Know anything about New Brighton?

glitzy07

FI and I are looking at a couple of houses in New Brighton, and quite honestly if you had asked me a week ago I couldn't have told you where the city even was.

Anybody from there that can tell me a bit about the area?  I work in Edina and there seems to be easy access to the freeways.  Google maps tells me that the neighborhoods are visually pleasing and people seem to take care of their stuff.  I'm going on actual showings on Thursday, but I figured I might as well learn a bit more about the area.  I'm an east sider, so even considering moving to that side of town is a step in itself.  Haha.

ElizabethD

I'm next to New Brighton (Roseville) but prefer the more first ring suburb and better schools.  I think New Brighton is a good, classic suburb.  Quite a hike to Edina, but if you get more house for your money and don't mind the commute I say go for it. 

glitzy07

ElizabethD:

I'm next to New Brighton (Roseville) but prefer the more first ring suburb and better schools.  I think New Brighton is a good, classic suburb.  Quite a hike to Edina, but if you get more house for your money and don't mind the commute I say go for it. 

I agree, I would absolutely prefer a first ring suburb like Roseville (which I love and adore, but is out of my price range unless we want to deal with a short sale).  We currently rent in the Highland Park area of St. Paul, so really anywhere we move is going to be a bit more of a commute for me to Edina. 

We're fairly open as far as areas of town, which is why we're even looking at New Brighton.  FI's son goes to daycare in Eagan and his son's mom lives in Lakeville.  We would love Eagan, but it's another one that doesn't have a ton available in our price range.  So we've opened up our search a bit more north and east (I grew up close to Maplewood, him in White Bear, so east would be closer to our families.) 

Elizabeth81

My aunt & uncle live in New Brighton. It's a nice area, but I'd hate the commute to Edina. I'm irrationally biased against the northern suburbs, but my DH grew up in White Bear, so he's trying to convince me they're not all bad. I'm stubbornly refusing to come over to his side (and I think I'm getting him onto my preferring St. Paul or the southern 'burbs side).

huwehotaling

Have you looked in St. Louis Park at all?  It is much closer to Edina and has nice neighborhoods.  New Brighton is nice, but it seems farther away to me, and I would hate that commute.

GermanGirl2007

I went to school in New Brighton and I really like the area.  There are nice quiet neighborhoods, good freeway access, and it is close enough to Roseville and some good shopping and restaurants.  However, it is a LONG drive to Edina, Lakeville, and some of the other places you mentioned that may be important to consider for commuting.  I agree with checking out St.Louis Park.  I feel like you would quickly begin to resent the commute.

ariel06

Elizabeth81:

My aunt & uncle live in New Brighton. It's a nice area, but I'd hate the commute to Edina. I'm irrationally biased against the northern suburbs, but my DH grew up in White Bear, so he's trying to convince me they're not all bad. I'm stubbornly refusing to come over to his side (and I think I'm getting him onto my preferring St. Paul or the southern 'burbs side).

That cracks me up because I'm the opposite.  I grew up in the northern suburbs and I would have a really hard time moving to the sourthern suburbs.  There's no actual logic to why I don't like them. 

glitzy07

Thanks for the info ladies!  I can definitely understand the hesitancy to move to the "opposite" side of town if you grew up in the other.  FI and I are the same way.  Like I said, I grew up on the far east side of St. Paul, near Maplewood and he grew up in WBL.  Hell would probably freeze over before we move to Minneapolis.

We're still going to look at the house in New Brighton, but I do think it will be too much of a commute.  I think we might look in Apple Valley next, which appears to be a bit cheaper than Eagan and closer to FI's son's mom and school.

mrs.mary&jesse

Probably a little late to respond but my husband and I looked for houses in New Brighton. We started out in St. Paul so we kind of wanted to stay on "that side." We ended up falling in love with a house in Fridley instead, immediately to the west of New Brighton. We love our neighborhood and we don't have kids, but we are in the Spring Lake Park school district which is supposed to be pretty good. We live between the University/Central Ave exits and I used to work in Edina. I started working a 7:30-4 shift and traffic was never too bad, but on the days it was, it was frustrating because 100 is really the only major highway. It was usually about a 25 minute drive and I didn't mind it when there wasn't traffic or weather to deal with.

Even though we don't live in New Brighton, my husband works there, we play co-ed sports there, and I utilize their trail systerm a lot. I think it is very comparable to where we live and a nice suburb.