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Is Andover a good suburb? Although it is Anoka County, it seems like it is a higher income suburb compared to Anoka or Coon Rapids. There is a new light rail station being built in Coon Rapids, so it seems like it will be much easier to commute from Andover to downtown Minneapolis and other places after the new LR line is completed. Any information about this suburb is appreciated!
Is Andover a good suburb? Although it is Anoka County, it seems like it is a higher income suburb compared to Anoka or Coon Rapids. There is a new light rail station being built in Coon Rapids, so it seems like it will be much easier to commute from Andover to downtown Minneapolis and other places after the new LR line is completed. Any information about this suburb is appreciated!
I live in Andover and grew-up in the Northern burbs my whole 44 years of life. I've been in Andover 17 years.
Andover, Ham Lake, parts of Ramsey and parts of Blaine seem to have many more professionals than the rest of the county. Do realize that you can live in Andover and your boundries go to Anoka High School (the Northwest section). Also you can live in Andover and go to St. Francis District (FAR Northern section above 174th). You don't want to go to that district because they invested in Junk Bonds years ago and they still have not gained the publics trust so levy and levy are turned down.
It is a very homogenious comunity (99.9999999999999999999% white) generally with very low crime although we had a couple of murders recently. I like the community a lot but it is on the otherside of the world when you need to go to Bloomington, Eden Prairie etc.
You get a lot for your $$ in housing (big lot's, newer nice homes etc). The big problem is the traffic when you have to cross the river. I'd take Plymouth over Andover if you work in MPLS. I was debaing between the two in 1991. If I could pluck my home and put it in Plymouth, it would be worth $200K more. The lot was $23K additional for Plymouth than in Andover in 1991. Appreciation is very low because there is a BUNCH of land remaining. Once you tap out the city and no land is remaining (think Champlin), then you see the appreciation. So if you buy in Andover, don't expect your value to go up all that much.
I build a 4000 sq ft brick and stucco home on 2 acres for $200K in 92. Then I added a finished basement, pool, landscaping etc and now I was up to $280ish in 1995 dollars. It peaked at about $500K. I'd be lucky to get $375K. So in 18 years it went up $95K at best. How is THAT for a terrible investment??? The reason is labor is cheaper; land is cheaper (and plentiful). Additionally, there are a lot of people in the trades in some of the nicest neighborhoods that are in foreclosure. For that matter, some wonderful homes built in 2002 are in going for $350K and HUGE (5000 sq foot done right).
I'd still recommend looking in Plymouth. Even if you pay more, when the market heals you will be in far better shape drive wise and appreciation wise.
Oh, there are lot's of Republican's in Andover. I also think there is one church for every person in my fine town. There seems to be a church on every corner.
For the record. The schools are fantastic, the people are well educated, the community is very safe and it is a GREAT spot to raise a family. But the drive is tough if you change jobs and have to work in Eden Prairie or if you expect appreciation in a home. Those are my only two beefs. All in all, it is a GREAT community.
I grew up in Blaine, Coon Rapids and Ramsey and graduated from Anoka High School. Andover rapidly expanded with new construction in the 90's till the housing market busted so it's newer than bordering suburbs (although Ramsey has alot of newer construction too). There is a swampy golf course in Andover called Woodland Creek. If you want to get destroyed by gnats while you play golf, I recommend going there. All the outward building has made traffic up there bad. You will bottleneck on HWY 10 since that is what everyone takes. The people up in those suburbs are conservative so you'd probably fit right in.
Your best nearby shopping option is the horrible retail development that was recently built in Coon Rapids off of 242 between Round Lake Blvd and HWY 10. I can't stand going there, if I need to buy stuff I'd rather go to Northtown Mall in Blaine. If there weren't decent dining options there I'd probably avoid it altogether.
For nightlife there is basically none. For Andover residents I suppose you'd probably go to POVs, which could be decent if you want to play softball and get drunk. There is music there but I've never seen it go beyond crappy cover bands. The upside to going to bars up in that area is that booze is significantly cheaper than bars in Minneapolis. If you really like getting bombed on $3.00 Miller Lights, you'll be right at home. The only time I would go to bars in the Coon Rapids/Anoka/Andover area would be to play free poker on weeknights, otherwise you're better off finding a DD and going into the city.
There is a decent movie theater off of HWY 10 and Foley Blvd in Coon Rapids called Showplace 16, it was one of the earlier theaters with stadium style seating. The coolest site seeing in the area is the Coon Rapids Dam and the Historic Kelly Farm off of HWY 10 on the outskirts of Ramsey. Also you can chill in Anoka, "The Historic River City", "The Halloween Capitol of the World," the home of Gretchen Carlson, Miss America 1987, a breeding pit of world class men's wrestlers and the home of the All-American Boys racist gang from Anoka High School 1995-1999.
I obviously got sick of living in that area which is why I live in Minneapolis now.
Last edited by Cruz Azul Guy; 02-12-2009 at 07:38 AM..
That golf course is "limping". It's just a matter of time before it goes bust. MN has the highest per capita of golfers.. In a 15 minute drive, you have plenty of choices.
Believe it or not, that new shopping center got awards. I'm sure the big issue that you are referring to is all of the annoying turns and how spread out all of the stores are. It is punishing if you want to go to three stores in a row; it seems like work to fight though the parking lots. But the area has Costco. Does a person need any other store?
As you know, the North Metro is spread out. So if you want night life, you need to go to Blaine, Anoka, etc. In other words, a 10 -15 minute drive. Actually this is appealing for me because the imature 24 year old drunks are arms length away. Once they get the partying out of their system, they settle down and are welcome back. The reason why there is not a lot of night life is because people are married and they are not on the "hunt". Hence, there is no business for the bars. I was in POV's the 1st year they were open. In Andover, a big weekday night life is watching a movie at home with your sweats on. PERFECT!
Traffic: They will eventually continue to move the bottle neck farther up and down HiWay 10. I think they have re-done this road about 10 times since I have been in this area. Anytime you have to cross the river from or to Anoka County it adds a lot of time. The big minus in my book. If you want TERRIBLE traffic, think Elk River.
But in the end, I have not had any bums approach me for money like they do in the Cities, I don't fear that gangs are going to rape my daughter (there were 452 rapes in Minneapolis). If Anoka has one gang, MPLS has 200. I like the fact that I am isolated with more successful people on average (2x the income of MPLS). Personally, I'd rather be in Plymouth. But for me, Minneapolis is a great place to work or visit (not to live). I come from the old school, I don't like a lot of crime and below state average schools for my Kid's. I'm not a fan of drive by shootings and I guess I am fearful of someone who has a lot less than me is just 2 minutes away and won't hesitate to take it (8600 burglaries and robbries in MPLS proper). I guess it is all about trade-offs.
Last edited by MN-Born-n-Raised; 02-15-2009 at 05:36 AM..
I along with alot of my friends have been in Minneapolis since we got out of college and none of us have been a victim of or know anyone personally who has been raped or robbed that I know of. But if you want to base your life on some numbers you see on a website go for it. Poverty definitely exists in parts of Minneapolis. I will admit that a few times people have asked me for change. I always politely say sorry, I don't have any right now and the conversation ends. This doesn't decrease my quality of life at all. I've also seen people walking down the street or at a bar who have the appearance that they might be gang affiliated (tattoos, dressing blatantly in a specific color, shaved head, etc. I've never felt threatened by these people though, I've actually struck up conversations with a few of them. Surprisingly, if you go beyond a person's appearance they are human beings like you and me. But yeah, if you feel entertained by staying in and watching movies every night than to each his own. I would bore myself to death doing that.
I along with alot of my friends have been in Minneapolis since we got out of college and none of us have been a victim of or know anyone personally who has been raped or robbed that I know of. But if you want to base your life on some numbers you see on a website go for it. Poverty definitely exists in parts of Minneapolis. I will admit that a few times people have asked me for change. I always politely say sorry, I don't have any right now and the conversation ends. This doesn't decrease my quality of life at all. I've also seen people walking down the street or at a bar who have the appearance that they might be gang affiliated (tattoos, dressing blatantly in a specific color, shaved head, etc. I've never felt threatened by these people though, I've actually struck up conversations with a few of them. Surprisingly, if you go beyond a person's appearance they are human beings like you and me. But yeah, if you feel entertained by staying in and watching movies every night than to each his own. I would bore myself to death doing that.
I'm 6'3 and 250 pounds. I'm not worried about someone asking me for money; unless they persuade me with a gun and I am not so sure I would hand it over. I'd say 30% of the time that I am in the MPLS walking the downtown streets, someone is begging for money. I don't apprecaite that. I'm not worried about me in that setting but I am worried about my 130 pound 17 year old daughter . You will get there when you have kid's.
I'm also concerned about the quality of education. People are not flocking to MPLS to get into those schools (just the opposite). You mentioned about a gang in Anoka (singular). Imagine if you grew up in MPLS. I suspect if you had Kid's, they might know a member or 30 if they went to any MPLS school.
For me, I'll take hiway 10 and the spread-out Coon Rapids shopping center and having to drive 15 minutes to get some nightlife. I know my answers would be different if I was single and 25 but I would be off to the Burbs after the 1st Child.
I'm 6'3 and 250 pounds. I'm not worried about someone asking me for money; unless they persuade me with a gun and I am not so sure I would hand it over. I'd say 30% of the time that I am in the MPLS walking the downtown streets, someone is begging for money. I don't apprecaite that. I'm not worried about me in that setting but I am worried about my 130 pound 17 year old daughter . You will get there when you have kid's.
I'm also concerned about the quality of education. People are not flocking to MPLS to get into those schools (just the opposite). You mentioned about a gang in Anoka (singular). Imagine if you grew up in MPLS. I suspect if you had Kid's, they might know a member or 30 if they went to any MPLS school.
For me, I'll take hiway 10 and the spread-out Coon Rapids shopping center and having to drive 15 minutes to get some nightlife. I know my answers would be different if I was single and 25 but I would be off to the Burbs after the 1st Child.
Most of the teenage girls in Minneapolis grow to be adult women in Minneapolis. Unless your daughter spends time with dangerous people, or has an affinity of illicit drugs, the danger that she would be prone to is negligible.
There are good schools and bad schools. If she goes to a good school, and cares about her education, she will receive just as good an education as any suburban school. In fact, she would be a more dynamic person by being able to interact with an array of people.
One can either choose to interact with people that are different than them, or can choose to be selective about the demographics of people who they happen to interact with. There is no middle ground. With diversity comes the bums, but the fact of the matter is that for every panhandler that one meets there are a half-dozen beautiful people who one otherwise would have never been exposed to. That's a pity. If you ever wondered why City people call your suburbs plastic, that is why. The environment in which you have chosen to live does not reflect any of the realities of humanity. There are no really rich people, there are no really poor people. There are few minorities, or foreigners. Few retirees, few single people. If the privilege of living in a place where that is not the case costs me my pocket change, then I am glad to pay.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
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Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan
One can either choose to interact with people that are different than them, or can choose to be selective about the demographics of people who they happen to interact with. There is no middle ground. With diversity comes the bums, but the fact of the matter is that for every panhandler that one meets there are a half-dozen beautiful people who one otherwise would have never been exposed to. That's a pity. If you ever wondered why City people call your suburbs plastic, that is why. The environment in which you have chosen to live does not reflect any of the realities of humanity.
If the majority of people in a given area live in the suburbs (true of the Twin Cities, where the ratio of suburbanites to city-dwellers is roughly 6:1), then wouldn't the suburbs better reflect the "reality" of that area, and the city be the exceptional environment?
FWIW, I find your judgement of suburb-dwellers both amusing and sad. People should be able to live where they feel comfortable without having someone with what appears to be a very different set of priorities ... and what appears to be limited personal experience ... slam their decision.
I grew up in the suburbs (Minnetonka), lived in the suburbs when I was single for close to ten years (east Bloomington), and finally ended up marrying and living in the suburbs (Eden Prairie). Later circumstances required that I move over 1000 miles for work, but we ended up renting in a suburb of Atlanta (Smyrna) and later buying a house in a suburb (Mableton).
All of the above are very different.
While growing up in Minnetonka, I was in a nice closed circle neighborhood off Williston Road with a bunch of families with kids the same age, and it was a safe and fun place to grow up with woods, a pond with turtles, and places to slide and bike safely w/o having traffic or crime issues. And very good schools, even back then.
While I was single in east Bloomington, I was close to work and could walk to everything I needed, including restaurants, gas stations, a supermarket, and a mall (the MoA), and also a wonderful wilderness area (MN river valley) existed just blocks from my building at Old Shakopee and Old Cedar. The location was perfect for me, especially since I started working at NWA Building C ... and then F ... both of which are just across 494 from that location.
While I lived in Eden Prairie, I was able to enjoy a nice quiet neighborhood that was affordable and yet close enough to give both me and my wife a decent commute to work.
In Georgia, in Smyrna, our initial rental house was very close to my workplace and, and we were able to enjoy living in a house in a hidden tree-filled cul-de-sac that was almost completely isolated from the hustle and bustle around, and in Mableton we now live in a nice semi-remote older neighborhood at the bottom of a quiet tree-filled valley which is close enough to both of our workplaces, stores, restaurants, and other things to be very convenient for us. But we can sit outside and not hear traffic, just lots of bugs and other things singing night songs. And maybe the occasional far-away train.
I lived close proximity to lots of others while I was in college, and frankly I don't want that. You can have it. And in Georgia, where we live in southern Cobb County, the population is relatively diverse. Here are some numbers for ya courtesy of C-D:
Races in Mableton:
* White Non-Hispanic (57.7%)
* Black (29.3%)
* Hispanic (9.8%)
* Other race (4.6%)
* Two or more races (2.0%)
* American Indian (0.8%)
* Asian Indian (0.6%)
Mostly middle-class, sure, but you should know as well as anyone that crime tends to follow certain demographics, and race is far less an issue than is economic status when it comes to crime. The City of Atlanta (and Minneapolis) can keep those folks. I like living with people who are socially and economically responsible and who have a vested interest in keeping the area clean, safe, and fun to live in, and I'm doing that. Of my five proximate neighbors, two are black families, two white, and one is Indian. Race simply isn't a factor. even "down here in the South"; we all like where we live, and we have an HOA to enforce certain rules and keep the area livable. Welcome to modern unincorporated suburban Atlanta.
Are we stuck-up super rich people? I dunno. Do you consider a $230k house that's 21 years old a McMansion? If so, perhaps we are, but I would also seriously question your definitions...
Last edited by rcsteiner; 02-16-2009 at 06:14 PM..
If the majority of people in a given area live in the suburbs (true of the Twin Cities, where the ratio of suburbanites to city-dwellers is roughly 6:1), then wouldn't the suburbs better reflect the "reality" of that area, and the city be the exceptional environment?
FWIW, I find your judgement of suburb-dwellers both amusing and sad. People should be able to live where they feel comfortable without having someone with what appears to be a very different set of priorities ... and what appears to be limited personal experience ... slam their decision.
I grew up in the suburbs (Minnetonka), lived in the suburbs when I was single for close to ten years (east Bloomington), and finally ended up marrying and living in the suburbs (Eden Prairie). Later circumstances required that I move over 1000 miles for work, but we ended up renting in a suburb of Atlanta (Smyrna) and later buying a house in a suburb (Mableton).
All of the above are very different.
While growing up in Minnetonka, I was in a nice closed circle neighborhood off Williston Road with a bunch of families with kids the same age, and it was a safe and fun place to grow up with woods, a pond with turtles, and places to slide and bike safely w/o having traffic or crime issues. And very good schools, even back then.
While I was single in east Bloomington, I was close to work and could walk to everything I needed, including restaurants, gas stations, a supermarket, and a mall (the MoA), and also a wonderful wilderness area (MN river valley) existed just blocks from my building at Old Shakopee and Old Cedar. The location was perfect for me, especially since I started working at NWA Building C ... and then F ... both of which are just across 494 from that location.
While I lived in Eden Prairie, I was able to enjoy a nice quiet neighborhood that was affordable and yet close enough to give both me and my wife a decent commute to work.
In Georgia, in Smyrna, our initial rental house was very close to my workplace and, and we were able to enjoy living in a house in a hidden tree-filled cul-de-sac that was almost completely isolated from the hustle and bustle around, and in Mableton we now live in a nice semi-remote older neighborhood at the bottom of a quiet tree-filled valley which is close enough to both of our workplaces, stores, restaurants, and other things to be very convenient for us. But we can sit outside and not hear traffic, just lots of bugs and other things singing night songs. And maybe the occasional far-away train.
I lived close proximity to lots of others while I was in college, and frankly I don't want that. You can have it. And in Georgia, where we live in southern Cobb County, the population is relatively diverse. Here are some numbers for ya courtesy of C-D:
Races in Mableton:
* White Non-Hispanic (57.7%)
* Black (29.3%)
* Hispanic (9.8%)
* Other race (4.6%)
* Two or more races (2.0%)
* American Indian (0.8%)
* Asian Indian (0.6%)
Mostly middle-class, sure, but you should know as well as anyone that crime tends to follow certain demographics, and race is far less an issue than is economic status when it comes to crime. The City of Atlanta (and Minneapolis) can keep those folks. I like living with people who are socially and economically responsible and who have a vested interest in keeping the area clean, safe, and fun to live in, and I'm doing that. Of my five proximate neighbors, two are black families, two white, and one is Indian. Race simply isn't a factor. even "down here in the South"; we all like where we live, and we have an HOA to enforce certain rules and keep the area livable. Welcome to modern unincorporated suburban Atlanta.
Are we stuck-up super rich people? I dunno. Do you consider a $230k house that's 21 years old a McMansion? If so, perhaps we are, but I would also seriously question your definitions...
I wasn't speaking to the reality of the Cities in particular. The world is shrinking, and it is an important skill to be at least passingly comfortable with people who are not like you. Suburban Atlanta may be different, but Coon Rapids caters to a disturbingly narrow demographic.
I am perfectly OK with "slamming" somebody else's decision. First, because everyone has made decisions that they haven't thought completely through and it is always good to be challenged. You live in suburbia for the quietness, more power to you. The man from Coon Rapids, based on the post, lives there because he is under the erroneous notion that Minneapolis can't offer safety and education. Secondly, every action has interconnected consequences. When hundreds of thousands of people make this same decision, it invariably effects the place where I live and how I live in it. Libertarianism and urbanity don't mix real well. Thus, I choose not to ignore the subject. This comes not from the ignorance of some smug urbanite, but from somebody who has lived in the same suburban setting.
By the way, I have no idea where you got the idea that I insinuated that you, or any suburbanite, was stuck up and rich.
I agree that there are challenges with the city schools. It is clear that the residents of Minneapolis really care about education and are doing what they can do improve it as made evident by the education levy that was passed in the last election by a huge margin. If I have kids in the next several years I couldn't tell you where I'll end up sending them, whether it'll be standard public schools, charter or private. All have their strengths and weaknesses and I'll have to do my due dilgence and research all of them and speak with administrators and teachers at each school to make the best decision when that time comes.
I received my undergraduate degree at Saint John's, which although it is an excellent academic institution, is also very homogenous (wealthy white kids). Out of all the people I met in my four years there (of which I'd say nearly 50% were from Twin Cities suburbs) the most cultured, open-minded and well mannered friend I made grew up in south Minneapolis and graduated from South High School. I'm not saying my friends from the suburb schools were poorly educated or poorly mannered, but they see things differently since they grew up in 90+% white middle class environments, myself included. I think coming up in a diverse climate is a huge advantage. As long as your kids are raised well and can avoid trouble the cities could be a great place grow up and get educated. Those are my thoughts right now anyway.
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Appreciation is very low because there is a BUNCH of land remaining. Once you tap out the city and no land is remaining (think Champlin), then you see the appreciation. So if you buy in Andover, don't expect your value to go up all that much.
I also think there is one church for every person in my fine town. There seems to be a church on every corner.
You mentioned about a gang in Anoka (singular). Imagine if you grew up in MPLS. 
