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Oh. I guess I SHOULD have been offended. If you had read my post I was very specifically trying to figure out what they meant by "suburban." I'm not suggesting that this family look into downtown or a very urban area (since that would not be "suburban" by any understanding), but there are very traditional-feeling "suburban" neighborhoods in the city (like Linden Hills) that could fit the bill. I know you've lived in other places, but have you lived in other metro areas? If so (depending on the city, of course), you know what I'm talking about. It's not as though things change when you cross France from Linden Hills into Edina. Using municipal boundaries as an arbitrary cut-off is going to limit a lot of choices. I think many people would visit Southwest Minneapolis and consider it sufficiently suburban, and if you can get what you want close to work, why take on a much longer commute just because of some outdated (and not accurate for the Twin Cities) view of what is suburban and what is urban? Or which offer better schools, or any other city/suburban stereotype that doesn't work here? I just didn't want them to accidentally cut off some potentially very good options from their list because they assumed that the Twin Cities were like other metro areas, in which many middle- or upper-class families leave for the suburbs to get good schools, greenery, quiet streets, and backyards. We don't need to do that here, since you can find neighborhoods with all of that (and within their budget) right here in the city, so if those type of "suburban" neighborhoods are what they're after, they could get it close-in and save themselves commuting time. They can even find new, or relatively new, construction and attached garages in the city at their price point, although admittedly the lots aren't going to be massive; big enough for a yard (front and back), though, and perhaps balanced out by proximity to multiple lakes, parks, and trails, and of course many of the inner suburbs don't have huge lots, either.
If, however, the poster means "suburban" as in McMansions and subdivisions, then no, they're not going to find that in the city (and no one would suggest it). But as you yourself like to point out, not all of the Twin Cities suburbs fit that stereotype, either, so we'll want to help them to identify the ones that do. We're all here to help these posters find an area that fits what they want, but they'll get more useful responses if they can narrow it down a bit. They should be happy to know that unlike many big cities, they will have a LOT of options. I don't think most people here are trying to fan the flames of some artificial "us" versus "them" city/suburban split. We're just trying to help these posters find something that they like, and do it fast! As the other threads on this forum seem to indicate, finding the right location can make all the difference between loving and hating life in the Twin Cities.
To the OP: do you have any favorite suburbs or neighborhoods from Atlanta or Chicago (or any other city) that you can list? That might help. Or if you can tell us how big a lot, what kind of house (brand new? historic? not important?) you like, and any other kind of details, we will try to get you a more useful list. Your budget is high enough that you can pretty much go anywhere, so you'll have your choice of new builder home in a subdivision, beautiful historic home near a lake or on Minnehaha Creek, or all points in-between.
Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 01-28-2011 at 11:21 AM..
Because every time someone comes on here and wants to live in the city and someone suggests a suburb we get BLASTED by the city folk, which we point out, and you "city folk" always claim you never post about living in the city when someone posts about wanting to live in the suburbs. Just pointing that out this time.
I think you're trying too hard to read between the lines of an honest post being made by someone who was very respectfully offering her perspective. It isn't like she said "why would you want to live in the suburbs, the suburbs suck!" She offered some other options that would be more in between the two work locations. From my experience in Chicagoland the Linden Hills area of Minneapolis does appear like some of the more upscale older inner suburbs of Chicago...so discussing that neighborhood given the limited information from the OP's post it didn't appear like that much of a stretch to me. It's possible the OP isn't interested in looking in that area but it can't do the OP any harm in offering some info about the area just in case it fits what the OP is looking for.
Last edited by Cruz Azul Guy; 01-28-2011 at 10:30 AM..
I think you're trying too hard to read between the lines of an honest post being made by someone who was very respectfully offering her perspective. It isn't like she said "why would you want to live in the suburbs, the suburbs suck!" She offered some other options that would be more in between the two work locations. From my experience in Chicagoland the Linden Hills area of Minneapolis does appear like some of the more upscale older inner suburbs of Chicago...so it doesn't really appear like that much of a stretch to me. It's possible the poster isn't interested in looking in that area but it can't do the OP any harm in offering some info about the area just in case it fits what the OP is looking for.
Besides the fact that if someone likes Edina, which by all accounts is a desirable place to live, what exactly is there not to like about Linden Hills? I worked with a girl who lived in both Edina and Linden Hills while growing up, and she didn't even know where one ended and the other started.
I worked in Linden Hills for a while, and I'm not even sure what the exact border is.
I've read quite a number of posts where people in the suburbs insisted that anyone who would raise children in the city is some sort of monster. I've seen at least as much blasting coming from suburbanites toward the city.
Besides the fact that if someone likes Edina, which by all accounts is a desirable place to live, what exactly is there not to like about Linden Hills? I worked with a girl who lived in both Edina and Linden Hills while growing up, and she didn't even know where one ended and the other started.
I worked in Linden Hills for a while, and I'm not even sure what the exact border is.
In that part of Edina the border is along France; west of France I think it's along Morningside or maybe 44th (that border would be to St. Louis Park).
Then again, that part of Edina would not appeal to someone looking for a more modern suburbia, either. Like Linden Hills, it has mostly older, historic (but very nice) homes. Also like Linden Hills, it costs a fortune! They can find something nice in their budget, though. The Morningside and the Country Club neighborhoods are in that part of Edina. Morningside is very nice, and would be good for kids. I prefer Linden Hills because there are more things within the immediate business area (and because of proximity to Lake Harriet), but Morningside is a pleasant walk or fast bike/car ride from the shops in Linden Hills, as well as is very convenient to everything at 50th and France. And now the Linden Hills Co-op is right there at the Edina/Minneapolis intersection, which I think will blur boundaries even more.
I do think property taxes are lower in Edina, though, which may be something to consider.
Other parts of Edina range from big, newer houses on more stereotypical curving suburban streets to smaller post-war houses. It's more of a "transitional" suburb (NOT in terms of safety; it's all safe!), but in that it has everything from the more older streetcar suburb options (Morningside/50th and France) to post-war suburban to new McMansion options (and even some more "urban" developments in areas, but presumably that is not what the OP is looking for). It has a bit of everything.
Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 01-28-2011 at 11:22 AM..
A lot of people on this forum are familiar with Chicago. What neighborhood did you like there? That might help us know what you like, and therefore what to recommend. There are so many great places to live in the Minneapolis area that fit your location and price guidelines.
Thanks everyone to the responses! I'll try to get to all the questions.
We're certainly not against moving into the city, but I heard somewhere that the public schools aren't so great? Correct me if I'm wrong about that though. We're from Hyde Park of Chicago originally, so we're city-folk at heart.
We're not looking for cookie-cutter suburbia at all. We're into older houses or at least something with charm. Not the neighborhoods where everything looks the exact same.
We'd rather not have too long of a commute, so maybe 30-40 minutes max.
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Coming from the East Cobb area around Indian Hills, just guessing from your profile? Regardless, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the options that will be available to you in the Twin Cities.
The schools in the metro are almost all good (I'd even stack several against Walton, I think, particularly Edina High School, but most of the school districts in the western and SW suburbs tend to be very good in general), and your budget will open up all sorts of possibilities in Minneapolis proper, in areas around Lake Minnetonka, and probably almost anywhere.
Other people have already suggested places. I personally don't think you can go wrong. You don't see the bad areas up there that you find down here in Atlanta, not really...
We're closer to the river than Indian Hills, but yes, that general area. Thanks for the info about the schools. It's one of our top priorities.
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A lot of people on this forum are familiar with Chicago. What neighborhood did you like there? That might help us know what you like, and therefore what to recommend. There are so many great places to live in the Minneapolis area that fit your location and price guidelines.
We're were mainly looking into Barrington Hills because we could get horses again, but if that means too long of a drive in Minneapolis were certainly willing to pass on it. Even though Barrington was far out, we would be able to just hop on the Metra, but we're not really wanting to drive an hour.
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To the OP: do you have any favorite suburbs or neighborhoods from Atlanta or Chicago (or any other city) that you can list? That might help. Or if you can tell us how big a lot, what kind of house (brand new? historic? not important?) you like, and any other kind of details, we will try to get you a more useful list. Your budget is high enough that you can pretty much go anywhere, so you'll have your choice of new builder home in a subdivision, beautiful historic home near a lake or on Minnehaha Creek, or all points in-between.
Any lot with enough room for three kids to run in will be big enough for us. We're looking more towards the historic side of the housing spectrum. In Chicago, we liked pretty much all of them on the North Shore like Lake Bluff, Evanston, Wilmette, etc. but also some of the more family friendly neighborhoods in Chicago like Hyde Park (my home), Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, etc. In Atlanta, we really haven't found exactly what we're looking for, but we live in East Cobb near the Chattahoochee where there's some older houses.
If you're city people, you almost certainly will prefer the city, or perhaps a few of the inner-ring suburbs. You can't go wrong with the public schools in Southwest Minneapolis -- they are some of the best around. Southwest High School was named the best public high school in the state by Newsweek, and offers a very popular IB program. If we end up staying here I'm hoping to have our son go to Armatage Elementary, which is also in SW; the parents in our neighborhood have only positive things to say about it. There are good schools in other parts of Minneapolis, too, I'm just not as familiar with them. The school situation is one of the best things about Minneapolis. Not all schools are good, of course, but the good ones are very, very good. Another benefit (compared to Chicago): if you want a magnet (Armatage is now officially a Montessori magnet, for example) your odds are pretty good that you'll get it. Not guaranteed, of course, but much, much better than the odds in Chicago. And since so many of the neighborhood schools in SW are so good there's not the rush to go private or go for a magnet, at least not because the only local option is undesirable. You also don't find that stress about "should we move or stay here?" that you find in other cities among parents of young children, and in fact many of the people I've met through parent groups and the like are actually people who have moved into the area from the suburbs.
Given what you've said so far, I'd definitely zero in on neighborhoods like Linden Hills. If you want a bit more urban then check out parts of Uptown, including neighborhoods like East Isles and ECCO. Both of those areas have beautiful historic houses, are next to lakes, and have lots of parks and are adjacent to the lakes. Linden Hills is more classically family-oriented, and has a great small commercial district, complete with kid-friendly staples like a huge toy store, the Wild Rumpus children's bookstore (one of the best in the country!), ice cream shop, bakery, etc. The Linden Hills park is very nice, there's a library, Lake Harriet is right there (complete with bandstand with free concerts in the summer, and a seasonal historic trolley). The biggest downside to Linden Hills is price, but for $900k you can get a great place. Maybe not directly facing Lake Harriet, but close.
You won't be able to get horses in Minneapolis, though; not sure of how far out you'd have to do to get that. Unfortunately our commuter rail system is extremely limited at the moment, but there are some express buses farther out, and the Northstar Line does head north quite a ways.
I just thought of some more more horse-related items. One of our old Uptown neighbors used to own a horse, and stabled it somewhere that wasn't too far out (I think out past Lake Minnetonka somewhere?). I don't know if that's something you need or want, but that's one option. It's also worth knowing about one of the area's best saddle shops, located near Uptown, on Lake Street: Schatzlein Saddle: Minneapolis Western English Apparel Riding Horse Tack Saddle Shop, Boot Retailer Minnesota Their customers come from all over the metro area, so they could probably point you in the direction of some good area stables with boarding, or convenient suburbs that allow horses, "convenient" still most likely meaning an hour's drive at rush hour, though.
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