My feelings about Minneapolis-St Paul! (St. Paul, Eagan: real estate, renters, condo)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by lukeache

I graduated from a high school in Texas and honestly, I do not think that I would have turned out much better if I went to a high school here in Minnesota. One thing they value in Texas is respect and we used to address teachers at my high school as "Sir" and "Ma'am". My fiance's son goes to Eastview and I am shocked by how rude and disrespectful these "upscale" kids are. Going to Eastview certainly did not get him into any Ivy League school, Eastview made him into a shallow and materialistic kid obssessed with money at 18 years old. Very disturbing.





I have tried to convince my fiance to move to St Paul, but she finds it "ghetto". Maybe we are spoiled by living in Eagan for all these years, but I totally understand what she means. Just dealing with Ramsey County or Hennepin County can be a hassle. It seems like as soon as you cross into city boundaries, everything changes. I go to some of the St Paul/Minneapolis parks and they dont take good care of their parks, also, everything is shadier in St Paul, I went to a SA last night and they ask you to prepay, that kind of stuff you never deal with living in this part of Eagan. Maybe we are spoiled and I dont know if that is a good or bad thing.!Anyways, we will see what happens!

A school cannot make you into a shallow, disrespectful person, sorry that happens at home. If your step-son to be acts like that, mom/dad need to deal with that, not a school. Yes, there are some very well off kids at Eastview and yes, there are some kids there that have a huge entitlement issue, however, it is not the SCHOOL that causes that.

There are plenty of states, entire STATES, that make you prepay for gas--or they don't let you pump your own. Yes, there are parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul that are not as well kept as the suburbs but that certainly doesn't make it a ghetto. Have you looked at housing prices in St. Paul (Mac/Groveland, Highland Park, Summit Ave--very ghetto). Another thing about St. Paul, there may be some neighborhoods with less expensive housing, but the property taxes are very high making that house more expensive then a comparable house in Eagan.


Again, you get what you pay for. There is a reason Minnesota taxes are high and the top rated schools in the nation are a big reason for that. The funny thing is Money magazine puts out a rating of the overall tax burdens by state each year and the overall tax burden in Texas is only a little over 1% less then Minnesota (higher sales tax, sales tax on clothing, higher income tax?).

[stone21tg]

I have been reading this post, and I would STRONGLY advise anyone to NOT move to TX, I moved here from RENO, NV with my girlfriend and best friend who is originally is from TX..We are currently living in Dallas and are heading out as soon as our lease is up. Dallas and all of TX has been going down hill since Katrina, it sounds rude and racist but it is something that you can actually see living here. Since all the people lost their homes in New Orleans and moved here the people have a "ghetto" don't give a *@#$ attitude. Places like the famous Austin 6th st are also changing. It use to be that all of Austin was a nice place to live and now it is becoming only certain expensive places are ones in which you would want to live.

The culture you can see changing, as the malls start intigrating "ghetto" clothing in every shop you go into. With crowds like this you start to develop to distinct class groups, snobby-pertension group and trashy group...middle ground is hard to find in any of the major cities here in TX...

Don't be fooled by no income tax either, the state is going to get their money, just in other ways. Like housing taxes, they are outragous here, in some places you will be paying $1000-2000 a month in taxes. On top of DMV being overpriced and ridiculous...I would gladly pay income tax in any state that I live in then to get money raped everywhere else...

last to mention Traffic here in Dallas is by far the worst i have seen anywhere, be prepared to loose year of your life due to stress from waiting in traffic...on a general note ALL major cities in TX have some of the worst drivers I have ever seen on the road...

[lukeache]

Originally Posted by stone21tg

I have been reading this post, and I would STRONGLY advise anyone to NOT move to TX, I moved here from RENO, NV with my girlfriend and best friend who is originally is from TX..We are currently living in Dallas and are heading out as soon as our lease is up. Dallas and all of TX has been going down hill since Katrina, it sounds rude and racist but it is something that you can actually see living here. Since all the people lost their homes in New Orleans and moved here the people have a "ghetto" don't give a *@#$ attitude. Places like the famous Austin 6th st are also changing. It use to be that all of Austin was a nice place to live and now it is becoming only certain expensive places are ones in which you would want to live.

The culture you can see changing, as the malls start intigrating "ghetto" clothing in every shop you go into. With crowds like this you start to develop to distinct class groups, snobby-pertension group and trashy group...middle ground is hard to find in any of the major cities here in TX...

Don't be fooled by no income tax either, the state is going to get their money, just in other ways. Like housing taxes, they are outragous here, in some places you will be paying $1000-2000 a month in taxes. On top of DMV being overpriced and ridiculous...I would gladly pay income tax in any state that I live in then to get money raped everywhere else...

last to mention Traffic here in Dallas is by far the worst i have seen anywhere, be prepared to loose year of your life due to stress from waiting in traffic...on a general note ALL major cities in TX have some of the worst drivers I have ever seen on the road...

Well, I have lived in Texas before and YES, Dallas has absorbed a lot of the undesirables from Katrina. I was just there 2 weeks ago and you can see them downtown Dallas, however, they are mostly concentrated in the "ghetto" areas of Dallas(NE Dallas, Oak Cliff etc) I dont think you would deal with a lot of these people if you lived in Richardson or Plano. Minneapolis also absorbs a lot of the ghetto trash from Chicago. The North Side of this city is a wasteland, nothing but murder, drugs and chaos and so many undesirables from Illinois come here for the benefits. I agree, it is hard to find a place like Minnesota, but sometimes I wonder where our tax money is going (especially after the 35W bridge incident). I guess, I have to consider this carefully..but Texas is not that bad.

[awsun1980]

I agree with stone! I was born & raised in Minnesota, moved to Texas when I was 21 & have currently been living in Colorado for a year now. Don't miss Texas for anything! Hate to sound racist, too, but too many minorities there as the apt I lived in right before I moved in north Dallas was a s**hole. People there are not friendly contrary to what you hear about the South---especially if you are from the Midwest like me! Only thing I liked was the low cost of living. But you get what you pay for, right?

Minnesota to me was too boring, too small, no opportunity so I went elsewhere. I really like Colorado, beautiful mountains, great weather, etc--but you pay the price--it's not cheap to live here. I just came back from a Labor Day trip weekend back home in MN. Love Colorado, but as I've matured quite a bit, get kinda homesick for MN now & then--miss my mom

Good luck to you, lukeache--but whatever you do, don't move to Texas!!

[kuan]

Originally Posted by new-to-CO

I agree with stone! I was born & raised in Minnesota, moved to Texas when I was 21 & have currently been living in Colorado for a year now. Don't miss Texas for anything! Hate to sound racist, too, but too many minorities there as the apt I lived in right before I moved in north Dallas was a s**hole. People there are not friendly contrary to what you hear about the South---especially if you are from the Midwest like me! Only thing I liked was the low cost of living. But you get what you pay for, right?

But you sound racist. Just say you didn't fit in. That's like when people say "no offense but." Yeah right, you knew you were being offensive.

[mudmuffin]

I really hate to tell you this but Eagan is considered part of St. Paul.

As for St. Paul being ghetto, think again. You won't find many homes in the Mac-Groveland area for under 300k and you won't find anything on Summit for under 500k. Yep, definitely ghetto.

The difference between Mpls and St. Paul is this...."Mpls is like a margharita (? sp) after a Kicks game and St. Paul is like a beer after mowing the lawn". I think Jim Klobechar (? sp) said that back in the 70's.

And by the way, you didn't have to tell me you weren't originally from the area. I could tell by the city you're living in and the order your put Mpls and St. Paul.

[music7lover]

Originally Posted by golfgal

There are plenty of states, entire STATES, that make you prepay for gas--or they don't let you pump your own. Yes, there are parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul that are not as well kept as the suburbs but that certainly doesn't make it a ghetto. Have you looked at housing prices in St. Paul (Mac/Groveland, Highland Park, Summit Ave--very ghetto). Another thing about St. Paul, there may be some neighborhoods with less expensive housing, but the property taxes are very high making that house more expensive then a comparable house in Eagan.

Mac/Groveland, Highland Park, Summit = ghetto???.. What kind of rubbish statement is this?.. Highland Park around the village is paradise. Very quiet and little crime. I lived there for 5 years and loved it. A very desirable neighborhood but many can't afford to buy a house there. I rented an apartment there, by the way.

[K-Luv]

The comment about no income tax in Texas-you still pay FEDERAL income tax, just not state, and because of that, the state collects that share through other taxes.

As to ghetto St Pual....Frog Town, pretty ghetto in spots, North St. Paul, ghetto as well in places. West St. Paul has it's shady areas. University between Snelling and downtown St. Paul is shady as well.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by music7lover

Mac/Groveland, Highland Park, Summit = ghetto???.. What kind of rubbish statement is this?.. Highland Park around the village is paradise. Very quiet and little crime. I lived there for 5 years and loved it. A very desirable neighborhood but many can't afford to buy a house there. I rented an apartment there, by the way.

Sarcasm--see the OP's opinion of St. Paul.

[lukeache]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

The comment about no income tax in Texas-you still pay FEDERAL income tax, just not state, and because of that, the state collects that share through other taxes.

There was a year, I believe it was 2004, where I only worked 9 months out of the year, when I actually did my state tax return here, I actually owed the state tax! I was in shock, how the hell can you work 3 quarters out of the year and owe the state tax!! The tax burden here is unbelievable!!