Maybe moving to Minneapolis (St. Paul, Coon Rapids: violent crime, neighborhood, top schools)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by dennis s

I went to highschool in Mendota Heights. I LOVED it. I lived in Eagan and drove to school. This was in the late seventies but I hear that things haven't changed much. I think that the suburbs to the south of the cities are better and safer with a stronger sense of community. The people are a lot nicer than people on the east coast. At first it's hard to get used to. I'm moving back.

So did I but in the 80's. Have you been to Eagan lately? You won't recognize it!

[laakem]

I am looking for opinions on Rivergate Apartments in the downtown area. Looking to rent close to the downtown center. Have you heard anything?

[Minnehahapolitan]

/\ If you are asking a new question, I would suggest you start a new thread on the main Mpls. board. No one will find it in here. Anyways, I have never heard of the Rivergate Apts. (sorry), but there are plenty of options downtown.

[AVguy]

I knew a couple who lived in a 1 BR apartment at Rivergate and they seemed happy there. The rooms are quite small, but rent seems commensurate with other downtown apartment buildings on a price-per-square-foot measure. You would only a block from the skyway and I always considered this to be the sleepy side of downtown. On the other hand, Rivergate not far from Kieran's and Rick's.

Other options right around Rivergate are renting an apartment at The Churchill and renting a condo at The Towers, Crossings, Riverwest (not Rivergate), and The Carlyle, going from old to new construction. There are tons of other options though.

[Jim Stokes]

There's always the Minnegate Apartments at 16th & Park. Lots of excitement. You never know who you'll meet in the hallway or who will be breaking and entering your apartment or car.

[Kalysta]

jenne03...I'm jealous, very jealous!

I'm a lifelong Minneapolis resident who relocated to the DC/MD/NOVA area about 6 months ago for a federal government job, and I've been missing Minneapolis horribly ever since....I would dearly love to find a government job in that area someday and come back. If given the opportunity I would take it in less than a heartbeat.

Minneapolis is indeed (compared to other large cities I've been to) very nice and clean, for the most part. The local schools are pretty good (although there are some to avoid--I wouldn't send your kids to schools over in North Minneapolis, though that's just my opinion).

angelaf is correct that winters are long and can be very cold (although they were milder the last few years), but you'll find that the local response to weather-related issues is GREAT compared to the MD area. When I first got to DC earlier this year I was just appalled at how bad the local infrastructure (and residents) out here is at dealing with weather. You won't, for the most part, have those issues in Minneapolis--if it snows, the roads will be plowed. If there's ice, the roads will be salted. No one will think twice about going out, car or on foot, if there's an inch or two of snow...and plenty of people actually know how to drive in snow. And if you're working downtown, you'll have the advantage of the skyway system, connection a lot of downtown buildings together so that you can avoid going outside as much during the winter. You'll also find that the summers are much better--the summer out here has been hard on me this year in fact, I'm not used to it being over 90 for more than a few days, even in the summer! The Minneapolis summers are beautiful, especially with so many lakes around to enjoy!

Public transit in the Minneapolis area isn't as great as in the DC/MD/VA area, but it's still pretty good. There's a fairly extensive bus system (especially within the city itself), as well as the lightrail line, which is great.

In terms of the people, I always found people in Minneapolis to be great. Yes, it is a big city, with all that implies...People do lead very fast paced lives and it can be hard to get to know people sometimes, just as in any big city. But people also just have, for the most part, a courtesy and basic human kindness that I've found lacking in many other places (including around here, sadly).

Avoid North Minneapolis, as I mentioned before, it tends to be the most dangerous area of the city. In terms of Minneapolis neighborhoods, I went to school over in Southwest Minneapolis, and thought that was a great area for schools--the school I went to offered AP and IB courses, and the area itself was very nice as well (although I myself lived over in SE Minneapolis near St. Paul). I myself always liked living within the city itself, but if you're looking to the Minneapolis suburbs, I would echo the suggestions many others have already provided.

[nosredna5]

I am a native Minnesotan who left here after college for Dallas (and some international traveling) and just moved back (after 13 years) last year; it's a wonderful city (and I'm someone who liked the people in Pittsburgh when I was there on biz.)

You might look at the Whittier/Lyn-Lake area and Uptown and Kenwood ($$$ spendier) by the beautiful lakes (Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun). These areas are just south of downtown Mpls. Mpls. is know for this chain of lakes. It's also a pedestrian friendly place (well, anywhere is relative to Dallas). There are nice greenways for walking/running/biking and Whittier has this great Soo Garden, which is a huge community garden along the bike greenway (I am buying a house right by it. . .in Whittier). Everyone in that neighborhood is progressive, eclectic, open-minded, smart and not insular (community-oriented). Whittier Alliance is online and is the neighborhood group.

South Mpls is generally more desireable and safer than North Mpls. Then there are the suburbs -- western are more $ and more conservative.

Good luck with your move! Oh, and yes, it's cold but has been a lot less cold in recent years. Less snow, too, probably because of global warming.

Now is a terrific time to buy with so much on the market here (but the market is generally not too bad here; it doesn't go way, way down like it down in many other parts of the country.)

[Jason1980]

I just read a book about Andrew Cunanan and he hated Minneapolis. He courted someone from there named David Madison, I think his last name was Madison. He had also been best friends for years with Jeff Trail, who also moved there from San Diego. Andrew visited Minneapolis a number of times and reported that it was a provincial, doltish place. He then went broke and owed $42,000 on his American Express card. He decided to move to Minneapolis himself even though he thought it was a godforsaken dump. He figured surely either David or Jeff would take him in until he got his act together. He only bought a one way ticket and didn't have enough money to fly home. When no offer from David or Jeff to take him in materialized, he killed Jeff with a hammer and then shot David in the shallow part of a pond. Jeff had planned to move back to San Diego himself, reportedly, after one brutal Minneapolis winter. He didn't like it there either.

[MnMomma]

Originally Posted by Jason1980

I just read a book about Andrew Cunanan and he hated Minneapolis. He courted someone from there named David Madison, I think his last name was Madison. He had also been best friends for years with Jeff Trail, who also moved there from San Diego. Andrew visited Minneapolis a number of times and reported that it was a provincial, doltish place. He then went broke and owed $42,000 on his American Express card. He decided to move to Minneapolis himself even though he thought it was a godforsaken dump. He figured surely either David or Jeff would take him in until he got his act together. He only bought a one way ticket and didn't have enough money to fly home. When no offer from David or Jeff to take him in materialized, he killed Jeff with a hammer and then shot David in the shallow part of a pond. Jeff had planned to move back to San Diego himself, reportedly, after one brutal Minneapolis winter. He didn't like it there either.

I'm assuming the purpose of the above post was to let you know that you if are seriously psychotic, you won't like Minneapolis.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by Jason1980

I just read a book about Andrew Cunanan and he hated Minneapolis.

Yeah, well Minneapolis doesn't like Andrew Cunanan either.