Another "Maybe Moving to MPLS Help Me" Thread. :) (Minneapolis: fit in, new house)

[Noodlenoggin]

I know, I know...the same questions everybody asks. I've spent a week or so searching the forum and finding almost the answers I'm looking for. So I apologize in advance for the War and Peace that this post is.

So, we may be moving to the Twin Cities this spring from Tampa. I just had a 2nd interview with Hennepin County Medical Center and it seemed to go pretty well. (I'm an IT guy.) We're a large family with four kids, pets, etc. We're kinda moderate-liberal, nothing left-wing or anything. I want to keep my guns, but think social programs are a good thing. We both grew up in the country in Michigan, and we liked the north suburbs of Atlanta when we lived there in the 90's, and we don't really like the (anything) about Tampa where we live now.

I've pored over Zillow and Realtor.com and have a decent idea where I can find houses in our price range -- which is not much over $200k. Yes, I understand that's the bottom end of the market. I'm looking at -- to name some examples in a ring around the city -- Apple Valley, Rosemount, Lakeville, Farmington, Prior Lake, Shakopee, Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake. Maybe Red Wing. No, I'm no stranger to a long commute.

Anyway, I have questions.

The schools. I've been looking at all the 1-10 ratings on Zillow. I grew up in Michigan, and the school my kids went to before we moved away was rated "5" and it was really great, just poor. I live in Florida now, and the "10" rated schools are not quite as good as the "5" school we left in Michigan...and the "2" rated schools here feature teachers that don't teach, drug deals, gangs, half-naked girls and constant theft.

In general, how good/bad is a 5-rated school? Are the "bad" schools actually bad...or just poor, or have low test scores but great teachers?

The attitude. We lived for 3 years here in the "good" Tampa suburb of Fishhawk, and it lived up to every bad stereotype of suburbia that I've ever read. Snobby, arrogant, closed-minded, uber-conservative, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, flashy, keep-up-with-the-Joneses, xenophobic...ugh! The neighborhood we've lived in for the past two years isn't as much like that...but our next-door neighbors don't talk to us, and when our kids go outside, theirs go inside.

Are any of the neighborhoods I listed above like this? Are any of the neighborhoods I listed actually friendly, and might provide us a chance to get to know our neighbors?

The commute. I'd be commuting to downtown MPLS every day for work. I've read commute times here, and I'm currently driving 45 minutes to go 18 miles in Tampa. Are any of the neighborhoods I listed better/worse for commutes? I'd take a bit longer commute if it's easier/less stressful. And how easily could I use mass transit from those neighborhoods? I'd be open to that.

The scenery. We'd really like a neighborhood that's a bit older, with mature trees and houses with a bit of character...not so much a new house that takes up as much space on its lot as possible....15' from the house next-door, which looks exactly the same as mine, etc. Any of the above fit that? Or does my price ceiling doom me to boring, bland suburbia. I see lots of 1970's tri-levels and bi-levels in my range on Zillow.

Crime. I'm assuming all of the places I've mentioned are pretty safe and crime-free? There's really noplace in Tampa I feel unsafe getting out of the car in the daylight. And I kinda base my view of cities on Detroit, which is...well, Detroit. "Welcome to Detroit, here's your Kevlar."

So, if anyone can make any sense out of this rambling monologue of a post, can you offer me any answers or advice?

[SForMNLee]

Why so far out?

You can get downtown in 45 mins from most of those places unless it's snowing. The older pretty neighborhoods you're talking about are in closer though. These suburbs you mentioned are more like small towns that have been swallowed by the metro area.

Take a look at Robbinsdale. It's pretty much what you are looking for with the benefit of being 15 mins from downtown.

[Hosken Powell]

i'd suggest Roseville

[StPaulGal]

Originally Posted by SForMNLee

Why so far out?

You can get downtown in 45 mins from most of those places unless it's snowing. The older pretty neighborhoods you're talking about are in closer though. These suburbs you mentioned are more like small towns that have been swallowed by the metro area.

Take a look at Robbinsdale. It's pretty much what you are looking for with the benefit of being 15 mins from downtown.

That was my immediate thought, too. Just because you are emotionally capable of enduring an excruciating commute doesn't mean you have to do it! Particularly if you aren't interested in cookie-cutter suburbia and you prefer neighborhoods with more character. Why not Minneapolis or Saint Paul proper, or one of the closer and more charming suburbs?

[mr roboto]

Originally Posted by Hosken Powell

i'd suggest Roseville

This is a good recommendation. Close in, good schools, varied housing stock etc... You may want to concentrate your search around bus/LRT lines as well for commuting. The west and SW burbs are probably too pricy. South you can find some homes in your price range, maybe north toward Blaine?

As far as your family culture/personal views honestly you'll fit in very well. The TCs in general are slightly left of center, educated, outdoorsy, and family oriented. Priorities are education, safety, recreation, neighborliness and propriety in public.

[Glenfield]

I'm looking at -- to name some examples in a ring around the city -- Apple Valley, Rosemount, Lakeville, Farmington, Prior Lake, Shakopee, Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake. Maybe Red Wing. No, I'm no stranger to a long commute.

You will want to take Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Forest Lake, and Red Wing off your list. These are not cities that people commute to downtown Minneapolis from. You may think you're good with a long commute, but you have no idea how awful a commute from those places would be, especially in a snowstorm or when the roads are icy.

The other thing to consider is if you move to one of these places and tell you neighbors that you're commuting to Minneapolis, they'll think you're weird. It's not going to help your social integration if people think you're weird. Not that you'd have much time for things like socializing but you get the idea. Don't be weird, move closer in.

[ellysbelly]

Closer in makes sense, not only because of a shorter/easier commute (no need to take on that hellish commute!), but also because I think that the average person in a first or second ring is more likely to be 'like you' than those outer exurbs and small towns.

Once you get too far out of the Cities (including some of those towns that you mentioned), you're in small towns that just happen to be relatively close to MSP-- but they still might have more of a "small town" outlook (again, I'm totally generalizing-- I fully realize that there are plenty of great and open minded people in small towns and plenty of bigots in cities); but as others have mentioned, some of those aren't really suburbs.

I would definitely agree that the locations already mentioned such as Roseville and Robbinsdale make a ton of sense-- maybe Crystal, too? Additionally, you might want to look at Hopkins and St Louis Park; though their school systems aren't quite as highly regarded as their neighbors, they still have great reputations and some innovative programming (plus I think you'd like the housing stock, though it might be a bit small for a family of 6)-- even some parts of Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Chaska have decent sized homes for under $250K (they are almost certainly split levels, though).

There are also areas with both Minneapolis and St Paul that will work for your budget (I'm not as familiar with the neighborhoods that might work best within the Cities, but there are plenty of others on this board that can help get you pointed in the right direction).

As a fellow former Floridian, I hope that you love MN! (we do!)

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

You will want to take Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Forest Lake, and Red Wing off your list. These are not cities that people commute to downtown Minneapolis from. You may think you're good with a long commute, but you have no idea how awful a commute from those places would be, especially in a snowstorm or when the roads are icy.

The other thing to consider is if you move to one of these places and tell you neighbors that you're commuting to Minneapolis, they'll think you're weird. It's not going to help your social integration if people think you're weird. Not that you'd have much time for things like socializing but you get the idea. Don't be weird, move closer in.

Forest Lake isn't that much of a commute...and the traffic is a breeze until you hit Hwy 10. Probably closer than Rosemount and we all know how quick of a commute that is. I made the commute into DT Mpls from 20 miles further out for many, many years and it just depends what your willing to trade an extra 15-20 minutes in the car for. You can certainly buy a better house and have lots of land for 200K than available further in. There's also an express bus to DT as well as many Park n Rides on the way in. Tho for me, it's too close and I still drive in every day from further out.

[Rhody2Mn]

It really comes down to what you personally want in a community. If you have your heart set on an urban location, then I'd definitely suggest like others have to focus your search on Minneapolis proper or an inner ring suburb, but one thing to keep in mind is that your housing dollar will stretch further in a second or third ring community. The housing stock is also older in the urban core, so if you like newer housing/modern amenities, you may find a limited selection. The lots will also be smaller and you likely won't have a lot of space between your property and your neighbor's if that is at all important to you.


The south metro towns you listed - including Apple Valley, Rosemount, Farmington, Lakeville, and Shakopee - are terrific suburbs to raise a family, and commute times are NOT bad, especially during off peak hours. Additionally, public transit is easily accessible from these towns. Housing options are NOT all cookie-cutter either.


I'd suggest you take time to come here and explore various communities to get a feel for what suits your needs. Fortunately the Twin Cities has a fantastic quality of life and I think you'll really like it here.

[Noodlenoggin]

First, I want to say thank you! Second, I am amazed that every response has been thoughtful and helpful --rare stuff on an internet forum.

We looked at the towns mentioned, and the schools come back with angry red 2's and 3's. That concerns me...should it?

I'm not too concerned with small town mentality...truth be told, my wife and I are small town people. I grew up on a horse farm. Ideally I'd love to have 20 acres of woods to ride a quad in, but I know that's not happening within a commute to MPLS. But, I get what you're saying about appearing weird for commuting from the outback.

Also, I DO know what a winter commute is like...I've lived 35 of my 45 years in Michigan, 10 of it in northern Michigan. There were years I was on my way to work at 5am, before the plows were out, in my Chevy sedan. Bleh, good times.