Son moving to Minneapolis (St. Paul, Bloomington: low income, apartments, rentals)

[painter62]

My son has just been offered a job at Target HQ. He is 22 years old. He will be moving from Chicago. We have been searching and searching and are so confused about neighborhoods. We first thought living downtown would be the best and he could walk to work through the skywalk. But, now I'm reading that the crime is awful downtown and that it's kind of a ghost town at night. He has a car, but doesn't have to bring it. If you don't live downtown, what are some cool neighborhoods with lots of restaurants, etc, that also have good public transport to downtown? And, of course, we would like it to be fairly safe. (We live in Chicago and used to live in mid-town Atlanta. So, we understand cities.) I've tried to see what Minneapolis has for public transit..but the website is hard to figure out with really bad maps. So, any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Isaysos]

While Downtown Minneapolis does have some issue with crime, I would not say that it makes it off limits to live. He will be going through there to work everyday anyway. Over 50,000 people live in the various Downtown neighborhoods and it's growing at a pretty good clip. The Warehouse District after midnight is where and when the most notable crime happens. Check out the Mill District or the North Loop - all close proximity to Target HQ with access to grocery stores and restaurants. The area across the river (St. Anthony and Northeast) is a pretty popular destination with bike and bus routes to Downtown. A lot of new apartments going up in that area. DinkeyTown and Stadium Village near the U of M are cool, but tend to be more of a college crowd. Loring Park is just south of Target HQ and has it's own neighborhood amenities. Uptown, a little further to the south has direct bus routes Downtown. This area seems to be a popular spot among young professionals and has great access to the Chain of Lakes and all of the recreational amenities that go with that. I your son is into biking, any area around there is good with access to the Greenway. Seward in Southeast, I don't spend a lot of time in, but has some nice rentals and homes. If you look outside of Minneapolis, check out St. Louis Park or areas in St. Paul. St. Paul has several nice neighborhoods with transit to Downtown Minneapolis. If he's looking for more suburban, check out Heart of Burnsville. It's near where I live. Not a ton of restaurants, but very safe and close to the transit station. I hope that helps!

[painter62]

Wow! Great information. Thank you.

[Glenfield]

The increase in crime in downtown Minneapolis is real but seems to be largely related to bar closings and late night crime on the light rail. It’s no different than what we see around the country and stems, in my view, of a decline in support for proactive policing by municipal officials.

That said, your son is coming from Chicago so I presume he knows how to handle himself in an urban area. Minneapolis will certainly not be more dangerous than Chicago!

If it were me, I would look outside of downtown just because of price. South Minneapolis or St Louis Park are good choices. And don’t worry about it being dead at night. That would be true in the central business district but he’ll find plenty of nightlife downtown and around the Twin Cities.

And he should bring the car, if for no other reason than to go shopping and get out of the city on an occasional weekend. Plus it will be easier and cheaper to drive home to see you than fly.

[demtion35]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

The increase in crime in downtown Minneapolis is real but seems to be largely related to bar closings and late night crime on the light rail. It’s no different than what we see around the country and stems, in my view, of a decline in support for proactive policing by municipal officials.

That said, your son is coming from Chicago so I presume he knows how to handle himself in an urban area. Minneapolis will certainly not be more dangerous than Chicago!

If it were me, I would look outside of downtown just because of price. South Minneapolis or St Louis Park are good choices. And don’t worry about it being dead at night. That would be true in the central business district but he’ll find plenty of nightlife downtown and around the Twin Cities.

And he should bring the car, if for no other reason than to go shopping and get out of the city on an occasional weekend. Plus it will be easier and cheaper to drive home to see you than fly.

I agree, get out of the city every weekend and go up north.

[slamont61]

St Louis Park would be a good choice for a 22 yr old. He'd be spending plenty of weekend evening time in the Uptown section and it's just a short Uber ride there. Lots of young people doing just that.

It's also an easy commute into town, even in heavier traffic.

[Izzie1213]

Also there are plenty of park and rides that have express buses if you don't live near a bus route.

My son takes the bus to work everyday. We are lucky we live a block away from a express route, but does have limited ride times for the express bus. Otherwise it would be 3-4 transfers and about an 1 and 1/2 hours to get home. The even stopped one of the ride times he was using so it made things difficult until he was able to change his start time at work. We live in a north suburb of Brooklyn Center.

I agree the Metro transit bus website is very user unfriendly to to find bus routes.

-----I just asked my son how he finds routes for the Metro transit buses, he uses Google maps, use the bus icon for finding bus route to take.

There is also the light rail system that goes to Bloomington to Minneapolis.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by painter62

My son has just been offered a job at Target HQ. He is 22 years old. He will be moving from Chicago. We have been searching and searching and are so confused about neighborhoods. We first thought living downtown would be the best and he could walk to work through the skywalk. But, now I'm reading that the crime is awful downtown and that it's kind of a ghost town at night. He has a car, but doesn't have to bring it. If you don't live downtown, what are some cool neighborhoods with lots of restaurants, etc, that also have good public transport to downtown? And, of course, we would like it to be fairly safe. (We live in Chicago and used to live in mid-town Atlanta. So, we understand cities.) I've tried to see what Minneapolis has for public transit..but the website is hard to figure out with really bad maps. So, any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

If your son has a decent corporate job at Target, he should be able to afford to drive and park the car. Most people that live in the Twin Cities do not take public transit. The public transit is considered by most people to be a "second class" or "lower class" means of transportation. The public transit and streets of downtown Minneapolis changes after dark. That's when the trouble makers and criminals wake up and roam the streets. I think that the skyways close at night because of the crime problems.

It's best to consider living in the suburbs and commuting to and from work in your car. If you can't afford to park in downtown Minneapolis, then take mass transit only during daytime, work week hours, before the criminals are riding the mass transit system and roaming the street. Avoid Brookyn Center and parts of Brooklyn Center. Those areas used to be nice decades ago, but there are too many low income apartments that have attracted undesirable people that cause a lot of problems.

[gweilo845]

Originally Posted by davephan

If your son has a decent corporate job at Target, he should be able to afford to drive and park the car. Most people that live in the Twin Cities do not take public transit. The public transit is considered by most people to be a "second class" or "lower class" means of transportation. The public transit and streets of downtown Minneapolis changes after dark. That's when the trouble makers and criminals wake up and roam the streets. I think that the skyways close at night because of the crime problems.

It's best to consider living in the suburbs and commuting to and from work in your car. If you can't afford to park in downtown Minneapolis, then take mass transit only during daytime, work week hours, before the criminals are riding the mass transit system and roaming the street. Avoid Brookyn Center and parts of Brooklyn Center. Those areas used to be nice decades ago, but there are too many low income apartments that have attracted undesirable people that cause a lot of problems.

This is total fear mongering that makes downtown sound like something out of a movie like I Am Legand. Have you ever been downtown or on a bus? The skyways do not shut down after dark. Most bus routes are fine. Are there bad spots/people downtown? Sure. But if you have common sense and don't make yourself an easy target, it's fine. The son is coming from Chicago, so I'm sure he's seen worse things.

[Igor Blevin]

What timing.