Young couple quickly relocating to Minneapolis - looking for advice! (St. Paul: fit in, apartments)

[jamienl]

My boyfriend just got a sweet job offer in Bloomington, so it looks like we're headed to Minneapolis very soon. We're a well-educated young couple without kids; he's in tech and I work in the visual arts. Neither of us have ever been to Minneapolis-St. Paul before, so we're not even sure where to start looking for places. We want to rent, ideally a small house. We only have one car, which he'll probably be taking to work, so public transit access is important. Affordability is pretty important, too (obviously, as I work in the arts). Ideally the neighborhood would have an artsy/small business thing going on.

For reference, over the past few years we've been pretty happy in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, Bushwick in Brooklyn, and Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh.

Any advice on where to live, reasonable rent rates, or how to get around without a car is very appreciated! Thanks!

[chilaili]

Define "affordability".

[Beenhere4ever]

"How to get around without a car" and a job in Bloomington MN. Not a natural combination. Of course, in three seasons,you could easily get around with a bike. As for transit service here's a link to Metro Transit's route map.Metro Transit Interactive Map

I'd say bus service is better north of Highway 494. So I guess if you located where bus service is better and just drove to work in Bloomington, that might be a compromise solution.

I'm also attaching a selection of the map that has lots of bus incons. That will show particular streets that do have bus service.

[MplsTodd]

I would think Kingfield would be an area to consider. there's a lot of interesting small businesses along Nicollet between 35th and 54th Streets, many of which have an artistic orientation. The neighborhood is very bikable, with easy access to the lakes and Minnehaha Parkway, and several bus lines on Nicollet, Grand, Bryant/Lyndale. closer to downtown, there's also the Lyn-Lake area, or getting further away:NE Mpls.

[uptown_urbanist]

I'd strongly suggest looking into Lyn-Lake or Uptown in Minneapolis. Very artsy, you can walk to everything, public transportation is good. Not as many houses for rent (although there are some), although you should have no problem finding a duplex or an apartment. Houses are going to cost you more (although will be dirt-cheap by NYC standards, even by Brooklyn standards), but apartments come at all price points. They have some fancy new upscale places, as well as a LOT of more affordable options (including lots in nice old classic Minneapolis vintage apartment buildings). I think that general area has a bit of a "Brooklyn" vibe. You sound like you would fit in perfectly; sort of the stereotypical Lyn-Lake area couple, really (educated, artsy, into independent small businesses; bonus points if you like to bike!). Lyndale neighborhood (one of the officially designated neighborhoods in the Lyn-Lake area) claims that they have one of the highest concentrations of working artists in the country, and I'd believe it. The main intersection at Lyndale Avenue and Lake Street and the nearby blocks are home to a TON of arts organizations (visual, performing, etc.), as well as a lot of small studios, galleries, etc. (check out the Calhoun Building, for example). There's also easy access to downtown, or to major arts institutions like the Walker, the MIA, etc. (both within easy biking/busing, and even walking, distance from the heart of Lyn-Lake)

Depending on where in Bloomington your boyfriend works it's even possible that he'd have public transportation as an option to work (either for everyday or just when needed); the 4 bus goes straight from Uptown/Lyn-Lake to the Bloomington Transit Station, or you could take the Lake Street bus over to the Hiawatha LRT and take that into the part of Bloomington by the Mall of America/Airport.

[jamienl]

"Affordable" means under $1,500 a month. Many thanks for all your replies!!

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by jamienl

"Affordable" means under $1,500 a month. Many thanks for all your replies!!

You should definitely be able to find something nice for that. If you wanted to live on the St Paul side Lowertown is probably the best equivalent to the arts district. There used to be a building on 11th St dedicated to artists' studios but the area was a bit dodgy a few years ago and having a police & fire station around the corner made things really noisy.

[Mdcastle]

Where in Bloomington the job is could make a difference. I-494 is always a major problem in rush hours, living in Lowertown and commuting to the airport area would be fine, but I wouldn't want to go all the way to near Eden Prairie. Uptown's a good suggestion since it's easy to get a north-south highway that will land you near where you need to be in Bloomington and avoid I-494. Kingfield you're pretty much stuck with I-35W intially, but you can transfer on crosstown which isn't too bad heading away from I-35W in the mornings.

[jamienl]

His office is on W 96th Street in Bloomington, near I-35W. We've been looking on Craigslist and are finding cute-looking/affordable houses in Armatage - what's that neighborhood like?

[west336]

Originally Posted by jamienl

His office is on W 96th Street in Bloomington, near I-35W. We've been looking on Craigslist and are finding cute-looking/affordable houses in Armatage - what's that neighborhood like?

My friend lives there...it's very nice. I personally like Kenny a bit more but Armatage borders Edina and Hwy. 62, and is near 50th & France (probably the most upscale shopping the Twin Cities has to offer). I grew up in a neighborhood like that (Kenny) so I expect Armatage to be filled with young families (mostly white-collar) with strong ties to the neighborhood -- block parties and all! VERY safe, fairly decent schools, but not super diverse (maybe 15% non-white overall, but it really depends where you are....it basically is block to block in that regard, depending on what intersection you are looking at).