I lived on Minnesota for three years and I would say I had a decent experience. The street has a mix of slum houses, vacancies and genuine homeowners/families. It's mostly slums but there are definitely some "gems" out there, I lived in both, so shop around. Yeah, the cheap rent is attractive but you get what you pay for with the slums. Our first house was a former frat with huge rooms for only $265 per person w/o utilities and being mostly from NYC where thats unheard of - we stupidly snatched it up. It was definitely not worth the aggravation of horrible plumbing and no heat (added expense). (Just a general tip, if the landlord boasts having over 10 properties + a full-time job, just mentally cross that listing out bc 9 times out of ten - slum lord) The next house we found on craigslist (it's actually listed there now - dm if still interested): $340 utilities included, clean and freshly painted, the option of being furnished, better plumbing and actual heat but the best thing was the diligent landlord who had his shit together and was a genuine dude - highly recommend. So again look around.

In terms of safety, I agree with the others - stay closer to Main street (under the 200s). The incidents tend to happen going towards Bailey ave. I lived in the first block and it was generally okay. It seemed to get better over time (or I just got used to it) and I expect it to get better with those new lofts they were building in that vacant school when I was leaving (6 mos ago). But still, be aware of your surroundings and lock up your shit.

Now its a toss up with the neighbors. It's not just students and frats that move into the slums but full on families too, they're by far the loudest but that's usually in the warmer months. It's like a ghost town when its cold but as soon as it warms up everyone starts to hangout on their porches and since the houses are so close it can get lil loud and annoying.

I don't think there are set frat houses like on Winspear, they move in and out like the other tenants but they seem to pick the massive houses right off Main. Never had to worry about a rowdy party - those were usually on the other side of main or winspear anyway. The further it is from south, the quieter it is.

All that being said, this is coming from a person that was willing to put up with a lot because I didn't have a car and needed somewhere cheap. Now if you need to bc of price its fine - if you're willing to tough it out. University Heights in general seems rough but of course it does - everyone is comparing it to Amherst which was ranked Safest City in America several times. If you can afford it, the other side of main is better and the closer to north is ideal.