Brookdale, Hopkins, or Maple Grove? (HOA, big house, mall)

[alkali-feldspar]

If I do move to Uptown, I'll obviously need a job and I'm looking at the same position at three different locations--Brookdale, Hopkins, and Maple Grove. Which of these would be closest (or most convenient, anyway) and safest? I'm terribly unfamiliar with all of these places.

[Haver]

Probably Hopkins for commute time, and its also reasonably safe and a fairly interesting suburb - never heard of anything major coming out of there. Maple Grove is a long, straight shot out on Highway 7 and that seems to move pretty smoothly. The 394 commute should also be pretty fast as well, although I've noticed drivers get crazy west of Louisianna blvd.

I wouldn't trust any north/south commute in that area, there always seem to be problems, traffic-wise.

As for safety, they're all pretty safe, although the Brookdale area and environs is "affordable", Hopkins is "semi-hip" and Maple Grove is "Big House, Big Garage, Big Yard, neutral decor, 'Honey, does the HOA allow RV's in the driveway?' land". Its more a question of what social class you're most comfortable with.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Haver

Probably Hopkins for commute time, and its also reasonably safe and a fairly interesting suburb - never heard of anything major coming out of there. Maple Grove is a long, straight shot out on Highway 7 and that seems to move pretty smoothly. The 394 commute should also be pretty fast as well, although I've noticed drivers get crazy west of Louisianna blvd.

I wouldn't trust any north/south commute in that area, there always seem to be problems, traffic-wise.

As for safety, they're all pretty safe, although the Brookdale area and environs is "affordable", Hopkins is "semi-hip" and Maple Grove is "Big House, Big Garage, Big Yard, neutral decor, 'Honey, does the HOA allow RV's in the driveway?' land". Its more a question of what social class you're most comfortable with.

All areas are very safe, and I would actually say that Hopkins and Brookdale are relatively equi-distant from Uptown in terms of commute times (for Brookdale, it's easy to get on 100 N or 94 West to get there in a short time, from Uptown it's probably a slightly shorter drive but on the stoplight-ridden Hwy 7). Maple Grove is much farther than either, and (if you're talking about working at malls, I guess I can't really tell) it's one of those massive new commercial strip mall developments that can be found in most newer suburbs these days.

[alkali-feldspar]

After a little more research, I realized that only the Maple Grove position offered benefits, so I went with that one. In truth, I don't imagine I'll stay there more than 6 months until I can get a job in my industry, but I definitely appreciate your input!

[doublesuited77]

Hopkins also has a small downtown which is nice. Actually I am surprised hopkins property values aren't higher. if i was going to invest inside 494 in would be in hopkins.