I love the Loring Park area. Its kind of a cool area without being trendy or hip. It takes just minutes to walk downtown, but with such a great park nearby, you don’t feel you’re in the midst of a large city.

The park itself is lovely and its near the Walker Art Center and the Sculpture Garden and loads of restaurants and cafes.

It has been traditionally thought of as a gay/lesbian area, but I don’t think that is the case so much anymore. It is a rather expensive part of the city for Minneapolis.

You might want to check it out at night. There could be some issues with safety if you are walking around at nigth being so close to downtown and being close to some dodgier neighborhoods.

I would consider Loring Park to be one of the more eccentric neighborhoods in Mpls. North and Southwest are predominately african american/latino while most other neighborhoods are white-caucausion, but Loring Park is one neighborhood in Mpls w/ a diverse group of people (whether it be racial, religious, sexual orientation, etc.).

IMO, it’s a neighborhood suited well for young professionals (whether single or married), as it’s within walking distance to downtown (also, the Walker Art Center is close by), close to lakes and biking/walking trails (i.e. Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun), and relatively free of crime.

For specific crime statistics, check out the below link (Precinct 1…if you are looking at the map, Loring Park is in the lower left hand corner).

Hope this helps somewhat.

Try asking your question in the Minneapolis forum.

Not being from there, I can’t really say.