Coming from NYC..what to expect? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: apartments, rentals, how much)

[newjitty]

Hi Minneapolians,

I work/live in Manhattan, NYC in the finance industry (yes, still alive) and have the opportunity to come to downtown Minneapolis for a project. I'm given the opportunity to choose where I live as the company takes care of my quarters. As my client's hq is downtown I plan to live close, and being that I'm in my 20's I'm also guessing that surrounding bars/restaurants would also be there.

I understand from my brief research that Minneapolis is quiet, very family oriented, and though progressive (I'm gay and generally opinionated) lacks a good nightlife. I hear it's outdoorsy (lakes?) which I love, coming from a place of never ending concrete, but I'm assuming not during this time of the year due to the cold? Is there a certain nabe/section where professional 20 something's hang or are they all centered around downtown hub? Thanks in advance.

[Astron1000]

Well, coming from Manhattan I don't think you'll find anywhere else in the US that compares.

Having traveled a lot, I found that Minneapolis actually does have a respectable nightlife. Nothing like Chelsea or the Village, for example, but decent for being the 3rd largest metro in the Midwest.

Gay bar nightlife generally centers around the Saloon, Jetset, Bolt & Eagle in Minneapolis, and Camp and Innuendo in St. Paul. Other popular spots are the Town House in St. Paul and the 19 Bar in Minneapolis. A new bar, Tickles, in NE Minneapolis, is also very popular.

Away from the bar scene, you'd do well to connect with the arts scene, which is pretty vibrant and active. It's repeatedly said that Minneapolis/St.Paul has the second highest number of live theater seats per capita in the US behind New York. Three local theaters have won Tony Awards for best American Regional Theater. That's more than any other US city besides Chicago and New Haven. There are an additional 70-80 more theater companies as well in the Twin Cities. The cities are also host to the largest non-juried theater festival in North America, the Minnesota Fringe Festival with over 1,000 participating artists and more than 40,000 tickets sold in 2008.

Gay arts organizations include the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, the Minnesota Philharmonic, One Voice Chorus, Calliope (http://www.calliopewomenschorus.org/about.html - broken link), and the Minnesota Freedom Band (http://mnfreedomband.org/home/ - broken link). Check out Lavender Magazine for more info.

More organizations (including gay sports teams) are located on the Minnesota HRC website. One of the largest is the Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League. There is also a gay rodeo here (http://www.nsgra.org/cms_home/index.html - broken link). Gay friendly musical organizations also include Minnesota Brass, Inc.

For non-gay but significant content, the nation's second-largest provider of radio programming (behind NPR) is American Public Media and Public Radio International. Both are subsidiaries of Minnesota Public Radio, based in St. Paul.

And, BTW, we are known as Minneapolitans, not Minneapolians.

[newjitty]

Astron, thanks so much for all of the info..I will definitely research further into your suggestions once I get more downtime. I wasn't trying to knock Minni's nightlife, just figured it had a 2am curfew like the majority of other states (Cali, NJ, etc) so no night-night life if that makes sense, which might actually be better so I'll focus more on work and get back to the gym

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by newjitty

Astron, thanks so much for all of the info..I will definitely research further into your suggestions once I get more downtime. I wasn't trying to knock Minni's nightlife, just figured it had a 2am curfew like the majority of other states (Cali, NJ, etc) so no night-night life if that makes sense, which might actually be better so I'll focus more on work and get back to the gym

lot of bars open to 2:00 a.m. some close at 1:00 a.m. Reason for the difference is related to a law passed a couple years ago that allows bars to stay open until 2:00 if they meet certian criteria and I assume pay extra fees.

[grandpa tweedle]

minneapolis will be quite a change from the big apple (some people call it the "minni-apple" but you will find it has nothing in common with NYC). this city is the perfect mix of urban and small-town vibes. i love how you can drive around and be in a sexy urban area one minute, and then 2 miles later you are driving around a beautiful lake with no indication that you are in the middle 3.5 million+ metro area. very few cities can brag about what we can. we are the 19th most "livable" city on EARTH. the only other US city to make the list was honalulu!

there is no shortage of opinionated gay folks so you will make friends. the gay scene is huge. people
say the night life is pretty stale but that depends on who you ask. personally, i like to drink with smelly punk rockers in dank, sleazy taverns on my weekends; i think thats all the nightlife anyone could ask for. downtown has plenty of bars full of pelvis-grinding 20-something yuppie college kids, but as an educated gay man, you probably have better things to do and cooler people to be around. Astron1000 listed some good gay bars. uptown sounds perfect for you, and its a pretty short bus or car ride to work downtown. avoid the north side, unless you like having guns stuck in your face and giving up your wallet (we blame detroit, new orleans and chicago for this). just do me a favor and move here and not somewhere lame like denver

[Thegonagle]

It's best to avoid certain areas on the north side. The majority of the area over there is pretty decent (and some is very nice, especially on Victory), but it may be in your best interest to have a northsider show you around before you go exploring over there by yourself, that's all.

Minneapolis is actually pretty quiet overall, even on the north side. I think most folks have seen worse in other cities than the worst the north side has to offer.

Uptown sounds good, but are you aware that there are several rentals downtown (all of them highrises) that are directly connected to the skyway system? You can walk to work 1-10 blocks away every day and never get rained on or have to put on winter boots. Pretty cool. And the rents, while on the higher side for this area, might look perfectly affordable from a New York City banker's perspective. I believe that there are furnished apartments available. Do you know how much your company will pay for rent, and what building your client is in? (If you don't know the building name, what's the client's address?) I know a few rentals you could call.