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Uptown has some decent prices. It is much better prices than the higher end downtown apartment market in the city. If Uptown is too pricey, you can always start edging east down lake. It starts to get a bit less expensive, albeit for good reason.
Uptown is priced for a young demographic and it caters mostly to the young hipster crowd (20-25 yr olds), so I am sure if you look hard enough you can find some decently priced things. 1500 should be able to get you a decent one bedroom, if not a small two bedroom. Try using Trulia.
I know this is meant to be useful, but it's really inaccurate as far as Uptown goes -- first, Uptown does NOT cater mostly to the young hipster crowd (although there ARE lots of those, too). It actually skews a bit older. Not sure where they myth that most people in Uptown are ultra-young comes from; maybe just because it's an urban neighborhood that caters to a wide range of people, including young people? (FWIW, as of a couple of years ago the number of 20-24 year olds had DROPPED 40% since 2000, while the number of 55-65 year olds had GROWN by 40% in that same time!) Not to scare the OP off -- younger people will feel right at home in Uptown, too. The neighborhood had a diverse range of residents. But the 20-24 crowd makes up only 12% of the neighborhood residents; those slightly older (25-34) make up the largest single age band, at 30% of residents. (the general assumption is that Uptown is losing its youngest residents because people under 24 are more likely to be in school or just starting out in their career, and therefore have less money to spend on housing; Uptown still has lots of affordable options, but it's also true that there are cheaper areas; nearby Whittier, for example, which DOES have both more hipsters as well as more affordable rents and an overall younger population, along with a higher crime rate than the neighborhoods to the west of Lyndale) When people say that Uptown is home to a lot of young people, they tend to mean the young professional crowd in their mid-20s and 30s, not the people just out of their teens. (although it's a great place for 20 year olds, too! And 30 year olds, and 60 year olds, and 90 year olds or 5 or 10 year olds, for that matter.).
Second, $1500 will get you a luxury apartment in Uptown (we even looked at a spacious 2-BR with balcony in a nice building overlooking Lake Calhoun for just a bit more than that!). A decent 1-BR can be found for half that price (or less). When we were recently pricing small 2-BRs in vintage apartments we found nice ones for under $1,000.
Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 08-03-2012 at 10:05 AM..
Yeah I think we've ruled out a furnished place at this point...it wouldn't be worth it money-wise. Even walmart has decent stuff that would last us just the right about of time before we head right back to NY...I'll definitely keep Ikea in mind. We don't have one directly in our area (prob about an hour away) but I was able to scope some things out on their website. We've got a bed to bring and I'd rather not get a used couch/futon because that skeeves me out haha. I don't think renting is the best option for us.
In regards to Oak Grove ... they do have their own parking but some reviews said it's not the best (as of now we'll both be having our cars out there). Despite some crappy reviews, we're getting really excited about this place even though it's so far in advance.
@Slevin - That's what I keep hearing about Uptown which is why we started there. My dad has another office in MN and travels to Apple Valley so he's got some inside info from the locals which has brought us to uptown. There are definitely 1 bedrooms for under 1500 but I think I might be a little picky lol I like the community feel in the apartment building itself but it's also hard scoping these places out 8 months in advance.
You all are great though, thanks so much for your advice!
Target has futons that are not too bad for under $200--Walmart has them as well but they aren't as nice. Get a couple chairs and a card table with chairs for eating and you will probably spend about $600 on furniture. Target online has a lot of furniture options and they deliver to your door!.
Target has futons that are not too bad for under $200--Walmart has them as well but they aren't as nice. Get a couple chairs and a card table with chairs for eating and you will probably spend about $600 on furniture. Target online has a lot of furniture options and they deliver to your door!.
Good to know! I think we've got a table to bring but need chairs. We actually found a doable futon at walmart for under 200!
Good to know! I think we've got a table to bring but need chairs. We actually found a doable futon at walmart for under 200!
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go to Craigs List, and NEVER buy new again! For whatever reason people are flooding Craigs List and the like with beautiful, antique, amazing furniture for discount prices. We got a Queen Ann cherry oak table with 6 chairs, near perfect condition, for $425. You can't even find a decent 6 person table for $425 at a furniture store, and whatever you DO find will be pure garbage, aesthetically and functionally! We also got a 10-drawer dresser that was clearly "glossed over" with high-quality wood over scrap but it looks amazing and still has the functionality and durability of a $1000 piece (we got it for $400 at an antique furniture outlet 40 miles from the city of Cleveland). I KNOW this kind of thing exists in MN, especially outside the immediate metro area!
IOW, I'd recommend buying used quality furniture from someone else. They don't make anything NEAR the quality that they used to and anything that's even close costs an arm and a leg! The only thing we've gotten from IKEA was a glass display for pictures, flowers or whatever for the dining room, and we sold it less than a year after we bought it when we moved because we could tell the quality of the materials was pure crap and it also looked cheap, something that is very hard to cover up!
Last edited by Min-Chi-Cbus; 08-03-2012 at 08:06 PM..
Go to Craigs List, and NEVER buy new again! For whatever reason people are flooding Craigs List and the like with beautiful, antique, amazing furniture for discount prices. We got a Queen Ann cherry oak table with 6 chairs, near perfect condition, for $425. You can't even find a decent 6 person table for $425 at a furniture store, and whatever you DO find will be pure garbage, aesthetically and functionally! We also got a 10-drawer dresser that was clearly "glossed over" with high-quality wood over scrap but it looks amazing and still has the functionality and durability of a $1000 piece (we got it for $400 at an antique furniture outlet 40 miles from the city of Cleveland). I KNOW this kind of thing exists in MN, especially outside the immediate metro area!
IOW, I'd recommend buying used quality furniture from someone else. They don't make anything NEAR the quality that they used to and anything that's even close costs an arm and a leg! The only thing we've gotten from IKEA was a glass display for pictures, flowers or whatever for the dining room, and we sold it less than a year after we bought it when we moved because we could tell the quality of the materials was pure crap and it also looked cheap, something that is very hard to cover up!
We really just need a living room set (futon, coffee table, entertainment table - which would cost us less than $300 from the things we've picked out) and there's no way I'm putting someones old dirty couch in my living room even if it was free or if they PAID me. We already have a whole bedroom set (as long as it fits). We've itemized things and the last thing I'm worried about is furniture/decor...spending a few hundred bucks is fine with us being that a furnished apartment is no longer an option. We need to get 27 months out of whatever stuff we do buy - whatever happens to it after that doesn't really matter. Finding the right place to live is my number one concern as of right now.
I know this is meant to be useful, but it's really inaccurate as far as Uptown goes -- first, Uptown does NOT cater mostly to the young hipster crowd (although there ARE lots of those, too). It actually skews a bit older. Not sure where they myth that most people in Uptown are ultra-young comes from; maybe just because it's an urban neighborhood that caters to a wide range of people, including young people? (FWIW, as of a couple of years ago the number of 20-24 year olds had DROPPED 40% since 2000, while the number of 55-65 year olds had GROWN by 40% in that same time!) Not to scare the OP off -- younger people will feel right at home in Uptown, too. The neighborhood had a diverse range of residents. But the 20-24 crowd makes up only 12% of the neighborhood residents; those slightly older (25-34) make up the largest single age band, at 30% of residents. (the general assumption is that Uptown is losing its youngest residents because people under 24 are more likely to be in school or just starting out in their career, and therefore have less money to spend on housing; Uptown still has lots of affordable options, but it's also true that there are cheaper areas; nearby Whittier, for example, which DOES have both more hipsters as well as more affordable rents and an overall younger population, along with a higher crime rate than the neighborhoods to the west of Lyndale) When people say that Uptown is home to a lot of young people, they tend to mean the young professional crowd in their mid-20s and 30s, not the people just out of their teens. (although it's a great place for 20 year olds, too! And 30 year olds, and 60 year olds, and 90 year olds or 5 or 10 year olds, for that matter.).
Second, $1500 will get you a luxury apartment in Uptown (we even looked at a spacious 2-BR with balcony in a nice building overlooking Lake Calhoun for just a bit more than that!). A decent 1-BR can be found for half that price (or less). When we were recently pricing small 2-BRs in vintage apartments we found nice ones for under $1,000.
Sleven Kelebra was not wrong in his generalization, IMO. I think you are grasping at straws on this one......I think he hits the nail on the head when it comes to generalizing Uptown, especially to a transplant looking for its demographics.
We really just need a living room set (futon, coffee table, entertainment table - which would cost us less than $300 from the things we've picked out) and there's no way I'm putting someones old dirty couch in my living room even if it was free or if they PAID me. We already have a whole bedroom set (as long as it fits). We've itemized things and the last thing I'm worried about is furniture/decor...spending a few hundred bucks is fine with us being that a furnished apartment is no longer an option. We need to get 27 months out of whatever stuff we do buy - whatever happens to it after that doesn't really matter. Finding the right place to live is my number one concern as of right now.
K. Just wanted to offer my experience as advice, as I'm positive it will apply to your life at some point (I'm maybe 5 years older than you), but maybe not now.
K. Just wanted to offer my experience as advice, as I'm positive it will apply to your life at some point (I'm maybe 5 years older than you), but maybe not now.
I appreciate your response and you're right - that's something we will totally look into when we come back home and find a more permanent home but for MN we're fine with buying cheap crap that will do the job for the time we need. But actually in NY we have a furniture chain that sells pieces similar to those you mentioned for about the same prices if not less and the quality is pretty damn good!
What those who view it negatively would call the yuppie-fication of uptown is happening more (and more quickly) every year. There's still an eclectic mix, but I would not call the core of uptown predominantly hipster. The neighborhoods of the larger uptown area also do have lots of families, especially areas around the lakes. What I would describe as the more hipster-oriented areas are more around Lyndale than Hennepin these days.
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