Would you rather live in north Minneapolis or Bismarck, North Dakota?

[dazzleman]

I wonder how this breaks down...

For the record north Minneapolis is the home of the awesome red light district, and the most crime-ridden part of Minneapolis. I don't plan on moving there (I'll probably go the southeast), but I would most certainly rather live there than anywhere in North Dakota, or anywhere in Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities for that matter as well.

I can also say from my last visit there that Bismarck is actually now about 10x worse than it was when I lived there, and that's saying a lot! It has transformed from a merely boring city to a boring city that's now horrifically full of big box retailers, McMansion neighborhoods in areas that were pure farmland only 10 years ago, and a disturbingly high growth in megachurches.

Is North Minneapolis near Lake Harriet?  Or is it closer to Lake Calhoun?

I liked the area around Lake Harriet.  But I suspect that's not the area you're talking about.

No, Lake Harriet is in southwest Minneapolis.

OK, it's coming back to me.  It's been a while since I was there.

Edina, St. Louis Park and Minnetonka are to the west of Minneapolis, and Bloomington is to the south, IIRC.

Where is the city's Kenwood section?  My great uncle had a condo there when he worked there briefly as a visiting doctor after he retired from his practice.  I understand that's also where the house on 'Mary Tyler Moore' was located.

Do I remember correctly that Lake Calhoun is in a pretty funky area, north of Lake Harriet?

To answer your original question, I really don't know how bad north Minneapolis is, so it's hard to say.  If it's really bad, I'd probably prefer a good part of Bismarck, ND.  But I think I'd prefer a nice section of Minneapolis, or better yet, a high-end suburb like Edina, to Bismarck.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

St. Louis Park and Minnetonka are to the west, Edina is Southwest, Bloomington is south but Richfield is between it and Minneapolis. Lake Calhoun is north of Lake Harriet, but it's still in the southern half of the city. Kenwood is in the southeast.

There are no good parts of Minneapolis, by your standards. The only part I've ever seen that even came close WAS on the north side ironically, a bunch of fancy new condos, and I was only in that area by accident, I took a wrong turn coming home from a strip club. My aunt lives in a fairly safe and clean neighborhood, but it's all small densely packed houses, not sprawl. Plus there's no reason you should prefer any part of Minneapolis to Bismarck, Bismarck is your dream city, it's a sprawling hellhole of McMansions and big box retailers, just like your typical suburb (even though Bismarck is not a suburb because it has no city to be a suburb of). Besides, didn't you say living in all cities was unbearable?

Edina is a hellhole. It's a completely dry city. No bars or liquor stores in the entire place.

[dazzleman]

St. Louis Park and Minnetonka are to the west, Edina is Southwest, Bloomington is south but Richfield is between it and Minneapolis. Lake Calhoun is north of Lake Harriet, but it's still in the southern half of the city. Kenwood is in the southeast.

There are no good parts of Minneapolis, by your standards. The only part I've ever seen that even came close WAS on the north side ironically, a bunch of fancy new condos, and I was only in that area by accident, I took a wrong turn coming home from a strip club. My aunt lives in a fairly safe and clean neighborhood, but it's all small densely packed houses, not sprawl. Plus there's no reason you should prefer any part of Minneapolis to Bismarck, Bismarck is your dream city, it's a sprawling hellhole of McMansions and big box retailers, just like your typical suburb (even though Bismarck is not a suburb because it has no city to be a suburb of). Besides, didn't you say living in all cities was unbearable?

Edina is a hellhole. It's a completely dry city. No bars or liquor stores in the entire place.

Is Edina dry by law, BRTD?

You don't know what you're talking about when it comes to my preferences.  I probably wouldn't like Bismarck at all.  I'd pick it over a high-crime part of Minneapolis, but not a nice section.  I've never lived with a lot of crime, and I don't intend to start now.

You just don't like areas that are affluent, for whatever reason.  I, on the other hand, love affluent areas, with beautiful homes, well-kept yards, and nice, high-quality shopping nearby.  I disliked most of the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs because there seemed to be something shoddy about most of them (White Bear Lake, as an example, or Brooklyn), but I liked Edina, and later learned that, naturally, it was considered the most desirable suburb by most people.  Even when I don't know an area at all, I always manage to zero in on the most affluent part of it, as if I have a special radar for that.  You have radar in the opposite direction.

[Cubby]

If I lived in Minnesota, I'd live in:

Cottage Grove: Democrat voting suburb east of Minn.

International Falls: Because I love cold weather. It sucks that its starting to get warm again

BRTD I used to know someone who moved to Lakeville, MN in Dakota County. Whats that town like?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't know if it's the law in Edina or not. I just know the place sucks.

I'm just suprised you think there's any nice parts of Minneapolis. You said yourself that cities are unbearable to live in.

BRTD I used to know someone who moved to Lakeville, MN in Dakota County. Whats that town like?

Your typical outer suburban, Republican-voting, McMansion filled suburban hell. A textbook example of why I hate suburbs.

Cottage Grove is only marginally Democratic and rather expensive at that. Much better areas would be Richfield, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley or North/South/West St. Paul.

[dazzleman]

I don't know if it's the law in Edina or not. I just know the place sucks.

I'm just suprised you think there's any nice parts of Minneapolis. You said yourself that cities are unbearable to live in.

Dude, that's not exactly what I said.

I said that certain parts of cities are bad places to raise children unless you have a lot of money because there is little recreation and the school systems are generally awful.

For certain people, and in certain neighborhoods, living in the city is fantastic.  It all depends on the neighborhood, personal circumstances, and personal preferences.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well since I don't have kids, then by that logic there is no reason I should not live in the city and should not hate suburbs.

[dazzleman]

Well since I don't have kids, then by that logic there is no reason I should not live in the city and should not hate suburbs.

You can do whatever you want.

[jacob_101]

Where is this Red Light District in North Minneapolis exactly?  I grew up in North Minneapolis and would rather live in Bismarck.  But then again I am more inclined to the country way of life.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

you've never been to the Vu? It's quite obvious in that area. From the parking lot of the Vu you can see Choice. A few blocks down from Choice there is Sheik's. Sex World is right across the street from Choice. Augie's is only a few blocks down from the Vu. Dreamgirls is only a block away from Augie's. There's even a few more strip clubs in the area I believe.

[jacob_101]

you've never been to the Vu? It's quite obvious in that area. From the parking lot of the Vu you can see Choice. A few blocks down from Choice there is Sheik's. Sex World is right across the street from Choice. Augie's is only a few blocks down from the Vu. Dreamgirls is only a block away from Augie's. There's even a few more strip clubs in the area I believe.

Ah...that is why I was confused.  I don't think of that area as North Minneapolis, but downtown Minneapolis or the warehouse district.  N.  Mpls is outside of downtown...broadway, dowling ave n etc.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It's in north Minneapolis, even though it's somewhat close to the center of the city. All the streets there have N in the name.

[jacob_101]

It's in north Minneapolis, even though it's somewhat close to the center of the city. All the streets there have N in the name.

So, do the streets around Target Center, but most would say it's not North Minneapolis.  At any rate, now that I know it's the warehouse district, I would much rather live there than Bismarck.

[Yates]

Bismarck.

[Alcon]

Bizmark because it doesn't have any colored or Irish people.

That would come to a shock to the 7.2% that are Irish, 3.9% that are Injuns (you know - that one word you can't spell), and 1.8% that are of some other race.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Funny, one of my mom's best friends there is a Hispanic first-generation Mexican-American. Her husband is a white Buddhist convert.

There are black people there too. Not very many, but I typically would see at least one every time I went to the mall.

[Nym90]

Bismarck. I prefer to live in smaller cities. Big cities are fun to visit, but I'd never want to live in one.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Bump.

I'm now stuck in an interesting situation where I'll have to live in Bismarck before living in north Minneapolis. Luckily it'll be only about 2 weeks.

[Ban my account ffs!]

It's in north Minneapolis, even though it's somewhat close to the center of the city. All the streets there have N in the name.

Dude... Sex World is NOT in North Minneapolis.  That is definitely still part of downtown.  I think Jacob had it right.  When I think of North Minneapolis, I think of Dowling and Broadway.. generally well outside of the central business district.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I suppose the residential neighborhoods north of there are much more ghetto than the business area, but the area around Sex World is still really really sleazy and sketchy. Though I remember once taking a wrong turn, ending up in some neighborhood I had never been in before around 2 AM in that area, and thought it was the creepiest place I've ever been. I got out of there as soon as possible.

[SADM]

North Minniapolis, I dont mind bad parts of town....

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

North Minniapolis, I dont mind bad parts of town....

Good for you! Awesome! Too bad the rest of the forum isn't like that.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I would imagine being able to afford an insanely nice, luxury, loft-style condo [with secure, underground parking, I hope] in North Minneapolis for half of what I'm paying to live in a nice condo in Boston, so I chose Minneapolis.

I wouldn't be able to stand living in the middle of nowhere, even if nowhere is comfortably suburbanized.