Another where to live question (Eagan, Burnsville: for sale, house, neighborhoods)

[youngurbanprofessional]

Born and raised, direct product of Eagan environment right here.

Eagan has grown fast and become expensive housing. Many people who buy a nice house end up moving out in a year or two because they find they can't afford it. For 300k, Eagan would be tough for you to pull off, but as someone else mentioned, not impossible. Problem is, despite the market sucking for sellers and good for buyers, Eagan isn't affected as much because everyone wants to live there. When my parents got our house they got it at 169k, then surrounded us with huge houses, bordered by a former MLB pitcher and the governor of MN.

Eagan has top notch public schooling, nationaly recognized schooling. If you can afford to live there, it's worth it. Kids there are a little snobby/bratty/spoiled, but your kids will adjust like I had to. Class sizes may be getting a little big, they were big when I was there and Eagan has only gotten bigger since with more families.

Eagan is also extemely safe, stay away from the housing near Yankee Doodle just east of the Best Buy, that's really the only bad area.

Traffic from outside the cities leading up to Eagan is non existent. I'd say traffic to the cities and other areas begin at Eagan.

Woodbury is a good option, so is Lakeville, but they may be pricy as well.

You may be lookin at Inver Grove Heights/Mendota/South St. Paul at your price range, but I say shoot high, see what you can find in Eagan.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by youngurbanprofessional

Born and raised, direct product of Eagan environment right here.

Eagan has grown fast and become expensive housing. Many people who buy a nice house end up moving out in a year or two because they find they can't afford it. For 300k, Eagan would be tough for you to pull off, but as someone else mentioned, not impossible. Problem is, despite the market sucking for sellers and good for buyers, Eagan isn't affected as much because everyone wants to live there. When my parents got our house they got it at 169k, then surrounded us with huge houses, bordered by a former MLB pitcher and the governor of MN.

Eagan has top notch public schooling, nationaly recognized schooling. If you can afford to live there, it's worth it. Kids there are a little snobby/bratty/spoiled, but your kids will adjust like I had to. Class sizes may be getting a little big, they were big when I was there and Eagan has only gotten bigger since with more families.

Eagan is also extemely safe, stay away from the housing near Yankee Doodle just east of the Best Buy, that's really the only bad area.

Traffic from outside the cities leading up to Eagan is non existent. I'd say traffic to the cities and other areas begin at Eagan.

Woodbury is a good option, so is Lakeville, but they may be pricy as well.

You may be lookin at Inver Grove Heights/Mendota/South St. Paul at your price range, but I say shoot high, see what you can find in Eagan.

Inver Grove Heights and Mendota Heights are MUCH more expensive then Eagan. South St. Paul is not the nicest area and the schools are not very good. Finding a house in Eagan in the $300K range isn't going to be difficult. I just did a search for houses between $250K and $320K in Eagan and there are 54 houses in that price range right now, middle of January, slowest real estate season. Same search in Inver Grove, 29 houses, Mendota Heights, 8 listings-5 are condos or townhomes.

[Sunshinne]

What does everyone think of Eden Prairie in terms of schools, shopping, safe area?

[Minnehahapolitan]

If you can find your way around their spaghetti system of streets, it is one of the best. The high school is huge; it may be an important consideration for some students. Lots of traditional suburban shopping, a few good restaurants, a very nice mall. Do they even have crime?

[golfgal]

Eden Prairie graduates about 1200 kids/year--it is HUGE. It is a pretty affluent community and they tend to like to flaunt that. In comparison to Stillwater, Stillwater is probably more affluent but it is more understated. You won't see the BMW's and Jag's in the student parking lot in Stillwater but their bank accounts are probably larger. EP is your typical suburban area, many 'developments', strip malls, a LOT of traffic.

If you want your kids involved in something plan on doing it year round and pretty much only one activity. They get something like 300 kids trying out for their football team each year.

[Sunshinne]

Hmmm, yeah, it would be defeating the purpose of moving to end up with huge schools like we have now. Eden Prairie sounded good because it was not too close, yet not too far away from my husbands family. He has an aunt in Burnsville, a sister in Northfield, and parents in Owatonna.

I just love all of the input you have on the different areas, thank you thank you thank you.

What does everyone think about Northfield? There schools did not have as high a rating as Stillwater and Eden Prairie.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Sunshinne

What does everyone think of Eden Prairie in terms of schools, shopping, safe area?

My wife and I lived in a townhouse in Eden Prairie between 2000 and 2004 just off Pioneer Trail and Franlo Road, and I think the entire suburb is relatively safe (as is the entire Twin Cities suburban metro, at least for the most part). Since I grew up in Minnetonka just on the other side of Glen Lake, I'm also familiar with some of Eden Prairie's past, and I remember when most of it was farmland.

Shopping is very good around the mall (Eden Prairie Center), and Eden Prairie High School is a perennial football power and considered excellent academically, but it's a very large school.

[youngurbanprofessional]

Originally Posted by Sunshinne

Hmmm, yeah, it would be defeating the purpose of moving to end up with huge schools like we have now. Eden Prairie sounded good because it was not too close, yet not too far away from my husbands family. He has an aunt in Burnsville, a sister in Northfield, and parents in Owatonna.

I just love all of the input you have on the different areas, thank you thank you thank you.

What does everyone think about Northfield? There schools did not have as high a rating as Stillwater and Eden Prairie.

Most statements so far about Eden Prairie are pretty right on target. They dominate most sports in the Lake Conference because they just have so many more kids trying out. Eagan has a lot too, I remember 100 kids going out for freshmen baseball around the turn of the century, but it wasn't impossible odds.

Northfield isn't bad, but it's much farther out from the cities metro area and has a much more small town feel to it that a suburb. I don't know about the schooling, but you're better off living near burnsville/eden prairie than closer to Northfield. Eagan is a good choice because you can jump on an Interstate to go west to Eden Prairie, or jump on 35E South to Northfield and it's not too far without too much traffic in between.

[goitsme48]

I live in EP (for past 9 years) and love it. In 2006, Money magazine listed EP as the 10th best place to live in the country... Click on the link for more details.

Link: MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Eden Prairie, MN snapshot

Originally Posted by Sunshinne

What does everyone think of Eden Prairie in terms of schools, shopping, safe area?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Sunshinne

Hmmm, yeah, it would be defeating the purpose of moving to end up with huge schools like we have now. Eden Prairie sounded good because it was not too close, yet not too far away from my husbands family. He has an aunt in Burnsville, a sister in Northfield, and parents in Owatonna.

I just love all of the input you have on the different areas, thank you thank you thank you.

What does everyone think about Northfield? There schools did not have as high a rating as Stillwater and Eden Prairie.

You need to move to ROSEMOUNT!!! Our schools are excellent, smaller town feel, not quite as historic as Stillwater but still a nice area. We are 15 minutes from Burnsville, an hour to Owatonna and 20 minutes from Northfield.

My DH grew up in Northfield. The schools are good, very similar town to Stillwater. It has the advantage of having St. Olaf and Carleton colleges there for the convenience of the high school/college dual credit programs in MN.

Rosemount is in the 196 School district-top rated district in the state and one of the top in the nation. We have an incredible system, excellent administrators, teachers, students, etc. We have lived here for almost 2 years and just love it here. It is only about 15 minutes to the airport too so that is a plus for you. It is a pretty laid back community, the kids aren't into having the best of everything for the most part. It is really a jeans/t-shirt kind of community. They have pretty much anything you want for kids activities, excellent music programs, especially the band program.


Keep in mind that when you are comparing schools in the metro area, when it really comes down to it, there isn't much difference. There are very few districts in MN that are what I would call 'bad'. Some are just a better fit for you then others. Most people pick a district based on what their kids are involved in because academically you aren't going to find any real difference.