Hi all!
My partner and I are first time homebuyers currently in Hopkins mainly looking in the North Minneapolis area as it’s pretty much right in the middle of both of our jobs, commute wise. What are everyone’s thoughts who live there? We’re looking at a couple places in Jordan and one in Hawthorne (which I’ve heard less than great things about…) on Saturday. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice on the area? Any streets to avoid, any to seek out?
TIA!
Camden and Victory would be my recs. IMO the farther north and west the better.
I live in Cleveland and it's very quiet. Been here 4 years and haven't had any issues. Just south of Victory
I live in Jordan, I love my neighbors and we’re on a quieter street,the farther from Penn the better.
Do you know if Oliver or Morgan are okay??
I don’t know personally, I’m sorry. If you get a chance to talk to a neighbor, people love to talk about their street if they are happy there! Best of luck. I hope you find some you love!
That’s okay, thank you so much!
Depends on the cross street. Oliver is only one block off of Penn which is a really busy road. Lowry and Penn, 36th and Penn, and Broadway and Penn are places I'd avoid
Thank you for this!!!
OP I’d suggest looking at buying a multi family home in NE. You’ll like the area significantly more and buying a duplex, triplex, fourplex significantly lowers your cost of living. So you get a way better location and a lower cost of living. Best of both worlds.
You’re probably right but I just can’t live with other people anymore after living in apartments my whole life 😭
For the avoidance of doubt - a duplex/triplex/fourplex are all completely seperate and independent apartments. So you'd only share the common areas (which is usually just the entrance into the building and often times the basement area, laundry, storage, etc). But some multi-family homes don't share any spaces whatsoever (separate entrances, no shared spaces). You could always do that for a year or two and then buy a different place and keep it as a cash flowing rental property. This is how I got into home ownership :)
Yeah that’s definitely an option, but it’s just not something I’m into- right now, at least. I just don’t want to share any walls anymore, or a garage, or laundry lol.
Totally get that! Just an option if you're looking to stretch the budget further or add a short-term step in your pathway to single fam homeownership (while building wealth). Happy to help!
Thank you for all of this info though!
Camden is great
Yeah staying west is generally good in North, and I would avoid being right on Penn Ave
Do you have opinions on Oliver or Morgan? That’s where we’re looking at two places tomorrow and unfortunately, I really like them so far.
Willard Hay is a great neighborhood. Very community minded and quiet.
Like others have posted, try for a few blocks off Penn, and I would add at least a block off any other busy cross street.
Jordan, Hawthorne, and Near North are probably the three neighborhoods you would want to avoid buying a house, Willard might not be too bad, but I'd say stay inside Camden, North of Lowry and not on Penn.
Is it high crime? Or something else? I’m just trying to get a better idea of the area
Yes, those three neighborhoods have been known for high crime. I'd atleast take an afternoon and ride a bike or walk around the neighborhoods of the northside and see what you like best. A neighborhood i personally love is Bryn Mawr.
Thank you! Also sorry for the one million questions- do you know exactly what types of crimes are most seen? Both places have garages and I believe they have security systems (and if not we’d get one installed), so I’m curious to see if it’s the type than can be curbed by those and cameras, lights, etc. I appreciate you answering!
Gangs, drugs, gangs and drugs. If you're not apart of either, the probability of being a victim are far slimmer, but you'll still get people trying to steal your stuff to score some drugs.
Got it, thank you!
Hey, I live in Cleveland (neighborhood, not Ohio) and have cameras. I've had a couple of people run through my yard, and I've had a couple people try the door on my garage but they walk away when it's locked. Thankfully I haven't had any issues but definitely make sure your stuff is locked up. Doesn't happen often but it's happened a couple times in the 4 years I've been here
I’m too paranoid to keep anything unlocked 🤣 thank you!!
The city has a crime map and shots fired map if you were curious about specific crimes! Can filter by date ranges
Crime map: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/public-safety/police-public-safety/crime-maps-dashboards/crime-locations-map/
Shots fired map: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/public-safety/police-public-safety/crime-maps-dashboards/shots-fired-map/
Thank you for this!!!!
The shots fired map cannot reliably determine the difference between gunfire and fireworks. Also, North Minneapolis looks like a crazy hotspot from this map because there are more sensors here than in, frankly, whiter areas of the city.
There is crime, you do hear the occasional gunshot, but those maps offer a somewhat exaggerated visual.
Victory is a beautiful neighborhood
https://preview.redd.it/73vl7ctfvu4g1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86375ee97af65f064e521155016fd0bc0cd159e6
If you can make northeast Minneapolis work you’ll have a much better time
Do you have any specific recommendations on neighborhoods/streets? Or any avoid-at-all-costs areas?
All-fun doesn’t know what he’s saying. 1. Northeast is bonkers expensive 2. North isn’t a neighborhood.
We live in Willard Hay, which is just off Bryn Mawr and Theo Wirth Park and we are close to Penn and we’re fine. Minneapolis is dumping money into infrastructure in North and a lot of neat stuff is coming in.
Yes, there’s crime in North, but it’s not as bad as people want to paint it.
I really appreciate this!! We found a place we love and we’re thinking of moving forward so this is really reassuring.
Jordan and Hawthorne are a lot better than they used to be, and that huge outdoor amphitheater is going in near there, plus they dropped 20 million dollars into upgrading the north commons water park. Plus the new light rail line and the new green way are going to be near there. That area will probably have a rocky year or two and then the value will go up like crazy.
Oh wow! I didn’t know all this- thank you! That’s neat tbh. This might be dumb but do you know approximate/alleged timelines for that? Like is it all within the same year? Just out of curiosity.
Let’s see, the North Commons thing is currently being built. The light rail comment periods are all over, and I believe it’s in a budgeting issue, but is going to happen. 2027 maybe? 2028? The greenway is in the comment phase, and the amphitheater I think is breaking ground next year?
The light rail is the most up in the air, you can learn more about it on the met council website.
You can learn more about north commons from the Minneapolis 2020 parks project.
The amphitheater you can just google and the greenway… I think might also be the 2020 parks plan?
You are so wonderful for this 🤣 thank you for entertaining my questions, hahaha
North Minneapolis is the worst neighborhood in Minneapolis and northeast is one of the better ones
“north minneapolis” isn’t a neighborhood
Willingly moving to north Minneapolis is a wild choice
You’re missing out tbh
I used to live there for 10 years. I was extremely happy to leave it felt very unsafe
Felt unsafe how? Where at? Can’t hate but there’s a long history of people feeling unsafe and also some people who just think it’s unsafe but have never been
I agree. Multiple car break ins are the reason I felt unsafe and wouldn’t recommend living there.
Damn, sorry to hear tbat