best minneapolis suburbs for family with kids

[heymolly]

I grew up in St. Anthony Village. My parents moved there from Minneapolis before I started elementary school. (I am now a college student living in Iowa).

It's a small suburb of a little under 8,000 people. It borders Minneapolis on its south and west sides, with New Brighton to the north and Roseville to the east. Many people from the Twin Cities don't even know it exists because it is small, but it's worth checking out.

The schools are indeed very good. I attended the St. Anthony schools from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Many parents who live in Minneapolis and the surrounding area try to get their students into the St. Anthony School district, and I graduated with a good number of students who don't actually live in St. Anthony. The schools have good programs and many after-school activities. The sports teams aren't the best, but the bands, choirs, speech teams, quiz bowl teams, etc. do very well. The middle and high schools are in the same building, with an elementary school about a half mile away. The schools are no more than a couple-minute drive from any point in STA.

Other than the schools, St. Anthony has a good number of retail shops and restaurants for a town of its size. There is a grocery store, several gas stations, a wal-mart, and various restaurants and other places (walgreen's, caribou coffee, tanning, hair salons, library, bank etc). When I was in elementary school, all of that was pretty much nonexistant except for the grocery store and gas stations, but it has been built up a lot in recent years. The Rosedale mall in Roseville is about a 10-minute drive from St. Anthony and has most things you would need in a mall. Otherwise, about anything else can be found in Minneapolis, which is right outside STA.

The town is located not far out of downtown Minneapolis. I could drive downtown from my house in 10 minutes, however with the bridge collapse, a detour is needed and it will take longer, even though it is close. Downtown St. Paul is a bit farther.

A lot of the residents of St. Anthony can be placed in several groups: Senior citizens, families with young children, and middle-aged adults whose kids are no longer at home. There are many older people, but also many families with children. The one age group that is missing is people who are college age to young adults who do not have children. Most of the students go off to college, and if they return to stay, it isn't until they have their own family. It is a good place to raise a family, but there isn't a whole lot to do for young adults on their own.

And as a previous poster mentioned, crime is very low, especially for being so close to the city. The police reports usually consist of a report of someone trying to steal some candy from the grocery store or someone being stopped for drunk driving. I lived there for 16 years and I never personally encountered any crimes. People walk around outside, and walking at night is safe.

The people are generally nice and they like newcomers! Many of the people that lived there live in St. Anthony because that's where they grew up. A lot of them went to school there, graduated, went to college across the country, and moved back when their kids were starting school. So quite a few of the residents have had ties to the city for a long time - I remember we always enjoyed getting new neighbors and new students at school.

I am not really sure about home prices. I do know that when my parents bought our hosue in 1990, it was $118,000 and is now about $200,000. Some houses there are much larger and a bit more expensive while some aren't. In general, it's a middle-class community where you know your neighbors and your classmates in a small town way but you are still so close to the big city. It's not particularly upscale or wealthy compared to many of the other suburbs, but it's not downtrodden at the same time.

Other than St. Anthony, I would look into New Brighton, Mounds View, and Roseville, which mentioned above are close to the cities as well. Good luck in your search!

[tgrahek]

I live in St. Anthony Village with my husband and 3 kids and can't say enough good things about it! It has a small town feel even though the Mpls border is 2 blocks from our house. The schools are amazing and received national recognition this year. The high school is in the IB program. The graduating class is less than 150 students! Everything is walkable for us; all of the schools, library, shopping, restaurants. If it is not too cold we can go days without using the car. My husband takes the bus into downtown for work everyday and it takes him 25 minutes.
The sports teams at the HS are not great but we like that. My kids make any team they want which is great. Knowledge Bowl took state this year even if the football team didn't.