Category 17: 2013 Best Minneapolis / St. Paul neighborhood for young families
You’re young, you married
you reproduced, untarried
Your kids have you harried
Where would you most like to remain unburied.
Use the comments to argue in favor of a nominee for the category: Best Minneapolis / St. Paul neighborhood for young families.
Going with the obvious;
St. Paul: Highland & Mac-Grove
Minneapolis: Linden & Southwest
BUT – these places aren’t as friendly on a young family budget.
Nokomis, Longfellow and Kenny are turning into a really good young-family neighborhoods with (from what I hear) really improving neighborhood schools. Also, the Como neighborhood of St. Paul is a good bet.
Kingfield. You can buy a Kingfield onesie at the Farmers market while older kids listen to a kid friendly band. And there is a walking bus to Lyndale Elementary.
Northeast. It’s got affordable housing, racial diversity, Marcy Open School, the arts, progressive restaurants and breweries, parks (including Jim Lupient water park), and so on.
Harrison.
Very diverse, low taxes, affordable housing and rentals. Near Wirth Park, Bryn Mawr, numerous bike trails that provide connectivity throughout Minneapolis (you can take bike paths that don’t cross roads all the way to the lakes, uptown, Mississippi River, St. Paul, twin stadium and on and on). Strong community involvement from a diverse group of stakeholders (working to build Wirth community co-op on Penn and Glenwood–1st co-op in North!!). Direct bus routes to downtown minneapolis, west to suburbs, on the new Southwest LRT corridor; Penn avenue is a designated “Community Works” corridor; Boteneau LRT potent entail line, Minneapolis farmers market. And finally lots and lots of family’s with young kids that stay and play in the community. Harrison rocks!
Field Regina Northrup! A young family could actually afford it, the schools are great (Hale/Field are awesome), 48th&Chicago is a great node.
Phillips – tons of other kids to play with, learn valuable skills like molotov-throwing, who needs summer camp?
Hamline-Midway – Saint Paul
Affordable. On the Green Line. Can walk to library, actively used rec center, restaurants, and shops. The Hamline U campus is great for kids to run around in, not to mention the Oak -filled jewel that is Newell Park (which is also great for parents who want to instill a transportation geekiness in their kids as it overlooks the BNSF intermodal facility!!) We’ve got the most engaged neighborhood I’ve ever lived in – organizing a new annual Heartwood Festival, crowdfunding the excellent Groundswell restaurant, and keeping our library open. If you don’t believe me, check out the Hamline Midway Neighbors Facebook page with 1,406 members – all of whom care about this great neighborhood!!
Yes, it’s Hamline-Midway. Hands down. No contest.
Bancroft, Standish-Ericsson, and surrounding areas in the heart of South Minneapolis:
Affordable homes, friendly neighbors, parks, schools.
Popcorn shop, candy store, ice cream, and bakeries.
Easy commutes to most metro destinations, no highways required to get to downtown Minneapolis.
Small town living in a big city!
Longfellow
I’m pretty partial to my own Standish, or Standish-Ericsson, which is bounded by Hiawatha Avenue on the east, Cedar Avenue on the west, 36th Street on the north and Minnehaha Parkway on the south.
We have plenty of open space for kids to run and play, with our own lake (Lake Hiawatha), a nice portion of Minnehaha Creek, Lake Hiawatha Park playground and splash pad. We have great schools like Northrop, St. Helena’s, and the reopened Folwell, and the recently renovated Roosevelt Library.
There are a wonderful selection of independent businesses – my kids have gotten to know the owners of A Baker’s Wife and the cats at Hudson’s Ace Hardware, and just having Everett’s Meats, Ted Cook’s 19th Hole Barbecue, Buster’s, The Northbound, The Angry Catfish, Chris & Robs and The Cardinal gives a personality and soul to eating and shopping that isn’t so easily replicated elsewhere. (When the wind is right, the smells alone from Baker’s Wife or Ted Cooks wafting around make us the BEST SMELLING NEIGHBORHOOD hands down!)
We have two light rail lines and a nice choice of bus routes for kids not yet able to drive. We also can walk and bike to neighborhood destinations. This combination of transportation and actual places to go makes my kids feel like they are part of the neighborhood – citizens, if you will.
A lovely rising neighborhood is the W7th area , bounded by the Mississippi River and 35E and downtown St Paul and Montreal Ave. Charming walkability and bus transit, good(read reasonable prices) housing stock with nice yards and playgrounds and parks galore. Wildlife by the river with biking and hiking paths, schools like the new Nova Classical, Adams Spanish Immersion, businesses moving in -Mississippi Market,the Schmidt project with artists lofts and spiffy apartments, lovely old buildings for business all along W7th St. Rec centers with ball fields and ice rinks and the West 7th Community Center with a new playground and pocket library(proudly the smallest library in the Twin Cities). A beautiful new family clinic and new fire station- you can feel the area bustling and growing. Where else can you get your teeth cleaned, get organic groceries, take you kids for their checkups, visit the library and wave to the passing trains- all in a few blocks?