Where to live if my office is in Bloomington, MN (Eden Prairie: apartment, renters)

[Swede in CA]

My potential office is in Bloomington. Two children 9 and 16, need good schools and safe area. Where to live ?

[summer grace]

Live in Bloomington- I had relatives that lived there. Great place, couldn't recomend it more. I wanted to live there, but never have. That said, I'm not familiar enough with it to give specific recomendations. It isn't like most of the Twin Cities- feels like a suburb so much, unusual from what I've seen of the C ities.But, it is a great place to live.

[Haver]

A lot of good options; you'll want to live south or west unless money is tight, or you're in far eastern Bloomington.

What are you looking to spend? What school programs are of particular importance? Where in Bloomington is the office? How long will you be staying (ie will the house be an investment or merely a shelter)? How long of a commute can you tolerate? What are you looking for for neighborhood ammenities (walkability, good places to shop, trendy places, nature, etc).

Depending on your answers, a good place to live could be only a five or ten minute commute...

[Swede in CA]

Summer grace, Did you like to live in MN? It is a big step for us to move to 4 season climate. We like it, but afraid as well. We have been in CA for so long. I hate style of living here, I am due to change something in my life.

Seems like it is difficult for me to make last step and accept my transfer. How cold is it in the winter?

[Swede in CA]

We want to relocate for good. We want to rent for 2-3 years to know area better. Ideally, we want to by a house with a small land from 1 to 7 acreas, or near the lake. But, as I said, we want to rent first. Since we do not know MN, I would like to rent closer to my office first. We need a 3 bedroom, fairly large apartment (2 kids and a mini Aussie dog) We are willing to pay up to $2,000. I make a little more than $100K.

We are MT bikers,and I like to walk with my dog for hours. I want safe area, so I am not going nuts if my kids are outside by themselves. My older one is one year from high school graduation. Interests are debate teams, law, economics, journalism. The younger one is all in animals, hiking, and language. Would like to find Swedish and/or Russian lessons for her. We want more nature, walking, I do not care too much about trendy shops. I can druve once in a while for this sort of the shops, but a good variety of supermarkets, local fresh produce, is a big plus.

[summer grace]

Originally Posted by Swede in CA

Summer grace, Did you like to live in MN? It is a big step for us to move to 4 season climate. We like it, but afraid as well. We have been in CA for so long. I hate style of living here, I am due to change something in my life.

Seems like it is difficult for me to make last step and accept my transfer. How cold is it in the winter?

I was born and grew up in MN. (although not the Cities). I like MN and IA- esp the landscape and the pace of living- much different than CA. The winters aren't that bad. Some are worse than others (like last) but some are nice. I do complain about winter, but more due to my sensitivity to cold than how bad it actually is. It isn't a sub- zero winter wonderland-Bloomington isn't up north. I still am in the midwest, and I could have left, but I have stayed, and maybe will forever. I visited some relatives in Bloomington and and I don't like cities, and I liked it- nice feel, nice suburbs. I'd live there. I live near MN in IA. I love IA and honestly like MN- esp how it looks, the pace of living, and the lifestyle. I don't like tiny towns of 1,000 etc and smalltown people in them (still live in a small town)- but you wouldn't have this problem in Bloomington. Thats the only thing I don't like about the midwest-some of the smalltown non accepting if you aren't from here folks (but this would not be a problem in Bloomington).

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Swede in CA

We want to relocate for good. We want to rent for 2-3 years to know area better. Ideally, we want to by a house with a small land from 1 to 7 acreas, or near the lake. But, as I said, we want to rent first. Since we do not know MN, I would like to rent closer to my office first. We need a 3 bedroom, fairly large apartment (2 kids and a mini Aussie dog) We are willing to pay up to $2,000. I make a little more than $100K.

We are MT bikers,and I like to walk with my dog for hours. I want safe area, so I am not going nuts if my kids are outside by themselves. My older one is one year from high school graduation. Interests are debate teams, law, economics, journalism. The younger one is all in animals, hiking, and language. Would like to find Swedish and/or Russian lessons for her. We want more nature, walking, I do not care too much about trendy shops. I can druve once in a while for this sort of the shops, but a good variety of supermarkets, local fresh produce, is a big plus.

Renting until you are sure you want to stay and know more about the area is very wise. Hard to say what housing will do, but right now prices are down from the peak. 2K per month is more than enough to rent a nice house.

Bloomington is a large suburb with decent sized lots, but you won't find a lake or the acreage you are looking for. You do have some good options not far away though.

There are extensive bike trails. Serious Mountian Biking is a bit harder to find, but there are good locations for this as well.

[golfgal]

Which side of Bloomington is your office? If it is the west side, try Eden Prairie or Chaska. If you are east side you want your oldest at Eastview High School in Apple Valley. They have one of the best forensics programs in the nation. They often have national debate and speech champions. It is part of the 196 schools that also offers the School of Environmental Sciences which is held at the Minnesota Zoo. They have programing for kids that want to work with animals, etc. It is for junior and seniors in high school but something to explore. There are several language offerings for students throughout the district but not sure if Russian is one of them.

We also have the Concordia Language Camps that are based in northern Minnesota but have some languages available in the metro area too. They are basically summer camps for kids to learn languages. They have offerings everywhere from elementary school to masters level courses. Each "camp" has buildings designed like their home country. It is a great place!

You should be able to find a house to rent for your price range fairly easily, especially someone looking to sell a home that has already purchased a second house and is carrying 2 mortgages. If they can find renters that are willing to stay a couple years it would give them the opportunity to wait for the market to rebound.

[Swede in CA]

The office is around cross of I-494 and hwy 77, just south of Airport. So, I assume that is the East part of Bloomington?

Thanks for all of you, guys!!!! You are guys, warm people in cold Minnesota!!! I will look into schools info. What Minnesotians are saying about local Universities? Where to shop for food in Bloomington? Where to buy warm clothes; bring with us or buy there? We like Columbia clothes, have some, but not enough.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Swede in CA

The office is around cross of I-494 and hwy 77, just south of Airport. So, I assume that is the East part of Bloomington?

Thanks for all of you, guys!!!! You are guys, warm people in cold Minnesota!!! I will look into schools info. What Minnesotians are saying about local Universities? Where to shop for food in Bloomington? Where to buy warm clothes; bring with us or buy there? We like Columbia clothes, have some, but not enough.

Apple Valley in the Eastview area is where you want to be. It is a quick 10 minute hop up 77 (Cedar Ave), minimal traffic most days. We live in Rosemount, just east of Apple Valley, and take Cedar to work every day.

You will be able to find Columbia in every department store in the area, Kohl's, JC Penney, etc. We have some sporting good stores around, Sports Authority, REI, etc. You also have the Mall of America just a stones throw from your new office. I would wait to buy it here, you will have a better selection and why pay to move the heavy, bulky clothing if you don't have to.

There are grocery stores in MN . We have everything from low end Aldi to high end Byerley's. You won't have to worry about finding fresh produce even in the dead of winter.

Local universities are excellent. The Twin Cities has several smaller, private schools that are all top rated. Just to the south of the metro area is a town called Northfield that has 2 top rated colleges, St. Olaf and Carleton. Carleton is a highly selective, Ivy league caliber school.

MN also has a program for jr's and sr's in high school where they can take dual credit classes at local colleges that count for college credit and high school credit. Kids that take advantage of these programs get a lot of their general ed course out of the way for free. Some kids graduate from high school and start college as a junior. It is a pretty nice deal.