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Moving to MSP...Where to go?
Hi,
DH and I are moving to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in the next few months. We've done a ton of online research about various suburbs and talked to some people here and there who are from that area.
But I was wondering, from you Nesties,...what do you think about these suburbs (see below)? What "reputations" (snobby? grungy? old and run down? old and well-kept? what "sorts" of people? Educated? White collar? Blue collar? Demographics?) do they have?
FYI: DH will work out of the airport (pilot) and will only have to drive there and back a few times each month, so as long as commute time is within 45 minutes, we're fine. I am a SAHM - no commute for me.
Orono, Plymouth, Wayzata, MInnetonka, Deephaven, Shorewood, Lakeville, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Woodbury, Stillwater...or recommend one I didn't list. Or tell me ones to avoid that I didn't list. TIA!
Re: Moving to MSP...Where to go?
My DH and I live in Apple Valley. We really like it and although we don't have kids, I've heard good things about the school district. It's your typical suburb, but I feel very safe and it's still within decent distance of Mpls/St.Paul. Let me know if you need more specifics
Mendota Heights is a nice city. My grandparents live there and we live a block away. I don't think the public schools (district 197) would be my first choice, though. I haven't heard the greatest things about the high school.
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I'm not as familiar with the western suburbs, so I won't comment on those.
As far as southern suburbs, of the ones you listed, I would recommend Lakeville, Savage and Apple Valley. I would also consider Inver Grove Heights, Eagan and Rosemount in addition to what you listed. I currently live in Rosemount, which I really like, but would also recommend all the other nearby 'burbs that have been mentioned.
The only one I wouldn't suggest is Burnsville. Their city government is really messed up and corrupt. Also, crime rates are higher in Burnsville than in surrounding suburbs (at least according to this website).
As far as specific school districts, 191 (Burnsville-Savage) is probably the one to avoid. I have several friends who teach in that district and they are all trying to get out because it's pretty bad. Test scores there are considerably lower than in the districts surrounding it. District 196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan) is good, and so is 192 (Farmington) and 194 (Lakeville). This link has more info on school districts & test scores.
Good luck!
Mr. Sammy Dog
I agree with everything mentioned above. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the suburbs that you mentioned. I grew up in Minneapolis and now live in a St. Paul suburb (Cottage Grove) so I've gotten a taste of both sides of the city. Cottage Grove is right below Woodbury and I think it's a great place to raise a family. We don't have kids yet, but the city is growing and they are adding things to the area every year (new public safety/city hall this year and splash pad for kids next year). There are tons of young families and Woodbury is just up the road from us.
Woodbury is a little bigger with more of the strip mall stores. I think it would be a nice place to live too, my H and I looked there before buying in CG. I will add that taxes are much lower in CG than most of the suburbs because it's still relatively small. You can get more house for your money where we live than in Woobury. It's also about 20 mins from the airport.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
We wondered about that b/c we know that traffic is bad during rush hour along that corridor and it's a congested part of the city. DH only goes to the airport and back maybe a total of 8 times each month and most of these commutes are very early am like around 4:30 and late in the evening. So, we don't think it would be a problem most of the time.
Just a note on this - we live in Eagan and we absolutely love it here. I would recommend it to anyone. The drive to the airport is pretty smooth, too and traffic wouldn't be bad.
However, parts of Eagan are in District 191 - so that may be a consideration. However, Minnesota does have open enrollment, so that might ease some concerns.
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I live in Plymouth and commute to Eagan (which is past the airport) for school. It only takes me 30 minutes at off peak times, so I wouldn't make that a deciding factor. I love Plymouth and when DH and I have kids we will definitely stay here. It was rated the best place to live by money magazine in 2008 and last year was number 11 (?). It is an active suburb with many parks and trails. It is a good family place and most kids in this city go to Wayzata schools, which as I understand it, are good.
I currently live in Chaska, but I'm from Chanhassen. When I was younger I lived in IL and let me tell you- once you move here you will never want to leave. My dad's company has a really hard time keeping people once they move here, since they want to transfer them again in a few years and no one wants to leave!
My DH also was very tenative to move here after we graduated college (he's from SD, so it's quite a bit more urban here), but it only took him about a month to tell me how much he loved it here. Just sayin'... no worries for you guys!
It honestly depends on what you're looking for as far as which communities are "best". Yes, the western suburbs are typically seen as more white collar (Edina and Wayzata particularly) but in general MN is a democratic state so the majority of other communities are just hard-working blue collar. As far as crime and diversity go, the closer you get to the Cities, obviously the higher the crime rates and the more diverse the people get. Personally, I coach in Bloomington and I love it. I also love Chanhassen- it gets awards all the time like best place to live and such...Eden Prairie does as well, although it's a little busier. The Chaska school district isn't amazing, but I have heard worse about many other school districts.
Minnetonka, Deephaven, and Shorewood would all be wonderful places to live as they are very close to Lake Minnetonka, so they thrive in the summer especially. Shorewood and Deephaven are pretty small towns as far as suburbs go, but I need to add Excelsior to this list. It's my absolute favorite place in the whole state. It's got one of those cute little downtowns, it's right on the lake, and it's really close to Minnetonka and Chanhassen, so you aren't too far away, but it feels like it you are.
I don't know much about Orono, Plymouth, or Woodbury, but Stillwater is almost in Wisconsin so it's kind-of a drive. They have a bunch of B & Bs though so it must be a pretty scenic area. Lakeville is a huge town, but their roads are super confusing to drive around and very poorly marked. Someone else mentioned that they like living in the Cities, which I would too I think- they have tons of state of the art projects no other states have (or they started here) like a bike-sharing program, a car-sharing program, as well as an awesome farmer's market. Linden Hills is a beautiful area there, as someone else mentioned...it's kind-of a upper-class hippy area, if that makes any sense. Anything around Lake Calhoun is awesome as well, but it will probably be really expensive property. Additionally, the difference between the two cities: Mpls- younger crowds and block E is a party scene, St. Paul- more reserved and quiet.
Sorry this is so long, and I know what I say may be taken as "stereotypes", but I am talking about the cities themselves, more than the people. Obviously not all people living in these areas would fit into a specific mold.
Good luck!