relocating from Chicago - Looking at Phillips/Powderhorn/Whittier? (Minneapolis: apartment, rentals)

[acmanlee]

I'm relocating from Chicago to work for GenMills in Golden Valley. I'd like an urban neighborhood and read up on the midtown global market.
Any suggestions on neighborhoods to live in? If you're familiar with Chicagoland, I'm looking at something similar to Lincoln Square, Logan Square, Bucktown-ish.

I'd like to be able to walk around and hit up the local watering holes for sports and the like, places with coffeeshops and where I can chill with my neighbors after a day of work.

Ideally, I'd like to be in a mixed socio-economic area as well, where I can get good ethnic foods and grocery stores.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

I used to live in Powderhorn, and really liked it, as far as my time in Minneapolis went. It's not going to be Chicago, but it's good. I lived off 31st Street and 12th Avenue, in one of the many brownstones just off of the park (the ones that are rentals, as opposed to condos, are reasonably priced), and walked to the Midtown Global Market all of the time. In fact, if you're not looking for the best price, you can really do most of your grocery shopping there. Holy Land has great deals on groceries, Produce Exchange has *okay* prices, and then there are a bunch of specialty stores too. Awesome place, just wish it was open later at night. Places tend to close between 6 PM and 9 PM, although I think there's a bar or two in there that may be open later

Awesome Mexican food. Taco Taxi is open really late. The place right on Lake and Chicago, the name escapes me right now, is open late. Mercado Central is like the Midtown Global Market, but strictly Latin American. Awesome place. Some awesome Mexican Bakeries, one on Lake and Bloomington, one near Lake and Cedar.

You have Mayday Coffee on Bloomington and...35th? There's a new Coffee Shop on Chicago and....33rd? Southside something? South city something? It opened up right before I moved out of Minneapolis, and I went there once, and it was nice, but I just can't recall the name.

There are a couple of Mexican Supermarkets on Lake Street near bloomington which I went to once in a while, and a couple of Somali (I assume) places to. Prices aren't too great, but I went there in a pinch.

You have more stuff East of Chicago along Lake Street, which I honestly never went to that much. I mostly stuck around the stuff between Chicago and Cedar, just because I didn't own a car and stuck within walking distance.

The park is very nice, and big.

Not so sure about the bar thing, I was not a big drinker. You have some Mexican restaurants/bars along Lake Street, what I believe to be an African-American bar on Lake and Chicago, and you have the famous hipster Matt's on Cedar and....36th? If I wanted to drink, I went to Chicago-Lake Liquors to get a 6 pack to bring home. They have good prices.

If you take the bus, the 21, which runs up and down Lake Street is one of the best running buses in the Twin Cities, as is the 5, which runs on Chicago. The 14, on Bloomington, is good. 22, on Cedar, could run more often. You're a couple minute bus ride on the 21 away from the light rail

I have no problem with Phillips, walked through it a bunch, some nice older houses there. Bottom line on it, though, besides nonsense that people talk about crime and whatnot, is that it's just not quite as nice as Powderhorn, in my opinion. Of course, Lake Street is the dividing line between Powderhorn and Phillips. I lived 2 blocks away from Phillips, and probably would have enjoyed life just as much over there as I did in Powderhorn, since I would have gone to all of the same place...

Whittier is "hip", and might have the closest to the Chicago feel. I don't know that much about it, except that it's hipper, like I said, has some bigger apartment buildings, and has Eat Street. Pretty close to uptown. I'd imagine you'd like it there too, I just don't have that much to say about it.

[acmanlee]

Thanks for you thoughts, i'm not much of a drinker myself, but depending on the sporting event, they can be fun places to hang out at.

i've lived in Chicago, NYC, Philly myself, so I know it's going to be different!

[uptown_urbanist]

My impression is that of the three Whittier is the closest to what you're describing.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by acmanlee

Thanks for you thoughts, i'm not much of a drinker myself, but depending on the sporting event, they can be fun places to hang out at.

i've lived in Chicago, NYC, Philly myself, so I know it's going to be different!

Yeah, I was born in New York City, grew up in Southeastern PA just outside of the Philly Metro Area, went to Minneapolis for college, and then moved to Philly. for me, it was sort of weird living in a *medium* sized city, especially in the Midwest, after that kicking around big and small cities out here. But Minneapolis is a pretty fun place.

I just went into such detail about Powderhorn because it's where I lived, so I figured I could give you a good roundup. I, like uptown, do think that Whittier is probably a better fit for someone who likes doing stuff. Powderhorn just doesn't get enough love, and there are way more young and hip people living there than people think, like me formerly .

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Check out St. Paul....it's a little more like Bucktown with the random watering holes and coffee shops.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Yeah, I was born in New York City, grew up in Southeastern PA just outside of the Philly Metro Area, went to Minneapolis for college, and then moved to Philly. for me, it was sort of weird living in a *medium* sized city, especially in the Midwest, after that kicking around big and small cities out here. But Minneapolis is a pretty fun place.

I just went into such detail about Powderhorn because it's where I lived, so I figured I could give you a good roundup. I, like uptown, do think that Whittier is probably a better fit for someone who likes doing stuff. Powderhorn just doesn't get enough love, and there are way more young and hip people living there than people think, like me formerly .

Just curious....are the Twin Cities "uncomfortably small" for someone such as yourself from bigger, busier cities? I ask because when I was in Columbus for school I felt that way about C-bus and I didn't know if that was a potential issue for Chicagoans, Los Angelinos and New Yorkers who transfer here for business or whatnot.

That's interesting about Powderhorn, because I never think of it as a place to live or visit, yet I also hear good things about it. I just don't know much about it.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

Just curious....are the Twin Cities "uncomfortably small" for someone such as yourself from bigger, busier cities? I ask because when I was in Columbus for school I felt that way about C-bus and I didn't know if that was a potential issue for Chicagoans, Los Angelinos and New Yorkers who transfer here for business or whatnot.

That's interesting about Powderhorn, because I never think of it as a place to live or visit, yet I also hear good things about it. I just don't know much about it.

I don't know if it was uncomfortably small. The thing that troubled me the most about it was that so many "neighborhoods" really didn't seem that self-sustaining. What I mean by that is that you have to go somewhere outside of walking distance to do certain normal human activities, other than the obvious work and entertainment (sports, movies, theaters...) that tend to be centered in certain places labeled Central Business Districts. Don't get me wrong, there are neighborhoods like that in Minneapolis. I'm not talking about Uptown, which is a destination as much as a neighborhood. I mean like the way that Linden Hills has its own Commercial District. It's just that, really even in some pretty run down, poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia, people are within walking distance to legitimate mom and pop stores, restaurants, retail...even if they tend to be crappy places. Almost every neighborhood, no matter who lives there, has a commercial corridor, or at least a working shell of a former commercial corridor that people can easily get to (exception can be made for places that were destroyed by/depressed after race riots in the 60's, which included chunks of North Philly).

Now, after my years in Minneapolis, my opinion (take it for what it is, an opinion) is that most Midwestern cities in general don't have as many of these because 1) population density is lower, meaning neighborhoods just can't support as many businesses. Population density in MPLS is half that of Philly (even with all of the vacant lots in North Philly and subdivisions within city limits in the Far Northeast...many neighborhoods are significantly more than twice as dense), which theoretically means half as many customers within walking distance. 2) Commercial corridors were developed in the Twin Cities primarily by streetcar lines. The streetcars no longer exist, making some of these corridors obsolete, and others just toned down from their former selves. 3) The car plays much more into the history of the Midwest. Cars have been normal in Minneapolis for...well over half of its history, correct? Which means the walking distance idea of neighborhoods was never *that* important to its development. As opposed to neighborhoods going back to the 19th, 18th, 17th century.

That's the thing that struck me as weird. I really don't know Chicago too well, I've only been Downtown and near Downtown there, so perhaps Minneapolis and Chicago have enough in common that it actually won't be different to him? It's nothing bad or personal against the city, it just is the way that it is - it comes more from me not really seeing that much of America before moving to Minneapolis. I began to appreciate how good Minneapolis actually is after seeing a little more of America, although I still do prefer my East Coast.

[queenswake]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

I began to appreciate how good Minneapolis actually is after seeing a little more of America, although I still do prefer my East Coast.

It is interesting to people like yourself who no longer live there that are still active readers and posters on the Minnesota forums. It obviously must not be a totally bad experience for people. They may have moved away but must have had a good enough time to still be interested in the place.

Kind of warms my heart after seeing so many people move there and hate it so much that they leave within a short time with a lot of negative things to say. I think more people that we realize do discover it as kind of a hidden gem that few people across the country know about.

[sendij1]

Originally Posted by queenswake

It is interesting to people like yourself who no longer live there that are still active readers and posters on the Minnesota forums. It obviously must not be a totally bad experience for people. They may have moved away but must have had a good enough time to still be interested in the place.

Kind of warms my heart after seeing so many people move there and hate it so much that they leave within a short time with a lot of negative things to say. I think more people that we realize do discover it as kind of a hidden gem that few people across the country know about.

its a gem, yes, but the weather sucks. Nice weather and this would be a hugely popular area.