5540?

Most of my life in Minneapolis has been spent in the 5540- some number. I have lived and worked in a variety of different 5540# zip codes.

I moved to Minneapolis escaping small town life in Menomonie Wisconsin. I had given Menomonie five months of my life and it just didn’t feel like the right experience for me. I had been working at the Acoustic Cafe, a little sandwich shop/ music spot. A girl who worked there had been talking about moving to the Twin Cities. So, we decided to move together, despite hardly knowing each other.
We found an apartment on 39th and Chicago, right next to the church, across the street from the park. It was a beautiful two bedroom in a standard South Minneapolis four plex. That was living in 55407.

I got my first job, in Minneapolis, at Dunn Bros over on 34th and Hennepin in 55408. My life shifted west and when my 39th and Chicago lease was up, I moved on over to 55405.

I moved to a duplex on 25th and Dupont. It was a cute yellow house with a creepy landlord, Roger, who lived down the block. I moved in again with strangers, M & C. M was a naive cello player who was pretty much of socially clueless. C was even more socially awkward and could only walk in straight lines. C had just recently returned from the Peace Corp in Romania. He had some sort of freak out and one day we woke up to find him moving out, back to home in Montana.

In desperate need of a roommate, I called another friend who had left town fairly suddenly, Brian, to see if he wanted to return. Fortunately he did and the roommate search was that easy. That was a fun winter into spring, living in a neighborhood flooded with friends.

One sunny day, Brian caught a glimpse of the upstairs apartment. Gorgeous exposed woodwork, ornate detailing, it felt almost too beautiful for our barely 21 year old selves. We worked out a deal where we could move up there just for the summer. We got Hans and Brendan to move in with us. Brendan took the tiny room, barely a closet. I got the back room farthest from the noise, Hans by the living room and Brian in the porch. Soon, Hans was never there, he went on tour with the Brown Flamingos. It made things a little less crowded.

This was the summer I started my internship at The Bridge, 22nd and Emerson, 55405. It was great, walking distance from this amazing apartment of summer trouble. I worked at Dunn Bros and spent the rest of my time at The Bridge.

After enough was enough living with three boys, Julie and I decided to get a place together. We found this little tree-house-type apartment (small, boxy, third floor). It was a block over from the Dupont place, on 25th and Emerson.

At this point, I got hired on at The Bridge and soon after I quit working at Dunn Bros. It was that December I graduated from college. December, 2001. I started working quite a bit at The Bridge and I picked up a second job at The Wedge co-op, cutting cheese. At this point, my entire life was in the tiny area of 55405. It was great, I walked or biked most everywhere and I was excited about all the possibilities of the world.

Amelia returned home from Italy and Julie and I were fed up with our slumlord tree-house-type apartment. (See recent City Pages article) So, we moved to a duplex over on 28th Street in 55408. We lived there for two years. It was probably one of the greatest times of my early twenties. We had dinners together, late night tea or beer sessions with friends. Lots of friends were always around. We had a nice big kitchen and a back stoop that was a constant in the nice months.

Not long after moving to 28th street, I moved my life east to a new job at Freeport West in 55404. I had had enough of the crazy shifts that working in a shelter provided. I started working at Freeport with families involved in child protection. About nine months later they lost funding and I took a job, also with Freeport, working with homeless youth. I still work in this program to this day.

After two years of living together on 28th street, we ended up splitting ways. I moved over to a great and affordable one bedroom back in 55407 on 41st and Chicago. It was around this time that I met Paul at the Red Dragon over in 55405.

The one bedroom apartment was only affordable for one year because it was a move in special. So, when the rent went up, I moved out. I moved into a house in 55408 on 31st street. There I lived with Julie, Steve, and Ben. Ben moved out shortly after and Kelsey ended up moving in.

We enjoyed many meals and drinks on the front porch of this house. We also navigated the use of one bathroom for four people + friends or significant others quite well! After the lease was up, the owners of this house decided to move home. We all went our separate ways again.

Paul and I moved into our sort of oversized apartment living in 55404. If we stuck it out, we would be here two years this summer. However, we are moving on and out of the 5540s… We found a house in 55417! We close on the 29th and after March 8th, you will mostly be able to find us here:

So, we are leaving our little world here in the 5540s. Living in a neighborhood with so many friends right nearby has been one of the richest experiences of my life. Many thanks to the years spent here and all the great people who have made it so much fun! Please come visit us down in 55417. We are right of the 46th street stop on the light rail. Bring your paintbrush. :-)