Is Minneapolis/surrounding suburbs area safe? (Brooklyn Park, Plymouth: apartment, crime rate, house)

[artap997]

I am going to work for my former intern company soon in Minneapolis and right now I will be living in a rented apartment.
I am currently planning for the long term and bringing my girlfriend to settle in Minneapolis suburb area soon once my company and I sort out the citizenship issues. Minneapolis is a clean and nice city and people here are generally nice. I plan to buy a permanent home in the greater Minneapolis area in the future. I read that North Minneapolis especially the Northwest and Midtown and Uptown have problems with crime rate and this contributed to the overall higher than average crime rate in Minneapolis. So my question is generally how safe is it in the downtown area and the surrounding suburbs (I know it varies among different neighbourhoods)? Is it safe to walk alone in the evening/night alone? Also are there any good neighbourhoods that are nice and safe to move to with an even mix of race? I do want to live near some asian families. Do tell me how the situation is like in those safe neighbourhoods ( safe to walk alone evening/night, robbers, house break in etc). I have been to downtown Minneapolis and the suburbs a few times since my Uni days there but not long enough. I hail from Kuala Lumpur where there are lots of areas to avoid, occasionally seeing bloodied people being escorted away, and lots of times seeing picpockets/robbers being chased, sirens from both police cars and ambulances are sometimes daily and sometimes weekly occurrences as well as fear of roving armed groups who might break in to our house. I do hope most of Minneapolis neighbourhoods in the city s well as the surburbs are not like that. Looking forward to working in Minneapolis

[golfgal]

Most areas are fine. There are pockets of Minneapolis that you do not want to be out walking alone at night, mainly the areas you have heard about. Some areas of Brooklyn Park would also not be where you would want to live. For the most part the rest of the suburbs are just fine. Is your job in downtown?

[irootoo]

I moved to Minneapolis with my husband in 1991. We have lived in both the Fulton and Linden Hills neighborhoods and we have had several brushes with crime, but in where we live it is far from an everyday occurrence.

In the Fulton neighborhood in November 1994 we were mugged at gunpoint and my husband's wallet was taken by two males as we were walking back to our home from dinner (it was 7PM and dark out). In 1997 while we were away, our garage was broken into and items stolen, again in Fulton.

About four years ago in Linden Hills, where we currently live, I witnessed my neighbor's home being broken into in broad daylight (a guy kicked her door in; he was apprehended after I contacted police and gave them info on his appearance, clothing and direction of travel). And this past summer, all the homes on the opposite side of the street from our house had their garages broken into overnight; I think mostly bicycles were stolen. So that's our total experience of crime around here over the past 22 years.

As an older female, I feel absolutely safe walking around our neighborhood, Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet during daylight hours, and if I were a male or with a male, I think I would feel safe after dark as well, but I personally wouldn't walk around alone anywhere at night.

[northsub]

If you are looking for safe, suburban areas that have a (relatively) large Asian population the best bets are probably Eden Prairie, Edina, Woodbury, Blaine, and Plymouth. Woodbury would likely have the worst commute to downtown Minneapolis. The best commute could be Edina, Plymouth, or Blaine depending on which part of downtown Minneapolis you are trying to get to.

Eden Prairie appears to have the largest Malaysian population in the metro (114 according to a census estimate). There is also a census tract (a grouping of roughly 4,000 people) that is 28% Asian.