Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I moved from New York to Baltimore a couple years ago for a new and very desired career. Glad I did it, but Baltimore is a toilet of a city and I've had enough. I think I've had enough of old, creaking east coast cities period (though Baltimore is a special kind of urban latrine, in a league all its own).
I've met and dated a few Midwestern women and had reason to go visit the region a couple of times. I really like what I've seen so far. I did an internet search and discovered that Minneapolis is the kind of small city that would work for someone like me.
I like small towns, but I'm really an urban creature. But I don't want a big mess of a city like New York or a small failure like Baltimore. I also hear that Minneapolis is one of the more racially harmonious cities in the U.S. Important because I'm black. Baltimore is incredibly segregated and I feel downright uncomfortable here.
I have no job prospects, but I'm looking. I wanted to take a leave of absence from work or a working vacation and live in Minneapolis for a few weeks or a couple months. Any opinions on any of this?
Minneapolis is a nice clean city. It is the center of a metro area of about 3.2 million people.
Very educated and home to a number of large companies- 3M, General Mills, Target, Best Buy, US Bank Corp, Medtronic, etc. (This includes St. Paul and the Twin Cities suburbs). The only downside that I can think of to Minneapolis is the cold winters. Minneapolis is home to a large campus of the University of Minnesota, so there is a large college population mixed with the large working class. There are many nice condos downtown, but some are quite expensive. There is a light rail that runs from the Mall of America, through the airport to Downtown. They are currently building the central corridor light rail that will connect Downtown Mpls. to Downtown St. Paul. (the respective downtowns are about 10 miles apart.
There is somewhat of a diverse population but a large majority of the metro is white. Mpls. is kind of segregated but not like many other cities. North Mpls. is traditionally home to an African-American neighborhood, Lake street in south Mpls. has a large Hispanic population and there is also a large Somalian population. St. Paul is also home to a mix, but also has a large number of asian/Hmong residents. Overall you will find people mixed throughout the central cities though.
Both cities are very safe IMO.
Downtown Mpls. has the most going on at night (clubs, restaurants, theaters, sporting venues) I suppose but its no NYC. St. Paul has a lot of nice neighborhood bars and restaurants.
Spring/Summer/Fall are awesome. Many nice lakes in the metro area as well as many well maintained parks and bike paths. You can ride from Minneapolis out to the Lake Minnetonka area in an hour or so and be out in the woods and country in a few hours on your bike.
Traffic during rush hour can be kind of a pain, but if you can take public transit or live close to work, not bad. Hope that answers your question.
So I moved from New York to Baltimore a couple years ago for a new and very desired career. Glad I did it, but Baltimore is a toilet of a city and I've had enough. I think I've had enough of old, creaking east coast cities period (though Baltimore is a special kind of urban latrine, in a league all its own).
I've met and dated a few Midwestern women and had reason to go visit the region a couple of times. I really like what I've seen so far. I did an internet search and discovered that Minneapolis is the kind of small city that would work for someone like me.
I like small towns, but I'm really an urban creature. But I don't want a big mess of a city like New York or a small failure like Baltimore. I also hear that Minneapolis is one of the more racially harmonious cities in the U.S. Important because I'm black. Baltimore is incredibly segregated and I feel downright uncomfortable here.
I have no job prospects, but I'm looking. I wanted to take a leave of absence from work or a working vacation and live in Minneapolis for a few weeks or a couple months. Any opinions on any of this?
Minneapolis is not very segregated, but there really isn't a large African-American community. At least, not a "traditional" African-American community. We have had an influx in the past fifteen years of Somalis, Sudanese, Liberians, and other African immigrants....so the "African-American" number has burgeoned in recent years, but it is a little bit different from the "typical" African American community that you would find in cities across the rust-belt.
That being said, it does tend to be less segregated and more harmonious than other older cities, yes. The Great Migration didn't really reach this far north, and consequently "white flight" didn't happen to the extent that it did a lot of places, and "black neighborhoods" in contrast to "white neighborhoods" never really developed.
Be warned that it is cold, but the summers make up for it. It's a great art town, has an extensive network of parks, trails, and lakes, and the Twin Cities are a four-team market with some shiny new sports facilities. Lots of colleges and universities so a generally educated workforce. Cons would be traffic congestion on a few major highways, lack of mass-transit (we're working on it), 2 AM bar-times, and of course, crazy weather.
Hope it helps. Let us know if you need advice on specific neighborhoods or need to know which neighborhoods to look at to best suit your needs....
Note: I'm not looking for "traditional" black neighborhoods. I'm a foreigner myself, but I came here when I was very, very young. I see myself as culturally American, not "African-American". I don't want to live in a city where blacks are walled up in huge project/ghetto neighborhoods. But I do want some black presence so I don't have to worry about lynchings. I'm sick of the east coast city experience in which blacks live in these dangerous government reservations and the whites look at any blacks in non-black neighborhoods like escaped convicts or zoo animals.
Also: I haven't owned a car in nearly a decade. I only had one during my brief tenure in NYC's northern suburbs, but for most of my adult life I haven't had a car because I've lived somewhere in NYC itself. That would surely limit my options in a place like Minneapolis. But I suspect that car ownership is on the decline as a normal attachment for everyone (I do rent cars when I absolutely need to via Zipcar or National, but manage by living in older parts of cities where things I need day to day are within walking distance of each other; right now I could walk from home to work to grocery and to gym all within twenty minutes even here in Baltimore).
That brings me to neighborhoods. I'm in my 30's and a bit beyond the 20-something bar scene. But I do need to be able to walk to most things and to whatever passes for reliable mass transit in Minneapolis. So a neighborhood with that stuff would be great, but I'd also like to avoid partying frat folk and hipsters milling about at all hours on weekend nights.
I'm looking at getting a sublet or a room for a few weeks in May or June. I won't be quitting my job even then.
Regarding segregation and racism, Minneapolis probably has what you are looking for. People in Minneapolis are very accepting and I don't think you will ever encounter any "white neighborhoods", at least not in the city. Maybe in some of the far-flung suburbs, but even then that's very unlikely.
Living without a car in Minneapolis is certainly possible, as long as you pick the right neighborhood. I know a couple posters on here (Uptown_Urbanist comes to mind) are car-free.
Here is a map of Metro Transit's "Hi-Frequency" bus & LRT routes (note that a new LRT line replacing the 16 is just beginning construction):High Frequency Network Map - Metro Transit
As you can see, the area of Minneapolis just south of downtown has the highest density of bus routes (as well as the highest population density), though living near any of the LRT stations or Hi-Frequency routes throughout the city would provide a "reasonable" level of transit.
Although they are very walkable and well served by transit, you will probably want to avoid the following areas:
--Dinkytown(Marcy Holmes east of 35W, undergrad party scene for the U's 55,000 students)
--the core of Uptown (area where ECCO, CARAG, Lowry Hill East, and East Isles meet. I think most of Uptown would be fine, but along Lake or Hennepin you'll see the hipsters/yuppies out all night)
Areas that I think would probably most interest you:
--Uptown (at least 1-2 blocks off of Lake or Hennepin)
--Whittier
--The Wedge (Lowry Hill East)
--Steven's Square
Other areas to consider:
--Elliot Park
--Seward
--Loring Park
Biking is HUGE in Mpls, and is the primary mode of transportation for many. We have some wonderful bike infrastructure in the city, and drivers are a LOT more used to/friendlier to bikes in mixed traffic than they are in most US cities.
Not to bring everyone down, but Minneapolis is a fairly segregated city. Just because there are a lot of white liberals who all hang out with each other and get "offended" when other people say racist things doesn't mean the city is not segregated. The fact that Minneapolis is only about 15% black helps make this less of a deal. But it's not some place of racial harmony - it's had pretty much the same history as the rest of the country, with race riots in the 60's, the failed social experimentation on poor people of housing projects (which are NOT just an East Coast thing), and violence during the crack epidemic. And you hear awful things said about recent immigrants, like the East Africans and Mexicans, that you do anywhere else. It might be less exaggerated than other place - but I can think of some factors that go into that as opposed to some wonderful Minnesotan-harmony-gene.
That said, Baltimore is generally considered the crappiest city in the Boston-Washington Corridor, and I've been there enough to get why you probably don't like living there. You're not going to find neighborhoods with the same kind of historical charm - and the nice neighborhoods are not going to be as nice. But overall, as an entire city, yes, Minneapolis would be the city with more appeal to most people.
As for walkability, Uptown probably makes the most sense for what you want. There are a fair amount of hipsters in Minneapolis. I also lived in the part of Marcy-Holmes nearest to Northeast (around Central Avenue and University Avenue) without a car and found it very easy - but there you have the college kids. You'll have more variety and a larger walkable area in Uptown though. Both of those are easily accessible to downtown via public transit. You certainly don't need a car (i did it for several years), but my *guess* is that Minneapolis is more car-centric that Baltimore (to be fair, it's been a long time since I've been to Baltimore, but I feel pretty good about this guess).
I'd second DaPerpKazoo's neighborhood list. They'd all be among the best for living without a car (as well as have access to the local car-share program if you want easy access; it's called Hourcar). Another neighborhood to add to the list would be the part of Northeast Minneapolis directly across the river from downtown (aka the St. Anthony neighborhood, or the far west part of Marcy-Holmes).
Of all those areas, Uptown is my personal favorite for easy access by foot to the most amenities, as well as for its good public transit. Of the four neighborhoods that make up Uptown, Lowry Hill (also known as the Wedge) has the highest percentage of hipsters, although even then there are plenty of non-hipsters around, too. CARAG is directly to the south of the Wedge, a little quieter, but still very livable without a car. It's my favorite part of Uptown (but then, I'm biased on that front!).
I would disagree that Minneapolis has had "pretty much about the same history" as the rest of the country; things haven't always been so perfect here, of course, but it' has a VERY different racial history than the mid-Atlantic.
That said, it's still pretty segregated, in part because it's still a majority-white city and state. The neighborhoods listed are all majority-white, but that's just mostly just because of numbers. They're not exclusively white, and there are certainly plenty residents of other races living there, too. Lots of interracial families, too; this is just anecdotal, but during my time in the mid-Atlantic I encountered more surprise (and sometimes unease) with people dating people of different races. Minneapolis was known for its openness to interracial couples even back when it was illegal in some parts of the country (part of the reason several of my friends' parents ended up living in the city). And while not racial, that openness towards what was once seen as an "alternative" form of family can now be seen in the city's large percentage of GLBT-headed families. In any case, no, it's no utopia, but it's also a very different place with a different history than Baltimore (for both good and bad).
I would disagree that Minneapolis has had "pretty much about the same history" as the rest of the country; things haven't always been so perfect here, of course, but it' has a VERY different racial history than the mid-Atlantic.
That said, it's still pretty segregated, in part because it's still a majority-white city and state. The neighborhoods listed are all majority-white, but that's just mostly just because of numbers. They're not exclusively white, and there are certainly plenty residents of other races living there, too. Lots of interracial families, too; this is just anecdotal, but during my time in the mid-Atlantic I encountered more surprise (and sometimes unease) with people dating people of different races. Minneapolis was known for its openness to interracial couples even back when it was illegal in some parts of the country (part of the reason several of my friends' parents ended up living in the city). And while not racial, that openness towards what was once seen as an "alternative" form of family can now be seen in the city's large percentage of GLBT-headed families. In any case, no, it's no utopia, but it's also a very different place with a different history than Baltimore (for both good and bad).
Yeah, there are different historical aspects that go into different places. And I've never lived in Baltimore, and don't know its history - being that it is historically a more southern city, it could very well have a worse history. Boston, New York, and Philadelphia have all showcased their bigoted populations at time too. But if Minneapolis had the right historical events, they could probably showcase their ugliness too - the way other Midwestern cities have. But spending most of my life in the Mid-Atlantic, I can offer some thoughts.
Not to blur the obviously bad things that have happened out here, but Philadelphia has been the home to successful free black people for centuries - going back to the founding of the nation and before. A hotbed for the underground railroad and abolitionism. Things were never, ever perfect (especially between black people and other minorities, like the Irish...same story everywhere, which has to do with the Civil War), and significantly deteriorated during the Great Migrations and the decades afterward. As it stands in the present, there probably is more segregation here - but also a much larger African-American population, they are actually the plurality here in Philadelphia (may no longer be true - we'll have to wait for the newest census data to come out). And racial tension still exists, particularly as gentrification pushes subsidized housing out into more historically white areas of the city. But these are among the factors that I don't think Minneapolis has necessarily had - when given the opportunity, things have been as "bad" in Minneapolis. There was white flight in North Minneapolis, although it may not have been to the same extent as other cities. In the past, I have hailed the fact that even the "rough" neighborhoods in Minneapolis appear to be habitable, but Minneapolis is pretty good at bulldozing over its past too. Plymouth Avenue, a sight of race riots in the 60's, no long exists, practically speaking. They got rid of it. Rondo in St. Paul, a black neighborhood, no longer exists - they got rid of it. What that means in the long term, I don't know - dilapidated streets and neighborhoods still stand here in Philadelphia (and Baltimore), waiting to be rebuilt - and when they are rebuilt, it's often a sight of renewed racial tensions. But whether or not it's in the interest of racial harmony to bulldoze neighborhoods as opposed to slowly gentrifying them - well, they both raise serious issues. But the memory of these things live on in minority communities - to the point that people are pretty opposed to the building of the Central Corridor, because they see it as a way to turn minority neighborhoods white, and argue that it's the same thing as when they bulldozed their neighborhoods to bring in white people on the interstate.
You're right that Minneapolis is pretty accepting of interracial couples - but I don't know that this is actually a problem here. Like you said, it's anecdotal, but I see plenty of interracial couples here, and I think Philadelphia is often recommended as a good place to live for interracial couples. If anything, it's a generational thing here.
Minneapolis is very GLBT friendly, to the point that I didn't even realize was possible growing up in the Mid-Atlantic, I will give you that. I live pretty close to the "gay neighborhood" here in Philly, and it's pretty easy to forget, because there are probably fewer gay people there than in my regular neighborhood in Minneapolis.
Not to bring everyone down, but Minneapolis is a fairly segregated city. Just because there are a lot of white liberals who all hang out with each other and get "offended" when other people say racist things doesn't mean the city is not segregated. The fact that Minneapolis is only about 15% black helps make this less of a deal. But it's not some place of racial harmony - it's had pretty much the same history as the rest of the country, with race riots in the 60's, the failed social experimentation on poor people of housing projects (which are NOT just an East Coast thing), and violence during the crack epidemic. And you hear awful things said about recent immigrants, like the East Africans and Mexicans, that you do anywhere else. It might be less exaggerated than other place - but I can think of some factors that go into that as opposed to some wonderful Minnesotan-harmony-gene.
Well, segregation is a nationwide issue, especially in big cities. But when you compare Minneapolis to other cities in the Midwest, yes: we are quite a bit more integrated. Omaha, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit are all incredibly segregated cities-- as in, you do not see white folks on Block A or black folks on Block B. That really isn't (in my estimation) as much of a problem here.
Somebodu actually mapped this: Race and ethnicity - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624812674967/ - broken link)
Compare the MSP map to the others. Sure, there are light blue neighborhoods with smatterings of red, and light red neighborhood with smatterings of blue. But there are no big red and blue blocks like in other cities. Granted, it's numbers, but numbers don't lie.
For the record, Indianapolis is supposedly the most racially integrated (at least in terms of black-white) city in the country.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
