Moving to St. Paul need advice (Minneapolis, Edina: environment, real estate, apartments)

[Minnehahapolitan]

I would look into the Highland Park and Mac-Groveland areas of Saint Paul proper. For suburbs, I would look at Falcon Heights/Roseville, City of South Saint Paul. Saint Paul schools are OK in those areas, and the suburban schools are all very good here.
Highland, Mac and SSP were all built in the 1920's. Highland and Mac are wealthy areas of the city and are home to great shops and a couple liberal arts colleges. The area is safe, kid-friendly and well maintained. You are close to the Mississippi and various trails and city amenities. South Saint Paul was the meat-packing district of the Cities. It still has a no-frills, blue-collar vibe. There is a small commercial district. Roseville is the a mid-century suburb. You can take freeways and sidestreets into the city, schools are good, there is alot of suburban commercial in the Rosedale and Har-Mar area. A nice housing stock, IMO.

[punkerdunker]

Originally Posted by golfgal

The atmosphere in which a child is immersed in a classroom has a GREAT effect on their learning. When kids have to pass through metal detectors to get into middle school and there are regular fights in the hallways and classrooms, then it DOES effect other students. I have relatives in the St. Paul public schools and these things go on all the time--at Highland Middle School no less. There are other incidences of which I have personal experience at other St. Paul public schools that just are not conducive to a positive learning environment. Since your 2 year old has spent a lot of time in the middle schools and high schools in the St. Paul disticts you obviously have a lot of experience in this area. I also spent quite a bit of time in a few of the elementary schools in the St. Paul public schools with my aunt, a 40 year veteran teacher in the St. Paul public schools and there is simply NO comparison to the environment in the inner city schools to that in the suburban schools.

Stillwater to United Hospital is 15-20 minutes.

My opinion of St. Paul public schools is not informed by my 2 yr. old, but by my own experience as a student in the district from 3rd grade through high school. I guess I should have clarified that.

At least you explained your dissatisfaction. I guess I dissagree with the impact that seeing a hallway fight has on one's ability to engage in their studies in the classroom. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but you should understand that when you constantly dismiss ALL St. Paul's public schools "as not as good as the suburban ones" without feeling inclined to explain it, you sound extremely arrogant.

The distance from St. Paul to Stillwater is 21 miles. If you drive 65 miles an hour with no traffic it can be done in 20 minutes. This is not likely during rushour down hwy 36. Unless you are on crack

[pumkin]

Thanks again. From a commuting standpoint it looks like Highland Park and Mac-Groveland may be best.

We're looking for a home/townhome to rent for a year -- any reccomendations?

I came accross one place, "River Crossing" on Graham Ave., does anyone know of it? They rent townhomes.

Thanks.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by punkerdunker

My opinion of St. Paul public schools is not informed by my 2 yr. old, but by my own experience as a student in the district from 3rd grade through high school. I guess I should have clarified that.

At least you explained your dissatisfaction. I guess I dissagree with the impact that seeing a hallway fight has on one's ability to engage in their studies in the classroom. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but you should understand that when you constantly dismiss ALL St. Paul's public schools "as not as good as the suburban ones" without feeling inclined to explain it, you sound extremely arrogant.

The distance from St. Paul to Stillwater is 21 miles. If you drive 65 miles an hour with no traffic it can be done in 20 minutes. This is not likely during rushour down hwy 36. Unless you are on crack

Considering the speed limit on 36 is 65 MPH and traffic along 494 runs at about 70 MPH, getting to United Hospital in 15-20 minutes is quite easy, especially working hospital shift hours.

As for the schools, since you have no experience with the suburban schools how can you say I am arrogant when you have nothing to compare. Highland Park is considered the "best" St. Paul school yet the gang issues and other problems they have there are non-existent in the suburban schools. Look at the test scores, look at the school report cards, look at all the available information and tell me as a whole the St. Paul or Minneapolis schools perform at the level of the suburban schools. It just doesn't happen. It has nothing to do with the teachers and everything to do with the overall importance put on education by the majority of the families attending those schools. Yes, there are plenty of bright students that do very well in the schools but they are in the minority.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by pumkin

Thanks again. From a commuting standpoint it looks like Highland Park and Mac-Groveland may be best.

We're looking for a home/townhome to rent for a year -- any reccomendations?

I came accross one place, "River Crossing" on Graham Ave., does anyone know of it? They rent townhomes.

Thanks.

Other then it is in the flight path of one of the major runways from the airport, the location is convienent. It isn't a family friendly area really, it is a pretty commercial/industrial area with a lot of traffic.

[AVguy]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Other then it is in the flight path of one of the major runways from the airport, the location is convienent. It isn't a family friendly area really, it is a pretty commercial/industrial area with a lot of traffic.

This is only true for the next two years. Generally, the northeast-to-southwest runway (Runway 4/22) is only operational when one of the other three runways is being repaired or updated. After 2008, Highland Park and Mac-Groveland will be out of the direct flight paths.

[punkerdunker]

Originally Posted by pumkin

Thanks again. From a commuting standpoint it looks like Highland Park and Mac-Groveland may be best.

We're looking for a home/townhome to rent for a year -- any reccomendations?

I came accross one place, "River Crossing" on Graham Ave., does anyone know of it? They rent townhomes.

Thanks.

Golfgal's right - convenient, but doesn't fit the definition of "family-friendly". Its a huge complex of apartments + condos, and I suspect most of the occupants are boomers and seniors. It really has no "neighborhood" around it - it's isolated and right next to a freeway entrance. Nearby Crosby park is a great place to excercise your dog, but thats the only real amenity within a quick walking distance. Well, that and Buca, but you probably don't need to live right next to a good restaurant to eat there. I'd keep looking.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by punkerdunker

Golfgal's right - convenient, but doesn't fit the definition of "family-friendly". Its a huge complex of apartments + condos, and I suspect most of the occupants are boomers and seniors. It really has no "neighborhood" around it - it's isolated and right next to a freeway entrance. Nearby Crosby park is a great place to excercise your dog, but thats the only real amenity within a quick walking distance. Well, that and Buca, but you probably don't need to live right next to a good restaurant to eat there. I'd keep looking.

It's a bit of a stretch to call that area Highland Park, anyway. It's actually part of the West 7th neighborhood. The old timers around there call it Homecroft, after the school at Edgecumb & Sheridan. I would look further north. There aren't any big complexes like River Crossing, but there are several smaller condo developments around, e.g., on Snelling Ave., Ford Parkway, Montreal Ave., Cleveland Ave.

I agree with punkerdunker re: schools. Many like to paint the city schools with a broad brush and point to test scores to "prove" how bad the schools are. But your child is just one, not a group, as test scores represent. If your child is a good student, St Paul public schools present great opportunities to learn. There are some great teachers in the public schools. But if he is prone to getting into trouble with the "wrong crowd", he would have plenty of opportunities for that. So depends on your kid. The third alternative is charter schools. They run the gamut form well run with incredible curriculums and faculty, to Yikes, you call this a school?? Choose wisely, it's easy to do if you go to them and watch the school in action.

[pumkin]

Thanks for the feedback, and we'll definately steer clear of the community -- we're definately looking for family friendly neighborhoods.

Since we're searching for a home or town home to rent for a year in St. Paul (we have a Lab, infant and toddler), we'd like to be close to parks, shopping and walking neighborhoods with sidewalks. And again a short commute to downtown St. Paul.

Any suggestions on search tools specific to the St. Paul area? I've looked on Craigs list but many of the listings are Mnpls or it's suburbs. Thanks again.

[Family of five]

I can heartily recommend Mac-Groveland in Saint Paul. We live here with our three young kids (5, 3 and 1) and I am stay-at-home mom. This is a fantastic neighborhood for families. We do ECFE at Highland Jr. High and love it, and I am also involved in our neighborhood MOMS Club with about 50 other moms. Mattocks Park is the nieghborhood park and is lovely. Schools are good, with a great Catholic School (Nativity) right in the center of the neighborhood. We can walk to groceries, library, park, trail along the Mississippi River, St. Catherine's campus with the duck pond and woods...we love it here.

Good luck!