Moving to Duluth, wondering about people and bad areas

I just accepted an engineering position in Duluth and I will be moving there from Grand Forks in the next few weeks. Can anyone tell me if there are many young professionals there around my age (26)? Also what are some areas I should avoid living in? I noticed a lot of the homes on the hill look pretty run down. What I would like is an apartment in the west side of town or on the hill. Other than that I enjoy the outdoors during all seasons so I think its a good fit there, just wondering about the people and areas.

29 Comments

[email protected]

about 11 years ago

There are no bad areas in Duluth, in my opinion, but there are more people-dense areas, and that can make some folks nervous.

Soren d'Hillside

about 11 years ago

I understand that you wish to avoid being near rundown properties and people. You may feel most comfortable in a 2nd or 3rd floor apartment in Hermantown.

BadCat!

about 11 years ago

Unlike bigger cities, Duluth doesn't have solid "bad neighborhoods" and "good neighborhoods." A bad area could stretch only two blocks, whereas the nice area could be right across the street. There are some neighborhoods that you are more likely to find crime issues, but it isn't a certainty.

I lived on Lake Avenue & Fourth Street (dead center of the ghetto) and loved it. I also lived in the trashiest house in the middle of Congdon neighborhood (neighborhood kids would drive by and throw rocks through our windows).

If you're unsure where to start, you can use Google maps street view to checkout the area, and use sites like CrimeMapping.com to get a general idea of what problems you may encounter.

Also, if you post here with "I'm thinking of such and such street," there are enough of us on here that have a good idea of the area and can tell you about it.

Good luck and welcome!

Katie Cummings

about 11 years ago

I lived at Timber Ridge and loved it. I would also reach out to coworkers to see if they know of other options. I wouldn't rent anything without seeing it first.

TimK

about 11 years ago

The local Chamber has a group called Fuse for young professionals that you might find of interest. Scrolling through the PDD calendar will give you lots of options for stuff to do and opportunities to meet people. I highly recommend finding a non-profit with values you like and then volunteer some free time -- you will find folks to meet and with which to hang out.

801lorax

about 11 years ago

You might want to check out the brand new Blue Stone apartments on Woodland Avenue. I have no idea what your budget is, but the nice thing about the Blue Stone location is you're close to a grocery store and liquor store. You can easily walk to Bulldog Pizza or the Chester Creek Cafe. Also, if you like the outdoors, Hartley Field, Chester Bowl, and Bagley Nature Center are all within walking distance and have great trails for running, skiing, and biking.

NOTE: Since PDD is always on grammar patrol, I should point out that Blue Stone's information brochure states: "BlueStone Lofts is urban living at it's best."

Endion

about 11 years ago

The West Side stinks like s#it and the East Side thinks their s#it doesn't stink.

The hillside is for hipsters and Lincoln Park is for gangsters.

Just kidding.

It all depends on what you are looking for. Personally I figure if you are going to live near such a large and beautiful lake you should be able to see it from your house.

Ramos

about 11 years ago

I would avoid every neighborhood but Goat Hill.

Joel

about 11 years ago

Duluth Neighborhoods Click to Zoom

Ramos

about 11 years ago

801lorax, in order for your example of the Duluth Apostrophe to be included in the Field Guide, we'll need a photo.

wildknits

about 11 years ago

West End/Lincoln Park (on the west side of town and on the hill) is a great place to live. High enough on the hill and the Superior Hiking Trail runs past your back door. 

Lots of green space near by; Bent Paddle Brewery and Lake Superior Brewing just down the hill; Duluth Grill, Clyde Iron and Pak's Green Corner within a mile or so. And wraps around Goat Hill on the west.

The Big E

about 11 years ago

The couple who just moved next door to us are probably in their 20s. They have a push lawnmower. They're probably Communists.

lojasmo

about 11 years ago

I'd probably live in the East Hillside/Woodland just for proximity to Hartley Field.

Christyn Ross

about 11 years ago

I live near Chester Park and love it.  I can wake up and see Lake Superior every day and am right next to a gorgeous park.  My neighborhood is a mix between middle-aged couples and college students. I attend Anchor Point church and there are a lot of young people there (20-30s) and my fiance works at Cirrus as well! Good luck!

Barrett Chase

about 11 years ago

I happily live in the "murder & drunks" neighborhood shown on the map above. My neighbors are either senior citizens or young couples with children under 5. Whenever it snows in winter, every part of the sidewalk on our street is completely shoveled down to the cement within eight hours, and the alleys are always plowed by people who live in the neighborhood way before the city even thinks about taking its plows to the alleys. One of the worst things I have to contend with is the guy from a couple blocks over who walks his dog on our street and doesn't pick up the dog's crap. There are two schools within five blocks of my house -- one was built a year ago and the other was completely remodeled at that time. People here sit on their front porches in the evening and are friendly to those who walk past. The houses are old, but generally very well-maintained, and most of them have gardens of some sort.

I realize that none of this is specifically what you asked about, but I think it shows that sometimes reputations are not entirely accurate. There are no bad parts of Duluth, despite what some people may tell you. There are places, however, that have a lot of turnover; I'd avoid those blocks.

I would just make sure the actual block you are moving onto isn't too run-down, but even that can be deceptive, since you might find a really stellar apartment in the hillside with a great view for very little money.

All of that said, you probably want to live in either the East Hillside or Chester Park, because that's where your chances are best at 1) finding a rental apartment as opposed to a single-family home, 2) being close to the places you want to frequent, and 3) finding other people in their 20s with similar interests.

pats

about 11 years ago

Thank you for posting that, Paul!  I had forgotten how funny/true it is!

Merrittdweller

about 11 years ago

West Duluth's neighborhoods are really turning over from older to young families.  I am in that age range and have 10 people within two blocks of that age range.  West Duluth also has a healthy bar scene

rappdaddy

about 11 years ago

Please bring me a grinder with taco meat and white sauce and a couple of cheese tostada's. Here is a link to the Duluth Superior young peoples group and a link to some neighborhood info and another.  

Happy hunting and Go Sioux!

emmadogs

about 11 years ago

Attention Duluth Punctuation Police:

I dunno, maybe it's not nice to dis a reference to tostada's on a well meaning comment.

Still, the Punctuation Police shall not rest, so....

spy1

about 11 years ago

DuSu is on fire! They last posted on Facebook in Nov. 2012. They are so busy.

Emerickson

about 11 years ago

You are not going to get a clear answer to your question on this site. The "there are no bad neighborhoods" line is probably not what you are looking for and many would disagree. However, there are people who love every neighborhood for different reasons. It depends on what you are looking for and what you want to avoid. There are certain neighborhoods you could not pay me to live in and that have reputations as the rougher or more dangerous place in town. This is usually supported by the crime statistics and low property values. One way to figure out where people prefer to live (or not to live) is to compare the prices of real estate for similar homes in different areas. The fact that you can get a fully remodeled huge house for $75k in a certain neighborhood, when the same house would go for $200k+ in others should tell you something. I currently live in Piedmont/Duluth Heights which I feel is relatively safe, clean, quiet, laid back, and has ample green space. It is also a quick drive to just about anywhere in town. Other neighborhoods I would consider include Chester Park, Woodland, Kenwood, Park Point, Congdon, and Skyline, among others. If you don't mind a little longer drive to work and want a larger piece of more rural property, you might want to consider living outside of the city. There are fewer stupid ordinances and your property taxes will likely be much lower.

Ramos

about 11 years ago

The fact that you can get a fully remodeled huge house for $75K in a certain neighborhood means that you should snap that sucker up immediately and chuckle smugly at the chumps who paid $200K for smaller houses that are, like, half a mile away.

Ruthie

about 11 years ago

Emerickson makes good points.  That being said some other things to consider are how far do you want to drive for regular amenities.  We live just outside the city limits (5 miles) and have to drive at least five miles for everything we do and need (groceries, hardware, movies, entertainment etc....).  Another thing to consider is how comfortable will you be driving up or going down hills in the winter?  If you pick a house in certain neighborhoods getting up and down the hills in the winter time can be tricky until you become a local and learn the alternate routes.  How much do you like warm, sunny weather.....especially in the Spring to early Summer.  Neighborhoods in by the lake can be socked in with fog for days while the top of the hill is warm and sunny. Of course later on in the summer the neighborhoods by the lake are cooler so that's a plus.

EvilResident

about 11 years ago

I live on the hill above skyline between Martha Street and Rice Lake Road. I love this neighborhood like nobody's business. The only thing that sucks is that the hill outside my house is REALLY steep, and when it's icy, I go into a blind panic and blow up Facebook with constant updates on cars that are sliding past my house/grumpy old people grumbling about WHY ISN'T THE CITY FIXING THIS BLIZZARD THANKS OBAMA.

EvilResident

about 11 years ago

I forgot to mention why I love it. It's centrally located, my neighbors are all nice, and it has a beautiful view of the lake. I was babysitting a few days ago and the neighbor kids showed up and we had a water fight.

Sometimes my Halloween pumpkins get smashed, and one time I almost stepped on a live skunk while attempting to make running a habit, which caused me to panic and give up on ever being anything but "kind of healthy," but that's about it.

Thomas

about 11 years ago

The most important thing you can do is find someone who IS NOT from Duluth but has moved to Duluth like yourself to talk to.  Being an outsider will give you challenges that most of the PDD crowd cannot relate to.  My personal recommendation is to not establish any expectations for acceptance until a full year of experiencing Duluth.

Makoons Miller-Tanner

about 11 years ago

I've lived in the East Hillside, Lower Chester Bowl, for two years. I love it because it's within walking distance or a short driving distance of everything. Hospitals? Both of them. Downtown? Pretty walkable, definitely bus-able. Grocery store? Yup. Gym? Right there. Walgreens? Hells yes. 

People complain about the crime, and there are frequent robberies from cars, but almost always because someone left their doors unlocked. We've had ours rifled through but we luckily don't keep anything worth having in our vehicle. That's about as hardore as it gets in these parts. Our neighbors are great.

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