Thinking about relocating to Minneapolis-St Paul Area (St. Paul, Lakeville: to rent, townhome)

[Jaye0307]

I'm thinking about a possible move to the Minneapolis-St Paul area from Milwaukee, and I was wondering if you could tell me where the best, safest areas for a single woman would be. I'm in my late 30's so I'm not looking for much of the bar scene. But, I do love theater, music, art, and other cultural activities. I am also looking for a safe area since it's just me. I'm looking to rent for around $800 a month, and I am currently in administrative work, so a particular profession is not needed. Any suggestions or questions for me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[west336]

Maybe Northeast (aka "Nordeast"). It's the cheaper of the "hip", safe parts of town and it's much closer to amenities such as the Guthrie Theatre and much of the arts and entertainment along Washington and Hennepin Aves. From what I gather you could essentially live off of the Guthrie's relentless schedule of plays and never get bored, if you were an enthusiast.

Another option may be Whittier or Stevens Square, since both neighborhoods are near major arts attractions on the South Side such as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) and the Walker Arts Center. However, if you were say, my wife or sister, I'd be a tad concerned for you if you were living in those areas by yourself. Neither are "dangerous", per se, but both can be a bit sketchy at times and a single female roaming around by herself late at night would make someone like me pretty nervous. I don't know what you are used to in Milwaukee so maybe those areas are heavenly in comparison.....I don't know. Check these out if/when you visit though.....I think they'll be good places to start your search!

Good luck, and welcome!

P.S. $800/mo is definitely doable but if you can be flexible on that number my guess is you'll find WAY more options. Even a bump to $850 might literally DOUBLE your choices!

[northsub]

If you wanted to balance safety over proximity to arts venues you could look at something like downtown White Bear Lake or downtown Anoka. Both have active community theaters and other cultural institutions. Both are also near community colleges that will have their own cultural activities as well.

You won't get as many cultural activities in these places as compared to something closer to downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul, but they will be safer and probably much cheaper.

[golfgal]

You have a lot of options but without knowing where you will be working, pin pointing specific locations is very hard. White Bear Lake is nice, but not so much if you work in Lakeville, for example.

[Jaye0307]

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas. I actually wouldn't mind living in a suburb of the Twin Cities, since I live in a suburb of Milwaukee right now. And I don't mind driving 20 (sometimes 30 minutes) into town for work or fun things to do. Any suburbs that might fit?

[Kebinminn]

Robbinsdale may be a good fit. Reasonably close to downtown but not downtown. It's a nice place to live and there are singles here. I wouldn't call it a singles town but the homes are smaller to they appeal to people who want less space.

Your target rent is low for a house but it may be right for a townhome, I'm not sure what they cost. Since you do admin work you could easily work downtown or in many of the nearby suburbs without having a huge commute.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Jaye0307

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas. I actually wouldn't mind living in a suburb of the Twin Cities, since I live in a suburb of Milwaukee right now. And I don't mind driving 20 (sometimes 30 minutes) into town for work or fun things to do. Any suburbs that might fit?

Almost all of the suburbs are fine for a single female. There are pockets in some that aren't so nice but those are pretty easy to spot. Again, you just don't want to rent a place on one side of the city and have to commute to the other side. That is going to give you a 30+ minute commute at best and there really is no reason to drive more than 10 minutes for someone renting that doesn't have to worry about good schools.