Our scout trip to the TC's is set! SO fired up!! (Minneapolis: schools, living)

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

THere are some interesting replies on here considerrring the quality of life in E./C. Bloomington, the commute to Long Lake (which you never actually did answer, by the way), and the commutes to New Brighton, et.al. Also, I don't doubt that OP could find a good house/good school in Hastings - but he would again have to sacrifice the commute. So basically, you have one opinion (mine) saying that these places are unacceptable based upon commute/quality of life, and other opinons saying the opposite. OP is going to have to make that decision for himself.

Who knows - perhaps living in the home-town of your favorite football team and the creator of your favorite newspaper comic strip will be enough. When he gets here, he may change his mind. I suppose that when you're happy, it's hard to tell yourself that your kids aren't in good schools or that you live more than an hour away from your job (during rush hour in winter). Maybe the allure of the TC is just so great that it overshadows doing the logical thing - waiting until your expenses are more stable before moving.

All I can say is that OP came here to find out info about which areas had good schools, and affordable housing large enough for 5 at a place that wasn't too far away from downtown. All of this was to be had at a budget of $80k with the possibility of 3 kids daycare expense. I came here with a similar plan, and what I heard on this forum was quite misleading in some ways. Now, I'm passing that viewpoint on with the very real expectation that OP will run into the same challenges.

Evidentally, however, OP didn't come here to hear about reality - he came here to fortify his myopian views of life in the Twin Cities under those constraints. Whatever. Hope you're happy when you discover that the standards that your kids' school uses are substantially below the standards in most other districts, or when you realize that you increase your work day 25% because of your commute to Long Lake in the dead of winter, or when your family has to cram into a two bedroom apartment because that's the only thing you could find close to work and with good schools. Perhaps when you realize that simply waiting another five years would have allowed you to find exactly what you are looking for, you will look back and understand what I'm trying to tell you.

Keep us all posted - I'll be interested to see how this shakes out.

I'm sorry things haven't worked out for you there as you had hoped. You are obviously very bitter about it. It's not my fault, so please go and find another release for your anger. The Vikings/Peanuts story was just a feel good thing that I'd thought I'd share, but of course you had to use it as ammo against me. I found a place I like very much and want to seriously consider raising my family in, and it just flat out pisses you off, for God knows what reason.

I guess it might be time for golfgal to close the thread. I was willing to listen to you, but your insistent arrogance has pretty much ruined it. I'll start another one to reflect on our visit in a few weeks.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

THere are some interesting replies on here considerrring the quality of life in E./C. Bloomington, the commute to Long Lake (which you never actually did answer, by the way), and the commutes to New Brighton, et.al. Also, I don't doubt that OP could find a good house/good school in Hastings - but he would again have to sacrifice the commute. So basically, you have one opinion (mine) saying that these places are unacceptable based upon commute/quality of life, and other opinons saying the opposite. OP is going to have to make that decision for himself.

Google Maps says the center-to-center distance between Long Lake and Minneapolis is 16.4 miles and the commute time is 23 minutes. I would trust the former to be quite accurate, but possibly not the latter.

It's literally a straight shot highway/freeway commute, since Long Lake is located on US Highway 12, and I-394 literally replaced US12 through Golden Valley and on to Minneapolis.

[nrogers1122]

Originally Posted by The Northerner

I'm sorry things haven't worked out for you there as you had hoped. You are obviously very bitter about it. It's not my fault, so please go and find another release for your anger. The Vikings/Peanuts story was just a feel good thing that I'd thought I'd share, but of course you had to use it as ammo against me. I found a place I like very much and want to seriously consider raising my family in, and it just flat out pisses you off, for God knows what reason.

I guess it might be time for golfgal to close the thread. I was willing to listen to you, but your insistent arrogance has pretty much ruined it. I'll start another one to reflect on our visit in a few weeks.

Dude - no one's against you here. And I'm not bitter, just sharing my experience. And no, it doesn't **** me off - just a bit irritating when you come here for advice that you aren't willing to accept simply because it doesn't conform to the warm and fuzzy pipe dream you have established for yourself. Good luck - you'll need it.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

If OP and his wife can find employment outside downtown (in the same or substantially close-by areas), then yes -that could actually work. In that case, I would reccomend Hastings- still a pain in the ass to get to town for recreational purposes, though. In five years he could move to somewhere like Golden Valley or St. Louis Park and be much closer.

Have you ever driving from Hastings to Minneapolis? It's a straight shot up Highway 55. Traffic in the Twin Cities is MINOR compared to most major cities. I guess I just don't understand how driving 15-20 miles every once in a while is a big deal?? Out of curiosity, where did you live that it was so expensive?

[nrogers1122]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Have you ever driving from Hastings to Minneapolis? It's a straight shot up Highway 55. Traffic in the Twin Cities is MINOR compared to most major cities. I guess I just don't understand how driving 15-20 miles every once in a while is a big deal?? Out of curiosity, where did you live that it was so expensive?

Yeah, I've made the drive more than a few times now - feels like it takes forever. I couldn't imagine making it a daily commute -especially during rush hour and/or in the winter when the roads are slick. Can't agree with your traffic statement, considerring I494 was named one of the worst commutes in the country not long ago. Not sure what you mean by your last question. I lived in Waukee, IA before I moved here - now I live in Crystal. I haven't purported either place to be particularly expensive - in fact that's my point.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

Yeah, I've made the drive more than a few times now - feels like it takes forever. I couldn't imagine making it a daily commute -especially during rush hour and/or in the winter when the roads are slick. Can't agree with your traffic statement, considerring I494 was named one of the worst commutes in the country not long ago. Not sure what you mean by your last question. I lived in Waukee, IA before I moved here - now I live in Crystal. I haven't purported either place to be particularly expensive - in fact that's my point.

You just don't get it, do you? They won't HAVE to commute so 494 and the commute is irrelevant. Yes, it's going to be a lot different living in the Twin Cities metro area with a population of 3 MILLION people vs small town Iowa, population 4000. Living in Crystal, you go to Hastings during rush hour for what?

[Ghengis]

it's also a lot cheaper to commute in the cities vs. Iowa because a car gets much better gas mileage than a tractor.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

Yeah, I've made the drive more than a few times now - feels like it takes forever. I couldn't imagine making it a daily commute -especially during rush hour and/or in the winter when the roads are slick. Can't agree with your traffic statement, considerring I494 was named one of the worst commutes in the country not long ago. Not sure what you mean by your last question. I lived in Waukee, IA before I moved here - now I live in Crystal. I haven't purported either place to be particularly expensive - in fact that's my point.

I live in Atlanta now. Traffic in the Twin Cities isn't that bad, though it can back up at times. Traffic in the Atlanta metro isn't that bad, either, as long as there aren't any accidents. In both cases, the areas where traffic can get snarled are very well known, but at least the Twin Cities has major thoroughfares laid out in a rough grid so you can often bypass issues. That isn't true down here.

It's all relative.

[nrogers1122]

Originally Posted by golfgal

You just don't get it, do you? They won't HAVE to commute so 494 and the commute is irrelevant. Yes, it's going to be a lot different living in the Twin Cities metro area with a population of 3 MILLION people vs small town Iowa, population 4000. Living in Crystal, you go to Hastings during rush hour for what?

I'm not sure what you think I don't get. I was using I 494 as an example to rebut your point about how twin cities traffic isn't that bad compared to the rest of the nation. And who knows - if he lives in Hastings but works in Bloom/Eden Prarie, he might just use I 494. Your presupposition that traffic here is better than the rest of the country is just false. Top 10 Cities for Gridlock Traffic - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

I've made the trip to and from Hastings both during and not during rush hour. During non-rush hour times, the commute sucks. During rush hour times, its substantially worse. Just because the roadmap to Hastings only consists of a few turns and major freeways, doesn't mean that it's not far away enough to suck. Hell, Going to Duluth is just a "straight shot" up 35. Do you reccomend he live there?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by nrogers1122

I'm not sure what you think I don't get. I was using I 494 as an example to rebut your point about how twin cities traffic isn't that bad compared to the rest of the nation. And who knows - if he lives in Hastings but works in Bloom/Eden Prarie, he might just use I 494. Your presupposition that traffic here is better than the rest of the country is just false. Top 10 Cities for Gridlock Traffic - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

I've made the trip to and from Hastings both during and not during rush hour. During non-rush hour times, the commute sucks. During rush hour times, its substantially worse. Just because the roadmap to Hastings only consists of a few turns and major freeways, doesn't mean that it's not far away enough to suck. Hell, Going to Duluth is just a "straight shot" up 35. Do you reccomend he live there?

Well, if he works in Eden Prairie I certainly would not suggest he live in Hastings then would I. If he works in Eden Prairie I would suggest looking at Waconia. The suggestion was to live AND WORK in Hastings .