Minneapolis: An outsider's view from someone who is about to move there. (St. Paul: for sale, lease)

[nrogers1122]

how long does it take to get to U M West Bank from Elk River & Big Lake?

[nrogers1122]

Camden Northsider: The name "Cleveland" does ring a bell, as does the Rainbow Foods. I definately saw a sign that said "something something Camden something" (I can't recall anything other than it seemed to signify that I was in Camden). Is there some kind of map that indicates where the borders of these places are that I could compare to the minneapolis crime maps.

ALSO!!!!! Let me clarify. When I say "devoid of color" I don't mean ethnically pure, or anything like that. I mean that the crime-maps on the MN PD website use different colored markers to indicate various crimes. Ergo, an area with no color inidcates an area with no crime on the crime map. Not that I inferred that your post was indicating otherwise, but I could see how someone may misinterpret it. I am not a racist, or anything like that.

[bbr1973]

Minneapolis neighborhood boundaries are shown as blue lines on the crime maps.

A citywide neighborhood map can be found at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/abou...ghborhoods.pdf

Keep an eye on the exact locations of crime locations -- often times you'll see stuff occurring in roughly the same exact places/intersections over and over, while the rest of the neighborhood is quiet. Often times, that's the location of a problem property or simply an apartment building. Also, high-traffic streets (Penn, Fremont, Emerson, Lyndale, West Broadway, Plymouth, Golden Valley Road) tend to have more crime. Keep what you're seeing in context!

I would say in general that's how crime is in Minneapolis -- very localized and not usually moving around unless some key circumstance changes, like tenant changes at rental properties (say, a problem renter moves in or out).

When you read someone's post saying that a particular neighborhood of North Minneapolis is "block-by-block", it's true. There are all sorts of things on the crime maps just 3-5 blocks east of me, for instance, but it might as well be 3-5 miles away because it stays there. Demanding a large buffer zone is wholly unnecessary. One or two blocks is usually more than enough.

Based on my weekly reading of the emailed local police blotter, a considerable number of home burglaries and aggravated assaults are simply criminals taking advantage of other criminals. I mean, who keeps $8000 in cash at home or on their person, and in particular manages to have it there on the EXACT day a burglar breaks in or a robber accosts you? It means somebody knew it was there...duh. And I read those sorts of blotter entries ALL THE TIME.

Northside crime is largely crimes of opportunity. Lock your house, shut your garage door, pin your house windows, don't leave valuable stuff sitting outside or in view, put the car in the garage instead of on the street -- you'll avoid 95% of potential trouble.

[AVguy]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

AV Guy - awesome post! So good to hear from someone so similar. Quite possibly the best post so far in terms of insight provided. Is Falcon Heights/Lauderdale the area where Izzy's Ice Cream is? We were referred there and really liked the surrounding areas. The problem is the lack of housing in our price range. The reason we limited our areas to these is because of their affordability. That being said, if I do well financially after school, we may look to move to Edin Prairie, Falcon Heights/Rosedale area to grow our family. Did you go to the U of M too? What Class? What type of law do you practice?

Makes sense why you would consider other areas. You could always look into house rentals on craigslist as well. Included in your housing costs calculation should be commuting costs (both monetary and time), and an analysis of whether public transportation is a realistic option (Northstar only has only 5 northbound trains in the afternoon with no night service).

I'm an alumnus of the University of Iowa, so everything I've heard about the U is second-hand knowledge. It just seems that those whom attended the U are more loyal to that side of town. I live in the southern suburbs because of where my wife found a job after graduation.

Like so many (the vast majority?) of law school graduates, I do not practice law in a law firm, but the legal background has been helpful in the early stages of my career. Not that you haven't heard this before, but I'll confirm: a J.D. is a very general degree that is not an end in and of itself, and law school graduation employment rates are skewed and not scientific.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

Ya, that is true, and Monticello is like 2-3 miles from Big Lake, which is a plus.
I guess the only reason I said I would choose Elk River is because it is slightly closer to Minneapolis.

I mean, I wouldn't personally choose to live in either of them, so I was just curious about the rationale...

[kurls]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

Elk River and Big Lake are excellent, though I would probably choose Elk River over Big Lake, a little closer but still far from all the big city problems like you said.

Do you care to elaborate on the "big city problems"?

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by kurls

Do you care to elaborate on the "big city problems"?

Crime, Traffic, Cost
Big Lake and Elk River definitely have less traffic, less crime, and are obviously more quiet then a place like Minneapolis.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

Crime, Traffic, Cost
Big Lake and Elk River definitely have less traffic, less crime, and are obviously more quiet then a place like Minneapolis.

I'm not sure about less traffic. Maybe if you never want to leave Big Lake or Elk River. Before Northstar, anyway, 10 was one of the worst cummutes in the Cities during both rush-hours. Compare that to where I live in Phillips, where I never even have to get on the highway to get to work....big difference...

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by srsmn

I'm not sure about less traffic. Maybe if you never want to leave Big Lake or Elk River. Before Northstar, anyway, 10 was one of the worst cummutes in the Cities during both rush-hours. Compare that to where I live in Phillips, where I never even have to get on the highway to get to work....big difference...

You got that right. The Highway 101/169 stretch from I-94 in Rogers north to Princeton is one of the worst cooridors. Even after they widened and added overpasses

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by srsmn

I'm not sure about less traffic. Maybe if you never want to leave Big Lake or Elk River. Before Northstar, anyway, 10 was one of the worst cummutes in the Cities during both rush-hours. Compare that to where I live in Phillips, where I never even have to get on the highway to get to work....big difference...

Ya you're right, and going through Monticello, theres always tons of traffic, and when you go through Rogers and that area too.