A brief history

Friends of Laska,

Back in January of 2006, at the peak of the US housing bubble, I purchased a quaint little bungalow in south Minneapolis.  It had "good bones" but needed some attention as the previous owners had not made any substantial updates since the 1960s.  But I had time on my side and was eager to roll up my sleeves and do the necessary work.

A few months later my wife, merely an acquaintance at the time, purchased her condo in downtown Minneapolis. Thinking there was a good possibility she might not meet "the one" and not interested in maintaining a house on her own, she began looking at condos in the downtown area just blocks away from her job at the University of Minnesota.

Sparks flew, and we began dating a late 2006.  In 2007 it soon became apparent that we would have to figure out our living situation and, being partial to our own residences, we debated the merits of a house in south Minneapolis vs a condo in downtown knowing that we were going to start a family soon.

There were many advantages to living in my house and I had grown personally attached to it.  Living expenses, including the mortgage, were about half of that cost of the downtown condo.  My house had more living space, a backyard, a garden and a two car garage.  I had spent time and money on a new bathroom, roof, hardwood floors, landscaping, a sewer line and other cosmetic items.

There were also many advantages of living in my wife's condo which made life easier.  We were close enough to her office that she could walk daily and it had underground heated parking along with a pool and workout facility.  We were within walking distance of a Target store, Lunds (a grocery store) and numerous bars and restaurants.  It was adjacent to the Mississippi parks and trails system and, most of all, we didn't need to worry about shoveling snow, mowing the lawn or taking care of any maintenance.  

Our decision was difficult and we couldn't decide.  Instead, in the spring of 2008, we put both up for sale thinking we would move into whatever place did not sell.  Well...as you might have guessed it...neither sold.  Due to limitations in rental units allowed under her condo association we were not able to rent her condo at the time so I officially moved into her condo and converted my house to a rental to cover the mortgage costs.

Then...something happened.

Living in a condo in downtown Minneapolis grew on me.  I REALLY liked that I did not have to shovel snow. Or mow the lawn.  And I grew fond of the fact that we only had one parking spot and were forced down to one car. And, despite the fact that we have less space, I appreciated that it forced us to make difficult decisions when buying things that we did not necessarily need.  (But I digress...you'll hear more about why I like condo living later.)

And then something else happened. In early 2011 we found out we were expecting our first child. The baby is due in September of 2011, and we couldn't be happier. But as our pregnancy progressed I began to think...why aren't more families raising children in downtown Minneapolis?  All the things I like about downtown Minneapolis cannot be unique to me.  And all the benefits of living in downtown certainly seem to extend to families as well as couples and young single people.

And so I launched this blog to talk about raising a family in downtown Minneapolis, meant to explore all facets of family living in a dense urban-style environment in this Midwestern town.  For all of you out there reading, I welcome your thoughts and input as I begin my blogging adventure.

Thanks for reading.
-Eric