Considering Minneapolis From Rochester, NY (Eden Prairie, Minnetonka: lease, house, neighborhoods)

[DrPizza]

I have a job offer in Minneapolis. What are some good suburbs? I need good schools, a small downtown area, and to access to Downtown Minneapolis on either the rail line or buses in under 45 minutes to an hour. The max I can spend on a house is $500,000. I currently live in Rochester, NY.

[demtion35]

Where will you be looking at to work will make it easier to recommend where to look for a nice area to work.

[DrPizza]

Originally Posted by demtion35

Where will you be looking at to work will make it easier to recommend where to look for a nice area to work.

Downtown West in Downtown Minneapolis.

[MplsTodd]

I'd consider:
St. Louis Park, especially the area east of Hwy 100. It doesn't have a real downtown, but has some new urbanism areas (excelsior & Grand) and west end, plus it's close to areas like Uptown, Linden Hills & 50th & France.
Edina: great schools, plus a nice "downtown" at 50th & France, shared w Mpls. Also, the Southdale/Galleria/Centennial Lakes area is becoming more densified ( though it will never be truly urban). Many homes within walking distance of 50th & France may exceed your $500k max though.
Wayzata: further out, but has a pleasant downtown on Lake Minnetonka. There are express buses to dwtn Mpls on I-394
SW Mpls: schools aren't as good as Edina, but are good overall (I have a friend who lives in SLP who sends his daughter to Mpls SW High School and she loves it). Great city neighborhoods IMO, with lots of interesting commercial nodes, very walkable and bikable.

[DrPizza]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

I'd consider:
St. Louis Park, especially the area east of Hwy 100. It doesn't have a real downtown, but has some new urbanism areas (excelsior & Grand) and west end, plus it's close to areas like Uptown, Linden Hills & 50th & France.
Edina: great schools, plus a nice "downtown" at 50th & France, shared w Mpls. Also, the Southdale/Galleria/Centennial Lakes area is becoming more densified ( though it will never be truly urban). Many homes within walking distance of 50th & France may exceed your $500k max though.
Wayzata: further out, but has a pleasant downtown on Lake Minnetonka. There are express buses to dwtn Mpls on I-394
SW Mpls: schools aren't as good as Edina, but are good overall (I have a friend who lives in SLP who sends his daughter to Mpls SW High School and she loves it). Great city neighborhoods IMO, with lots of interesting commercial nodes, very walkable and bikable.

In Edina, would it be better to take the express bus or to drive to the Fort Snelling Station and take the train to Downtown?

[MplsTodd]

Originally Posted by DrPizza

In Edina, would it be better to take the express bus or to drive to the Fort Snelling Station and take the train to Downtown?

Probably a lot faster to take an express bus. Otherwise, you're probably fighting traffic to get to the LRT station, only to spend a half hour on the train. The express bus likely would take 30-45 minutes total to get dwtn. Also, a new BRT opened along I-35W, providing express service into downtown. It'd worth checking out that line to see where park n rides are.

[MPLSMINN]

Agree with MPLSTodd. Edina and Wayzata schools are probably the best in the Twin Cities or at least tied for it. Also both have their own little quaint downtown. But they are both pricey. Edina (especially the East side) is closer to the city.

[MichelleLC]

Our family just moved to Edina from NY.
(I grew up in Buffalo, but we were in NYC suburbs
When we moved). Loving it here so far!

We aren't near extremely close to a train line,
But there is a bus depot at tbe Southdalr center and
Express busses. My spouse was a lifelong
Train rider for work but is now choosing to drive
To downtown as it takes less than 20 minutes
Door to door.

[Ursicinus]

I'd just like to add that if you were hoping to ride the light rail into downtown to get to work, it could still take you a little bit to actually get through downtown to your workplace. I live near Loring Park (west end of downtown Mpls) and used to take the light rail (Blue Line) home from work every day. On a good day, it's about a 15 minute walk from Warehouse District stop to my door. On a bad day (and there are many) it can take longer for various reasons. The buses through downtown stop about 50 feet away from the station, but all it takes is some extra loiterers on the train platform and you'll be waiting 10-15 minutes for the next bus, so walking is kind of the only reliable option.

So with that in mind, I agree with the western suburbs idea. There are a good deal of express buses (which are cozy, with nice seats, and wifi) which are specifically to get people from out there into downtown for work. I'm also looking at moving a bit farther from downtown, so I'm looking into this too (see my thread on the subject), and I'm not yet a font of wisdom on the subject. But it seems like St. Louis Park, Edina, Linden Hills (Minneapolis), maybe Eden Prairie might all be up your alley. The latter is kind of the butt of a lot of cake eater jokes, but people move there for a reason.

Also worth noting since you asked about trains is that EVENTUALLY, there will likely be a third light rail line running out to Eden Prairie and the other western suburbs, though that probably won't be in place until like 2020 at the earliest. The main problem is that it's meeting opposition due to the fact that the line will run through a popular recreation area (which, oddly, is already bisected by freight trains, so.... um...), as well as, frankly, some people in Eden Prairie who simply don't want downtown folks to have easier access to their neighborhood. You can look up "Southwest Transit" on Google and find a ton of info about it.

[Staggerlee666]

Originally Posted by MichelleLC

Our family just moved to Edina from NY.
(I grew up in Buffalo, but we were in NYC suburbs
When we moved). Loving it here so far!

We aren't near extremely close to a train line,
But there is a bus depot at tbe Southdalr center and
Express busses. My spouse was a lifelong
Train rider for work but is now choosing to drive
To downtown as it takes less than 20 minutes
Door to door.

YEs, we just moved from NYC and we stayed in the area across the street from Southdale Center. Greatly developed and with a ton of amenities and the mall right there (love love love Super Target).

I second the car idea. Traffic and getting around the cities is so seemless. Forget about this silly NYer idea of taking trains and buses everywhere. Just lease a car and drive around. You will need it to do anything, including grocery shopping, getting a hair cut or going to any place that is fun. If you wanna live in a place with well developed public transport system then move to NYC and the surrounding areas in Westchester and Long Island.