Anyone have advice for moving to rough neighborhood? (Edina, St. Louis Park: to rent, houses)

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by Slig

I for one would really like to see more people put effort into improving and maintaining the existing architecture we have in city neighborhoods as opposed to investing in new construction in some suburban development 30 miles away from the city.

Agreed

[northsub]

Originally Posted by X-Northsider

Another thing that i have noticed, is that the people that grew up in the suburbs and now live in the cities, are the biggest advocates for the whole city living mantra, (public trans, walkable, carbon footprints, diversity, public schools, green this & that, etc...) People like me, your parents, and same aged friends, just roll our eyes at this and "are convinced that there exists this scewed mindset ingrained in the "Cities Chest Thumpers Union" that somehow is impossible to get them to see things in the real world". Sorry Slig, i couldn't resist.

I would agree with this. It seems most of the biggest supporters of an "urban lifestyle" and general "anti-suburbs" vibes are people that grew up in wealthy suburban areas. It seems to me many of these folks are in some sort of "revolt against my parents" mindset combined with some sort of guilt over coming from a wealthy family. The people I know who grew up in cities might prefer cities over suburbs, but seem to realize there are benefits/drawbacks to both. It could just be the people I happen to run into though. (I'm painting with a fairly broad brush here, but the general point seems to hold amongst people I know.)

I'd also argue that not all suburbs are of the "keep up with the Jones'" type. I personally don't see people trying to display wealth in my suburban area. I feel like when people use the term "the suburbs", they generally are thinking about something like Edina or Eden Prairie or Maple Grove or Woodbury or Shoreview, and even then parts that are really wealthy and/or relatively new areas.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by Slig

I for one would really like to see more people put effort into improving and maintaining the existing architecture we have in city neighborhoods as opposed to investing in new construction in some suburban development 30 miles away from the city. Apparently I'm in the minority of this mindset though.

Are you equally as frustrated when new construction happens in city neighborhoods?

[audadvnc]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I would agree with this. When I was younger I spent a LOT of time in the cities, St. Paul more than Minneapolis but still a lot...

Ah, 1967, it was a special time. Mary Tyler Moore signed GG's diary, and every day was peaches and cream. Then reality came rolling into town, and GG still can't shake off her disappointment.

By her own admission, she's irrelevant to this discussion. Listen to Slig, he knows whereof he speaks...

Are you equally as frustrated when new construction happens in city neighborhoods?

New construction replacing tired old buildings is one thing - replacing a cornfield with yet another strip mall is another.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by northsub

Are you equally as frustrated when new construction happens in city neighborhoods?

Of course not. If a lot is already in place and surrounded by houses all the way down the block and is already set up for sewage, water and electricity then I'd much prefer a new house to be built there than a new development being made out of rural farmland 20 miles outside of the 494/694 loop.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by northsub

I would agree with this. It seems most of the biggest supporters of an "urban lifestyle" and general "anti-suburbs" vibes are people that grew up in wealthy suburban areas. It seems to me many of these folks are in some sort of "revolt against my parents" mindset combined with some sort of guilt over coming from a wealthy family. The people I know who grew up in cities might prefer cities over suburbs, but seem to realize there are benefits/drawbacks to both. It could just be the people I happen to run into though. (I'm painting with a fairly broad brush here, but the general point seems to hold amongst people I know.)

I'm probably one of these people you refer to. At least sort of. I never grew up in the suburbs, but I hadn't ever lived in a large city before college. Oh sure, I'd lived in (among several other places I won't mention) Mankato, Duluth, and (a brief college year) in Fargo, but those are, more or less, structured like suburbs (Duluth, perhaps, being the least-so). But most of my life was growing up in a single family house with way more cars than I can count on huge plots of land. And I liked it. But it wasn't for me.

I really think there is something to the walking/biking/busing to your destination and being close to many things. In my family's current house, we have a WalkScore of 0. Literally. You have to drive several miles before you you get into the strip-mall development of Duluth. Here in Minneapolis, I can walk a couple of blocks and I have everything Dinkytown has to offer. A 15 minute bus ride gets me downtown without worrying about parking.

So I enjoy the city. I love what it has to offer. But I don't think the city is perfect. At my family's house back up near Duluth, we don't lock the door during the day. Nobody has a key. We lock it at night, but that's about it. We don't have to lock it, and where we are, it wouldn't stop anyone from breaking in (we do have other methods for keeping people out though). Obviously, you have to be a bit more careful in the city. There's crime. The schools are lacking in certain areas of town. The housing stock can sometimes be less than perfect. But those are things that can be worked around, and with more support from the public, those things could really turn around.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by Slig

Of course not. If a lot is already in place and surrounded by houses all the way down the block and is already set up for sewage, water and electricity then I'd much prefer a new house to be built there than a new development being made out of rural farmland 20 miles outside of the 494/694 loop.

Did you mean "infrastructure" instead of "architecture" in your original statement? When I hear "architecture" I'm thinking about maintaining old buildings.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by northsub

Did you mean "infrastructure" instead of "architecture" in your original statement? When I hear "architecture" I'm thinking about maintaining old buildings.

I'm not sure which statement you're referring to as I have 16 posts in this thread. When I was talking about unique architecture found in the Phillips neighborhood, I was referring to unique architecture...not unique infrastructure. Regardless, what's your point?

[audadvnc]

The water and sewer lines in Minneapolis are over 100 years old. Of course they need attention at a higher rate than those built in last year's corn field.

[soulatomic]

Gonna try to help out the OP here. My family voluntarily moved into the Jordan neighborhood in July. *gasp* The precautionary measures we took/are taking:

*Don't leave the blinds open when we aren't home. Or at night, when it's easier to see into the house and plot what to steal.
*Don't leave valuables in the car (DUH, you shouldn't do this no matter where you are).
*Install alarm system (I would probably do this no matter where I lived...look at the early summer buglaries in Edina). We turn on the at-home monitoring at night (we all sleep upstairs, so this warns us against middle-of-the-night invasions). Also, install a wireless system to prevent the cutting of phone lines.
*Motion lights
*Talk to your neighbors...ask them questions...tell them your name...don't be afraid of black people (yeah, I said it)
*Try not to rattle the cages right away (I've been keeping low on reporting crap...for now...I don't plan to continue ignoring problems, though)
*Maintain the property - it shows that you're paying attention to your property and it surroundings
*Figure out who owns and who rents. If you have a problem with a rental property, check and see if the landlord is licensed to rent the property. If not, report his (presumably) ass.
*Common sense - don't put yourself into dangerous situations. People are always saying, "But soulatomic, in your neighborhood you won't be able to take a walk outside alone at night!" I wouldn't anyway - not even in St. Louis Park, where we used to live. I don't put myself into those kinds of situations (I won't even jog at Theo Wirth alone at dusk. No way in hell. I don't care *how* safe people tell me it is.)

I will caution you, though. Our house was bought by an investment company...they put a lot of money into it (actually made it a quality remodel instead of a cheap flip) and they lost a lot of money on it. We got a helluva bargain. If you are looking on the Northside, I'd stay north of 26th Ave (in Jordan)...anywhere in Webber-Camden will be ok. Cleveland, too...although the northern part you probably won't want to bother with...it bumps into Victory and they don't need a neighborhood revitilization, because they are fine the way they are. I don't know much about Hawthorne or McKinley, but near the Eco Village would probably be ok, too.

Look for areas that are slowly turning around. On my block, it's a slow turnaround. Starting in 2005, some of the houses were remodeled and sold to stable owners. Slowly, but surely. I will be the first to admit we still have problems (I'm looking at you, rental duplex across the street), but I have faith that we will all come together and clean it up.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to give you a different perspective from "don't do it!" because we got a lot of that, too.