Family-Friendly Locations on a Budget (Minneapolis, St. Paul: apartments, foreclosure, renting)

[wackeracker]

Hi all,

My family is looking to move to the Twin Cities area in April. I'll be in graduate school at campuses both in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, and my husband is a professional actor so will be kind of all over the place. Both of us have "day jobs" that allow us to work from home.

Here's what we're looking for...

1. Safe neighborhood without too much crime
2. 25 minute tops commute to downtown (since we'll both be all over the place, this isn't necessarily one downtown or the other)
3. 3 bedrooms / 2 baths--open to lots of different styles of homes, though we like the aesthetic of older 1920's-40's homes with original woodwork
4. Decent school quality (we have a 1st grader right now)

We're on a budget and can spend up to about $180K. We're willing to live just about anywhere that meets these requirements. Some areas we've been considering include...

Northeast Minneapolis, Battle Creek neighborhood in St. Paul, Robbinsdale, Hopkins. I'm not super familiar with the area, so I know I'm missing some options. Any suggestions/help?

[golfgal]

You really are going to have your work cut out for you with that budget. Are you open to a foreclosure? That is about what you are going to be looking at unless you are ok with a townhome. None of those areas are very good. Schools are marginal, safety will really depend on the block you are on. Hopkins would be the "best" choice.

I'd consider the West St. Paul area that is in the 197 school district. The area around Signal Hills Mall might work if you can find a foreclosure in that area. Better schools, safer neighborhoods anyway.

I'd consider renting, maybe in married student housing??

[northsub]

I'd look somewhere along 35W north of downtown Minneapolis (St. Anthony, Roseville, New Brighton, Arden Hills, Mounds View, Shoreview, Circle Pines, Lexington).

You'd get the schools, generally lower housing prices, reasonable commutes to both downtowns, easier commute to the University of Minnesota. You can also find some older homes, New Brighton has an area near 35W with houses that are quite old.

Northeast Minneapolis sounds reasonable except that the schools are probably as bad as you will find in the metro.

Robbinsdale and Hopkins would be pretty bad commutes to downtown St. Paul. I am not sure though, do you want 25 minute commute to both downtowns or 25 minute commute to at least one of the downtowns?

You may have to compromise on something though.

[uptown_urbanist]

It sounds like you're planning on buying, but I'm going to throw this out as a possibility, anyway: since you're in grad school at the U, have you considered some of the student family cooperatives? There's one on Como, and I've always been a little envious of those who have been able to live there. The housing isn't beautiful, but hey, you're not living there forever, and in return you get a LOT of other benefits: really affordable rent, a built-in community of a lot of other grad students and their families, other kids for your kid to play with, a community garden, lots of social activities on-site, and the really interesting experience of living in a very international setting: many of the families living there come from all over the world so that one parent can attend the U. I know at least one of the two offers on-site daycare, too. If I were relocating to the Twin Cities for grad school with a child, I'd give one of these some serious consideration. Both locations are both centrally located for easy commute to both St. Paul and Minneapolis.

- Como Student Community Cooperative

Housing for University of Minnesota Students and Families | Commonwealth Terrace Cooperative (CTC) | UMNCTC

One is in Minneapolis near the St. Paul border; the other is in St. Paul near the Minneapolis border. For the Minneapolis one you could access Marcy for school, which I hear very good things about; the other one sends kids to both Roseville and St. Paul schools, but I'm not sure which specific ones.

[wackeracker]

Thanks for the feedback.

I won't be in school at University of Minnesota, but St. Mary's University of Minnesota on 2500 Park Ave in Minneapolis and Luther Seminary in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul. Luther *does* have student apartments, which I will be touring when I come out for a visit, though if we can buy, we'd like to for the extra space (we also have a baby).

Ideally, we'd be within 25 minutes of one of the downtowns, not necessarily both.

The thing I'm most willing to compromise on is commute time. I'm in a nights/weekends program and won't need to get into the city every day, and when I do, I will probably be traveling in during off-times. My husband's acting schedule will likely mean getting into the cities during off-times as well. Are there areas further out that might offer what we need?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by wackeracker

Thanks for the feedback.

I won't be in school at University of Minnesota, but St. Mary's University of Minnesota on 2500 Park Ave in Minneapolis and Luther Seminary in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul. Luther *does* have student apartments, which I will be touring when I come out for a visit, though if we can buy, we'd like to for the extra space (we also have a baby).

Ideally, we'd be within 25 minutes of one of the downtowns, not necessarily both.

The thing I'm most willing to compromise on is commute time. I'm in a nights/weekends program and won't need to get into the city every day, and when I do, I will probably be traveling in during off-times. My husband's acting schedule will likely mean getting into the cities during off-times as well. Are there areas further out that might offer what we need?

A good friend of ours went to Luther and they have pretty reasonably sized housing for families there. There are a LOT of families with kids too so that is a bonus--a lot of trading for babysitting, etc. They aren't fancy but you have off-street parking, a secure building, playground for the kids and a nice community of support. They had two school aged children when they lived there. We visited many times and it's worth considering.

[uptown_urbanist]

(sorry -- skimmed the initial post and saw campuses in St. Paul and in Minneapolis and jumped to conclusions...)

I don't know where the Luther family housing is, but assuming it's in close proximity to the St. Anthony Park campus, that's a wonderful neighborhood for families. It's safe, quiet, and has a nice commercial "downtown" and a strong sense of community. It's a pretty neighborhood with lots of attractive houses, and feels to me a bit like a small town in the middle of the metro area.

And I know you don't mind a long commute, but graduate school is very time-intensive; add in two little kids and I think you may well find that every minute you can save counts!

[wackeracker]

Yes, the campus housing is definitely something we'll look into. But are we going to run into the same problems vis-a-vis schools? To what extent is open enrollment an option (is it extremely difficult to get into a good school)?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by wackeracker

Yes, the campus housing is definitely something we'll look into. But are we going to run into the same problems vis-a-vis schools? To what extent is open enrollment an option (is it extremely difficult to get into a good school)?

Open enrollment is "easy" if they have room for your child. Our friends were relatively happy with the elementary school their kids went to. They knew it was temporary and they would be moving elsewhere so they were fine with the school. They wouldn't have wanted to have their kids in middle and high school there but for 1-3rd grades they were happy enough.

Student housing is right on campus, basically across the parking lot from where the classes are held so that cuts down on costs for driving too. Again, it's an apartment set up so it is what it is. I do know that they said that people that took classes that did not live on campus had a harder go of it because it wasn't as easy to attend various study sessions and participate in some of the other extra's on campus. They had been home owners before moving into the seminary (career change) and did put a lot of their things in storage.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

(sorry -- skimmed the initial post and saw campuses in St. Paul and in Minneapolis and jumped to conclusions...)

I don't know where the Luther family housing is, but assuming it's in close proximity to the St. Anthony Park campus, that's a wonderful neighborhood for families. It's safe, quiet, and has a nice commercial "downtown" and a strong sense of community. It's a pretty neighborhood with lots of attractive houses, and feels to me a bit like a small town in the middle of the metro area.

And I know you don't mind a long commute, but graduate school is very time-intensive; add in two little kids and I think you may well find that every minute you can save counts!

Luther Seminar is off 280 and Como...