H.Park, Mill City,Miss.Riv, St. Anthony? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: fit in, apartments)

[Sunbrite]

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for a neighborhood for myself, my husband and my 2-year old to live. Looking to rent-open to condos, townhomes, houses or apartments.
2-bedrooms,safe, and quiet building to live in. Basically we do not want to live in the traditional suburbs, we do not want to live right in the city, but something in-between. I think I've heard it referred to as an
"urban village" or something of that sort. I work in Dayton Bluffs in St. Paul and my husband works near Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, so we would prefer a reasonable commute (within 30 min.) to work.

Driving around, the areas we seemed to like landscape-wise were:

-Mill City area (the road where the Gold Medal Flour company is, heading towards the U-M)
-Highland Park (except that it was too busy)
Mississppi River Blvd. area
-St. Anthony (Village? Park?)
(We drove around an area months ago that I seemed to like, I believe it was St. Anthony by the U-M. However, any feedback about
St. Anthony Park, St. Anthony Village, or any other St. Anthony-related information would be greatly appreciated. I've done a search but would still appreciate feedback based on what we are looking for)

We prefer:

*Relaxed and laid-back feel, not busy and stressful such as being crowded or a lot of traffic
*Excellent schools
*Near colleges/universities
*Walkable neighborhoods, interesting things to look at such as historical buildings, etc. (which is why we liked the areas we mention above)
*Not too busy traffic-wise. Being able to walk to a grocery store, library, etc. with a toddler safely. (currently we live in South Minneapolis and we find it just too busy traffic-wise)
*Easy access to both culture and city attractions but also near suburban conveniences such as a Target, malls, big shopping areas (I like the Southdale Center but also open to other shopping areas)
*Neighbors that are, for a lack of a better word, more "mature couples or mature families" with or without children. Perhaps an odd request but my husband and I find that we seem get along more and have much more interesting conversations with folks that are generally are more mature. I live in an area now that includes many 20- or 30- something year old parents and frankly I just have very little in common with most of them.
*Mom-and-Pop coffeshops, not chain coffee stores
*Cozy, affordable Mom-and-Pop restaurants
*Healthy places to grocery shop and eat at
*Better housing values (in South Minneapolis we have a small house which we are paying way too much for, although I don't want to go into price ranges, just looking for a bigger living space for a couple and a toddler, something where we can get much better value)

Also, can anyone PLEASE recommend any resources- books, website, magazines, etc. that really give detailed summaries about Twin Cities neighborhoods as far as their "feel"- I'm not looking for crime statistics, demographics, or profiles, I'm looking to read summaries and narratives about what a place is really like, with enough detail for me to decide to visit the areas or look for a place to live around there. City-Data is very helpful but I'm looking for something organized like a book or publication.

Thanks so much for your feedback.

[xandrex]

I think of those options, St. Anthony Park in St. Paul might be your best idea. It's near the University of Minnesota (both the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses, actually), has a lovely little downtown area, and would have a mature demographic. It might be more on the suburban side rather than urban, but it's close to a decent amount of amenities. I have some friends who live near there and the St. Paul campus and they have a quick drive up to Roseville for shopping at the Super Target and other big box stuff. It's a really pretty area.

It seems other than the Mill City area (and parts of Highland, I guess), you have suggested areas that are fairly suburban. When you say near the flour mill, I assume you mean somewhere around University and 4th St. (two parallel one-ways). That area is fairly close to where I live and while it's quiet and nice (with quite a few families in the more SFH areas) in many areas, you're going to get a more student and rental vibe. I love its proximity to campus, downtown, and St. Anthony Main/NE area, but I wouldn't say it's predominantly mature couples and families, unless you get a spendy condo down by the river. The whole area seems to be too much of the 20-30s range that you aren't looking for.

Hope this can all help!

[golfgal]

I would look at the 50th and France area of Edina. That is probably going to be the best area to meet all of your requirements. The problem you run into in most of the areas you are looking at is the "excellent schools" part. Edina will give you excellent schools, the rest of those areas will have sub par schools with a few ok programs.

[IA_Energy]

Minneapolis side of 50th and France is also great, and right by Southwest High School which is a great school. 50th street and France are both very busy in terms of traffic, but look to the surrounding streets and avenues as most are low traffic and quiet. Most of the roads in this area don't go all the way through so it keeps traffic on the main roads.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

What's your price range???

[Sunbrite]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Please keep it coming, we'd love to know what you think would be good neighborhoods for us.

Okay, I'll relent- price-wise we're looking at around$1100/month or less, would prefer less. Right now we're paying 1050/month for a very tiny house (2-bedroom, 1 bath) in a run-down neighborhood (sorry, but it is) and the traffic where we live is very heavy, making it terrible for walking around by myself, let alone with my 2-year old. We just had a notice from our landlord that he's raising the rent to $1075/month, which is even more absurd b/c we were paying too much to begin with for what we are getting. So now it's time for us to move and to find a neighborhood that we will truly enjoy and fit into. We want to start really making friends with our neighbors- right now we just don't have much in common with most of them unfortunately.

Thank you for reading and we're looking forward to your comments, feedback, insights and suggestions.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I would look at the 50th and France area of Edina. That is probably going to be the best area to meet all of your requirements. The problem you run into in most of the areas you are looking at is the "excellent schools" part. Edina will give you excellent schools, the rest of those areas will have sub par schools with a few ok programs.

You hear between Dayton's Bluff & Minnehaha Falls & come up with 50th & France? The child is 2....they're looking at condos...they're renting....hardly the school system they're concerned about right now.

Look at Mac-Groveland in St Paul, Highland Park (take a second look), St Anthony Park & maybe even at Lowertown St Paul. 50th & France doesn't make sense at all geographically & basically it's like Highland Park, but not conveniently located for you.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Sunbrite

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Please keep it coming, we'd love to know what you think would be good neighborhoods for us.

Okay, I'll relent- price-wise we're looking at around$1100/month or less, would prefer less. Right now we're paying 1050/month for a very tiny house (2-bedroom, 1 bath) in a run-down neighborhood (sorry, but it is) and the traffic where we live is very heavy, making it terrible for walking around by myself, let alone with my 2-year old. We just had a notice from our landlord that he's raising the rent to $1075/month, which is even more absurd b/c we were paying too much to begin with for what we are getting. So now it's time for us to move and to find a neighborhood that we will truly enjoy and fit into. We want to start really making friends with our neighbors- right now we just don't have much in common with most of them unfortunately.

Thank you for reading and we're looking forward to your comments, feedback, insights and suggestions.

Your price range isn't horrible, but it's certainly not going to put you in any super fancy places. You'll likely be able to stretch your dollar a lot further in St. Paul, though I'm guessing any of the mature areas with an urban village feel aren't exactly going to be cheap. I'm less familiar with St. Paul than Minneapolis (except the St. Anthony Park neighborhood, where I have some friends), so maybe someone else can help in that department.

Looking at PadMapper (a great website for searching places, by the way), there seems to be quite a few 2+ bedroom places under $1100, but many of them seem to be either in neighborhoods where you'll have a younger crowd (near the University, Uptown, etc.) or in less-than-stellar duplexes or very small SFHs. It sort of depends on what your preferences and trade-offs are (and also probably better searching...I only glanced briefly!)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

You hear between Dayton's Bluff & Minnehaha Falls & come up with 50th & France? The child is 2....they're looking at condos...they're renting....hardly the school system they're concerned about right now.

Look at Mac-Groveland in St Paul, Highland Park (take a second look), St Anthony Park & maybe even at Lowertown St Paul. 50th & France doesn't make sense at all geographically & basically it's like Highland Park, but not conveniently located for you.

Look at the OP's list of requirements.....

[Ben Around]

I'm surprised you found Highland Park to be "too busy", given the other areas you mentioned. If by too busy you mean auto and/or pedestrian traffic, you probably passed through the Village (the commercial area focused on Ford & Cleveland) or maybe the West 7th St. corridor. The beauty of this neighborhood is that all you have to do is turn down any of the side streets and you'll find peaceful neighborhoods. Some blocks have tons of kids, others not so many. As to "mature adults", plenty of them here. I think you should give it another look (as well as Mac-Groveland, as another poster suggested.

Another neighborhood that would be even more peaceful and centrally located is the off-the-beaten-path Desnoyer Park neighborhood.