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Old 01-02-2011, 04:00 PM
 
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I'd stay far, far away from Wayzata! WAY too long of a commute to St. Paul.

I agree that Edina is likely to hold its value. Some areas have far more "character" than others. It seems unnecessarily out of the way, though.

For both location and desirability (and continuing value) since money is no object, I'd also go with somewhere in Minneapolis, maybe Lake of the Isles/Kenwood area. There are some quieter spots also tucked in back by Cedar Lake. Very posh, nice, lots of trees, beautiful homes, central location. Expensive, though -- you'll have to be willing to spend a lot to get into that location.
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Old 01-02-2011, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
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Originally Posted by efex101 View Post
Anything good on the eastern side? grant/white bear lake/etc. I see some beautiful areas there (looking on realtor.com) but not sure how well property values would hold.
I'm no real estate professional, but I suspect housing prices in White Bear and similar areas have probably bottomed out. Somebody is going to jump on me for saying this, but White Bear is a little bit redneck-y for lack of a better term. I have a strong dislike of all the northern suburbs for the same reason...Anoka, Blaine, Coon Rapids, etc.

Shoreview would be an excellent option in that area, as many homes are on small lakes and it's a little more upscale than the surrounding areas. Good looking homes there, generally speaking. Mahtomedi could be another option in that area of the metro.

If you really don't care at all about commuting time and distance, I'd probably look slightly further northeast at Stillwater, honestly. Proximity to the St. Croix is great in summer and it has a legitimate (albeit small) downtown area with enough decent dining and shopping to make a go of it. There are some nice housing developments in Stillwater, some cookie cutter-ish but very attractive housing surrounding Long Lake off of Manning Ave. and some slightly older neighborhoods a touch further east and north of County Road 12 that are very nice. Lots of water everywhere.
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Old 01-02-2011, 04:08 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
333 posts, read 704,843 times
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Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist View Post
For both location and desirability (and continuing value) since money is no object, I'd also go with somewhere in Minneapolis, maybe Lake of the Isles/Kenwood area. There are some quieter spots also tucked in back by Cedar Lake. Very posh, nice, lots of trees, beautiful homes, central location. Expensive, though -- you'll have to be willing to spend a lot to get into that location.
Yep. It's been mentioned several times, and I totally agree. I'd buy something in East Isles or Kenwood, or around Dean Parkway and west into the area around Cedar Lake and call it a day. That's a spectacular area and it doesn't get any more convenient to everything than that. If you were complaining about property taxes on Summit in St. Paul, though, get yourself prepared for a rude awakening when looking around this area. It's still worth it to live there, imho.
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Old 01-02-2011, 04:31 PM
 
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Originally Posted by efex101 View Post
Thanks, these are great suggestions! my hubbie is willing to drive and me too, for the right place. One thing though, is IF we have to move in the next five years or so, we do not want to have too much issues with selling the home.
Minikahda Vista if you are looking near the Lakes - no cookie cutter homes - price ranges are vast, great location and great character and NO problem with resales.
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Old 01-02-2011, 05:33 PM
 
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Another option would be in St. Paul, in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood; lots of nice tree-lined streets and houses there, and relatively centrally located. Prospect Park in Minneapolis (on the border with St. Paul) also has many beautiful homes tucked back in the hills and would be pretty central. I think both of those areas will continue to be popular for years to come.
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Old 01-02-2011, 05:53 PM
 
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Are the neighborhoods sorrounding these nice? do not want to buy a nice home and then two streets down smack in less than desirable area....
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Old 01-02-2011, 06:08 PM
 
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Originally Posted by efex101 View Post
Are the neighborhoods sorrounding these nice? do not want to buy a nice home and then two streets down smack in less than desirable area....
Which is pretty much what you are going to get in St. Anthony, well, you would get that on Summit too but Summit is so unique it is worth it. Also, you are talking 300K-500K homes in St. Anthony and 3 million dollar+ homes on Summit. Your parameters were just too broad. It may take 2 years to sell a home on Summit in a good market because the buyer market is limited.

Edina to St. Paul really is NOT that bad of a commute-62 to 5 and over or even 62 to 110 to 35E and into St. Paul. It would be WAY better than coming from a Western Suburb. The problem is you are splitting the cities in half and one commute is going to be ok and the other not so good. No, you won't see hours long commutes anywhere, except during a bad snowfall at rush hour. A "bad" commute in the Twin Cities is anything over 30 minutes really.

Even though you don't need good schools, houses in good districts sell better then those in not so good districts. Edina would be one of the more convenient commutes. Mahtomedi (especially a home on the lake) would be another place to consider. North Oaks would be another place I would look into.

If you are working at a hospital, will your hours be off hours (not during rush hour-so being at work before 8:00 or after 9;00 in the morning)? If so, 20 minutes from Edina to Robbinsdale is MORE than reasonable-or from Mahtomedi or North Oaks for that matter.
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Old 01-02-2011, 06:10 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
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Originally Posted by efex101 View Post
Are the neighborhoods sorrounding these nice? do not want to buy a nice home and then two streets down smack in less than desirable area....
These are extremely affluent and very safe areas if you're asking about Kenwood, East Isles and the city lakes. You can also walk down to Isles and there are extensive walking and bike paths that lead from it around Lake Calhoun and then Lake Harriet to the south, and around part of Cedar Lake to the west. The path to Cedar also happens to cross the main west to east bicycle commuter corridor, which you could take into downtown or the other direction all the way out past Lake Minnetonka (not kidding). From the south of Harriet, you can cross 50th and hook up with the paths along Minnehaha Creek, which you can take East to Lake Nokomis and points beyond. This, in turn, hooks up with the river bike paths, which loop back into downtown where you can hook up with the commuter trail, which again spits you out just west of Isles. There are dozens of miles of trails that all interconnect, and all are absolutely safe, not to mention usually fairly busy. Throngs of people in summer, where Isles and Cedar are quieter than the bigger lakes.

There are no neighborhoods that are even borderline that are within a long way of that area. Certainly not walking distance.
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Old 01-02-2011, 06:16 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
333 posts, read 704,843 times
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Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
Edina to St. Paul really is NOT that bad of a commute-62 to 5 and over or even 62 to 110 to 35E and into St. Paul. It would be WAY better than coming from a Western Suburb. The problem is you are splitting the cities in half and one commute is going to be ok and the other not so good. No, you won't see hours long commutes anywhere, except during a bad snowfall at rush hour. A "bad" commute in the Twin Cities is anything over 30 minutes really.
Just to reiterate what I stated earlier, the commute from Edina toward St. Paul or past downtown Minneapolis is going to be much worse in one direction than in the other unless you're commuting odd hours. 62 east is always wide open now that the junction with 35 has been redone, but the 35w/62w hookup still clogs up badly from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00.

It would be a bad traffic day if it took you 30 minutes to get to downtown St. Paul from Edina in the morning, but it would be a pretty good one if you managed to get home in that amount of time.
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Old 01-02-2011, 06:17 PM
 
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My hours at the hospital will for sure be "off hours" so should not be bogged down by traffic. Same for my husband for the most part. I have looked at homes online at North Oaks, Mahtomedi. Have not truly looked in the areas mentioned above due to the "smaller lots". I guess we need to decide IF we would like to live in the actual city or maybe a suburb. I would be happy either way, my husband whom likes to fish/hunt and some privacy probably not so much in the city. I do see that there are larger lots in North Oaks....
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