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.
My husband, 1 year old son and I are looking to relocate to the Minneapolis area in the near to semi-near future. We currently live about an hour west of Minneapolis.
Through reserach, I have found Whittier to be an almost perfect fit for us. My husband is legally blind and therefore must rely on myself, a friend, or public transportation to get around easily. In the small town we currently live in, he has very little independence. So, in short, walkability, and access to public transportation, is VERY important to us both.
At this point we are looking to rent, and my son is only 1, so I'm not concerned about schools. I am; however, concerned about crime. After looking at crime rates the Whittier neighborhood scares me a tad....and I've read there aren't many families in this area....which isn't a huge deal, but it would be nice to see other families out and about on a nice Saturday afternoon.
With that said, is there a neighborhood that you would recommend in Minneapolis that is similar to Whittier in walkability, acess to transit, and price? Or, please reassure me Whittier is not as bad as it seems!
My husband, 1 year old son and I are looking to relocate to the Minneapolis area in the near to semi-near future. We currently live about an hour west of Minneapolis.
Through reserach, I have found Whittier to be an almost perfect fit for us. My husband is legally blind and therefore must rely on myself, a friend, or public transportation to get around easily. In the small town we currently live in, he has very little independence. So, in short, walkability, and access to public transportation, is VERY important to us both.
At this point we are looking to rent, and my son is only 1, so I'm not concerned about schools. I am; however, concerned about crime. After looking at crime rates the Whittier neighborhood scares me a tad....and I've read there aren't many families in this area....which isn't a huge deal, but it would be nice to see other families out and about on a nice Saturday afternoon.
With that said, is there a neighborhood that you would recommend in Minneapolis that is similar to Whittier in walkability, acess to transit, and price? Or, please reassure me Whittier is not as bad as it seems!
Whittier is a great area, with lot's of activity, easy access to public transit, and within walking distance of lot's of things.
I don't think crime is really much of an issue, it just happens to be the most populous neighborhood in Minneapolis, so naturally it may have a higher crime rate because there's simply more people there.
That being said, there may indeed be neighborhoods where there's a bit more of a family vibe, and I'm sure others on here will chime in for help.
If you're looking for a dense urban walkable neighborhood, that area is going to be one of your best bets - there may be nodes in NE that would be worth taking a look at as well, and/or some South Mpls nbrhds along Franklin and Lake closer towards the river (someone else would have to give better advice on these, however, as I can't speak as to their walkability).
And if you go just west of Whittier you will be in "The Wedge" or the Lowry Hill East neighborhood - I think this neighborhood is known for having a somewhat lower crime rate, you will see the ocassional family here or there (still not too often), and you can still find some affordable apartments in the area if you look. One bonus to living in The Wedge (or Whittier) is that your husband would be very close to Vision Loss Resources, a great nonprofit resource in the neighborhood that offers a lot of training opps (including utilizing public transit) and I believe has some community activities as well. Good luck-
Don't automatically rule out the suburbs if you are looking for a safe place to live. Most of the suburbs have their own transportation systems that would probably be even more convenient for your husband since they typically will take you door to door for whatever. Most suburbs also have bus systems into Minneapolis and St. Paul as well. You will also find many of the suburbs very walkable. Much will depend on where you will be working too.
I really wouldn't rule Whittier out, at least not until you coMe and walk around for a day or so and see what the neighborhood's like. Statistics really aren't everthing (I'm sure CamdenNorthsider can attest to that) and Whittier really does feel very safe. I'm not sure what statistics you're looking at, but they may be combining the Phillips area on the other side of the freeway into the statistics. While not horrible, Phillips certainly has more crime than Whittier and this might be scewing the stats.
There certainly are families, though there are less than in other neighborhoods. I agree with what Camden said about the Wedge: crime will be slighty lower, you'll be right by DeafBlind Services MN, and prices will be a bit higher. Otherwise it's very similar to Whittier.
-I would say Whittier and the uptown area in general is the most walkable area of the city along with Dinkytown on the east bank. In south Minneapolis on the other side of the freeway where I live it is comparably walkable in Cedar-Riverside/west bank and not as much but still very walkable in Phillips, Powderhorn and Longfellow. Nokomis probably wouldn't meet your walkability standards.
-Public transportation is good pretty much everywhere in Minneapolis proper and I wouldn't call it any better in Whittier than other parts of the city.
-On the safety spectrum of Minneapolis neighborhoods I would probably put Whittier somewhere in the middle. If the neighborhood gets badtalked it is unfairly done because of the Kmart on Lake and Nicollet. Yes, everybody knows the Kmart is crappy but it isn't going to bite you or anything. In a pinch it actually isn't a bad place to pick up neccesities.
-Rent in Whittier is cheaper than the uptown neighborhoods but will probably run you a little bit more than north, northeast, south on the east side of 35W, etc. but it isn't bad. I nearly moved into an apartment in Whittier last spring and I believe it was $600/month for a 1 bedroom. That is about as affordable as you're going to find in the city.
-I've lived in enough suburbs to know that walkability and public transportation are far inferior to that of Minneapolis proper. There may be a few exceptions, but they would be rare. Why would you want to live somewhere where there is a bus hub to get downtown 2 miles from your house when you can live in Minneapolis and walk to the nearest corner and wave down a bus or taxi? The 4 suburbs I've lived in were all grossly unwalkable and public transportation existed, but was literally impossible to rely upon.
Overall I think Whittier is a good choice. Like I said the only other place with equal walkability is Dinkytown, which is heavily populated with students. As a young family you'd probably be a better fit for Whittier in my opinion.
I would agree with others that Whittier is not a bad choice considering what you seem to be looking for. Any area that is very urban will have a mixture of people and living arrangements. Some families, students, singles, etc.
I was out this weekend and happend by St. Antony Village, which might be of interest. They have a shopping area that is very walkable with some higher density living nearby. There was a walmart, several banks, some places to eat, and a variety of other things. It is located near 38th Ave and Silver Lake Rd. Some of the brand new housing near there might be higher buck, but not horribly so. THere are also many other choices in close proximity that look to be quite reasonable.
I'll chime in with my agreement, too - Whittier sounds like a good fit. Whittier has a playground and a couple of parks, too, and there's the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to visit with your toddler, and while it's a young place overall there are some families living in the neighborhood. Whittier does have a higher crime rate than some parts of the city, but it wouldn't be enough to stop me from moving there. I've walked around the neighborhood a lot during daytime hours (and early evening) and never had a problem or felt unsafe. I would be more uncomfortable in certain areas later at night, but I think it varies by block, and besides, with a young kid you probably won't be walking the streets and midnight, anyway. I'm not a homeowner yet, but although we're hoping to buy something in the Wedge (or wherever else in Uptown we can afford) I'd consider Whittier, too, due to both price and its walkable, urban environment and amenities. If we do end up buying there then you'd have one more family (with a young child) in the neighborhood; no idea how our experiences compare to larger trends, but it may be that increasing numbers of young families wishing to live a city life but unable to afford Uptown will take a hard look at Whittier.
I believe Golgal is referring to "DialARide" or "VanPool/ Shares" providing door to door service to suburban communities - these are not viable options if your family is solely going to be utilizing public transit to get to and from places. I used to assist persons with organizing, arranging, and training them in navigating public transit from the city to suburbs and vice versa to get to work - unless it was an inner suburb, anytime someone needed to go back and forth (between city and suburb) on a regular basis it was not a reliable or convenient option for them - unless you consider very limited infrequent service and bus rides that last for hours and have multiple connections convenient.
However, Golfgal is somewhat correct in that one resource your husband (and you) should know about and could utilize is Met Council's "Metro Mobility" program. Through this your husband could qualify for door to door service by living anywhere in the Twin Cities I believe - and if you are assisting him in getting around, you would be able to ride as well. It's a pretty reliable service, but if utilizing it you/ he will just want to call and arrange pick-ups with plenty of time in advance as it ocassionally can get behind and/or come late. I would also think that by living in the core city he would have a better chance at getting quicker/ more frequent and reliable pick-up times. Also, if your husband is utilizing the standard public transit options, he qualifies for $.75 fares at both peak and non-peak hours.
Good luck with your decision, and forgot to mention in my last post that I used to live in Whittier and always found it to be a pretty safe area no matter what the time of day. Lock your car and valuables up, and be aware of your surroundings if out walking around later at night, but otherwise there really isn't a whole lot to worry about IMO.
Thank you everyone for your great responses-they are VERY helpful.
ZenArcade-That's great to hear-I didn't realize Whittier is the most populous neighborhood in Minneapolis, completely makes sense on why it would have the highest crime then!
Camden Northsider - I will look into The Wedge and some of the NE neighborhoods you mentioned as well. The Vision Loss Resources look awesome too....we will be looking into those sort of programs that can assist him with some day to day items that can be more complicated-like transit. Thank you for the link!
golfgal - We very much prefer to live IN the City. I am not a big fan of the suburbs. I used to live in NYC and ache for City life again. I have visited a few locations in the suburbs that I think would be alright-but, there is something about the heartbeat of a City that I love. In addition, I love the diversity and culture offered, and being able to quickly grab a bus or cab on the corner. If, for some reason, all neighborhoods in the City get ruled out, which I do doubt, but it's always good to research-what suburbs would you suggest that do have walkablity and good acess to transit?
DaPerpKazoo - We are coming to Minneapolis this weekend, planning to check out Whittier. We also hope to look at some of the other areas suggested here (such as The Wedge). I was looking into the Crime Stats from the ci.minneapolis page, it's broken out by neighborhood. In the month of Feb there were 62 incidents in Whittier. I'll have to double check to see if it includes Phillips or not.
Slig-Thanks for all that detail! When I was looking up info on that area, I was pretty excited to see KMart being in Whittier, thinking my husband could pop in there for some necessities from time to time, we'll check it out this weekend while we are down there. Sounds like it's slightly sketchy, but doable from time to time, huh? I don't know if we'd even have to use that KMart being there are other drug stores in Whittier. I'll also do some research into the other neighborhoods you suggested. It's great to hear that the public transit in Minneapolis proper is good pretty much no matter where you live. That will be a huge help for my husband!
Clifford63-I will look into St Antony too-thanks for the info!
uptown_urbanist - The fact that you have a young one and would consider living there reassures me a TON. And yes, while we are often awake at midnight, it's very rare we are out and about at that hour, and if we are, our little man is with Grandma and hubby and I are out on a date! I was thinking the same thing you were, about families moving into the Whittier area as uptown becomes more and more expensive. I used to live in NYC and similar trends happened there as well-it only makes sense. Probably a great time to BUY in Whittier/The Wedge.
Thank you again everyone, this very much reassures me about Whittier. We have time yet, our house hasn't sold (hoping it will in the spring market!), I'm going to dig into the other neighborhoods suggested here...so I might be back asking for help again! You all are great-thank you!!
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.
I was thinking the same thing you were, about families moving into the Whittier area as uptown becomes more and more expensive. I used to live in NYC and similar trends happened there as well-it only makes sense. Probably a great time to BUY in Whittier/The Wedge.
