Secrets of the City

I’m getting a sense of deja vu…

Um, try Uptown, Loring, or Northeast…

I’m getting a sense of deja vu…

Um, try Uptown, Loring, or Northeast…

Ditto or What Alie said.

Actually, just about any hood in Mpls. and you’ll be fine. Well, you might want to stay out of my hood, not because there aren’t gays, but because of the, um, well, gunshots and crackheads.

Longfellow’s good too.

Where are you moving from?

It’s my sense (if you are gay and I am wrong, feel free to correct me) that there’s not one particular gay neighborhood/area/ghetto in Minneapolis, but it’s more of a spread out and integrated community. It would be helpful if we knew what you were looking for in a neighborhood / housing. Bars / nightlife? Quiet 50’s cottages? Parks & Condos?

Loring is very gay-friendly, you can’t go wrong there. Uptown is also good.

Cat- where’s your hood? I’m in Powderhorn right off Lake. The corner my house is on is very popular with hookers and drug dealers. I did not know this in the dead of winter when me and roommates were checking it out. My roommate’s car did get broken into the night we went to sign the lease, though. Too late.

You can move to my apartment building! Everyone in my building is gay. I’m the only single heterperson in my apartment building.

Sandburg: I’m on the western end of Powderhorn — central. It’s confusing because now with the redevelopment of Lake St. some are calling my hood Midtown, but …
When I first moved in last fall it was sketch, but I love my digs so I took the chance. Nothing has happened to me, but the crackheads next door are runnin’ girls and dealin’ (many a call to 311 & 911 to get someone to clean it up) and a lot of gunplay. Also, since I moved in there have been so many foreclosures it’s hard for the cops to keep up with the squatters and thugs who break in to these homes and take up residence.
For as long as you’re there, call 3-1-1if it’s a particular house and keep callin’ the cops. You can tell them that you don’t want to give your name and they’re really cool about it.
Good Luck!

Looked at Lavender yet? This is what they have to say about Minneapolis:

Vibrant. Friendly. Safe. Forward-thinking. However you define it, Minneapolis is an ideal getaway for GLBT travelers. With no particular gay neighborhood, the community is wonderfully integrated. While there are gay bars and establishments, the most striking asset of the city is its sense of inclusiveness.

Not to mention their cover story right now is on this very subject. But I think that the upshot is always the same: while there are a few areas that are a bit denser, there’s no highly-concentrated gay enclave, and I’d count that to our advantage – that the community is well integrated.

Bryn Mar

Bryn Mar

Northside loves gays. You should move there. I hear rent is pretty cheap there too.

john612 – being sarcastic?

I will agree that it’s awesome that Minneapolis is pretty well integrated in terms of the gay community, but I will also pose that there is something comforting about living in Boystown in Chicago, walking out your front door, and knowing you’re in your own hood. I get a feeling that that’s kind of what you’re looking for, jiah1979 (tho’ correct me if I’m wrong). So I would vote for Uptown. For someone new to Minneapolis and looking for a gay community, I think it’s a good starting-off point. Tons of Minneapolis landmarks and “hot spots” right at your fingertips, and it’s also more of a pedestrian community, which I think makes it easier to meet people.

BTW, I live in Northside, and I would be delighted if you moved to our neighborhood. So would my neighbor…I think he might be getting a little tired of being our token…

I don’t think uptown is all that good of suggestion, although I suppose it depends on the person. Uptown has turned into a strange mix of uber-hipsters, yuppies, and mid-twenties frat boys living out their last crazy years before getting married and slinking off to Eden Prairie. I never thought of it as being particularly gay. Loring park is probably a better bet for the poster. Northeast is great but it’s an area I’d hesitate to recommend to an out-of-towner – it’s complex and needs to be explored, as it can vary drastically in culture, not to mention safety, from block to block.

thanks for all the comments. im moving up from miami. i want safe, affordable, urban, and close to restaurants, shopping, and nightlife. sounds like uptown is what i want. i’ll be sure to check it out. i really appreciate all your advice

Miami eh. Get here before the warm weather’s gone.

jiah1979:

My wife and I moved here from Miami. Best move we ever made.

As charming as about 10 percent of Miami can be, the other 90 percent drives you crazy.

We live in Northeast. If you have the money Uptown will be fine. But the houses here are less expensive. Gay and lesbian neighbors all around us. Real contributors to the neighborhood. Glad to have them.

A couple years ago when the house next door was for sale, I made it a point to be “working in the yard” during open house so I could check out the prospective new neighbors.

Nothing worse that having neighbors who you don’t get along with.

It was mostly young married couples with kids who were filing in to take a look, but then along came a gay couple. They were very friendly, smiled and said hello to me as they went in to check it out. When they came out, I asked them what they thought of the place. They said it was ok, but they REALLY liked my place, and it was too bad it wasn’t for sale. (At the time it wasn’t)

I laughed and said “Oh well, that’s too bad. Then I said, “You probably wouldn’t like living next to me anyway. I’m a conservative republican.”

And they said in unison “So are we!”

heh.

dennis, don’t kid yourself…they would have quickly found a lot more reasons to dislike you beyond your political bent.

Oh my god, I love this place….

I laughed and said “Oh well, that’s too bad. Then I said, “You probably wouldn’t like living next to me anyway. I’m a conservative republican.”

And they said in unison “So are we!”

Thus began maz’s first mmm threesome. His rake will never be the same.

Just because there’s no gayborhood and the gay population here is spread out all over the place doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s well-integrated.

Which is not to say that it’s not well-integrated.

erica…thanks for, um, clarifying.

Just sayin’. Correlation, causation, yadda yadda yadda.

Or whatever.

there’s a whole lot of a log cabin up in here

… you guys are really funny!

Minneapolis Gay Agent here… contact me if i can be of assistance to you in your search. steven@allaboutyouhomes.com