Looking for a nice suburb to raise my kids (St. Paul: houses, school district)

[Cleveland]

I have two kids, ages 10 and 15. We are relocating for work, and I am looking for a home in a suburb with good schools and a great family atmosphere. We live in the Chicago suburbs now, in a great school district. We've visited once. Liked Apple Valley and Eagan.

Suggestions?

Thanks

[Robert P Stewart]

I absolutely love the southern suburbs. My wife and I live in Lakeville. I know I've repeated this several times in other posts, but here it goes again. My wife and I hopped into the car at 5:50PM on Thursday. At 6:20, we were getting seated at the Orpheum. At 7:00PM, we were watching Jerry Seinfeld (OK, so we were watching the opening act, which was better than Jerry Seinfeld's act).

Apple Valley and Eagan have some VERY nice areas - but they also have a few areas to stay away from. My clients have tended to gravitate towards Rosemount lately. I've sold a few homes in Harmony Village and Evermoor over the past two months. Great area with a lot of potential. Areas of Apple Valley are becoming dilapidated, IMHO. I saw a home sell last week for less than it sold for 3 years ago. That's tough!

Best of luck with your move - I'm sure the good people here will lead you straight!

Robert
Robert@RobertPStewart.com

[rochestercheesehead]

Originally Posted by Cleveland

I have two kids, ages 10 and 15. We are relocating for work, and I am looking for a home in a suburb with good schools and a great family atmosphere. We live in the Chicago suburbs now, in a great school district. We've visited once. Liked Apple Valley and Eagan.

Suggestions?

Thanks

If you're coming from Chicago, the most expensive city in the midwest, then you won't have any problem with the inflated home values in Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville and Inver Grove Heights.

I'm a former teacher in Minnesota who has worked in both public and private schools, though I'll never teach school again--I can't imagine where the teachers in 196 live because they certainly can't afford any of the homes in that area on their less than adequate salaries--but ISD 196 is probably the best district in the state.

If you're looking for a good school district up there, there are only two that I'm aware of: ISD 196, in the area you mentioned, and Anoka-Hennepin, up in the northern suburbs. Apparently, there's some stigma about the northern suburbs. I guess because they are almost affordable for an average wage earner, they aren't good enough for the folks who want to pay a lot more for their houses in the southern suburbs. Presumably, all of the district 196 teachers live up in the Anoka-Hennepin district, which is likely part of the reason that district is good.

When I move up to the twin cities, I'll probably have to start homeschooling since I know that I can't afford any homes up there outside of St. Paul. Maybe I can come live with you?

Seriously, go for 196--it's a fantstic district.

[golfgal]

We live in Rosemount and can vouch for the quality of the schools here, they are just fantastic. Several of the teachers do live in the area, but not all. Personally I much prefer Rosemount over Apple Valley or Eagan but it really comes down to what your kids like to do. I think you will find that overall the quality of schools in any of the suburbs is going to be generally better then what you have now but District 196 is the best in the state and one of the top rated in the nation.

[Cleveland]

One great thing about the Chicago area is the racial diversity. We have two children adopted from the Philippines. Can you give me a sense for the racial mix in the area?

Thanks again for all of your help!

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Cleveland

One great thing about the Chicago area is the racial diversity. We have two children adopted from the Philippines. Can you give me a sense for the racial mix in the area?

Thanks again for all of your help!

Rosemount High School, for a suburban MN school, is pretty racially diverse, which probably isn't much compared to Chicago. My son is in the marching band and there are probably 10 kids in the band of Asian descent, some of them are adopted but some are from Asian families. I have never seen nor heard of any 'issues' with the minority kids what so ever. It is a pretty open minded town. I don't think you would have issues here at all.

[Old Paint]

OK, the schools you all are mentioning, are they public or private?

I'm on the verge of making the move up from Louisiana, and I can tell you one thing. If you can help it you kids Don't go to Public schools in South Louisiana.
Not a very good enviornment for kids to learn, even if there were quality teachers there to teach them.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Old Paint

OK, the schools you all are mentioning, are they public or private?

I'm on the verge of making the move up from Louisiana, and I can tell you one thing. If you can help it you kids Don't go to Public schools in South Louisiana.
Not a very good enviornment for kids to learn, even if there were quality teachers there to teach them.

All the schools we have mentioned are public schools. In Minnesota you will find that the public schools are as good as if not better then private schools and I can guarantee they are better then most private schools anywhere.

[5.0 Mustang]

Originally Posted by Cleveland

One great thing about the Chicago area is the racial diversity. We have two children adopted from the Philippines. Can you give me a sense for the racial mix in the area?

Thanks again for all of your help!

Apparently Rosemount is very Irish. The downtown area is rocking some serious Irish signs.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by 5.0 Mustang

Apparently Rosemount is very Irish. The downtown area is rocking some serious Irish signs.

One would think so driving through downtown but we haven't found all that many Irish folks here. The town was originally settled by Irish immigrants thus all the Irish references.