This page is still very much under construction. Please stop by for updated information.
The University of Minnesota provides a lot of good information and resources for current residents.
This webpage has been established to help graduate students find a quality place to live in in Minnesota.
Basic Information
Finding a Place to Live
Neighborhoods
Other Important Information
Utilities
Basic Information
The average price for a one bedroom apartment in most neighborhoods
runs from $500 to $750, and two bedrooms go from there to around $1,100.
More often than not, heat, water, and garbage pick-up will be included
in the
rent for an apartment, but not for a duplex or house. Make sure you
talk about this with the landlord before you sign the lease. For other
important questions to ask before you sign a lease.
For more information visit the Office of Housing and Residential Life website as well as the UofM Graduate School student handbook on housing.
Finding a place to live
Many of the local newspapers have classified ads, roommate ads, housing
search engines, and neighborhood profiles on their websites:
Minneapolis Star Tribune
St.
Paul Pioneer Press
The
City Pages
The Minnesota Daily
The Star Tribune also publishes a Relocation Guide—available for purchase at most grocery and bookstores—with in-depth neighborhood profiles. There are a bunch of other apartment search engines available with a simple web search.
Neighborhoods
When choosing a neighborhood think about things like: safety, transportation,
parking, and traffic. Are there convenient buses, bike paths, and nearby
attractions and amenities such as: laundromats, coffee shops, restaurants,
bars, museums, and theaters? You will find that many neighborhoods in
the Twin Cities have their own feel. Some of the most popular neighborhoods
for students include:
Dinkytown and
Marcy-Holmes:
Just north of the East Bank, Dinkytown is dominated
by undergraduates. The area is home to a variety of restaurants, bars, shopping,
and most of frat row. It offers quick travel time to the U and downtown.
Nearby Marcy-Holmes is close as well but less centered on undergrads.
Uptown:
The corner of Hennepin Ave S and West Lake Street comprises the
cultural hotspot known as Uptown. With a reputation as one of the hippest
neighborhoods of the Cities, Uptown offers some of Minneapolis’ best
restaurants, stores, and galleries. As such, it is gentrified and expensive.
If you decide to live here and have a car, try to find off-street parking,
because the narrow streets and dense population make it difficult to find
parking, especially in winter. Bussing to the U is great since there is
a major bus stop on Hennepin Ave just north of Lake Street.
Cedar-Riverside
and Seward:
Just south of the University’s West Bank
and the Mississippi River is Seward, known for its mix of college and immigrant
populations. Surrounding the West Bank campus is Cedar-Riverside, which
has the same demographics but a more vibrant commercial section. Rents here
are reasonable, bussing decent, and biking great.
Como:
Como Avenue runs from Minneapolis to St. Paul, but pretty much surrounds
the St. Paul campus. Student-centered, the neighborhood is also home to
one of the two married housing co-ops – a great option for married
couples. The neighborhood is mostly residential, but is relatively close
to downtown and the U. Rents vary, but tend towards reasonable.
Northeast:
Northeast, an amorphous conglomeration of neighborhoods North
of Downtown Minneapolis and East of the Mississippi, is the city’s
next big thing. Cheap rent and property, good transportation, proximity
to the U and Downtown, and a unique local culture have made Northeast very
attractive to graduate students, urban hipsters, and young couples starting
families.
Loring Park and Steven’s Square:
Loring Park and the Loring Park
neighborhood are just west of downtown between Nicollet Avenue to the East
and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden to the West. It’s a bit on the
expensive side, and parking is an absolute nightmare. However, the neighborhood
makes up for this with its proximity to Downtown and Uptown, its attractive
architecture, and a generally young urban demographic. Stevens Square is
a small community just south of Loring Park and north of Franklin Ave. Rents
are far more reasonable than Loring.
St. Paul:
In addition to Como, there are many neighborhoods near the St.
Paul campus. Some students live near Midway, the stretch of University Ave
that connects both cities, and Grand Ave (Merriam Park), a rather trendy
and expensive neighborhood with Macalester College at its center. Transportation
from these neighborhoods is a bit more of a hassle since they are further
from the U, but both have vibrant commercial areas to make up for it.
Other important information
Property Tax Refund--this is key. It will save
you lots of money!
If you rent and your income is less than $35K/yr., you can obtain a form
(either in the Minnesota State tax booklet, or from the post office) to
file for a Property Tax Refund. Your landlord is required to give you
a Certificate of Rent Paid by January 31, in order for you to file, and
refunds will come around August 15. You are also eligible if you are a
homeowner with an annual income of less than $60K.
Family Student Housing
If you’re married, have a same-sex partner, or have children, you
can live in one of two family housing communities: Como Student Community
(612.378.2434), between the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses, and Commonwealth
Terrace Cooperative, Inc (651.646.7526) adjacent to the St. Paul campus.
Both have day care centers on site. Apartments are unfurnished and have
long wait lists.
Utilities
Power, natural gas:
XCEL is the major local provider, although there
are some smaller providers restricted to certain municipalities. Your
city hall or landlord should be able to tell you which providers you should
call. Under specific circumstances, your primary source of heat cannot
be disconnected during cold weather months (the Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission Cold Weather Rule), but you must meet certain criteria. There
are also heating assistance programs for winter that your utility can
tell you about if you cannot afford to pay your bills. For information
about these programs, call your utility ’s customer service department.
Phone:
Qwest is the major telephone service provider to the Twin Cities;
some suburbs also have their own local phone companies, but this is rare.
You can have your choice of long distance carriers, and your choice of most
cell phone providers as well.
TV:
Cable TV varies by city and area. In general, Time-Warner serves the
Cities. Satellite services are also readily available, and digital cable
is on the rise as well. As for regular old broadcast TV, you can get most
of the stations fairly clearly, but it may involve a lot of antenna-tweaking.
There are two PBS stations (but one shows weather maps almost all day) and,
for some reason that has never been clear, channel 13 carries MTV2.
Internet:
For dial-up connections, we recommend you use the University’s
modem pool through Academic and Distributed Computing Services. It
will be by far your cheapest and best option. Otherwise, there are many
local dial up providers (visi.com, winternet.net, bitstream.net are a
few), as well as all the usual national ones (AOL, Net Zero, Jun, MSN,
etc.). Cable internet is available through RoadRunner (owned by Time-Warner)
or Comcast, and runs at about $40/45 month. DSL can be provided by almost
all dial up
companies, but you’ll also need to get the actual phone line from
Qwest. You’ll average about $20 for the line and $20 for the service.