couples get younger and younger, the closer to the Lake you get. Near the VA (46th ave) seems like a lot of older people, retirees, etc... Closer to Nokomis (28th Ave) it seems like a lot of couples in their late 20s/early 30s. Some with little kids... whenever I visit my mom there are kids running/biking around the neighborhood all over the place.

The wading pool by Hiawatha is fun and it's a great park over there. However, I'd argue that Keewaydin Park (52nd St and 30th Ave) is a little safer...

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by yoyoma02

It seems like the families and couples get younger and younger, the closer to the Lake you get. Near the VA (46th ave) seems like a lot of older people, retirees, etc... Closer to Nokomis (28th Ave) it seems like a lot of couples in their late 20s/early 30s. Some with little kids... whenever I visit my mom there are kids running/biking around the neighborhood all over the place.

The wading pool by Hiawatha is fun and it's a great park over there. However, I'd argue that Keewaydin Park (52nd St and 30th Ave) is a little safer...

Keewaydin reminds me of my youth, where you could just let your 7 year olds walk down to the park to play. At Keewaydin they know every kid by name, most parents know each other, etc.

The airport noise is one major factor in it being cheaper (although you don't hear ANY noise inside since all the houses were insulated by the MAC). It also sleepier than SW Mpls & has less choice of cafes, bars, bistros than & the High School (Mpls Roosevelt) fell on hard times but is now being built back up now thanks to a dedicated push by neighborhood parents/admin. I was at the meeting where the administrator asked "What do we have to do to get your parents to stop sending your kids outside of the district for High School?" the answer we parents gave was "An IB program & more activities. We want everything Mpls South & Mpls SW offer, or we'll keep sending our kids to those schools"....Since that meeting they've completely renovated the local Library, agreed to build a new Elem/Middle school & have installed the IB program at Mpls Roosevelt.