Best cheap neighborhoods for artist family (Minneapolis, St. Paul: 2013, lofts, coop)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by jzeig104

Stillwater could work for you as well. Victorian homes, food coop, artists and writers abound, very pretty, quaint. 30 min from Mpls, 20 from St. Paul. Excellent schools. Montessori school within easy driving distance.

I didn't suggest Stillwater because of their budget...going to be hard to find what they want in Stillwater for under 200K.

[MarcyHolmesMaven]

The Nordeast neighborhoods are full of houses that fit your description (except for the large yard part). Tons of artist families, easy biking/walking/busing, older houses with a lot of character, great restaurants/galleries/music and theater venues. We have tons of friends raising kids in Nordeast and they have formed a really fun, interesting, creative community.

[rzzz]

You can't get a "large" yard anywhere within St. Paul or Minneapolis at any price. You have to go out to the suburbs or further out.

[katmu]

Originally Posted by rzzz

You can't get a "large" yard anywhere within St. Paul or Minneapolis at any price. You have to go out to the suburbs or further out.

I live in Nordeast and my lot is a 1/4 acre. Not large by suburban standards certainly, but it's big enough for me to have room for a garden. There are some other lots like mine, although most are a bit smaller.

[riverchance]

Thanks all! This is great.

We've lived in East Coast cities for the past 15 years. "Large" to us is indeed a quarter acre! I currently grow 25 tomato plants, a cherry tree, blackberries, kale, big clump of basil, oregano, strawberries, and flowers on less than 3000 s.f. A quarter acre would seem gigantic. If there's a park nearby then even better.

Urban is better for us than suburban -- I would love to only have to drive once a week or less. Nordeast really sounds like what we might be looking for but will definitely check out the others.

[katmu]

Originally Posted by riverchance

Thanks all! This is great.

We've lived in East Coast cities for the past 15 years. "Large" to us is indeed a quarter acre! I currently grow 25 tomato plants, a cherry tree, blackberries, kale, big clump of basil, oregano, strawberries, and flowers on less than 3000 s.f. A quarter acre would seem gigantic. If there's a park nearby then even better.

Urban is better for us than suburban -- I would love to only have to drive once a week or less. Nordeast really sounds like what we might be looking for but will definitely check out the others.

If you do end up wanting more space for a garden than your yard will allow, a number of the nieghborhoods in the cities have community gardens where you could get a small plot as well. Good luck with your move.

[Yosh01]

I second the Merriam Park neighborhood of St. Paul. It's midway between the two cities, has older middle-class housing, low crime, and is relatively affordable. You'll find a lot of "artsy" kindred spirits there and nearby.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by riverchance

Thanks all! This is great.

We've lived in East Coast cities for the past 15 years. "Large" to us is indeed a quarter acre! I currently grow 25 tomato plants, a cherry tree, blackberries, kale, big clump of basil, oregano, strawberries, and flowers on less than 3000 s.f. A quarter acre would seem gigantic. If there's a park nearby then even better.

Urban is better for us than suburban -- I would love to only have to drive once a week or less. Nordeast really sounds like what we might be looking for but will definitely check out the others.

There are almost 200 park properties in the city of Minneapolis, and no one is more than about 10 blocks from a neighborhood park.

Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board - Parks & Lakes

You can also have chickens in Minneapolis.

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/sustain.../WCMS1P-099318

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by riverchance

I've read many many threads here about best neighborhoods in the TC. However, I think what we're looking for may be a little different than what many people seem to be looking for. We're two artists with 2 kids so our budget is limited, but we also are willing -- even happy -- to live in a house other people might not think is "nice" enough.

We want a 3 or 4-bed house with a large yard (for gardening and chickens) under 200K that is hopefully in the vicinity of one of the public Montessori, gifted/talented, and/or arts public schools (we need both elementary and middle/high). Can maybe go to $225K but it would be a stretch we'd prefer to avoid, as we are trying to live on one $45,000 income and save the rest.

We don't care if the house has cherry cabinets and stainless appliances, in fact we'd prefer if it had the old 1930s cast iron kitchen sink, original battered woodwork, and old wooden floors (even if the floors are under some awful 1980s carpet) than some slapped-together cosmetic "renovation." (I actually see a fair number of 2-families that meet our criteria, since they don't get renovated -- definitely open to these too, either as landlords or as one big house for us that would then include office/studio space.)

We also want to be able to walk, bike, or take public transit as much as possible for groceries (preferably food co-op), hardware store, post office, etc. Walking distance for us is within 6-10 blocks or so. Biking could be a couple of miles or more IF it's on bike trails isolated from traffic.

Doing Trulia searches has given me lots of ideas already, but I am curious to see what people suggest here. I have been a little confused by the repeated assertion on these boards that you can't get anything decent for under $400K in the TC, because my searches seem to reveal dozens and dozens of properties in or near neighborhoods like Seward, Longfellow, Lake Harriet under $250K -- even under $200K -- that look perfectly fine to me. Open to either Minneapolis or St. Paul. Thanks!

I really urge you to look at St Paul as I find many Mpls artists/people are moving across the river for precisely the things you're looking for. We did!

- Merriam Park was suggested but it's pretty well off & in high demand, not the kind of place an artist is going to find a hidden gem.

- I'd look at Newell Park which I think is a hidden gem of a neighborhood/park & just on the other side of University Ave from Merriam park. Being on the Light Rail (that opens in Spring 2014) will mean it's relatively close to the U of M and both Downtowns as well as walking distance to a multitude of different ethnic restaurants, shopping and the Turf Club (St Paul's top live music club.).

- Hamline/Midway is the greater lightrail neighborhood where Newell Park is located & is overall on the uptick & seeing an influx of family's like yours.
http://www.livemsp.org/neighborhoods...hamline-midway.

- Right behind Hamline/Midway is the Como area, another undervalued St Paul neighborhood. Super quaint, lot's of nature, but the houses generally aren't as big as I think you're looking for? It's just a fantastic area though with the city's biggest park, the lake, the amusement park, the new Como Pool/Water Park, etc.
http://www.livemsp.org/neighborhoods...-como/110-como

- Summit-U where I moved to is full of big old fixer-uppers. Lot's of old Colonials and Victorians being scooped up by people like you and I. Great school options locally with Capital Hill Gifted & Talented Magnet School being the #1 school in the city, but also Nova Classical Academy is an option, JJ Hill Montessori or two solid public schools in the neighborhood Randolph heights Elementary and Groveland Park Elementary. We're right by I94 so Mpls is less than 5 minutes away, DT St Paul is also 5 minutes away. I bet you'd like the Selby Dale area (See #3) http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/medi...ticle=2#artanc Summit Hill & Cathedral Hill are harder to get into, but are the nicer parts of Summit-U.
http://www.livemsp.org/neighborhoods...it-university-

- West 7th is another artsy area on the rise. They have some fun ethnic restaurants and old school classics like Mancini's Char House. New Schmidt Brewery artists lifts being built there, Summit Brewery Tap Room, close to DT St Paul and the energy of Xcel energy center games/concerts and they're talking about adding a street car/trolley (not a light rail) up W 7th which would make this are explode even more.
http://www.livemsp.org/neighborhoods...6-west-seventh

- Lastly, look at Dayton's Bluff. It's still pretty rough around the edges, but it's definitely on the uptick and it's got a lot of nice housing stock and good things going for it.
http://www.livemsp.org/neighborhoods...-daytons-bluff

[Mplsite]

Whittier is artsy, cheap, with a walkable commercial strip (Eat Street) and is within a short bike/bus ride to/from Downtown, Uptown, and the Midtown Greenway (an east-west bike highway) which makes it a mere 20 min. ride to the east end of the city to the Seward neighborhood which has a cluster of spots on Franklin but is farther away from other dense areas (dense for Mpls), but over there you have the light rail to West Bank and Downtown and some bike lanes and trails not to mention St Paul next door. Once the Green Line is up later this year you'll be able to also transfer to go to Downtown St Paul and a number of urban neighborhoods between the two cities.