Best Burbs? (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington: crime, houses, established neighborhood)

[xz2y]

Have been reading the many threads about where to live in the TC area. I'd be interested in hearing what people think about the "best burbs" to live in, i.e., areas with more interesting housing (not cookie cutter housing), older, established neighborhoods, and things to do besides shopping malls. Any burbs in the TC area with character and charm and affordability?

[HKB]

Originally Posted by xz2y

i.e., areas with more interesting housing (not cookie cutter housing), older, established neighborhoods, and things to do besides shopping malls. Any burbs in the TC area with character and charm and affordability?

Unfortunately, most suburbs with older non-cookie-cutter homes with character and charm generally aren't very affordable (I'm thinking of places like Stillwater, Excelsior & Wayzata). I'd try looking in places like Roseville, Falcon Heights and White Bear Lake. For the most part the homes in those areas tend to be older, mostly well-kept yet somewhat affordable. Hudson, WI (just across the river near Stillwater) has a charming downtown area with older homes as well.

[Downtown]

I live in Roseville and I feel it is a pretty good suburb. The one downside that bothers me is that most of the neighborhoods don't have sidewalks, which is common in many of the Twin Cities' suburbs.

Roseville has lost about 1,000 people on the last five years but the houses aand neighborhoods are older and more established than many of the other suburbs.

The schools are solid and there are parks and lakes and many programs for youth and school age children. Crime is pretty low and the city is pretty safe.

The first Best Buy ever built, the first Target ever built, and the first Barnes and Noble outside of New York City are/were in Roseville. Roseville also has the largest outdoor artificial sheet of ice in the world. Both Rosedale and Har Mar Malls are in Roseville.

Roseville and Lauderdale are the only two suburbs to border both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Falcon Heights is nice and is home to the University of Minnesota's Saint Paul campus and the Minnesota State Fair. Educational attainment is very high. About 70% of the population 25 and over has a bachelor's degree.

[golfgal]

Stillwater and Northfield come to mind first. Rosemount is another option with a smaller, older area with pretty well kept homes but a lot of cookie cutter neighborhoods too.

Schools, Rosemount is tops, Stillwater not far behind and Northfield after that. Hastings might be an option as well but I don't like that area as much as the other three.

[tanyagail]

Check out the Como Park area. Its just south of Roseville so the shopping is close by but it also is home to lovely Como Park (has 1 mile loop around small Lake Como) and a very nice little zoo. The Conservatory is also right there--domes of indoor plants.

Houses can be on the smaller side but very cute--there are sidewalks too. Pretty close to the State Fair grounds so many of our neighbors would "make money" in the summer by selling their yard for parking--usually about $800 for 2 weeks!

Couldn't tell you about schools though b/c when we lived there are kids were still very young.

What do people think about Shoreview and Arden Hills? Burbs just north of Roseville?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Downtown

The first Best Buy ever built, the first Target ever built, and the first Barnes and Noble outside of New York City are/were in Roseville.

Really? I used to shop at Sound of Music by Ridgedale before they changed their name to Best Buy, and I thought the first Sound of Music store was in downtown St. Paul somewhere? Or are you talking about the first "Best Buy" branded store?

[Downtown]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Really? I used to shop at Sound of Music by Ridgedale before they changed their name to Best Buy, and I thought the first Sound of Music store was in downtown St. Paul somewhere? Or are you talking about the first "Best Buy" branded store?

According to Wikipedia the first Best Buy ever built was in Roseville but was originally called Sound of Music.

[Minnehahapolitan]

I think the kind of suburb you are looking for comes under two categories, an older, once independent city (Stilwater, Excelsior, Wayzata, Hopkins, White Bear) and first ring streetcar suburbs (Edina, Saint Louis Park, S. Saint Paul, Columbia Heights, Robbinsdale) The latter group was part of the wave of developed as a "wave" coming out of the city. The independent cities were railroad stops or resort towns and one had to go through rural areas to get to the city originally. These towns had seperate address systems. I hope I make sense.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Mea culpa, I did't answer the entirity of the question. Stillwater, Edina, Excelsior, Wayzata and White Bear Lake tend to be some of the more expensive suburbs. You can see prices, et. cetera for the metro at Edinarealty.com (no affiliation)

[Hoosier]

Champlin is great if you're looking for affordibility and character. We have many homes that are definitely not the cookie cutter look. There is a pocket in Champlin that are, but those are the newer homes. Most of the homes in Champlin have huge yards and were built in the 60s to 80s. While Champlin does not have the charm that say Stillwater has, it is quite progressive and access to a lot. We're 20 minutes from RiverPlace Shopping Center in Coon Rapids and 20 minutes to Arbor Lakes Shopping Center in Maple Grove. As long as you steer clear of 169 the commute is decent. I commute to Bloomington and make it to work in an hour (and that includes dropping kids off).