It is one of the first questions we get from guests who are staying a month or longer: where do I work out? Oakland’s on 9th is a furnished, month-to-month studio building at 215 South 9th Street — a restored 1889 brownstone, not a resort with a fitness wing. There is no gym in the building. What there is, instead, is a downtown location where three good options are within walking distance and the best one is free.
The closest full gym: Dayton at Gaviidae YMCA
The Dayton at Gaviidae YMCA at 651 Nicollet Mall, Suite 300, is about a five-block walk from our front door — under ten minutes, and most of it can be done indoors in winter. It is the most complete facility near us: an aquatic center with a lap pool and whirlpool, Pilates reformers, warm yoga, virtual group cycling, and around thirty group exercise classes a week included with membership. Personal training and small-group training are available on site.
One practical note before you plan your week: the Y’s downtown branch runs Monday through Thursday 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is closed Sundays. If Sunday is your long-workout day, plan it outdoors. Call ahead at 612-371-9622 to ask about trial memberships and short-term options — rates and terms change, so get them from the Y directly rather than from a blog post.
The big club: Life Time at Target Center
If you want the full health-club experience, Life Time at Target Center sits at 600 1st Avenue North, about a mile from us on foot. It is a 170,000-square-foot club with a two-lane indoor track, a private yoga center, pickleball and racquetball courts, and open-gym basketball. For a longer stay it is worth a call to 612-486-3600 to ask what membership options fit a few months rather than a few years.
The free option most guests end up using: the riverfront
Downtown Minneapolis is genuinely good for running and walking, and it costs nothing. Head northeast about a mile and you hit the Mississippi at St. Anthony Falls, the Stone Arch Bridge and Mill Ruins Park — a flat, well-lit, scenic loop that most people can do before breakfast. From there the trail plugs into the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, the park system’s 50-plus mile ring of parkways and trails, which will take you as far as you feel like going.
Closer in, Loring Park and Gold Medal Park are both easy out-and-backs, and the Chain of Lakes is a short bus or bike ride southwest if you want water and shade.
When it is twenty below: the skyway
Minneapolis winters are the reason the skyway system exists, and the skyway doubles as an indoor walking track. To be clear about our building: Oakland’s on 9th is not skyway-connected. You walk about a block to get into the system, and once you are in it, you can cover miles of climate-controlled downtown without a coat. We wrote a full guide to how the Minneapolis skyway works — hours, entrances and event-night routes — because the hours catch people out.
The half of fitness that happens in the kitchen
Every studio here has a full kitchen, and that turns out to matter more than a treadmill for people staying a month. Cooking your own food is the difference between an extended stay that leaves you feeling better than when you arrived and one that does not. Utilities, heat, WiFi and laundry are all included, so there is no surprise bill for running the oven. Here is what is included in a furnished studio, and a walkable guide to where to buy groceries downtown.
Book a studio a night, a week, or a month
Oakland’s on 9th is furnished, month-to-month, and contract-free — a night, a week, or a season, in Good, Better and Best studio tiers, with some pet-friendly units. It is a comfortable base for travel nurses, relocations, insurance and displaced stays, and anyone in town long enough to want a routine.
Check availability and book a studio, or call us at (612) 314-5124 with questions. We are happy to tell you which gym our current guests actually use.
Keep reading: Where to Stay for Gopher Football 2026: A Downtown Minneapolis Studio Near Huntington Bank Stadium