Bryant neighborhood in S. Mpls, safe? (Minneapolis, Coon Rapids: apartments, crime, buying a house)

[Gizmo19]

Hello - My husband and I are considering buying a house in this neighborhood, house is on 3rd ave s, address starts with 39xx and would like some insight of how safe the neighborhood is?

We are both from the suburbs (Coon Rapids and Maple Grove) and the suburbs are still where we are primarily looking, however, we love this house but if we go for it want to feel safe and if we have kids Them to be safe etc.

We currently live on the border of New Hope and Crystal and I don't feel safe walking the dog by myself in the area, even with me husband I don't think I'd want to walk him down West Broadway.

Any insight would be great, thanks!

[Mplsite]

You're a good deal west of Chicago and the iffy patches around there: you're basically going to feel more like you live Kingfield near the destinations on Nicollet (Blackbird CAfe, Anodyne Coffee Shop, etc). It seems like the block you're looking at is nestled away from the main streets of Chicago and 38th. I'd contact the neighborhood association too for a resident's POV.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

From a perceptual safety standpoint that part of South Mpls is probably comparable to a neighborhood in New Hope or Crystal. Given your post it seems you're leaning more towards those outer suburban locations as it sounds like you may feel more comfortable there. Personally I'd still take the Minneapolis location over pretty much anywhere in Maple Grove/Coon Rapids or other suburbs in the metro area, but that's just my opinion. This is coming from somebody who grew up in Coon Rapids and became bored of suburban life and now lives happily in South Minneapolis, and not too far from where you're looking I might add.

[Gizmo19]

Thanks for the responses so far! Mplsite-thanks for the info, I've emailed the neighborhood association to get in touch hopefully with some residents close by as well as emailed the 3rd precinct police dp to get some crime stats.

Cruz - At this point yes I'd say I prob feel more safe in those outer suburban areas, for example I used to own a townhouse in Elk Rivet and fealt safe there always. We are mostly actually focusing on the Rogers area, as you cam get more house for your money out there and newer houses, compared to Maple Grove that is. Def over the CR area, are not looking there

That said, I love city life as well and work in Minnetonka, so this location is def better commute wise compared to Rogers/St Michael. In regards to where we live now and the unsafe feeling, it doesn't help in the 2 years we've lived here someone got killed (a boyfriend strangled his girlfriend), my husband's car got stolen from the parking lot last year, one of the apartments in our building got raided a few months ago and out neighbor said she saw a guy running by her door with a gun. Oh and I watch way too many crime shows so am just paranoid in general

The house we are looking at does have a privacy fence so that will be nice to just let the dog out, but still would be nice to take him on walks in the neighborhood while still feeling safe. Then if we have kids, we'd of course want them to be in a safe neighborhood.

Is Powderhorn park a safe park? Also, anyone know if there are younger families in the area by that house/street?

[gweilo845]

I used to live around 39th and Portland. 39th and 3rd is okay, but I'm a big dude who has lived in the city all my life. I used to walk in the area a lot to get to/from the bus stop on Nicollet, I never had anything happen to me, but it had kind of a sketchy feeling sometimes, as it is on the edge of the bad areas as you go north, particularly north of 36th or so. If you're scared in Crystal/New Hope, I don't think it would be much (if any) improvement in that area.

Generally in that area, it gets nicer as you go south of 38th and/or west of Nicollet.

[Kayekaye]

IMHO I would vote no for kids. It's one thing to want to move to the city and experience it but kids do get the brunt of it. Powderhorn is not nearly as nice as it was when I was growing up there, and it was never really nice. A slightly better area of the city for kids would be Linden hills area.

[Camden Northsider]

I don't think it's a bad area and there likely are kids there (and I'm annoyed by the judgment of that last poster re: kids in the city)- but, if you feel unsafe on the border of New Hope/Crystal (but sounds like you might be in an apt complex w/some issues?), I'm not sure you're going to be comfortable there and you may want to stick with the suburbs if you're only in love with the house and not the area. With that said, I have friends that are raising families in that area and are happy there.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

IMHO I would vote no for kids. It's one thing to want to move to the city and experience it but kids do get the brunt of it. Powderhorn is not nearly as nice as it was when I was growing up there, and it was never really nice. A slightly better area of the city for kids would be Linden hills area.

"the brunt" of what exactly? I wouldn't want my kid(s) getting "the brunt" of a lot of things in many suburbs, but that's our family's personal preference/opinion.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

"the brunt" of what exactly? I wouldn't want my kid(s) getting "the brunt" of a lot of things in many suburbs, but that's our family's personal preference/opinion.

You seriously did not understand what she was saying--the "brunt" of the issues in not so good neighborhoods filters into the schools, kids playing outside being exposed to drug deals, violence, etc. The adults just aren't in as close association with gang members and other not so nice kids in the schools, etc. as their classmates. Certainly not something commonly seen in the suburbs

[Pisces69]

I'm someone who grew up in the cities and the suburbs and went to a "good" school district, I know every part of town and know people from every part of town, and I can confirm there's just as much drugs and violence, often more, in the suburbs than in the city. Even in "good" school districts there are drugs and gangs, would you believe it! People who make blanket statements about suburbs being safe and city dangerous probably never lived there.

A lot of families are moving to south Minneapolis and Kingfield and I suspect that should spill over to Bryant. They're reopening a lot of schools because of all the families moving back to Minneapolis. I know the northside pretty well and personally think Bryant has more potential than Crystal New Hope.