Neighborhood Review: West Seventh

RENTING IN WEST SEVENTH

You’ll find a wide selection of apartment buildings in the West Seventh area. This neighborhood is the area stretching from the base of Summit Hill to the western bluffs of the Mississippi River running the entire length of West Seventh Street, or Old Fort Road. There’s a range of single-family homes and duplexes in the area as well. Finding a spot with a river view will mean high rent.

* this area has easy access to the airport and the Mall of America / IKEA

There are some great amenities in the area…groceries, restaurants, and small boutique shops, along with your standard necessities…gas, auto shops, banks, etc. Overall, West Seventh is a quiet area with convenient access to the southern suburbs and quick access to downtown St Paul.

QUICK STATS
population, approximately 11,000
zipcode =55102, 55116
county = Ramsey

Neighborhood Review: Robbinsdale

RENTING IN ROBBINSDALE

Renting an apartment in Robbinsdale should be relatively easy. It’s a great location if you want to be on the outskirts of Minneapolis with a suburb feel yet just a short drive away from downtown. You will find more space and amenities at a lower price than you would pay to live downtown. You may even find rent specials after the winter holidays (or at the end of the school year). Finding single-family homes or condo/townhouse properties is another option to look for as well.

Overall, Robbinsdale is a nice and quiet suburb on the northwest side of the Twin Cities with convenient access to downtown Minneapolis (and Uptown) and the northern suburbs that boast big companies and lots of big box store for shopping + groceries.

QUICK STATS
population, approximately 14,000
area = 2.78 square miles
elevation = 873 feet
zipcode = 55422
county = Hennepin

Neighborhood Review: North Saint Anthony Park

I love this neighborhood. Pretty much it’s my favorite. I can’t believe I didn’t know it existed the first few years of my MN inhabitancy. North Saint Anthony Park is full of history and charm at every turn of the curvy and hilly roads.

Just to clarify, I am specifically talking about North Saint Anthony Park (I don’t know why the banner doesn’t have “North”). Within the Twin Cities metro area you can also find South Saint Anthony Park, Saint Anthony Main, Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony Falls, and Saint Anthony Village. If you have a thing for the name Anthony, this may be heaven for you. Sadly, North Saint Anthony Park may be rather difficult to search for on apartment rental search sites, so make sure you’re familiar with the actual location so you know if a place you find is located in this neighborhood.

If you’re familiar with roads in Saint Paul, Larpenteur Avenue, Highway 280, Cleveland Avenue, Como Avenue and a few other roads provide the borders. Luther Seminary and the University of Minnesota Saint Paul campus are also on the borders. The Minnesota State Fairgrounds are just east of the neighborhood, so no worries about parking when you head to the Fair, as long as you don’t mind a bit of a walk to get back home after wandering the fairgrounds all day. Check out the google map near the end of this post to see where this neighborhood is located.

North Saint Anthony Park is rich in history…and you can find a lot of great information on this area, particularly the architecture, on this site. Interesting trivia tidbits: Garrison Keillor, a well-known author, humorist, and radio host lived here as well as the children’s author Carol Ryrie Brink.

The library is one of my favorite buildings along Como Avenue. The Saint Anthony Park Library is one of the smaller Saint Paul library locations, but it certainly makes up for any lack of size with the fabulous architecture, inside and out. Along with a great kid’s area, free wi-fi, and lovely grounds surrounding the building.

Langford Park is the largest, but not the only park, in the neighborhood which boasts the Langford Recreation Center. This Saint Paul neighborhood is quite popular and real estate is a little pricey which means rent is not likely to be very affordable. If you have a roommate to split expenses or are looking for a small place, it’s much more doable.

I lived near College Park for about two months a few years back (the stories behind that are much too long for this post). For me, the location was ideal for everything I wanted in a place to live and since I had a roommate at the time this area became much more affordable. Let’s just say that circumstance demanded moving on despite my love for the area.

When you’re looking for your new home here, be aware of how close you are to the Southwest and South borders of the neighborhood if the sound of trains bother you. Here are a few more resources: the Saint Anthony Park Community Council, the Park Bugle, the University Grove area (if you click on “rental” under the Real Estate tab, you may luck out and find something in this area), and a general page for the neighborhood.

TIP: check the Speedy Market bulletin board for “for rent” postings as well as the community bulletin board on the corner in front of the Finnish Bistro.

North Saint Anthony Park is the home of the Music in the Park Series. These chamber music concerts take place at Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ on Commonwealth Avenue.

In this area the highlights for eating establishments include the well-known Muffaletta restaurant, the Finnish Bistro, Lady Elegant’s Tea Room & Gift Shoppe, and Lori’s Coffee House. Other shops in the quaint main street village on Como Avenue near Carter Avenue are The Little Wine Shoppe, The Bibelot Shop, Micawbers Books, Milton’s Bridal, Bungalow Pottery, salons, dental offices, a Post Office, a brand new bank building, and the non-profit organization The Emily Program. The majority of these places are located in the adorably quaint Milton Square shopping area.

Check out my North Saint Anthony Park google map. I just figured out how to customize a map and have it show up here. Yay me!

Also, check out this cool old map showing “St Anthony Park” near the top left corner.

RENTING IN NORTH SAINT ANTHONY PARK

Finding the perfect rental in this charming neighborhood could be tricky. There are quite a few smaller apartment buildings as well as quite a selection of duplexes. Your budget and your wish list will determine if you find the right place in North Saint Anthony Park (it’s not necessarily an inexpensive area). The location is ideal. You’ll be surrounded by history and charm when you live here. And you’re only a short walk from the quaint main street in the center of this lovely neighborhood. This is definitely one of the neighborhoods I recommend driving or walking around to look for “for rent” signs. You may have better luck than in online searching.

Overall, North Saint Anthony Park is a safe, quiet neighborhood that is central to both downtown locations of Minnesota’s Twin Cities metro and provides a lot of charm and character.

QUICK STATS
population, approximately 6,000
elevation = 916 feet
zipcode = 55114 and 55108
county = Ramsey

Neighborhood Review: New Brighton

New Brighton is a nice northern suburb of the Twin Cities. It is bordered by Fridley, Columbia Heights, Saint Anthony Village, Spring Lake Park, Mounds View, Shoreview, and Arden Hills and has quick and convenient access to two of the major highways—I-694 and I-35W.

I lived in a great New Brighton apartment for one year. It was a large two bedroom unit with a large living room, one bathroom, a dining area on the end of the kitchen (with a dishwasher), a deck, and a ton of closet space with a garage spot thrown in for free. I had a roommate and our total rent payment was less than what I pay now for a one bedroom in a Saint Paul neighborhood between both downtowns. It was a great deal, but was one of those buildings that has no character or charm so I was ready for something new after our 12-month lease ended.

A few years later I moved back to New Brighton and rented a room in a friend’s house. So I have spent quite a bit of time in this suburb over the years.

While living in the area I found a great car wash—Busy Bee Car Wash—located near the intersection of Silver Lake Road and Mississippi Street. I don’t get my car washed nearly as often now that I don’t live down the street from this place.

New Brighton has a couple cute coffee shops in the area: Limu Coffee and The Bru House. And you can always hit up the Champps, find one of the local restaurants, or make a quick stop at one of the fast food joints in the area. Silver Lake Road has the most to offer, but there are a few other hidden areas with shops and eateries.

There are also quite a few parks in New Brighton and a lake or two. Long Lake Park is one of the largest parks and it has a nice beach that is a hotspot in the summer. Running through Long Lake Park (and heading West from there) is the Rice Creek West Regional Trail which is great for walking, running, biking, rollerblading, or even cross country skiing in the winter. Click here to find more information on the trail and a link to a PDF map.

The area has many residential neighborhoods, but is also home to a few shopping areas whether you’re looking for a place to eat, a boutique, or a business/service. There’s Brighton Village at I-694 and Silver Lake Road, a shopping area I can’t remember the name of further north on Silver Lake Road, and Main Street Village just west of I-35W at County E2 and Fifth Avenue. This last one is near “downtown” New Brighton where you’ll find the big fire station, the city hall, and a post office. Here’s the link to the city website.

TIP: the closer you are to a fire station the better it is for your renter’s insurance rates, which I highly recommend you have.

RENTING IN NEW BRIGHTON

Renting an apartment in New Brighton should be relatively easy. There are a lot of options. It is quite likely that you will find a lot more space, and amenities, for the price you would pay to live near downtown. You may even run into rent specials—at certain times of the year (usually after the winter holidays) apartment complexes are more likely to offer move-in specials. You can probably find homes and condos or townhouses to rent as well.

Overall, New Brighton is a nice, safe, quiet suburb on the northern side of the Twin Cities with convenient access to either downtown and all the rest of the northern suburbs that boast a few large corporations.

QUICK STATS
population, approximately 22,000
area = 6.64 square miles
elevation = 879 feet
zipcode = 55112
county = Ramsey

Neighborhood Review: North Oaks

If you want to live in one of the exclusive Twin Cities suburbs, you should search for North Oaks. But, there are not likely to be many options as it is a community of single family homes. And they’re really large. So rent is probably rather high if you can find a place here.

This is one of the nieghborhoods I’ve been lucky enough to call my home. I spent a summer living with relatives in their gorgeous North Oaks home and it was fabulous. The only time, so far in my life, where I’ve had a swimming pool in the backyard and a tennis court across the street.

The history of North Oaks is rather interesting. Before it became the City of North Oaks, it was the country farm of the Hill family. As in James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railroad and the big fancy mansion near the Saint Paul Cathedral. Anybody is welcome to take the tour of the James J. Hill House in Saint Paul where you will hear a little bit about the family’s farm. Otherwise there’s a brief overview of the history here.

If you’re looking for a nice place to eat, maybe for a celebration dinner once you find and move into your new home, you should check out Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant. It is on Hodgson Road and technically located in Shoreview, but in my head it is more associated with North Oaks.

RENTING IN NORTH OAKS

Like I said, you’re not likely to find rental listings for this area. It is somewhat of a “gated community”, but without the gate, meaning that residents and their invited guests are welcome. There’s a little more detail here on the city’s website. I have seen a few North Oaks listings on Craigslist, but didn’t check into them for more details.

QUICK STATS
population, approximately 4,800
area = 7.31 square miles
elevation = 940 feet
zipcode = 55127
county = Ramsey