Twin Cities!

Minneapolis?

3rd-gen owner here. I live in NJ but my job made a lucrative offer to work in Minneapolis for a month or so. If I accept I'll be staying in a hotel at the Depot ( The Depot Minneapolis) and work in the Maplewood area off MN-36. Not bringing my 4Runner, they'll be flying me in.

Questions for those who live/work in the area:
  • How safe is the neighborhood? Can I walk around in the evenings to check out the local sights,bars,and restaurants? Looks like there's quite a bit to check out within walking distance.
  • Rush hour traffic conditions? According to google maps it's 13 to 16 mile drive to the office. How quickly/well do they plow the main roads when it snows?
  • Recommended barber shop, grocery stores, chain stores like Walmart or Target?
  • Recommended restaurants and bars other than what's highlighted by google maps?

I apologize for this being somewhat off-topic to 4Runners but there's more traffic on this thread than the local forums.
 
Ed_C said:
3rd-gen owner here. I live in NJ but my job made a lucrative offer to work in Minneapolis for a month or so. If I accept I'll be staying in a hotel at the Depot ( The Depot Minneapolis) and work in the Maplewood area off MN-36. Not bringing my 4Runner, they'll be flying me in.

Questions for those who live/work in the area:
  • How safe is the neighborhood? Can I walk around in the evenings to check out the local sights,bars,and restaurants? Looks like there's quite a bit to check out within walking distance.
  • Rush hour traffic conditions? According to google maps it's 13 to 16 mile drive to the office. How quickly/well do they plow the main roads when it snows?
  • Recommended barber shop, grocery stores, chain stores like Walmart or Target?
  • Recommended restaurants and bars other than what's highlighted by google maps?

I apologize for this being somewhat off-topic to 4Runners but there's more traffic on this thread than the local forums.
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The northeast neighborhood which is where the depot is gets pretty crowded on the weekends because of all the bars and sights around there. It's a safe area, lots of people around, great atmosphere.

Since you are near downtown and driving out towards the suburbs your drive time and traffic is better than most. Hwy 36 gets crowded heading into St. Paul though.

Major roads and highways get plowed by MNdot and they do a great job at getting out there making sure roads are treated and plowed. That cannot be said for city of Minneapolis. Mpls plows city streets and side streets and they do a terrible job compared to other cities in the area.

Check out surdyks for all of your adult beverage needs they are across the river from you. Target over Walmart cuz gotta support local business. There are food co-ops near you but if you don't want to pay an arm and a leg for food hit up Cub foods considering Cub foods distributes groceries to these co-ops your getting the same no matter what place you go to. There are lots of restaurants that I've never been to mainly because I frequent the ones near me in south Mpls so I'm not much help there
 
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Thanks for all the info Samuel! I see Cub and Target aren't too far from the hotel, cool.
 
MN4runnerman said:
The northeast neighborhood which is where the depot is gets pretty crowded on the weekends because of all the bars and sights around there. It's a safe area, lots of people around, great atmosphere.

Since you are near downtown and driving out towards the suburbs your drive time and traffic is better than most. Hwy 36 gets crowded heading into St. Paul though.

Major roads and highways get plowed by MNdot and they do a great job at getting out there making sure roads are treated and plowed. That cannot be said for city of Minneapolis. Mpls plows city streets and side streets and they do a terrible job compared to other cities in the area.

Check out surdyks for all of your adult beverage needs they are across the river from you. Target over Walmart cuz gotta support local business. There are food co-ops near you but if you don't want to pay an arm and a leg for food hit up Cub foods considering Cub foods distributes groceries to these co-ops your getting the same no matter what place you go to. There are lots of restaurants that I've never been to mainly because I frequent the ones near me in south Mpls so I'm not much help there
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x2. All his comments are accurate. Tons of restaurants in the area. You won't have a problem getting to Maplewood from there. It hasn't been much of a winter so far. Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't get below zero while you're here.
 
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msp said:
x2. All his comments are accurate. Tons of restaurants in the area. You won't have a problem getting to Maplewood from there. It hasn't been much of a winter so far. Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't get below zero while you're here.
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Actually the reason we're doing work in MN is for vehicle cold weather testing.

Judging by both of you gentlemen's comments on commuter traffic rush hour doesn't sound too bad, I'm used to busy rude bumper-to-bumper traffic from driving in Manhattan and Philadelphia.

Thanks again guys,looks like I'll be taking the offer.
 
I know there hasn't been much activity in this group as of late but I'll be moving to the Minneapolis Metro area next month and looking forward to seeing other 4Runner owners out there! I'll be working downtown but looking to live in the southern area like Lakeville.

Does anyone go exploring up north? Virginia has a lot to offer in the mountains with tight trails and can go from mild to wild. Ready to tackle the snow also!

Looking forward to see this thread come back to life!
 
CoastieRon said:
I know there hasn't been much activity in this group as of late but I'll be moving to the Minneapolis Metro area next month and looking forward to seeing other 4Runner owners out there! I'll be working downtown but looking to live in the southern area like Lakeville.

Does anyone go exploring up north? Virginia has a lot to offer in the mountains with tight trails and can go from mild to wild. Ready to tackle the snow also!

Looking forward to see this thread come back to life!
Click to expand...

Gilbert up near duluth has some fun trails. From 2 tracks to rock crawling. Very doable. With a classic red dirt that gets everywhere. Pretty fun stuff.
 
CoastieRon said:
I know there hasn't been much activity in this group as of late but I'll be moving to the Minneapolis Metro area next month and looking forward to seeing other 4Runner owners out there! I'll be working downtown but looking to live in the southern area like Lakeville.

Does anyone go exploring up north? Virginia has a lot to offer in the mountains with tight trails and can go from mild to wild. Ready to tackle the snow also!

Looking forward to see this thread come back to life!
Click to expand...

For something that's a little closer you could try the Gandy Dancer trail system east of Hinckley that straddles the MN/WI border. I found it to be pretty easy but it's got some good sights along the southern part of the trail.
 
I made it and talk about a mild start to the winter eh? I'll be south of the twin cities. I've seen some clubs locally, maybe we should all coordinate a MN 4Runner ride...
 
CoastieRon said:
I made it and talk about a mild start to the winter eh? I'll be south of the twin cities. I've seen some clubs locally, maybe we should all coordinate a MN 4Runner ride...
Click to expand...

Ohhhhh just give it a couple days..... I for one am super excited for this potential blizzard that's supposed to come in. I've got the fish house ready, the sleds are ready to go and the final weekend of deer season is gonna be a blast.
 
MN4runnerman said:
Ohhhhh just give it a couple days..... I for one am super excited for this potential blizzard that's supposed to come in. I've got the fish house ready, the sleds are ready to go and the final weekend of deer season is gonna be a blast.
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Hah I'm ready for the snow but my stupid weather app says Friday is going to be a high of 50! It's so weird when it's warmer here than it is some places back home in DC. Everyone says mild winter this year again but I have a feeling it's going to be a good one...
 
This is my first winter in a 4x4 too. Looking forward to it, but unfortunately it looks like none of that white stuff in the cities area this week per last night's weather radar.

Gandy Dancer trail looks like it'll be good for my newb skills, but not sure how fond my wife and son will be about a 2 hr drive to play on dirt.

Side note .. anyone want to start up a facebook MNT4R group? Seems like forums are dying in favor of the convenience of fb.
 
ZebRuaj said:
This is my first winter in a 4x4 too. Looking forward to it, but unfortunately it looks like none of that white stuff in the cities area this week per last night's weather radar.

Gandy Dancer trail looks like it'll be good for my newb skills, but not sure how fond my wife and son will be about a 2 hr drive to play on dirt.

Side note .. anyone want to start up a facebook MNT4R group? Seems like forums are dying in favor of the convenience of fb.
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I think your wife and son would reconsider when they see the view because it straddles part of the St. Croix river.
 
ZebRuaj said:
This is my first winter in a 4x4 too. Looking forward to it, but unfortunately it looks like none of that white stuff in the cities area this week per last night's weather radar.

Gandy Dancer trail looks like it'll be good for my newb skills, but not sure how fond my wife and son will be about a 2 hr drive to play on dirt.

Side note .. anyone want to start up a facebook MNT4R group? Seems like forums are dying in favor of the convenience of fb.
Click to expand...

I'm in. Also check out midwest overland society on facebook and at midwestoverlandsociety.org

The Gandy Dancer itself you could do in sedan (mostly). There are some adjacent trails particularly in St. Croix SF that are nice for working out the suspension. I enjoy taking the family out there. Close enough for a day trip and stops in the area to stretch the legs.
 
This blizzard up north is so freakin awesome!!!!! I'm up near Leech Lake right now and can't see more than 100 yards. Did some donuts in the drive way and pulled the sleds out! Even went hunting in the morning. My buddy shot a big doe
 
Let me know if anyone wants to do some wheeling I'm new to the area and wanna use my 4x4 I moved here 6 months ago from CA and use to do desert racing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would be game for a quick trip as well but don't have much for social media so tagging my username on here is the best option :/
 
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