Minneapolis this dangerous? (St. Paul, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park: insurance, crime, neighborhood)

[Minnesota Spring]

If being in Minneapolis scares you, I sincerely feel bad for you as you are probably missing so much in life because of unnecessary anxiety and paranoia. Maybe therapy would help?

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by xandrex

I think what UU was saying was that you're comparing an entire city (Coon Rapid, Lino Lakes, Vadnais Heights) to a very specific neighborhood. Those are different scales, because Linden Hills is an area with a specific set of neighborhood characteristics, whereas an average of a city/suburb includes commercial areas, multifamily areas, and sleepier suburban areas.

It would probably be best to compare Linden Hills with a neighborhood of Coon Rapids with a similar level of commercial/residential breakdown, street types, and other characteristics. That's much more representative.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Coon Rapids is a large city; Linden Hills is a small neighborhood. If making comparisons, seems more fair to look at a specific neighborhood in Coon Rapids versus Linden Hills. Given that Coon Rapids is a large place, I'm assuming there are variations among its neighborhoods. (I'd also be willing to believe, however, that the differences there are less stark than what you find in Minneapolis.)

And to some extent, I also believe it starts to get really silly when arguing about rates of crime at such low levels. Is someone really going to choose to live in some neighborhood in Lino Lakes versus Linden Hills because they have a miniscule percentage less chance of being the victim of a crime? Now if that person works in Lino Lakes, then their safety would probably be more significantly increased by living in the same area because it would reduce their time spent in cars -- and there are studies out there showing that as far as safety goes, the dangers of being in a car accident are far more significant for most of us than being the victim of crime (and a related study -- which did include the Twin Cities -- showed that exurban areas were the least safe areas in which to live for that very reason. More time in the car, more chances of being hurt or killed in an accident).

In any case, for the OP, I wouldn't get hung up on statistics, and would instead focus on the safety of the specific location where they are considering living. That goes for both city AND suburbs.

[RC01]

Originally Posted by robcynd

I was actually thinking about moving in that area. On brooklyn ave North or something like that.

Thanks for that though. Probably won't now.

I think I have started a war with this topic lol

I didn't mean to. Still digging deep. I have noticed lots of crime recently in Eden Prarie

Bloomington has also gotten lots of crime

via the metro raid map.

OP, you will be fine for the most part in any suburb. If you are worried about Eden Prairie, I don't know how you could live anywhere in the world without being afraid.

What are you worried of happening? My neighborhood in Minneapolis had a sharp up-rise in crime (armed robberies) this year, and the only time I worry is when I'm walking home alone at night. A little bit of common sense goes a long way.

[robcynd]

Oh yeah I know... I mean if I didn't have 2 young children... I'd be all for it...

Just I'm very very overcautious now.

I do understand as I'm telling my wife that any dense area will have medium-high crime.

That is just the way it is. We live in a very very safe town currently. There's NO violent crime. Just petty silly stuff like vandalism, theft from stores.... very very rare burglary.

I just want something close to what we have now..

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by robcynd

Oh yeah I know... I mean if I didn't have 2 young children... I'd be all for it...

Just I'm very very overcautious now.

I do understand as I'm telling my wife that any dense area will have medium-high crime.

That is just the way it is. We live in a very very safe town currently. There's NO violent crime. Just petty silly stuff like vandalism, theft from stores.... very very rare burglary.

I just want something close to what we have now..

As long as you stay out of the Brooklyn's, Richfield, and a few other close in suburbs, you won't have anything even that bad in the suburbs in the Twin Cities, maybe a bike taken from your front yard if left out over night---to be found down the block, maybe. "Violent" crime might be a bar fight every once in a blue moon...maybe. Those areas pretty much correspond to the schools you wouldn't want too so it's pretty easy to find a place where you can be outside at night without worries and your kids can ride their bikes to the park without you needing to go with them, etc.

[unnativeelpasoan]

Originally Posted by golfgal

As long as you stay out of the Brooklyn's, Richfield, and a few other close in suburbs, you won't have anything even that bad in the suburbs in the Twin Cities,

This!

But, to be fair 'robcynd' crime can (and does) happen anywhere in the world, even the safest, sleepy little towns in the middle of nowhere, so you should always be careful.

And if you are very concerned for your children's safety, I sure hope you have all that weaponry you described in your home, safely locked up and out of your young children's reach.

[bler144]

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...

Hopefully you aren't thinking of hitting all those places in one 2 day visit.

I do know people who commute from Nfld, as well as some who reverse commute that stretch to work at the colleges in Nfld, but it's a significant drive. St. Cloud is a solid hour even with no traffic.

[robcynd]

Originally Posted by unnativeelpasoan

This!

But, to be fair 'robcynd' crime can (and does) happen anywhere in the world, even the safest, sleepy little towns in the middle of nowhere, so you should always be careful.

And if you are very concerned for your children's safety, I sure hope you have all that weaponry you described in your home, safely locked up and out of your young children's reach.

Yes. I'm extremely careful and fail-proof when it comes to the weapons. The children do not and never will have access any of my weapons.

Yeah we've taken a more laid back approach to the safety. We're just trying to safe than sorry outlook with it all.

Thank you guys very much...

and to the last post, I will try to hit as many as we can. It is official by the way guys... we WILL be coming up there to check it out for 2 days.

Unless something unforeseen happens... we will more than likely move to Minnesota this April. Pretty excited actually.

[old fed]

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.

northfield is way more than 10-15 miles from downtown (assuming you mean downtown minneapolis?) it's about 19 from me and i'm in a far southern suburb which is about 30 miles from downtown. st. cloud? 70-80 miles

edina will be more expensive than bloomington, west bloomington more expensive than east bloomington. there are those who might advise against east bloomington. eden prairie and minnetonka are generally considered safe communities. have you looked at eagan? lakeville is outside your mileage requirement (not by much) but might be worth a look. apple valley as well.

[rwocmo]

Gangs of wild, roving Swedes wrestle you down? And force you to buy Thrivent policies? That you don't even NEED?