Our scout trip to the TC's is set! SO fired up!! (Minneapolis: real estate, day care)

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by The Northerner

I welcome your opinion, because that's why I'm posting.......to get all angles on this thing, if you will. That said, this particular post seems to imply that there are no families of 5 living comfortably in decent neighborhoods on 80K a year in the entire MSP metropolitan region. Is that what you're saying? Because I find that pretty hard to believe. DC? Yes. San Fran? Yes. New York? Obviously. Minneapolis/St. Paul? Hmmmmm.....

Yeah, there are plenty of families living comfortably somewhere in the MSP metro on 80k/year, especially factoring daycare out. To think of it in perspective, 80k/year is a reasonable engineers salary, so a family with one working engineer and one stay-at-home parent would be in roughly the same fiscal situation as you, and I know several families who fall into that category.

Just look at the median household income for a few suburbs (per city data's database):

Maple Grove: $92,000
Plymouth: $82,000
Hopkins: $42,000
Roseville: $48,000

And none of those areas are considered at all unsafe.

That said, another way to narrow down areas is to consider how much you'd want to pay for a house, assuming you had the $80k income. Everyone has different tolerances for mortage-to-income ratios.

[golfgal]

Yes, you can live in the metro on 80K, I don't know that with a family of 5 that you would live "comfortably" but it can be done. The biggest challenge will be finding a place big enough to house everyone. If they are renting most communities require a 3 bedroom and because those are hard to find, they are expensive. It is highly unlikely they will find a place in Wayzata or Minnetonka on that salary unless they have a lot set aside for a down payment.

I would give Hastings serious consideration. It's a lovely older town that is pretty affordable for the metro area, easy commute into both St. Paul and Minneapolis but also to some of the smaller towns south of the metro that have hospitals, Hastings itself has a hospital but also places like Northfield. You would also be within 45 minutes or so of Rochester. Cannon Falls might be an option too, again, for access to Rochester and the Mayo system.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Yes, you can live in the metro on 80K, I don't know that with a family of 5 that you would live "comfortably" but it can be done. The biggest challenge will be finding a place big enough to house everyone. If they are renting most communities require a 3 bedroom and because those are hard to find, they are expensive. It is highly unlikely they will find a place in Wayzata or Minnetonka on that salary unless they have a lot set aside for a down payment.

I would give Hastings serious consideration. It's a lovely older town that is pretty affordable for the metro area, easy commute into both St. Paul and Minneapolis but also to some of the smaller towns south of the metro that have hospitals, Hastings itself has a hospital but also places like Northfield. You would also be within 45 minutes or so of Rochester. Cannon Falls might be an option too, again, for access to Rochester and the Mayo system.

My gut feeling - which may turn out to be completely wrong - has been that if we do move to Minnesota that we will wind up at least 30 minutes away from the MSP city centers. Places such as Northfield, Lonsdale, Buffalo, St. Michael, Forest Lake, Hugo, and Hastings seem like they fit our lifestyle and budget much more than places closer in. We know without question we can't afford Wayzata, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and the likes......and so we won't waste our time considering any of those spots.

Gotta admit the nuke plant near Hastings makes me a bit nervous......not sure if I could put that outta my head or not.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by The Northerner

My gut feeling - which may turn out to be completely wrong - has been that if we do move to Minnesota that we will wind up at least 30 minutes away from the MSP city centers. Places such as Northfield, Lonsdale, Buffalo, St. Michael, Forest Lake, Hugo, and Hastings seem like they fit our lifestyle and budget much more than places closer in. We know without question we can't afford Wayzata, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and the likes......and so we won't waste our time considering any of those spots.

Gotta admit the nuke plant near Hastings makes me a bit nervous......not sure if I could put that outta my head or not.

Hastings is closer to the city centers than the other towns on your list. There is a Nuke plant closer to Buffalo, St. Michael, , etc. (Montecello). I wouldn't call the Nuke plant "close" to Hastings at all really. It's almost an hour south of there.

Northfield is a fairly expensive town for it's location, mainly because of the colleges and higher then average salaries there. Still not as bad as Wayzata, etc.

Rosemount might be an option for you too. You could probably find a house under $250K, would need some updating but still very possible. It gets you closer, still small town feel, etc.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Hastings is closer to the city centers than the other towns on your list. There is a Nuke plant closer to Buffalo, St. Michael, , etc. (Montecello). I wouldn't call the Nuke plant "close" to Hastings at all really. It's almost an hour south of there.

Northfield is a fairly expensive town for it's location, mainly because of the colleges and higher then average salaries there. Still not as bad as Wayzata, etc.

What can anyone tell me about Lonsdale, down on the other side of I-35 from Northfield? Real eastate seems to be cheaper out that way according to the research I'm doing. Also looking at Faribault, a bit further down the road. That's about as far out as we'd consider going, unless we settled on Rochester.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Hastings is closer to the city centers than the other towns on your list. There is a Nuke plant closer to Buffalo, St. Michael, , etc. (Montecello). I wouldn't call the Nuke plant "close" to Hastings at all really. It's almost an hour south of there.

Northfield is a fairly expensive town for it's location, mainly because of the colleges and higher then average salaries there. Still not as bad as Wayzata, etc.

Rosemount might be an option for you too. You could probably find a house under $250K, would need some updating but still very possible. It gets you closer, still small town feel, etc.

Hastings to downtown St. Paul: 23 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 31 miles
Forest Lake to downtown St. Paul: 25 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 30 miles
Hugo to downtown St. Paul: 17 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 23 miles
St. Michael to downtown St. Paul: 41 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 30 miles
Buffalo to downtown St. Paul: 50 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 40 miles
Lonsdale to downtown St. Paul: 45 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 45 miles
Northfield to downtown St. Paul: 43 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 45 miles
Rosemount to downtown St. Paul: 19 miles, to downtown Minneapolis: 25 miles

[Ghengis]

go a bit further north than Forest Lake for the best value for your money in the metro, you can draw an arc from East Bethel/Isanti across thru Stacy/North Branch and on torwards Taylors Falls to the East. Stacy is 37 miles to downtown and the commute is much easier (30 to 35 minutes) than anything south of town that requires crossing the river.

btw, the Prairie Island Nuclear Plant is just a little more than 10 miles from Hastings.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by The Northerner

What can anyone tell me about Lonsdale, down on the other side of I-35 from Northfield? Real eastate seems to be cheaper out that way according to the research I'm doing. Also looking at Faribault, a bit further down the road. That's about as far out as we'd consider going, unless we settled on Rochester.

Lonsdale is kind of a nothing town. There is a downtown area but not much there. It's a place you pass through to get somewhere else, but given the proximity to 35, it's growing, slowly. Faribault is ok, not the best place to live, schools are ok, not great. Northfield would be a better choice. If you want smaller town, I would look at Elko-New Market, but again, not much there.

Also, have you actually looked at salaries here? By CT Scan tech do you mean you have a degree in nuclear medicine and run the machines or do you fix the machines? CT Techs/US techs in the metro area start at around $60,000 or so. A cosmetologist at an middle to upper end salon can make $40K or better.

New Prague might be a good fit too. Housing prices within range easily, small hospital in town but commuting distance to the metro (south metro) too.

[1stpontiac]

Probably obvious, but keep in mind that the attractiveness of any of these farther out towns and exburbs will depend HIGHLY on where in the metro you actually end up working. If you ended up down at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, or the new (I think its new?) Maple Grove Hospital, the Northfield and Elko New Market options would be pretty ugly. Similar deal with Forest Lake if you were to work at Tria in Burnsville. I know you said 45 min to the metro, but its possible to spend another 45 minutes crossing the metro.

Of course, I understand wanting to look for an area you think you would like to live and then prioritizing your job search around there.

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by The Northerner

I welcome your opinion, because that's why I'm posting.......to get all angles on this thing, if you will. That said, this particular post seems to imply that there are no families of 5 living comfortably in decent neighborhoods on 80K a year in the entire MSP metropolitan region. Is that what you're saying? Because I find that pretty hard to believe. DC? Yes. San Fran? Yes. New York? Obviously. Minneapolis/St. Paul? Hmmmmm.....

So do I because it's not true.

You can find what you're looking for if you weigh the advice of the other posters, do your homework and trust your your own judgment. You're going about it the right way, just follow through and please keep us updated. I'm looking to make the same move and will be following your progress.

Happy hunting.