need to narrow down suburbs for new home search (Minneapolis: sale, good schools)

[northsub]

Originally Posted by danielle_pal

good morning, thanks all for your thoughts. I would like the commute to be around 20 minutes or less. I like golden valley and edina for location but we can't afford the homes. Eden prairie and Minnetonka will give us more of the home but a less desirable commute. I need to look into the northern areas like dellwood and montevideo. Am I missing anywhere else?

I doubt you can do 20 minutes to the U during rush hour from anywhere that's not Roseville, Arden Hills, Shoreview, St. Anthony, New Brighton, etc. Maybe Mendota Heights or Golden Valley if there is some kind of back way (394 and 94 will have traffic, particularly the stretch just south of downtown Minneapolis). Maybe Little Canada (but 36 will have some traffic). I'll reiterate that there are listed houses that fit your goals: there's one in St. Anthony and one in New Brighton (but built in 1972, which may or may not be "modern"). If you drop down to 3800 sq ft you pick up a couple of houses in Roseville, a house in Arden Hills, and another house in St. Anthony.

If you look at sold houses there's also half a dozen in the Innsbruck area of New Brighton/Fridley/Columbia Heights (more or less 694 and Silver Lake).

If you're really lucky you *might* be able to hit the southern parts of Mahtomedi in 20 minutes. Forget about Dellwood. There's nothing listed in either that fits your criteria anyway (well, one in Mahtomedi at 3800 sq ft).

In short, I'd look at Roseville, Arden Hills, Shoreview, St. Anthony, New Brighton, Little Canada, Golden Valley, Mendota Heights. Or, possibly decide to relax the commute restriction a bit (10 more minutes would open up a lot more possiblities).

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by northsub

I doubt you can do 20 minutes to the U during rush hour from anywhere that's not Roseville, Arden Hills, Shoreview, St. Anthony, New Brighton, etc. Maybe Mendota Heights or Golden Valley if there is some kind of back way (394 and 94 will have traffic, particularly the stretch just south of downtown Minneapolis). Maybe Little Canada (but 36 will have some traffic). I'll reiterate that there are listed houses that fit your goals: there's one in St. Anthony and one in New Brighton (but built in 1972, which may or may not be "modern"). If you drop down to 3800 sq ft you pick up a couple of houses in Roseville, a house in Arden Hills, and another house in St. Anthony.

If you look at sold houses there's also half a dozen in the Innsbruck area of New Brighton/Fridley/Columbia Heights (more or less 694 and Silver Lake).

If you're really lucky you *might* be able to hit the southern parts of Mahtomedi in 20 minutes. Forget about Dellwood. There's nothing listed in either that fits your criteria anyway (well, one in Mahtomedi at 3800 sq ft).

In short, I'd look at Roseville, Arden Hills, Shoreview, St. Anthony, New Brighton, Little Canada, Golden Valley, Mendota Heights. Or, possibly decide to relax the commute restriction a bit (10 more minutes would open up a lot more possiblities).

20 minutes is more than doable from Mahtomedi and Eagan. Takes me 30 minutes from Rosemount to the U in rush hour with every road under construction...these suburbs just are not that far away from the U--especially if you can leave 15 minutes before "major" rush hour starts at 7:30...

The problem with most of your suggestions are schools. Mounds View and Mendota Heights are fine but Little Canada-nope, Golden Valley-depends, Roseville is going downhill fast...

[Gibby3000]

One area not mentioned is North Oaks. Nice community, lots of large homes around 600K, large private lots and much of it is in the Moundsview school district. Though many homes are older many have also been updated so qualify as modern even if not new. Twelve miles from downtown St. Paul and easy commute to the U.

[audadvnc]

North Oaks - that's the place that wouldn't let Prince move in because he was a Ne... erm, a rock star, right?

[northsub]

Originally Posted by golfgal

20 minutes is more than doable from Mahtomedi and Eagan. Takes me 30 minutes from Rosemount to the U in rush hour with every road under construction...these suburbs just are not that far away from the U--especially if you can leave 15 minutes before "major" rush hour starts at 7:30...

If you are able to maintain the speed limt and hit zero stoplights and stop signs you can make it from the closest possible house in Mahtomedi to the closest parking ramp on the East Bank in about 19 minutes and 50 seconds. Of course, that means you'd have to make it through 11 stoplights on the way in without hitting any of them. Maybe you hit 4 of them and lose a minute at each. Now you have to average 12 mph over the speed limit to make your 20 minute goal. Nevermind that you'll likely run into traffic on 36, 35E, and 694 (maybe not bad, but if you lose a minute more you'd need to start averaging 20 mph over the speed limit). So, maybe if you're extremely lucky and can find the house as close as possible to the freeway and you are heading to a spot at the U that is absolutely as close as possible, then you can make it in from Mahtomedi in 20 minutes.

I'd guess you'd find similar commute issues from North Oaks and Eagan as well.

Of course, you may decide a 25 or 30 minute commute is worth it. If so, I'd look in Vadnais Heights as well (and maybe Lino Lakes, Blaine, the northern parts of Shoreview).

[northsub]

Originally Posted by golfgal

2
The problem with most of your suggestions are schools. Mounds View and Mendota Heights are fine but Little Canada-nope, Golden Valley-depends, Roseville is going downhill fast...

First the problem was the housing stock, now it's the schools?

Roseville numbers-wise looks to be a bit better than West St. Paul/Mendota Heights/Eagan. Math proficiency in Roseville has been better than Mendota Heights by 4% in 2005, 6% in 2006, 7% in 2007, 6% in 2008, 7% in 2009, 5% in 2010. Doesn't seem to be going "downhill fast" to me. I'm sure the parents of the pair(!) of Rhodes Scholars from that high school would be likely to agree.

Little Canada is almost all in the Roseville district (with a small part in White Bear Lake). A part of Roseville is in the Mounds View district. St. Anthony looks stronger than Mendota Heights (and Roseville for that matter).

You can find school district boundaries here:
http://www.commissions.leg.state.mn....9-10_noleg.pdf

Here's some test score results (probably not the whole story, but at least it's objective):
2010 Minnesota school test scores

[danielle_pal]

St. Anthony is sounding better and better Thanks all. Any help is appreciated. I just wish there were more homes for sale that fit my criteria. Maybe in a few months someone will drop their price or try to sell.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by danielle_pal

St. Anthony is sounding better and better Thanks all. Any help is appreciated. I just wish there were more homes for sale that fit my criteria. Maybe in a few months someone will drop their price or try to sell.

Best of luck in your search. Seems possible that you'll end up having to choose a trade-off between a slightly smaller house or a slightly longer commute, but who know what will pop up!

[Gibby3000]

No one "lets" people move into North Oaks. You buy a house there just like any where else. Rumors abound though among those who don't live there.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I've driven from Eagan to the U for evening class and it'll average closer to 30 minutes when you consider parking. There really isn't a great route to take between the two locations either. Coming from somewhere like Roseville would be alot more convenient in my opinion.