Lake Harriet: A jewel in the crown of Southwest Minneapolis
When people decide to move to the Minneapolis area, they often inquire around and inevitably somebody or a something (a website perhaps?) suggests South or Southwest Minneapolis. Whenever this panacea for too much fun in warm weather and sun is offered, the suggestion is usually immediately followed by something like “Oh, you just have to live by Lake Harriet…it is such a beautiful area, especially for a city lake”.
Well, I tend to agree. This city lake has old-growth, upper-bracket homes around it’s immediate perimeter. All neighborhoods surrounding Lake Harriet, especially Linden Hills, Fulton, Armitage and Lynnhurst are very sought-after by people who live and work within the city, want beautiful parks and trails within a short distance and want to be able to walk or bike to these amenities. 
These neighborhoods tend to be priced between $300K-$750K. The style of homes has a combination of Dutch-Colonial, Victorian, Prairie, Craftsman and a few modern tear-down/rebuilds, typically constructed to fit into the period of the surrounding neighborhoods. The homeowners in these neighborhoods are usually not interested in the newer construction style of the 2nd and 3rd tier suburbs, and are not interested in a commute to the suburbs. These people are interested in older, character homes, safe neighborhoods and typically have a tighter community involvement, which is logical, as the neighborhoods are much more condensed. The Lake Harriet area provides for all city-dwellers who want some of the neatest, prettiest neighborhoods in the entire country.
Here are some basic facts on Lake Harriet: It has 2 beaches, biking and waking trails which connect to the other lakes and the Greenway, is bordered by the Como-Harriet streetcar, and was named after Harriet Lovejoy - who lived with her colonel-husband at Fort Snelling. Lake Harriet was donated to Minneapolis by Colonel William S. King in 1885, can be fished for muskies, and has a great summer-time band-shell for classical, jazz, new-age, blues and other forms of music. Also, the perimeter walking distance (although frequently disputed) is about 3 miles.
The Lake Harriet area is one of the key factors in making Southwest Minneapolis such a great area to live. Along with the great neighborhoods, great schools, great coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques, you will find Lake Harriet also connects (by trails and water) to Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. Also, it is near the great 50th and France neighborhood of Southwest Minneapolis and East Edina.
My family and I went for a walk around the lake the Sunday evening, so I took a few photos. One is of my family (yes, Wendy is pregnant with our fourth child), one is the band-shell, and another photo is one of my favorite homes just off Lake Harriet, which was recently renovated.
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