Safe and Affordable Neighborhoods and Area for Person of Color Moving to Twin Cities (Minneapolis: apartment)

[eaglewarrior]

Greetings, people on the forum.

I've visited this site for years and it's my first time posting. I recently accepted a position in the Twin Cities where I will be working near the University of Minnesota. I will be relocating from SE Minnesota where I worked professionally at Mayo Clinic for the past five years.

I've visited the Metro area over the course of my five years in Minnesota (I relocated from Buffalo NY so I'm used to the cold, lol). I also identify as a person of color (African descent) and was curious to know what areas in the Metro would be I feel "welcome" as a person of color. Specifically, what are some of the general areas you'd recommend I seek out my home?

Because I'm not sure how long I'll be in Minnesota, I'm looking to rent rather than buy. My ideal budget for rental would be $850-1100 per month and I would prefer my commute be as non-stressful as possible.

I'm familiar with the Metro Light Rail so I have no issue with using transit for work.

My biggest priorities are comfort level for a person of color, close proximity to schools (my spouse and I are expecting and have a 3-year-old daughter), safety, and affordability.

I'm familiar with most of the Southern suburbs in the Metro (Bloomington, Edina, Richfield, Eagan and Apple Valley) and Northern suburbs (Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park/Center, Plymouth).

Just curious to know what suggestions the group might have to lend. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Citykid3785]

I'm happy to help where I can. I can't for a minute pretend to know which neighborhoods are most welcoming for a person of color, other than my own anecdotal trips to such neighborhoods.

Off hand, that budget sounds tight, given that you need space for 4? Not saying it's not doable by any means, just seems I hear more and more of my single friends paying $1,200 -$1,500/mo for 1 bedrooms these days. Granted, that's probably for a trendier place, but it tells me you may need to sacrifice by renting an older place, or one in a less desirable area?

Anywhere along the green line (Midway/Hamline neighborhood) is very ethnic, so it may be a good place to start. The Hamline neighborhood has lots of undervalued small homes that may be a good option to rent? The undervalued part is changing now that they are investing in the new soccer stadium in that area. Also look into the Longfellow and Seward neighborhoods along the blue line. Seward is known to carry university overflow......meaning the population is likely to be more diverse.

All in all, I would start by looking into the following neighborhoods:

University
Hamline
Seward
Longfellow
Prospect Park
Como

I realize this isn't a perfect answer, but hopefully I've guided you to a few stones to turn over.

[Justabitoff]

I would look at Northeast. It's a very ethnically diverse neighborhood... and it's close to the U.

[FloatOn]

Are you looking for suburban or urban living?

I'm more of an urbanist, so I can give a little input on MSP neighborhoods at least. To be fair, if you are looking for a less stressful commute, then taking transit or biking will be more suitable than hiking it on the freeways with your car.
A lot of urban neighborhoods will be more culturally diverse than the suburbs, but for the suburbs, I would assume that inner ring burbs and Brooklyn Park, Bloomington, maybe Burnsville and a few others are going to be more diverse, and the second and outer ring burbs will be more overwhelmingly white. I personally am white, so I can't speak firsthand about the comfort level of being non-white in any place, but I can say that the inner city neighborhoods are generally very liberal and most people are nice/not racist (I can't walk a block in my area without seeing an "I love my Muslim neighbors" or "Blessed Ramadan" signs). Generally, the further out you get, it becomes more white and conservative, for what that's worth.

A lot of areas along the Green Line LRT would be a breeze commute to the U of M area, and housing in St Paul is generally slightly cheaper than Minneapolis. In Minneapolis, there are many great neighborhoods, and I am biased towards the South side. I live in Whittier and love it - very dense (by TC standards), diverse neighborhood with lots of amenities and transit access. It also is around 90% renting residents, so it is fairly transient and you can definitely find an apartment. We are home to Whittier International School, which is an extremely diverse elementary. Also, from Whittier or Uptown, and south of there, there are express buses during peak commute hours to the U of M, which generally run on Hennepin and Lyndale Aves and will get you to the U of M quick and painless (Bus routes are the 113, 114, and 115).

To be honest though, I would maybe try to stretch your budget if possible. You could find a nice 1-bedroom for 1,100 but a bigger place will cost more, which you probably want with a family. You should be able to find a pretty nice 2-bedroom for around 1,200 if you look for a while, but 1,100 or less might be hard to find in a "good" area. If you look nonstop, you might be able to find an apartment for a steal in North Minneapolis, Frogtown (basically NW of the capital in St. Paul), or Midway in St. Paul, which are all an easy commute to the U of M area. However, although I think these areas are fine, have lots of good characteristics, and wouldn't cross them off my list of places to live - these are some of the areas which are regarded as "less safe" if that is a concern. I do have friends renting a 2bdrm with a loft in N Minneapolis for 800 a month though, so you certainly can find a good price in these places if you look enough. What are considered "good" areas will cost more than that.

I'm not sure if you are concerned about school districts, or suburb vs. suburb talk, but I hope I've been able to help you at least some. Ask more questions if you need more info, and I can give more, and I'm sure someone else can help with these needs about aspects I don't know enough about if you want to know more about them.

Good luck with the move, and welcome to the Twin Cities!

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I haven't rented in 10 years but from what I've seen of the rental market lately I'd say if you can find any decent place with 2+ bedrooms at that price point go for it. Unfortunatel you may be hard pressed to find something decent outside of rougher neighborhoods or by going a uncomfortable distance in the outer parts of the metro area.

[Ursicinus]

Lots of great advice in this thread already. I'll just reaffirm that your rental budget will indeed be a bit tight. As far as working near the U, I agree that your best option will be to look for somewhere along the Blue or Green line trains. Driving around the cities can be a nightmare, especially now that they've torn up 35W from 46th street to downtown for the next four years.

And, like others, I will say that while I can't claim to speak for the lived experience of persons of color in the Cities, it's pretty hard to find a neighborhood in Minneapolis where you don't see tons of "Black Lives Matter", "Love Thy Neighbor", "All Are Welcome Here", etc. signs. I dare say the biggest obstacle you'd face is the famous "Minnesota Nice" phenomenon, which affects everyone to some degree (and since there are tons of threads about this already, I'll leave it at that.)

[HiFi]

Originally Posted by Justabitoff

I would look at Northeast. It's a very ethnically diverse neighborhood... and it's close to the U.

In what way is Northeast very diverse?
North is diverse, South is diverse. http://www.twincities.com/wp-content...s-race-map.png

[Justabitoff]

Originally Posted by HiFi

In what way is Northeast very diverse?
North is diverse, South is diverse. http://www.twincities.com/wp-content...s-race-map.png

Oh, I don't know, maybe it's all the Latino and Somali families I see walking around my neighborhood. Also, according to that map, Northeast is very diverse, it just isn't predominantly one color which is probably why it doesn't stand out. Only a very specific portion of South Minneapolis is diverse. Almost all to the West and East are white (blue). That doesn't make it diverse, that makes it segregated.