Moving to the Twin Cities for a job at UMN - need rental advice (St. Paul: apartment, house)

[WoodburyWoody]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Yes, East Bank. Sorry, still coming to grips with the local terminology.

Appreciate all the suggestions. Will take a look at all the neighborhoods mentioned, most likely towards the end of July (wife’s appointment starts in late August) with a view of coming out to look at housing in the first or second week of August with the move shortly thereafter.

Lots of new apartments along University Avenue toward the East into St. Paul, which is right along the Green Line light rail. The Green line has two stops on the East Bank and employees ($83/month https://pts.umn.edu/Transit/Transit-...s-stafffaculty). The upside to the light rail is that it is solid transportation, regardless of weather. The Green Line runs between downtown MPLS past the West Bank, over the Mississippi to the East Bank and then east into downtown St. Paul. University Ave continues to go through a transitions with lots of new apartment buildings going in near the U.

Also, there are free campus connectors between the three campuses. Upthread, someone noted St. Anthony Park (right next to the St Paul campus, not St. Anthony which is to the west of it north of Lauderdale or St. Anthony Main which is south and west on the river in Minneapolis ... gets tricky). St. Anthony Park is a hidden gem, right next to the St. Paul campus (with free campus connectors which run on a private UMN busway to the East Bank). It has a little downtown of its own, which is unusual for Twin City suburbs - most have shopping concentrations like strip malls - but St. Anthony Park has a small downtown. Mostly SFHs there.

There is a lot going on at Malcolm Yards, right by the East Bank (https://www.malcolmyards.com/).

Parking at on the East Bank itself is available, starting at $77/month for surface lots. You can find the wait list at https://pts.umn.edu/Park/Contract-Pa...Wait-List-Form and click on the "Review Faculty List" button to see if there is something available close to where she will be. Some of those wait list for the East Bank take years to move up on. When I did new employee orientation 20 years ago, the spokesperson for UMN Transportation and Parking Services began his presentation by say, "We don't want you driving to campus ..." and parking has only gotten more limited since then. I have a co-worker who has parked on the street (still free in St. Paul) early in the morning and takes a campus connector to the East Bank. In Minneapolis, there is no free street parking any longer near the U.

I also like Falcon Heights - nice houses, big trees. But no real downtown feel to it. Shopping/restaurants is strip malls.

In St. Paul, Highland Park and Mac-Groveland are fantastic but not on light rail. But Minneapolis and St. Paul has a decent bus system (the UPass is good for bus and light rail). The bus service really drops off once you get outside of MSP to the first ring suburbs.

[highlanderfil]

Thanks, guys. Going to use this week to put your insights to good use. Thankfully, one of my wife's new colleagues has offered to take a look at places for us, so that we may not actually have to travel there ahead of the move. Ideally, we'd like to avoid driving/parking as much as possible, so let's see if we can't find something either on the light rail or fast bus line (apparently there's one that takes you directly to campus in less than 10 minutes - I think in Seward, if memory serves).

[WoodburyWoody]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Thanks, guys. Going to use this week to put your insights to good use. Thankfully, one of my wife's new colleagues has offered to take a look at places for us, so that we may not actually have to travel there ahead of the move. Ideally, we'd like to avoid driving/parking as much as possible, so let's see if we can't find something either on the light rail or fast bus line (apparently there's one that takes you directly to campus in less than 10 minutes - I think in Seward, if memory serves).

This is not for staff or faculty, but hopefully a sign of something to come.


Last week, it was announced that the Board of Regents approved a Universal Transit Pass for students. In the past, students could get a U-Pass for public transit for $114/semester (staff and faculty can get the Metro Pass at $83/month but not as much of a discount as the students). The U-Pass (for students) is being retired as the Universal Transit Pass it taking its place.


Now, it is even less expensive for students. Hoping that this gets extended to staff/faculty, too (the U has long told people to quit driving to campus).



https://pts.umn.edu/Transit/Transit-...l-Transit-Pass

[highlanderfil]

How's Ventura Village? Found a nice-looking house there...

[MsBall]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Thanks, guys. Going to use this week to put your insights to good use. Thankfully, one of my wife's new colleagues has offered to take a look at places for us, so that we may not actually have to travel there ahead of the move. Ideally, we'd like to avoid driving/parking as much as possible, so let's see if we can't find something either on the light rail or fast bus line (apparently there's one that takes you directly to campus in less than 10 minutes - I think in Seward, if memory serves).

….reading that, my immediate reaction is the movie quote “that’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.”

It seems as though you haven’t spent any length of time in the Twin Cities long enough to understand the light rail system. I lived downtown St Paul for 3 years, March 2017-2020. I stopped riding the light rail completely in October 2019. It’s filthy, and has crime and drug related issues. That was pre-Covid, all of that has escalated since there are no commuters. I, personally, would never rely on public transportation as a sole source of transportation.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by MsBall

….reading that, my immediate reaction is the movie quote “that’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.”

It's risky, admittedly, but we aren't blessed with a whole lot of options short of flying out there in the short time we have left before the move (which may still happen). Since it looks increasingly unlikely that we'll find a good SFH to rent (many Zillow listings look like they have 3D or video tours these days, which have so far helped eliminate - unfortunately, rather than confirm as interesting - most of the places we've considered), we are going to refocus towards apartment complexes and those are a bit easier to rent remotely, especially with the help of someone (or multiple people, hence my continuing to ask questions here) who knows the area. For example, right now we're looking at 740 River, which is across the Ford Parkway from Hiawatha in Highland Park. The reviews on Apartmentratings look decent and the complex is well-presented, but obviously that doesn't tell the entire story. The good news is that we're not planning on renting beyond the first year (though that strategy can be a risk in and of itself).

It seems as though you haven’t spent any length of time in the Twin Cities long enough to understand the light rail system. I lived downtown St Paul for 3 years, March 2017-2020. I stopped riding the light rail completely in October 2019. It’s filthy, and has crime and drug related issues. That was pre-Covid, all of that has escalated since there are no commuters. I, personally, would never rely on public transportation as a sole source of transportation.

Well, we'll still have at least one car. If it turns out that light rail is really not a good option, we'll have to look into parking options on campus or park-and-rides to that bus my wife's colleague mentioned (I need to clarify what that actually is, as I'm still kind of stumped as to how to google it, unless it's the inner-campus bus line Woody referred to above).

[highlanderfil]

Also, any thoughts on Hiawatha/Howe? We got feedback about Ventura Village being super iffy and, in any event, the place we were originally looking at didn't pass the 3D tour test, so that's out.

[wamer27]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

How's Ventura Village? Found a nice-looking house there...

A friend of mine owns a condo in a co-op in this general area…avoid like the plague. It’s bad, many people have been murdered on his street in last year or two. My wife briefly worked in this area and a few people got murdered in park next to her office building during the day, prior to George Floyd too. Do you want urban or first ring suburbs?

People often talked about using Padmapper for finding apartments in the past.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by wamer27

A friend of mine owns a condo in a co-op in this general area…avoid like the plague. It’s bad, many people have been murdered on his street in last year or two. My wife briefly worked in this area and a few people got murdered in park next to her office building during the day, prior to George Floyd too. Do you want urban or first ring suburbs?

Yikes. We got a similar review from my wife's colleague, but not quite as grim.

People often talked about using Padmapper for finding apartments in the past.

I've used Padmapper in this search, as well (plus Redfin, Zillow, CL, Trulia, word of mouth and what feels like smoke signals at this point, as well, for good measure). The challenge has been our three cats. Plenty of places proclaim to be pet-friendly (including those that require cats to be declawed, which, wtf - apparently there's actually a bill that was introduced this year to make that illegal), but hardcap it at two of any species. I get it, I guess, but it doesn't make things easier for us.

I think we found our place, though - the tower across Ford Bridge from Hiawatha in St. Paul. Looks like a decent enough neighborhood, close to parks, the river, a few shopping places (Trader Joe's is bikeable, Lund's is walkable), even a Petco and a vet clinic. The airport is less than a 15-minute drive away, similar story with my wife's work. A little outside our original budget, but all the utilities except water are included, so may end up being a wash. And pet rent is nominal ($10 per cat). Doing our FaceTime with the management office tomorrow to confirm.

[wamer27]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Yikes. We got a similar review from my wife's colleague, but not quite as grim.I've used Padmapper in this search, as well (plus Redfin, Zillow, CL, Trulia, word of mouth and what feels like smoke signals at this point, as well, for good measure). The challenge has been our three cats. Plenty of places proclaim to be pet-friendly (including those that require cats to be declawed, which, wtf - apparently there's actually a bill that was introduced this year to make that illegal), but hardcap it at two of any species. I get it, I guess, but it doesn't make things easier for us.

I think we found our place, though - the tower across Ford Bridge from Hiawatha in St. Paul. Looks like a decent enough neighborhood, close to parks, the river, a few shopping places (Trader Joe's is bikeable, Lund's is walkable), even a Petco and a vet clinic. The airport is less than a 15-minute drive away, similar story with my wife's work. A little outside our original budget, but all the utilities except water are included, so may end up being a wash. And pet rent is nominal ($10 per cat). Doing our FaceTime with the management office tomorrow to confirm.

Nice pick on the Highland Park finding a place. The drive to the U for your wife is the most ideal anyone could ever have, one simple road follows the river with million dollar homes and tons of people walking/running/biking. Highland Park is a nice area. My company used to take care of the lawn and snow of Highland Animal Hospital. Cecil’s is a great old school deli. A guy I went to high school with own’s Tiffany’s sports bar.