Husband looking at a job in St. Paul (Minneapolis, Plymouth: apartment, amusement park)

[dallastxgirl]

Hi MN. If you are working in St. Paul, what in your opinion would be the best places to live considering the following basic criteria.

1. Great school district
2. Suburban
3. Decent shopping or not too far from it
4. House price range 300K to 450K
5. Low crime goes without saying really doesn't it?

Not too much to ask for right? As far as the suburban, we have been in a cookie cutter neighborhood and have been in a more country setting with acreage and there are really good things about both. The only thing I don't care for is HOA's. But we can deal. Neither of us has ever seen MN or know much about it. It seems like this could be a great career opportunity though. Any info you could give would be greatly appreciated. I have done a little research here, but I have a list of 29 places and I am not sure which ones would meet our needs. Oh you know what I forgot to mention? My son (and husband), hockey fanatics. My son would like nothing more than to play. Do most areas there have hockey for kids? He's nine. Here in Dallas, there is really only one area. Thanks!

[golfgal]

Minnesota and Hockey--yes, you will see a huge program in every area.

St. Paul proper--downtown? Mahtomedi, Eagan, Apple Valley would be the top 3 that come to mind. Some of it depends on where in St. Paul he would actually be working. A lot of the suburbs list St. Paul as an address and they are really Apple Valley or Woodbury, for example.

HOA are not popular around here in single family home developments so that won't be too hard to avoid.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by dallastxgirl

Hi MN. If you are working in St. Paul, what in your opinion would be the best places to live considering the following basic criteria.

1. Great school district
2. Suburban
3. Decent shopping or not too far from it
4. House price range 300K to 450K
5. Low crime goes without saying really doesn't it?

Not too much to ask for right? As far as the suburban, we have been in a cookie cutter neighborhood and have been in a more country setting with acreage and there are really good things about both. The only thing I don't care for is HOA's. But we can deal. Neither of us has ever seen MN or know much about it. It seems like this could be a great career opportunity though. Any info you could give would be greatly appreciated. I have done a little research here, but I have a list of 29 places and I am not sure which ones would meet our needs. Oh you know what I forgot to mention? My son (and husband), hockey fanatics. My son would like nothing more than to play. Do most areas there have hockey for kids? He's nine. Here in Dallas, there is really only one area. Thanks!

I think you are in great shape to find something you love in that price range. One potential way to narrow down the field is by looking at what county you want to live in. Two most logical choices are probably Washingtion and Ramsey. As a whole, schools in Washington County are pretty good, but get details on specific districts. Potential areas to look at being St. Paul centric might include Mahtomedi, Woodbury, Afton, Stillwater, White Bear Lake, Maplewood, Oakdale, Oak Park Heights, and Baybort. There are other good choices as well depending on just how important schools are to you. Dakota county also has some good distrcits, but that would be further from St. Pau.

Hockey is available most everywhere for kids. They start them young in rec programs. By the time the kids get to high school, they either play for a school or continue to play at rec level depending on skill.

Housing Associations are around in some areas, but can be avoided if that is your preference. Woodbury in paticular has a fair number of these.

Best of luck on your quest.

[BillyB]

Roseville, Falcon Heights or Lauderdale (these three cities are generally lumped together as one area)
* Close to Dt. St Paul AND close to Minneapolis!
* Good hockey program, and lots of hockey rinks
* Roseville Oval http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidant...Minnesota_Oval - largest ice sheet in the U.S.
* Most per-capita retail and restaurants in the Twin Cities
* Low property taxes
* Good schools

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseville%2C_Minnesota

[Anneee]

Hi DTgirl,
I'm from California originally and have spent the last 15 years in various areas of the Twin Cities and I highly recommend Woodbury. It's a suburb of St. Paul, to the Southeast. The schools are amazing (seriously, you've got to check them out!), the crime is low and the housing is fairly new and in your price range. It's laid out well and there's plenty of great shopping. The residents are friendly and, according to state statistics, very well educated. And, for reasons that escape me, it's the only Minnesota city I know of that doesn't get inundated with mosquitoes in the summer. Anyone know why that is?!

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Anneee

Hi DTgirl,
I'm from California originally and have spent the last 15 years in various areas of the Twin Cities and I highly recommend Woodbury. It's a suburb of St. Paul, to the Southeast. The schools are amazing (seriously, you've got to check them out!), the crime is low and the housing is fairly new and in your price range. It's laid out well and there's plenty of great shopping. The residents are friendly and, according to state statistics, very well educated. And, for reasons that escape me, it's the only Minnesota city I know of that doesn't get inundated with mosquitoes in the summer. Anyone know why that is?!

Skeeters like stagnet water, shade and humidity. Woodbury is a fairly young community built on what was primarily farmland, so trees are young, and there is not a lot of standing water or wetlands.

[sfw1979]

Originally Posted by dallastxgirl

Hi MN. If you are working in St. Paul, what in your opinion would be the best places to live considering the following basic criteria.

1. Great school district
2. Suburban
3. Decent shopping or not too far from it
4. House price range 300K to 450K
5. Low crime goes without saying really doesn't it?

Not too much to ask for right? As far as the suburban, we have been in a cookie cutter neighborhood and have been in a more country setting with acreage and there are really good things about both. The only thing I don't care for is HOA's. But we can deal. Neither of us has ever seen MN or know much about it. It seems like this could be a great career opportunity though. Any info you could give would be greatly appreciated. I have done a little research here, but I have a list of 29 places and I am not sure which ones would meet our needs. Oh you know what I forgot to mention? My son (and husband), hockey fanatics. My son would like nothing more than to play. Do most areas there have hockey for kids? He's nine. Here in Dallas, there is really only one area. Thanks!

I really like the west suburbs like Wayzata, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Long Lake, Medina etc.. but this may be to long of a drive to St Paul, though many do it every day.

Has your family ever been through a cold winter? I can't imagine it gets to cold in TX in the winter. As far as shopping, I think MN has WONDERFUL shopping places!!! I'm sure you have heard of the Mall of America, it's a great place with tons of stores and a fun amusement park for the kids. Even besides the MOA I think there are tons of malls and shops all over.

Good luck!

[dallastxgirl]

Yes, absolutely scared to death of the winter weather. I lived in it once. My husband is from OH and when we were younger we gave it a go there. October 1st a huge blizzard hit and it stayed like that for months. We were also poor. We lived in a horrible apartment. My exposed car door was frozen shut all the time. I slipped and fell a few times. People kept saying 'Oh it's never like this!' Right. But now we will have a house, garage, and I can afford to buy some decent winter clothes. I'm sure that it will be a challenge sometimes. TX is pretty mild. Long hot summers. High AC bills. Snow may happen once a yr. I saw some pictures of winter there in MN and I am wondering how my little daschund will even go out to do his business there. What do people do? The snow looked like it was about 3 ft deep in the yard. I appreciate all the help.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by dallastxgirl

Yes, absolutely scared to death of the winter weather. I lived in it once. My husband is from OH and when we were younger we gave it a go there. October 1st a huge blizzard hit and it stayed like that for months. We were also poor. We lived in a horrible apartment. My exposed car door was frozen shut all the time. I slipped and fell a few times. People kept saying 'Oh it's never like this!' Right. But now we will have a house, garage, and I can afford to buy some decent winter clothes. I'm sure that it will be a challenge sometimes. TX is pretty mild. Long hot summers. High AC bills. Snow may happen once a yr. I saw some pictures of winter there in MN and I am wondering how my little daschund will even go out to do his business there. What do people do? The snow looked like it was about 3 ft deep in the yard. I appreciate all the help.

The weiner dog might suffer from weiner drag if you don't shovel a spot for business transactions. We have two little Chijuauas and I trained them to use a box. There is such a thing as dog litter, which I never heard of until the little dogs arrived. They can go outside whenever they ask, but they never ask in the winter.

[golfgal]

We have a small dog and if the snow gets too deep we do shovel a spot in the back yard for her. She goes out, does her business, comes back in if it is really cold but she LOVES playing in the snow with the kids.

The past 15 years have been pretty boring when it comes to snow, we haven't had much and it hasn't really stuck around all winter--last year was the first year in many we had snow from Dec-March. We also don't usually get the ice that you see farther south which is a lot worse then a couple feet of snow. You also have to keep in mind that MN is prepared for snow and getting it off the streets happens pretty quickly. I think there were 2 days last winter where the snow hit at a time that snarled traffic during rush hour. After your first winter you will be fine. I have never had my garage door frozen shut and houses up here are built to withstand the extremes, better insulation, etc.