Advice For Brit Please (Minneapolis, Coon Rapids: appointed, fit in, apartments)

[Hampshire Boy]

Hi
I am moving with my job to the MSP area in the Autumn of 2007 and I have a myriad of questions relating to areas, schools for my 10 year old etc...
Suppose the keys ones are where is a nice area to rent in as we are retaining our house in UK whilst we make sure we wish to stay long term, we are looking at rent of say $2000 a month or thereabouts.
Our daughter is 10 and in fee paying school here in England our system is different and my child in Sept 07 would be starting your 7th grade but would I think only be in 5th grade in the States at her age simply we start school up to 2 years earlier.
Our priority is the school and area I am prepared to commute as I am used to it with our horrendous South Coast traffic here in UK.
Company is about 30 minutes north of city.
Your help will be greatly appreciated, mind all the talk of cold weather makes me wonder

[ukyankee]

Hi, I am an American living in the UK. I am moving to Minneapolis in the late spring. Although I have not lived in Minnesota there are some things I can say about the difference between the London area. You can expect that space will be a different issue in the US. Traffic may be heavy, but the roads will be wider and straighter. The US simply has more room than you may be used to. A rent of $2000 a month wil get you into a nice area. Luxery apartments run $1500 and up, but you can also get into a nice house for that level of rent. Hopefully, some residents of MSP will provide you with specific information about schools.
cheers!

[Hampshire Boy]

Originally Posted by ukyankee

Hi, I am an American living in the UK. I am moving to Minneapolis in the late spring. Although I have not lived in Minnesota there are some things I can say about the difference between the London area. You can expect that space will be a different issue in the US. Traffic may be heavy, but the roads will be wider and straighter. The US simply has more room than you may be used to. A rent of $2000 a month wil get you into a nice area. Luxery apartments run $1500 and up, but you can also get into a nice house for that level of rent. Hopefully, some residents of MSP will provide you with specific information about schools.
cheers!

Cheers Yankee I live on the coast so its a big change
We will want a house so $2000 may well become $2300 we are letting our house in UK for $2500 a month so it will offset in part.
Used to live in Spain as well so used to wide spaces in the centre of that country and have spent lots of time in USA and Canada visiting friends the distances we think are long here are nothing over there I know.
As for London great to visit but couldn't live there! Way to crowded and expensive my place here may be $800k but they goes nowhere up in town.

[ukyankee]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Boy

Cheers Yankee I live on the coast so its a big change
We will want a house so $2000 may well become $2300 we are letting our house in UK for $2500 a month so it will offset in part.
Used to live in Spain as well so used to wide spaces in the centre of that country and have spent lots of time in USA and Canada visiting friends the distances we think are long here are nothing over there I know.
As for London great to visit but couldn't live there! Way to crowded and expensive my place here may be $800k but they goes nowhere up in town.

Well done! You appear to have thought this through, unlike I did before moving to the UK. My only experience in the UK is living in Surrey near London. Too crowded and expensive. Can't wait to get home! Good Luck in your search.

[golfgal]

Where are your working, what town? We can start there and then help you figure out where the best places would be. When does your daughter turn 11? If she turns 11 before Sept 1st, she would be going into 6th grade, if she turns 11 after that, 5th grade.

[Hampshire Boy]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Where are your working, what town? We can start there and then help you figure out where the best places would be. When does your daughter turn 11? If she turns 11 before Sept 1st, she would be going into 6th grade, if she turns 11 after that, 5th grade.

Hi she turns 10 this July but as she started in school at 4 years 2 months she would be starting here her 7th grade in September.
My job is based near Coon Rapids area and I have read with interest that that is not an area to live in or near.
We are as I say Golfgal happy to live away from that area and for me to commute as obviously under Visa rules my wife cannot work, she is not disappointed
School will be key again we do not mind paying as we do it here around $15000 a year so that is factored into our calculations.
My colleagues all seem in the main to live around Blaine,Maple Grove and in the sticks well North of town.
Really appreciate you help

[yellowsnow]

School starts the first week of September. It would be good if you could get here by then. It would also almost guarantee you a good move. The later into fall you get, the greater chance of bad weather. It sounds like you will do fine. You have enough money to rent a nice home in a nice area. Look at Monticello and Elk River. In my experience, schools in the UK are more difficult than schools here. You may want to investigate advanced programs for your daughter.

The areas I mentioned are still a commute for you. There are other places a lot closer. This will be an adventure for your family. A great opportunity! I have lived all over and never regretted it. I do however, hope you have been here in the winter. It can be character building! Best of luck!

[nick is rulz]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Boy

Hi she turns 10 this July but as she started in school at 4 years 2 months she would be starting here her 7th grade in September.
My job is based near Coon Rapids area and I have read with interest that that is not an area to live in or near.
We are as I say Golfgal happy to live away from that area and for me to commute as obviously under Visa rules my wife cannot work, she is not disappointed
School will be key again we do not mind paying as we do it here around $15000 a year so that is factored into our calculations.
My colleagues all seem in the main to live around Blaine,Maple Grove and in the sticks well North of town.
Really appreciate you help

if you want to live in the city, I would say look in the Calhoun or Bryn Mawr areas or even south towards Edina. Those are generally nice areas close to the city.

[golfgal]

I would try the St. Michael/Albertville area or Monticello to start. Coming from the UK it is hard to judge the quality of our schools to your schools. As a general rule of thumb most public schools here are equal to or better then the private schools so you will most likely not need to go that route. For the extra $15,000+ you will save you might want to consider Eden Prairie. The commute to Coon Rapids wouldn't be too bad and the schools are very good and they will probably be able to offer more advanced programing if needed for your daughter.

Many kids start preschool at age 3 or 4 here so she may fit in pretty well with the 5th graders here. The kids would have preschool for 1-2 years, kindergarten then 1-4th grades so that is roughly the same number of years of schooling.

[Hampshire Boy]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I would try the St. Michael/Albertville area or Monticello to start. Coming from the UK it is hard to judge the quality of our schools to your schools. As a general rule of thumb most public schools here are equal to or better then the private schools so you will most likely not need to go that route. For the extra $15,000+ you will save you might want to consider Eden Prairie. The commute to Coon Rapids wouldn't be too bad and the schools are very good and they will probably be able to offer more advanced programing if needed for your daughter.

Many kids start preschool at age 3 or 4 here so she may fit in pretty well with the 5th graders here. The kids would have preschool for 1-2 years, kindergarten then 1-4th grades so that is roughly the same number of years of schooling.

Thanks to all for responses, I had heard that schooling was very good in state system, here it is ok but the class sizes make it crazy for a child to get progress hence many people are opting private my daughter is in a class of 13. Its interesting you mention Eden Prairie as we had looked at an International school there and had seen nice housing to rent at about $2000 on a site called Rentclicks.
School here is different my daughter started nursery school aged 2 and then did age 3 the 1 year pre shool literacy and basic numeracy stuff. Then aged 4 into real school which has 3 years at pre prep then Junior school for 4 years she is in year 3 of this 4 year cycle and then 5 years senior school.
So its hard to gauge we all think our kids are academically advanced but in a high quality, high attainment school she is seen as very gifted.

Housing is a challenge as we of course have not rented for so long but to buy straight away would mean selling up here and we do not want to do that until we are sure but really I suppose want an area we would buy in hence paying $2000+ is not an issue and of course as immigrants we face the challenge of no credit file/history in the USA which really precludes buying for a year or 2 anyway.

Yes I have been in December but it was very cold around 3 c so 39 f, as Ukyankee could testify we have no winter really here where I am its usually 45-55f in winter it snows every 3 years for about an hour! Of course there is not much summer either 70-80f for about 4 weeks but it can often be mid 60's f in the middle of summer. If its too cold I will have to move to La Jolla or something