I hope you like bums, empty beer bottles, broken car windows on the street, and lots and lots of trash. And according to this website there happens to be 23 registered sex offenders in a 1-mile radius, and 5 within a 0.5 mile radius.

* The neighborhood location isn't the best. The "Uptown" Lake Calhoun area would be a much better choice, or actually living downtown near the river. Here though, you're just out of walking range for both of those areas (yes you can walk to downtown, however all the good restaurants and bars are on the other side and at least a mile hike) and there happens to be plenty of apartments in the same price range as Stevens in both those areas. Seriously, I wish I would have picked either one.

* Parking is a nightmare. Twice my car has been towed and I haven't even lived here during the winter yet. If police spent half the amount of time fighting crime as they do writing tickets and impounding vehicles I wouldn't be so afraid to walk to and from my car at night. During the day you can usually find a spot, after about five or six though good luck. I literally spend 20 minutes a night driving around for a spot when I come home at about 10pm, just so I can end up parking in a different neighborhood and walking half a mile.

* The people... I don't even know where to begin with this one. If you have read any of the other reviews you should by now be well aware of the crackheads, bums, and thugs all over this place. Get ready to have random people come up and ask you for money on a regular basis. If you have a girlfriend or wife who lives with you or comes to visit ALWAYS walk her to her car at night, especially since it will probably be at least a block or two away. If you are a woman considering living here, don't, but if you do make sure you have some mace. This has been pretty well covered in other reviews, I will add two quick personal stories that happened to me in the last week. About 8am, just got home from jogging around Calhoun, I am walking on the sidewalk in front of my building, in between each building there is an alley, some lady shoots across the street (without even looking for oncoming cars) and nearly takes my leg off without as much as even slowing down. A few days before that I was walking to my car when some random hoodlum starting shouting obscene words to me for no reason. Not a good place to raise a family, or to live with your girlfriend.

* The apartments are old (duh) and have lead paint. Which is great if you have small children or pets, nothing like a little lead to start them off on a healthy life. There is no air conditioning, so be ready to sweat or spend a few hundred bucks at Target. No dishwashers, the washers and dryers hardly work. The pipes (and everything else for that matter) is old and likely to break, repeatedly. Maintenance has about a dozen building all with what I assume is a LOT of work to be done. So if something breaks, I hope you are patient.

* The dog policy... another reason why I wanted to live here, I do not currently own, but am looking into getting a dog. Today though I was watching a friend's dog for the first time since living here and left him in my apartment for about an hour. I left the ac on for him, and a light in the kitchen where is water/food is. When I come home about an hour later, there is a note taped to my door telling me if I don't start taking care of my dog I will be reported to management. Because the dog was barking! Worse yet, is we have access to the electric boxes because the power will go out anytime you turn on your microwave while having the ac on. And sure enough, my power was flipped off. Never has my power gone out from just the ac and kitchen light, so I can say without doubt that whoever left me that threatening message also decided to turn off my power. I'm sure the heat and darkness of the apartment really helped calm down the dog. Who was panting like he was ready to die (not barking) when I came home. Which is ironic, because everyday (and most nights) all you hear are noisy dogs out in the front yard (if you can call it that) and each day you have to avoid dog crap like landmines. But still, this eight pound dog bark was apparently too much for him/her.

Lastly, is the ROAD CONSTRUCTION and TRAFFIC. This place can be descent if you work downtown (even though like I already mentioned there are FAR better places around here to live in the same price range) but no matter where you live in this area you fight (and lose) to never ending maze of road construction detours and constant "rush hour" traffic which lasts from about 6am-8pm in the metro area, if not longer. If you are moving here from out of state be aware of this. I read an article a month or two ago saying that in another 15-20 years congestion here will be WORSE than in LA! It is awful, and if you live or go to school or will plan on commuting anywhere outside of a 5 mile radius of this complex you will HATE driving there. The highways were not built to support all the people who have moved here in the past 20-30 years, the weather also causes issues with road construction and MNDOT is a joke.

You seriously should consider looking elsewhere, and only living here if it is your last resort. As that seems to be why most of us moved here, I needed a place and they were the cheapest apartment with a studio available. If I could do it again I will spend an extra 100 a month for a descent place. So again, if you want to live in the "hood" this is your place, otherwise there are FAR better choices in the Minneapolis area. One more thing, the neighborhood parks here are disgusting. Even on a Monday afternoon they are filled with bums. There is trash everywhere, empty beer bottles, more cigarette butts than you could ever imagine and is just in general, a dirty place.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/20/2009
I'm a 23 year old female and I lived in Stevens Community for a year. Although I moved after my lease was up, I never felt unsafe in the neighborhood. True, there are a lot of people asking for handouts but I wouldn't feel threatened by them. Yes, Stevens Community is old, but so are most apartments in Minneapolis. If you want a brand new white wall, tan carpet apartment, I suggest you move to the suburbs, where rent is usually cheaper. Parking in Minneapolis is tough, especially in the winter, pay for a parking spot if you don't understand how to park on the street, things are generally well marked. Road construction has nothing to do with Stevens Community but welcome to the club, all people in Minnesota complain about the driving. Lastly, Stevens Community is not ghetto. A good rule of thumb is the closer you live to a freeway or interstate, the more traffic, noise, trash and people you're going to have to deal with. Live and learn. A lot of people call this place home, if you don't like it move, if this is all you can afford maybe it's time to get a roommate.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/19/2009
If the 23 year old female feels safe here she is probably one of those ivory tower academic artist types who thinks people beggging for money are just a bit down on their luck or the system is keeping them down. This area has a higgh concentration of drugs and the crimes that go with them:gangs, muggings, prostitution etc. Perhaps she should open her eyes to reality or at least the "safety" tab at the top of this page which identifies proximity of sexual predators. There are 20 sexual predators within one mile. This is six times the average for the city, I hope she has extensive martial arts training and carries a sidearm. This is an additional risk to the drugs and associated crime.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/01/2009
Funny thing is, she defends this place yet sure didn't stick around any longer than she had to.

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