Inner ring suburbs (vs) Outer ring suburbs (St. Paul, Bloomington: new house, neighborhood)

[iNviNciBL3]

The ring is 494/694 of course
So would you rather live and which is better? inside the ring in the suburbs such as Edina, Robbinsdale, Roseville, West St Paul, Richfield, etc..

Or outside the ring in suburbs such as Stillwater, White Bear Lake, Brooklyn Park, Anoka, Eden Prairie, Apple Valley, Hastings, etc..

You can't pick the cities of course and please give as much detail of your answer

[danielle_pal]

Woodbury for me, of course

[homiej]

Inner ring, more character.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by homiej

Inner ring, more character.

I agree. I don't like new houses, cul de sacs, and twisting streets. Of the inner ring suburbs, I like the Morningside and Country Club areas of Edina best. They're most city like.

[knke0204]

If you break it down by 694/494 Loop, here's what you get:
I included population as well
*I know some are on the border, so I just made a judgement call*


Inner Ring:
Crystal (22,000)
New Hope (20,000)
Golden Valley (20,000)
Robbinsdale (14,000)
Edina (48,000)
Hopkins (18,000)
Columbia Heights (20,000)
St. Anthony (8,000)
Richfield (35,000)
Brookyn Center (30,000)
Arden Hills (10,000)
Mendota Heights (11,000)
North St. Paul (11,000)
New Brighton**half** (11,000)
West St. Paul (20,000)
South St. Paul (20,000)
Roseville (33,000)
Falcon Heights (5,000)
Oakdale**half** (14,000)
Maplewood (38,000)
Lauderdale (2,300)
Sunfish Lake (600)
Golden Valley (20,000)
St. Louis Park (45,000)
Hilltop (800)
Little Canada (9,000)
Landfall (800)
Minnetonka**half** (25,000)
Plymouth**half** (35,000)

Total Population: 448,000 (1,118,000 with MPLS and STP)


Outer Ring:
Maple Grove (62,000)
Stillwater (18,000)
Shoreview (25,000)
Plymouth**half** (35,000)
Woodbury (61,000)
Minnetonka**half** (25,000)
Blaine (65,000)
Oakdale**half** (14,000)
Brookyln Park (76,000)
Shorewood (7,000)
Bloomington (82,000)
Eden Prairie (61,000)
Eagan (64,000)
North Oaks (5,000)
New Brighton**half** (11,000)
Apple Valley (49,000)
Savage (26,000)
Burnsville (60,000)
Shakopee (37,000)
Prior Lake (23,000)
Chaska (24,000)
Coon Rapids (61,000)
White Bear Lake (23,000)
Fridley (27,000)
Mounds View (12,000)
Rosemount (21,000)
Chanhassen (23,000)
Rogers (8,000)
Andover (30,000)
Osseo (2,300)
Champlin (23,000)
Anoka (17,000)
Inver Grove Heights (33,000)
Excelsior (2,000)
St. Michael (16,000)
Ramsey (23,000)
Mahtomedi (8,000)
Lino Lakes (20,000)
Otsego (14,000)
Elk River (23,000)
Lakeville (55,000)
Lake Elmo (8,000)
Orono (7,500)
Corcoran (5,000)

Total Population: 1,285,000

I know I didn't include a lot of suburbs, and the ones I did include can be argued...But this was the best I could do.

[uptown_urbanist]

If Stillwater is in the mix I would probably choose there, if I had a job -- then again, I also think of Stillwater as being far enough away that it doesn't count as a "suburb," but rather a stand-alone historic town! I know that that is no longer really the case, though, and it has ugly subdivisions and an increasing orientation towards the Twin Cities for jobs, etc. In general, though, I'd definitely go for an inner-ring suburb. Closer to downtown and the other amenities of the city, and better odds of finding a walkable neighborhood with historic houses and good, or at least acceptable, public transportation.

[Kebinminn]

I like the convenience of the inner ring. I'm a short commute person and it gives me more options in my radius. I can get to downtown with no traffic if I have to go there or I can at least have a partial reverse commute.

[petitemaman]

Originally Posted by Kebinminn

I like the convenience of the inner ring. I'm a short commute person and it gives me more options in my radius.

This is my exact same reasoning for moving to an outer ring suburb, lol. Funny how that works.

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

I agree. I don't like new houses, cul de sacs, and twisting streets.

Don't forget about Stillwater, Hastings, White Bear, Many areas west of 35W and parts of Wayzata and Excelsior. Sure they're not as convenient to the Cities but you are close to many another (nature) things like State parks, Ski/snowboarding, Huge lakes, rivers, etc..

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by BobMarley_1LOVE

Don't forget about Stillwater, Hastings, White Bear, Many areas west of 35W and parts of Wayzata and Excelsior. Sure they're not as convenient to the Cities but you are close to many another (nature) things like State parks, Ski/snowboarding, Huge lakes, rivers, etc..

They're nice, but for my commute the city or inner ring suburbs work better. If the commute wasn't an issue, then I think I'd still prefer the city, or inner ring for the amenities. If I was going to try to be near nature, then I think maybe I'd go whole hog and move to a rural area.