Minneapolis this dangerous? (St. Paul, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park: 2013, low crime, safe area)

[robcynd]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

I saw in another one of your threads where you will be coming up in March to check out some places, where have you decided to visit?

Not quite sure... we're thinking of these areas... we're starting to really really dig in with research before we make a 2 day trip up there in March sometime.

St. Cloud, Brooklyn Park, Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Northfield.

Northfield seems affordable, and it's still pretty close it looks like.

We would ideally like to move to 10-15 miles away from downtown, so our options are really good. Northfield looks extremely safe, and affordable...

We also looked into Bloomington. We liked what we found out, but it's expensive. All the "nice" safe areas are obviously expensive.

With 2 young children and being new to the area... we just want a stable community where people don't mess with you. Ya know. I mean we have guns, swords, ninja weapons... so its not like we wouldn't be armed or anything... but I never even want to be in a position to use self defense.

You guys have been very helpful. This means a lot to me and my family. Getting first hand accounts of what is happening.

The west side of Minneapolis looks just awful with crime though.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother

I always find it profoundly weird when urban people justify their lives by saying "There's not THAT much crime here; there's crime everywhere; there's more crime in other places; if you're just smart and lock your doors and don't go into dangerous places you'll be fine."

The fact that you're willing to accept any crime at all as a normal part of your everyday life is so odd and sad. I mean, think about it - isn't it weird to just expect crime to be an aspect of your daily life?

Any crime at all makes a place bad. Why on earth would anyone choose to live in a place where crime is expected and accepted?

I know many of you urbanites will respond - but there's crime everywhere, even in rural areas! Dur Dur Durrr. It's a matter of what is EXPECTED AND ACCEPTED that bothers me.

I live in the city of Minneapolis. Crime is not part of my daily life. I find it odd and sad that you would think otherwise. I guess when you don't have any real understanding of something, then you just paint everything with one broad brush.

But you really should be able to understand that not all parts of the city are the same, just like I am able to understand that not everyone in rural areas milks cows, has a half a dozen broken pickups out back, and a meth lab for a neighbor. It happens, but it's not the norm and it's not "EXPECTED AND ACCEPTED."

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by robcynd

Not quite sure... we're thinking of these areas... we're starting to really really dig in with research before we make a 2 day trip up there in March sometime.

St. Cloud, Brooklyn Park, Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Northfield.

Northfield seems affordable, and it's still pretty close it looks like.

We would ideally like to move to 10-15 miles away from downtown, so our options are really good. Northfield looks extremely safe, and affordable...

We also looked into Bloomington. We liked what we found out, but it's expensive. All the "nice" safe areas are obviously expensive.

With 2 young children and being new to the area... we just want a stable community where people don't mess with you. Ya know. I mean we have guns, swords, ninja weapons... so its not like we wouldn't be armed or anything... but I never even want to be in a position to use self defense.

You guys have been very helpful. This means a lot to me and my family. Getting first hand accounts of what is happening.

The west side of Minneapolis looks just awful with crime though.

There is no "west side" of Minneapolis. The city is broadly divided between North and South, further by east and west. The northwest quadrant of the city is called North Minneapolis, and suffers from more extensive poverty and crime than other parts of the city.

Southwest Minneapolis is the wealthiest area of the city, with numerous million dollar us homes, and crime rates are negligible. Northeast Minneapolis is completely different from North Minneapolis, and more working class neighborhoods like South Minneapolis, which is roughly the SE quadrant.

Since poverty and crime go hand in hand in our society, you should not be surprised that the "nice" areas are expensive and the not so nice areas are not.

[Schlomostad]

I lived in what would be considered a 'rough' part of Minneapolis (right off Lake Street) and never had a problem. This was nearly 30 years ago...but I still go back quite frequently, always enjoy staying downtown and still feel pretty safe walking around. It does become a bit sketchy after dark though. That said, I now live in Fargo. Crime is an issue here as well. I am only a bit more at ease here, as opposed to Minneapolis. No metro area in America is truly 'safe'. If I were to move back to the Twin Cities area, I would be looking at a suburb like Maple Grove, Plymouth or Minnetonka.

[RC01]

The crime in Minneapolis really isn't that bad besides in a few areas. Just use common sense and don't walk alone at night. If you are living in a suburb, you won't really have to worry much at all depending on which suburb.

[601halfdozen0theother]

Originally Posted by RC01

The crime in Minneapolis really isn't that bad besides in a few areas. Just use common sense and don't walk alone at night.

"Whoomp! (there it is)"

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by RC01

The crime in Minneapolis really isn't that bad besides in a few areas. Just use common sense and don't walk alone at night. If you are living in a suburb, you won't really have to worry much at all depending on which suburb.

People walk alone at night in SW Mpls all the time. It is as safe here as it is in the burbs and safer than some. Criminals tend to operate close to home. They don't really look at a map to see where the city boundaries are.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

People walk alone at night in SW Mpls all the time. It is as safe here as it is in the burbs and safer than some. Criminals tend to operate close to home. They don't really look at a map to see where the city boundaries are.

I'll second this. Southwest Minneapolis is very safe, and I doubt most people think twice about walking around late at night. It's a very safe area. I never can understand why some people seem to assume that criminals base their activities on maps! A look at crimes in the Twin Cities shows that there are some very, very safe areas within city limits (and in the suburbs), as well as locations with higher crime rates -- both within and outside of city limits. The "city=dangerous, suburbs=safe" mentality is so, so outdated and inaccurate. How much sense does it make to lump Kenwood and Phillips together just because they happen to fall within city limits? Or Orono and Hilltop just because they both are technically suburbs?

Going back to an earlier comment by another poster, I also think it's incredibly weird when people -- wherever they live -- say "I don't bother locking my door because there's no crime here!" NO PLACE is immune to crime, and it's naive to think otherwise. I know this kind of thinking really bugs police in generally very safe neighborhoods, as they know otherwise. We've locked our doors in every place we've lived -- which includes very safe city neighborhoods, a sketchy city neighborhood, a small town house across from a police station, and a very safe suburb. We never had any trouble in any of these locations, but if it takes an extra two seconds, why invite trouble? It's not a though NOT locking your door will somehow make it any safer.

[Glenfield]

When I lived in Minnetonka the police stopped by my house. He was driving by and saw the garage door up and no one was around. We were hanging our in the backyard. The cop told me to close the garage door because thieves cruised the neighborhoods in a truck looking for just such a situation. Then they'd back in the driveway, throw some bikes, or the lawnmower, or whatever in the back and drive off. Two minute job. I thanked him and went and closed the door. I didn't fret that I was living in some dangerous high crime area. I knew that would be nonsense.

[golfgal]

In all fairness, SW Minneapolis is seeing an uptick in crimes and murder cases so it's not as great at you are making it out to be....

And, you know what, there are some places that you don't really need to worry about locking your doors or crime whether you want to believe it or not. Yes, just like SW Minneapolis, that could change, but until it does, people aren't going to walk around paranoid. That is just something the city dwellers can't seem to grasp.