LGBT Family considering move to MPLS iso strong special ed and good neighborhood fit. (Minneapolis: middle-class, loans)

[considering]

Originally Posted by mnlife

The city of Minneapolis is known for being LGBT friendly. You will not be the only LBGT family in town. A budget of $450k will get a nice house in a nicer neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Thanks!

[considering]

Thanks. We've added St. Paul to look at. We've had friends who attended Macalester so may have some context for the area with their help. Appreciate the reply.

[considering]

Yes, we are very interested in having a critical mass of progressive to left folks, but it sounds more and more like MN will have plenty of folks that fit the bill somewhere on the progressive spectrum. We've both lived in conservative/evangelical places and don't want to raise a child fearing violence, discrimination.

We're adding south MPLS and St. Louis Park to the consideration list.

[considering]

Thanks for your perspective. I'm glad to hear it's been a good experience.

[considering]

Thanks. We do want to live somewhere that is pretty integrated. We'll take care to look out for that.

[considering]

Thanks for your detailed reply and specifics. We are looking at Lyndale, Lyn-lake and Powderhorn. A former co-worker of my husband's lives in the Lyn-lake area and has good things to say. We are looking at Ramsey to learn more about SPED.

The structure of formal neighborhood associations is interesting. We'll look at their pages. I'm always fleeing from rules and regulations so hopefully won't end up somewhere with lots of homeowners rules, etc. (Some likely misplaced assumptions about neighborhood associations there based on 80s southern HOA crud).

Thanks for the comparison to Oakland. This is the first place I've lived that I absolutely loved. It's been great professionally for both of us and we have a nice network of friends. The schools just aren't doing it. When I look at the affordability of MPLS and what seem to be significantly more robust offerings in the schools, it's becoming less of a "maybe" and more of a "yeah, we gotta do this."

We're mostly looking at the city, but if we find a suburb with super strong SPED that fits our child, we may end up there. We're pretty affable and can live most places. Being in the city would likely be better for clients for me.

Thanks again for the info.

[considering]

Thanks for replying. It's great to have all this info. It sounds like your move has gone well. (If you happened to work with a good realtor, holler over PM? We have a few, but can't hurt. Not ready yet, but maybe in 8-10 weeks).

Folks keep mentioning South MPLS near the lakes. We'll look there and then in Lyn-lake where one of our friends lives. He likes it there.

In general, just what you describe is good - restaurants (we used to write a food column and work on community food projects a lot), cafes (mmmm coffee) and cultural activities. I've heard MPLS is amazing for the arts - so also a plus!

On another note - wherever we go, we think we will miss the Bay Area's thriving farmers markets. Have you found a big difference? I mean, I know food grows everywhere, but I've never lived anywhere where the produce is as abundant, varied, and high quality as here. We'll be fine no matter what, but starting to prep myself.

Thanks again!

[considering]

Originally Posted by BryaninMSP

As far as schools, though, I would suggest adding St. Anthony to your list. It's immediately north of downtown Minneapolis (easy commute), has friendly neighborhoods and an excellent school system. It really feels more like a small town than a "suburb" and there's plenty to like about the northeast Minneapolis neighborhoods right next door.

Thanks! Adding St. Anthony to the list. Sounds like it's worth a good look. We haven't paid much attention to the NE MPLS neighborhoods, but will.

Much appreciation.

[considering]

Thanks. That's nice to hear about Plymouth and we will keep the magnate schools in mind. Our child is very creative and it looks like there is an arts-focused middle school and a high school. Might be an option if services are there.

[Thedosius]

The Twin Cities are one of the LGBT friendliest metro areas in the country.

Do consider St. Paul. Though I've been a Minneapolitan for nearly 30 years I don't share the disdain some of my fellow Minneapolitans have for St. Paul, which is returned with interest by some St. Paulites. Fundamentally we are one metropolitan area with some silly rivalry subscribed to by some - I usually think people are joking about it but some people are actually serious.

St. Paul is sometimes dubbed the 'last eastern city in the U.S.' and Minneapolis the 'first western city in the U.S.', speaking geographically. St. Paul is older and has more phenomenal architecture (like Summit Avenue), Minneapolis is a degree more cosmopolitan, newer and in general busier. Minneapolis is the slightly more city-like and St. Paul is more small-town. The differences are only matters of degrees, however, and it's best to judge neighborhood by neighborhood.

I would add some neighborhoods to your pick list

- Seward: runs along the Mississippi river on the Minneapolis side. Urban, progressive neighborhood very near the U of M. The Twin Cities in general have a larger presence of co-ops than any other part of the country, and one the mainstays is the Seward Co-op. Some of the houses in this neighborhood are just wonderful, and Milwaukee Avenue is one of the only streets closed to vehicles in the entire metro region

https://www.google.com/search?q=milw...yxHeqG2Xm6M%3A

- Prospect Park: just across the river from Seward and borders on the University of Minnesota campus on one side and runs along the border with St. Paul. Go up University Avenue and you have some of the best restaurant stretches in the metro area if you are into small, family-owned ethnic (primarily southeast asian) eateries. The Green Line light rail runs along the border of Prospect Park. Prospect Park is more residential than Seward but is located on the edge of more business-heavy districts.

-Wedge/Whittier: these are the neighborhoods surrounding two of the main arteries through south Minneapolis, Lyndale and Hennepin Avenues. Both are relatively dense, urban parts of the metro region. The Wedge co-op is one of the largest in the country. There are a plethora of restaurants and businesses running along both Lyndale and Hennepin Avenues and as these neighborhoods are between Uptown and Downtown the area is one of the most bikeable.

As a general rule of thumb, housing is much less expensive in Minnesota than California. You will be able to get ample housage for $450K.