Moving to MSP, 2 kids. Safe neighborhood to live (Bloomington, Eagan: apartments, to rent)

[rulllesss]

Hello,
I'm going to move to MSP with the family in January 2017 oversees.
We have two kids 10 and 3 years old. I will work at Bloomington area.
This is going to be a temporary 1-year assignment.

So I'm wondering what would be best safe places to stay with the family (short commute by car to Bloomington, 3 bedroom apartments under $1500 per month, safe area, good school and kindergarten nearby).

Thank you for help

[Citykid3785]

OP, in order to be of more help, I need to know if you are wanting to live in the city itself, or are you looking for more suburban.

Most of the metro is safe with good schools, so as many specifics as you can provide, the more help I can be (walkability, close to airport, big suburb, small suburb, proximity to certain destinations, etc.) In general, i live in the south metro and I would highly recommend trying to find a 3br townhome to rent in Eagan, Apple Valley, Lakeville, Rosemount if you want some of the best schools in a large, quiet suburban setting.

If the city itself is important to you, it will most likely challenge your budget, although I might start looking in the Nokomis area of minneapolis (prone to airplane noise however). Richfield might be a city/suburb compromise, however the schools aren't quite as good as D194 or D196 (south metro)

[pvoyd]

If you are planning to work in Bloomington and just stay for a year, I see very little point in living south of the river just for the sake of the supposedly better school districts there (which are, IMHO, overrated.) Schools in West Bloomington are very good, the neighborhoods are nice, and you will save the aggravation of crossing the river twice a day with the rush-hour traffic.