Active couple with dog moving to Minneapolis (St. Paul, Plymouth: houses, safe area)

[supertroopers]

My husband and i will be moving to the Minneapolis area in May and are starting our house search now. For the most part it seems like the NW area of town are the best for active people. We do just about anything and everything. We'd love to find a house along a bike path or next to a park or lake. We have a german short hair pointer that requires a lot of exercise. We'd prefer to find something within an hour commute to Washington Ave. (downtown). My husband will not be able to use public transportation as he'll need his car throughout the day. A large yard or an acre or two would be ideal. Can anyone give us some pointers on subburbs before we decide on the houses we visit on our house hunting trip? I found several in East Bethel and Elk River but they seem so far away. We'd like a safe area that's close to all the trails/parks even a YMCA and definitely with a large yard. thanks!

[golfgal]

If you are willing to commute an hour into Minneapolis then you can pretty much live anywhere in the metro. Where on Washington Ave is the job? If it is near the Metrodome then I would personally start looking in the Stillwater area. That is a VERY active community, lots of great places to walk a dog, take her for a swim in several lakes, the river, etc. There are sidewalks everywhere.

I live in the southern suburbs and the entire town has either bike paths or sidewalks available, many, many parks and an off-leash dog park--but there are a LOT of those around.

The lakes area of Minneapolis is also great for active people but smaller yards there.

The western suburbs also have everything you need.

I would say that the commute from the northern suburbs into Minneapolis is probably the worst commute in the metro. The second worst would be anything that requires you to go up 35W from the south (Lakeville, Northfield, etc.). If you can go up Cedar Ave or Hwy 55 from the south you are ok.

[Lillietta]

There are enough lakes in Minneapolis to find a house nearby (Lakes Calhoun, Harriet, Lake of the Isles, Nokomis). You can also try the Como area in Saint Paul (Lake Como). They all have walking paths where many people jog and walk their dogs.

[excelsiorgal]

If you want a larger yard, you will probably not find it in Como (St. Paul neighborhood) or near the Minneapolis Lakes. Those tend to be typical city lots (.10 to .15 of an acre). I would check out Minnetonka, which has quite a few areas where the yards are .5 to 1 acre, and is close to many trails. Others nearby with similar amenities: Deephaven, Shorewood, Chanhassen. Minnetonka would probably be about a 30 minute commute to downtown, Deephaven similar or a little more. Shorewood and Chanhassen a bit more -- maybe 40 - 45 minutes. Plymouth is another good bet. That would be about 30 - 40 minute commute.

Some trail info. You could check these out and search for homes nearby.

Luce Line Trail
Luce Line Trail of Central Minnesota
runs from Plymouth for 63 miles west -- good biking, cross-country skiing, etc.

Southwest LRT
a couple branches in the western suburbs connect to a main corridor in Hopkins -- runs through Chanhassen, Excelsior, Minnetonka to Hopkins and all the way to downtown Mpls. (your husband could bike to work!) It's slated to be developed into light rail "in the future" (in other words, probably a lonnnnng time)
Southwest Transitway.org (broken link)

[Mistacoolio20]

Originally Posted by supertroopers

My husband and i will be moving to the Minneapolis area in May and are starting our house search now. For the most part it seems like the NW area of town are the best for active people. We do just about anything and everything. We'd love to find a house along a bike path or next to a park or lake. We have a german short hair pointer that requires a lot of exercise. We'd prefer to find something within an hour commute to Washington Ave. (downtown). My husband will not be able to use public transportation as he'll need his car throughout the day. A large yard or an acre or two would be ideal. Can anyone give us some pointers on subburbs before we decide on the houses we visit on our house hunting trip? I found several in East Bethel and Elk River but they seem so far away. We'd like a safe area that's close to all the trails/parks even a YMCA and definitely with a large yard. thanks!

1

If you have some money live around Lake of the Isle. Seems perfect for you.

[Scott Secor]

The Northwest area does have such things as loads of bike/walking paths, parks, and other good things. I lived in Coon Rapids for 17 years before moving to Fridley for the past 15. We also have a couple of large dogs that require daily walks.

East Bethel/Cedar and Elk River/Big Lake might be a bit further out than you want to go. I would recommend Maple Grove, Champlin, Coon Rapids, Blaine, Spring Lake Park, Moundsview, New Brighton, for starters.

[laig]

I would recommend Lino Lakes. Right off of 35w it's about a 30 minute commute to downtown. There is shopping in town and a new YMCA, yet just a 1/4 mile from the freeway you will find homes on acreage or large lots. Some nice things near by are Wargo Nature Center and the Rice Creek Chain of lakes Parks. You get all the conveniences of the suburbs with more of a small town community feel.