In our 20s and looking for advice on apartment-hunting (Minneapolis: apartments, rental)

[linz711]

Hello!
My soon-to-be-husband and I are moving to Minneapolis from Boston. My finance will be working at the University of Minneapolis and I will be hopefully working downtown. We have lived in Boston for 6 years and like how we can get to work, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and shops without a car and are hoping to have a similar experience in Minneapolis. So what I am wondering is...

- What neighborhoods should we focus on? It looks like Uptown is a popular choice for people our age/lifestyle. We'd love some outdoor space if possible.

- What is the apartment rental process? In Boston, craigslist is the name of the game and the heavy student population means you often have to wade through alot of duds before you find something nice. Should i be looking at rental brokers? Anyone have a good one they can recommend? How long in advance are apartments posted?

Any advice on this process would be appreciated! Thanks!

[northstar22]

Craigslist is a good option - just make sure you SEE the property before signing anything. Uptown is nice, but spendy. Loring Park would be another good option for you - but also on the expensive side. If you want outdoor space, the suburbs are probably your best bet.

Also - I think you mean the University of Minnesota.

[minneapple]

Uptown is a good area for apartments without having to be totally car-dependent. I lived in Minneapolis and the south suburbs growing up. But, from what I hear about Boston, there won't be a fraction of what you can access without a car in comparison. If you take flyingwriter's advice about the suburbs, you will be car-dependent. South Minneapolis is also nice (more parks, outdoor spaces to bike, picnic in) and where I would look first, personally. There are some older nice apartment building that are reasonably priced on Craigslist. Also, there is the Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet area, which would be a bit pricier, but is nice if you have the money. There are some newer and older apartment building to choose from.
I've never been to Boston, but am taking my first trip there in early June & will be there for just over a week. I hear mostly good things about Boston and am considering a move there if I like it, or back to the Twin Cities (where I have family).

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Your best bet is probably Uptown Minneapolis. There are other very walkable areas in the city but that area probably has the best combination of close-by amenities, walkability, access to public transportation and proximity to lakes and parks of anywhere in the Twin Cities.

[chilaili]

You can also browse websites like forrent.com and move.com/apartments. There are several apartment buildings located around and near to Lake Calhoun on the far side from the main Uptown area.

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree that Uptown sounds like a good fit. Craigslist is probably your best bet, as it seems to the main place where the smaller places advertise. Uptown has a lot of duplexes and triplexes with yards (in addition to apartment buildings), so you shouldn't have trouble finding something with outdoor space. It's definitely possible (and easy) to live in Uptown without a car, especially if you're only commuting to downtown and to the U. (there are also express buses to the U that run from Uptown, which make that a fast commute, and downtown is just a short bus ride away). Uptown (and most of Minneapolis) is extremely bike-friendly if you're into that.

[minneapple]

One more thing: check out walkscore.com to see how close potential apartments are to places you want to walk to. It's a great site!