Moving to Minneapolis- Can anyoje suggest some good place to live? (Hopkins: apartments, rentals)

[ag82]

Hello All, I will be moving to Minneapolis this summer and will be working in the Hennepin County medical center. I dont know much about Minneapolis, but I am excited to move there as there is lot of outdoor things to do there which I am interested in. But what I need help is for looking a apartment in there. I dont want to live very far off from the medical center as my work hours will be rigorous so any place that is near by the medical center and has lots of good places to hang out(pubs,restaurants etc.) and at the same time is safe and has at least OK neighborhood. I know the medical center is in downtown but have also heard the downtown of Minneapolis is one of the safest and good places to live in. But the apartments there are quite expensive. My budget is not too much max I want to go till 800 per month for a 1BHK. so please if all of you can help me find some good place it will be great.

[uptown_urbanist]

Loring Park (on the south side of downtown) has some 1 BRs in your price range; there are a bunch of more expensive modern apartment towers in that area, too, as well as some upscale older buildings, but there are definitely some nice but more affordable historic buildings, too. It's a nice neighborhood, conveniently located, has excellent public transportation, and lots of nearby food and drink options.

Will you have a car? Parking is really tight in Loring Park (and in most, if not all, of the other downtown neighborhoods) and many of the buildings only offer paid parking, so if you'll have a car with you should either factor the cost of a parking spot into your budget or be prepared to spend a lot of time looking for spots.

[Haver]

Just going to bed and real tired at the moment so I can't go in a lot of detail and I may ramble a bit. Look northeast across the river, or east out towards the area around the U of M, or south down to around 26th & Nicollet and surrounding. West will be too expensive (lakes area). Cross reference with crime maps (google Minneapols crime map) to find areas that fit your comfort level (none of these areas are too bad but south Minneapolis used to be kinda bad and still has spots). Go to Google Maps and type in the kind of amenities and shops/restaurants you'd like to frequent. Someone's going to mention uptown or lyn-lake (Lyndale & Lake) which might be OK but a bit further out and may face traffic issues. Speaking of traffic check out mndot, or access live traffic via a tv station website during rush hour and get a feel for the choke points (*cough* 94 *cough* 394). Someone else will mention Hopkins or St Louis Park whereupon you gently remind them you have to be ready to provide urgent medical care within half an hour of the page regardless of weather or traffic, thankyou very much. Camden might also be doable but there are closer areas that fit your needs and it might be too sleepy for your lifestyle. Light rail stops at/close to HCMC so that's an option as well, but if you rent near light rail make sure the amenities you like are close by - where I live there are parks everywhere but I can forget about organic or anything but comfort food at the local restaurants.

It kinda depends as well on what lifestyle you're looking for. Do you want to live close to trendy bars and restaurants or someplace where the barkeep is 55 and waves at his friends from the VFW hall as he sweeps the sidewalk on a lazy Saturday morning?

[ag82]

@uptown _urbanist , I heard about Loring PArk and was looking for apartments there but couldnot find any good ones in there. I mean the good ones look too expensive the other ones are very old apartments so dont know they are good enough to live.... Do you know of any good options there....? And yes I am planning to buy a car for myself so will be looking for a place to park also. But I can afford if the parking is around 50$ per month...

@ Haver that looks like a good summary of the whole Minneapolis, but I am still bit confused as most of the area you mentioned where I dont have to live. I want to live near a place with trendy bars and restaurants to have a happening life instead of boring slow life... So looking for such a place and I think that place has to be somewhere near downtown or uptown area, but where exactly should I look is a question ????

[Radical_Car]

Here is the crime stats page on the City of Minneapolis' Website.

Crime Statistics and Reports

Look at the areas you're interested and see what kinda of crime happen there.

Minneapolis is a fantastic city!

[Haver]

I can only point to neighborhoods, I don't know the rental situation. The arc from St Anthony to the U and somewhat north up to Como is one trendy area and I think it may still be somewhat reasonably priced in spots. Warehouse District and Uptown you already know about but those will be somewhat pricey. Cedar Riverside and the areas in South Minneapolis bounded by 26th, Lake, Nicollet, & Hiawatha are less neon-chrome trendy and more interesting ethnic shops & restaurants - and affordable. Lyn-Lake is semi-gentrified and getting a tad expensive.

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm biased in favor of older apartments (give me an older apartment any day over most modern ones; the older ones were built to last, usually have very solid walls, good soundproofing, built in woodwork, etc.), so I suppose you shouldn't take my word on any of the Loring Park rentals. But while I haven't rented there myself, many of those older ones are perfectly nice, although at your price range they're not going to have bells and whistles like dish washers, etc. In any case, if you've never lived in an older apartment I wouldn't give up yet without at least touring one: you might discover that you like them better than you think. I'm sorry I don't have specific names for you, though. Well, here's one that's not in Loring Park, but could be of interest: Fair Oaks Apartment in the Whittier neighborhood. Welcome to Fair Oaks Apartments It's directly across the street from the Minneapolis Institute of Art, they're older but from everything I've heard (don't have personal experience, as they don't, or at least didn't, take pets) the management is good. It's very close to downtown but also convenient to Uptown. And the "Eat Street" part of Nicollet is filled with restaurants and bars.

If you do prefer the more core Uptown area there are some one bedrooms in your price range, too; my brother rents a 1-BR in a great location just a couple blocks from the lake for just under $700.

[northstar22]

I second the suggestion of Uptown - it is a REALLY awesome neighborhood. If I was into urban living (I'm not) I would totally live there. It's safe, and there's plenty to do - restaurants, pubs, theaters, etc.

[10,000Lakes]

Have you thought about renting a room in a house, or sharing an apt with others to keep your costs down.

[ag82]

I know about uptown area but thats too far off from the place I will be working in downtown and I dont want to travel a lot in the initial days of my work because it will be very hectic... So want a place close by to downtown or in downtown....

@10,000 Lakes , no I dont want to share an apartment and want the whole place for me. sorry for have sp many demands but it is what is very important to me.

@ urbanist. I dont have anythign against the old houses just that not heard good reviews about them as they require a good staff to maintain them and finding good administrative staff is the biggest problem... Another problem will be that when moving to Minneapolis I will probably book an apartment online only and will directly move into that, because I dont know anyone in MInneapolis and I have heard that the apartment people take around 1 week time to do your credit check and all... So i will have no place to stay during that time... So i am being cautious too much...
Although the partment you have suggested looks good and will check more in detail about it ... any other suggestions from Loring park would be great....

@ haver , I really appreciate all the areas that you have mentioned but I didnt find many apartments around U and Riverside area.... and other areas too .... So that seems to be problem..