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Renting an Apartment in Blaine
What You Should Know
Blaine is a city in the state of Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city
had a total population of 44,942. The city is located mainly in Anoka County,
but extends into Ramsey County.
History and culture
Although Blaine is no longer the small rural town that it once was, it has
preserved many of its natural areas.
Until 1877 Blaine was considered to be part of the City of Anoka, Minnesota.
Phillip Laddy, a native of Ireland, is recognized as the first settler in
Blaine. He settled near the lake that now bears his name, Laddie Lake, in 1862.
Laddy died shortly after his arrival and his survivors moved on to Minneapolis.
He was followed by Englishman George Townsend, who lived for a short time in the
area of Lever St. and 103rd Ave.
It was not until 1865 that Blaine’s first permanent resident, Green Chambers,
settled on the old Townsend claim. Chambers was a former slave who moved north
from Barren County, Kentucky, following the Civil War. In 1870 George Wall,
Joseph Gagner, and some others settled in the area and it began to grow.
In 1877 Blaine separated from Anoka and organized as a Township of its own. That
year the first election was held and Moses Ripley was elected as the first
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. Ripley, who had come to Minnesota from
Maine, persuaded his fellow Board Members to name the new Township in honor of
James G. Blaine, a senator and three-time presidential candidate from Maine. By
the year 1880 Blaine’s population had reached 128.
While many of the other communities in Anoka County experienced growth due to
farming, Blaine’s sandy soils and abundant wetlands discouraged would-be farmers
and it remained a prime hunting area. Blaine’s growth remained slow until after
World War II when starter home developments began to spring up in the southern
part of town.
Blaine’s population went from 1,694 in 1950 to 20,640 in 1970. As the
Minneapolis/St. Paul area began to enjoy rapid growth, Blaine’s wide open spaces
became attractive to many people looking for the suburban life style just a
short distance from both downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.
With the development of Interstate 35-W, State Hwy. 65, and U.S. Route 10,
Blaine’s accessibility to the twin cities was greatly increased. Because of
this, Blaine has become a very attractive location for business and residential
development. Blaine has attracted many new corporate residents, such as the
Aveda Corporation and Dayton Rogers Manufacturing. Blaine is also home to the
National Sports Center, an Olympic class training facility, as well as home to a
TPC golf course. It is also being considered as the location of a new sports
facility for the Minnesota Vikings professional football team, replacing the
current Metrodome.
Geography
Location of Blaine, Minnesota
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 88.1
km� (34.0 mi�). 87.7 km� (33.8 mi�) of it is land and 0.4 km� (0.2 mi�) of it is
water. The total area is 0.50% water. Blaine is 13 miles from Minneapolis and 20
miles from St. Paul.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 44,942 people, 15,898 households, and
12,177 families residing in the city. The population density is 512.6/km�
(1,327.6/mi�). There are 16,169 housing units at an average density of 184.4/km�
(477.6/mi�). The racial makeup of the city is 93.46% White, 0.86% African
American, 0.63% Native American, 2.54% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from
other races, and 1.75% from two or more races. 1.72% of the population are
Hispanic or Latino of any race. By 2003 the US census estimated that the
population had grown to 50,425 [1].
There are 15,898 households out of which 41.1% have children under the age of 18
living with them, 61.1% are married couples living together, 11.1% have a female
householder with no husband present, and 23.4% are non-families. 17.0% of all
households are made up of individuals and 3.3% have someone living alone who is
65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.82 and the average
family size is 3.19.
In the city the population is spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 8.7%
from 18 to 24, 34.8% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who are 65
years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there
are 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $59,219, and the median income
for a family is $63,831. Males have a median income of $40,620 versus $30,452
for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,777. 3.0% of the
population and 2.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total
population, 3.0% of those under the age of 18 and 3.7% of those 65 and older are
living below the poverty line.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to
think through what are the most important things to you in an apartment
and plan your search based on those priorities. Here are some things to
consider when planning your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in
the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in
unit laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air
conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth
countries) is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a
building. Apartments may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by
tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which
the residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or
development; or in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments
and share ownership of the public spaces. Most apartments are in
buildings designed for the purpose, but large older houses are sometimes
divided into apartments. The word apartment connotes a residential unit
or section in a building. Apartment building owners, lessors, or
managers often use the more general word units to refer to apartments.
Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment,
the lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each
vacancy represents a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the
time the apartment is vacant (i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are
often to minimize the vacancy rate for their units. The owner of the
apartment typically transfers possession to the occupant by giving
him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any other keys need
to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other common
areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency,
bed-sit, or bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with
the cheapest rents in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually
consist mainly of a large room which is the living, dining, and bedroom
combined. There are usually kitchen facilities as part of this central
room, but the bathroom is its own smaller separate room. Moving up from
the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where one bedroom is a
separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have
only one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits,
perhaps a door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the
building design, the entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside
or to a common area inside, such as a hallway. Depending on location,
apartments may be available for rent furnished with furniture or
unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in with his/her own
furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all
the tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built
and the design of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and
electric may be common for all the apartments in the building or
separate for each apartment and billed separately to each tenant
(however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal to split a water
bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the premises).
Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always
billed separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar
amenities are extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra
storage space may or may not be included with an apartment. Rental
leases often limit the maximum number of people who can reside in each
apartment. On or around the ground floor of the apartment building, a
series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location accessible to the
public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit typically gets
its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large apartment
buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a
doorbell) for each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such
as two- or three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of
in trash containers similar to those used at houses. In larger
buildings, garbage is often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster.
For cleanliness or minimizing noise, many lessors will place
restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to
refer to a new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a
building, whereas the word flat means a converted self-contained unit in
an older building. An industrial, warehouse, or commercial space
converted to an apartment is commonly called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's
family member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny
flat, though these (sometimes illegally) created units are often
occupied by ordinary renters rather than family members. In Canada these
suites are commonly located in the basements of houses and are therefore
normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly
becoming popular with travelers.