Please educate me on south and southwest suburbs of MPLS (Minneapolis: apartment, lease)

[support_cancer_research]

My husband and I are considering buying a single family home in south or southwest Minneapolis in the range of 250-350K (3-4 BR, 2.5 Bath, 2-3 car attached garage and newer construction). We recently moved to Minneapolis and trying to settle in. Presently, we are renting an apartment on short term lease and would want to buy a house in next 3-6 months. We are in early 30s and do not have kids so good school district is not a priority. We want to be in suburban community, close to shopping area/malls, grocery stores, restaurants (we don’t mind chain restaurants), lakes, parks, lots of trees, walking trails, at least 70% white population, beautiful and neat surroundings...that’s pretty much what we are looking for . Which of the following cities would fit our criteria best? And would welcome other suggestions as well?
In no particular order, cities we have in mind are....Shakopee, Lakeville, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Prior Lake.
Would love some input on Woodbury as well.
Thanks for your help.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Shakopee is nice in that it is near Valleyfair, the river, Canterbury and has an acceptable downtown area. There isn't a mall in Scott County. Lots of new construction. More minorities than any other place you listed, but Minneapolis is nearly 70% white. Where I would live if I wanted a brand-new home.
Lakeville is just OK. There is almost no large commercial area in it (some massings of strip malls, mostly), Burnsville is the closest mall. Some older homes from the 70s, but mostly within the last decade, 15 years.
Burnsville is the oldest city you listed. Closest to the City, the only place with an actual shopping mall. Lots of new development around Nicollet. If you are OK with a house that is maybe 30 years old, it is where I would live out of the places you listed.
Savage is the smallest city you listed. Also my least favorite.
Apple Valley is quite nice, a little older but nicely so.
Prior Lake has a really big lake named Prior. A couple downtown blocks, if I remember correctly. Not much else. Prob. the most rural place you listed.

[rodhaenke]

In no particular order, cities we have in mind are....Shakopee, Lakeville, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Prior Lake.
Would love some input on Woodbury as well.
Thanks for your help.[/quote]

You didn't say Eagan, but I'd choose Eagan over all those mentioned. Eagan is closer in to both cities than all mentioned yet has lakes, parks, trails, good highways, close to airport/mall, etc...

You can't beat Eagan.

[golfgal]

Where are you working? That can make a difference.

I know you said you don't have kids but resale is important and usually you want a good school district for that.

I would put Apple Valley/Eagan/Rosemount on the top of your list for that. From your list Prior Lake would be my next choice. I like Prior Lake. It has a nice downtown area plus your basic every day needs. It is only a few miles to Burnsville or Medford for that matter.

Lakeville is also nice. The biggest drawback with Lakeville is that the most convenient commuting route is 35W, which is not fun during rush hour.

Shakopee is probably the least expensive but it also is a bit farther out and the schools are not as good as the above.

Burnsville-I don't like Burnsville. There are some nice neighborhoods but the schools are on the down slide and that is going to hurt resale, especially with Apple Valley right next door.

Savage is a dump. Again there are some nice neighborhoods but the rest of the town is a dump.

All of these places are close to shopping, etc-all within a few minutes of Burnsville Center, Mall of America, etc.

Like someone else said, Eagan is a nice area. It is hilly and has a lot of trees so that gives it some charm. Eagan has 3 school districts, the 196 schools--good, West St. Paul/Mendota Heights schools--good, and Burnsville--not good. If you look to Eagan, just make sure you are in one of the good districts. You also have to be careful with airport noise there so if you look at houses make sure you spend some time outside to see if they are in a flight path from the airport.

[Slig]

Uhh, I'm pretty sure it was clearly stated that schools were not a priority.

My personal experiences of living in Eagan was poor. I was 25-26 years old at the time and was very bored and frustrated with the lack of walkability, lack of small businesses, charm and diversity. The Town Centre area around Pilot Knob and Yankee Doodle is your stereotypical suburban shopping area where you can meet alot of your big box franchise and chain shopping needs. However, for alot of specialty shopping I found myself frequently driving down to Burnsville along 42. I found there to be alot more available there. All of the southern/southwest suburbs are 90+% white so your criteria is met there. Construction tends to be newer in the areas you mentioned. I don't think you're going to find a whole lot of differentiation. All said areas are pretty similar.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by support_cancer_research

My husband and I are considering buying a single family home in south or southwest Minneapolis in the range of 250-350K (3-4 BR, 2.5 Bath, 2-3 car attached garage and newer construction). We recently moved to Minneapolis and trying to settle in. Presently, we are renting an apartment on short term lease and would want to buy a house in next 3-6 months. We are in early 30s and do not have kids so good school district is not a priority. We want to be in suburban community, close to shopping area/malls, grocery stores, restaurants (we don’t mind chain restaurants), lakes, parks, lots of trees, walking trails, at least 70% white population, beautiful and neat surroundings...that’s pretty much what we are looking for . Which of the following cities would fit our criteria best? And would welcome other suggestions as well?
In no particular order, cities we have in mind are....Shakopee, Lakeville, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Prior Lake.
Would love some input on Woodbury as well.
Thanks for your help.

Woodbury is a fast growing area. Lot of newer stuff in single family and Townhomes. Probably newer than all the others you listed. Shopping and services for most everything are good. Lot of golf courses nearby. Like many suburban areas, sidewalks are spotty and most transportation is centered on the car. Biggest gripe about woodbury - eating establishments are hugely lame. My wife and I had some shopping to do and went there last week. She wanted some mexican food. The choices were Chipolte and another Chipolte. 350K is a little light for a decent single family in Woodbury. Traffic in Woodbury is a bit snarled due to rapid growth and somewhat poor planning.

Many of your choices were south of the river in Dakota county. I lived in Eagan for a couple years. You have everything there as well. I moved because traffic getting to Minneapolis is very bad. Apple Valley stands out of the cities you listed.

Listening to what you wanted, Edina and Eden Prairie seem to match well. Problem with Edina is most homes are older than you want, and cost more than you want. EP is newer, but also expensive.

For the most part 350K is going to get you mid grade construction in the 3000 SqFt range. Well insulated, modern appliances, nice floor plan, decent windows, decent sized lot. Nice house in a desirable area can be had.

Good luck with your search.

[What!]

"We want to be in suburban community, close to shopping area/malls, grocery stores, restaurants (we don’t mind chain restaurants), lakes, parks, lots of trees, walking trails, at least 70% white population, beautiful and neat surroundings...that’s pretty much what we are looking for . Which of the following cities would fit our criteria best? And would welcome other suggestions as well?
In no particular order, cities we have in mind are....Shakopee, Lakeville, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Prior Lake.
Would love some input on Woodbury as well."
As far as criteria goes Burnsville is the best, and I'm not just saying that because I grew up there, but it has those or is quite close.

Suburban community: Burnsville, Apple Valley, and Lakeville are the best suburban communities out of all them. Shakopee, Prior Lake, and Savage are spread out and have a hick/farm country feel. In Prior Lake you could buy a house and have to walk miles to your neighbor. Seriously. I highly doubt I've ever seen one sidewalk in Prior Lake. Shakopee and Savage don't really have any sort of community. Burnsville, Apple Valley, and Lakeville have it better.

Close to shopping area/malls, grocery stores, restaurants: Burnsville hands down. Apple Valley...well, it depends if you live close to the Cedar---County Rd 42 intersection. Otherwise your choices are limited. Burnsville has the Burnsville Mall and easy access by bus or car to the Mall of America. Everything else is terrible. If you move to Lakeville or Prior Lake you'll need a car and find yourself driving out of town to get to a good shopping center. Trust me. The rest aren't much better.

Lakes, parks, lots of trees, walking trails, at least 70% white population, beautiful and neat surroundings: All the towns listed have that. So I can't recommend one more than others.

All in all, you'll find more walking and things to do in Burnsville as opposed to the rest. I didn't list Woodbury because I'm not sure I've ever been there, but, knowing about the socio-economic-political ways MN towns are set up, I doubt it is has more than Burnsville.

[support_cancer_research]

Thank you guys for your advice. I appreciate your input and would take all those suggestions into consideration while looking for the right place to buy house.

Golfgal...It is good that you brought the 'good school district' issue with regards to resale value of the house. We are too focussed on buying the property that missed on that important piece of information. Seems like we need to make a visit to Eagan, EP and Edina as has been suggested by many. There are mixed opinions about Burnsville and a few other places but I guess we'll have to make a decision in favor of one or the other depending upon our likes and dislikes.

Golfgal...regarding the place of work--I am a PhD student finishing my thesis from home and would then be looking for jobs in pharmaceutical industry which may take another 4-6 months. My husband has a job that mostly requires traveling so proximity to airport will be a factor. However, we wouldn't want to be too close to it and suffer airport noise and traffic.

I may come again with more questions once we visit more cities. Thanks again for your help.

[golfgal]

I would look to Rosemount, Apple Valley and Eagan then. All are easy access to the airport, good resale potential because of the schools and have pretty much everything you want. We have zero airport noise in Rosemount, there is some in Apple Valley and more in Eagan, but places with none too.

[Jeanie Hoholik]

Why, of course!