Your opinions of Woodbury, Eagan & Mendota Heights

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by HKB

Thanks for your input. You bring up some very valid points. There are a few reasons why we're not looking in Cottage Grove. First, I work in Cottage Grove. While a short commute is nice, I need to have somewhat of a buffer between work and home. Also, it would be a longer commute for my wife, and a shorter commute is more important for her than for me.

Second, I lived in Cottage Grove for 4 years (2001-2004). I'm just not a fan of the city. It probably sounds bad, but I just don't care for the low-class feel of the city. There are too many small, old, run-down properties where the owners don't take pride in their homes. There also seems to be a lot of Section 8 rentals. I used to live near one of those areas, and I have no desire to ever live anywhere near there again.

Third, the city council & planning commission did a very poor job with the layout of the city. It's a complete hodgepodge with no master plan. The retail areas in Cottage Grove (what little there is) are not concentrated in a few areas, but are scattered all over the place, making it very inconvienent to do one-stop shopping.

If that is how you feel, it makes no sense to look in CG. Sounds like Woodbury is right in the middle, and that might work. Other potential areas you might like are just north of 94 from Woodbury. Lake Elmo, East part of Oakdale, Grant, Gem Lake, Birchwood Village, Pine Springs, Mahtomedi. Tends to be more of a rural feel with new and old stuff somewhat mixed together. There are also some nice areas in Maplewood with fairly large lots.

[Angorlee]

I tend to be pollution conscious and Woodbury has some of the worst polution ratings in the twin cities areas due to the fact that it is southeast of the twin cities and gets all of the pollution from both Mpls. and St.Paul from northwest winds(which is the most common wind direction). try Pollution Rankings

[Lori14]

My husband has a commute from Eagan to Shoreview area and he can make that in 30 minutes or less, unless there is an accident or bad snowstorm. Trust me on this as I time my dinners around what time he leaves the office. Maplewood is closer than Shoreview as well so should be an even shorter commute. I think it would be a good idea to try the different commutes you are thinking about during morning and evening rush hours. You might be surprised to find that while one is closer the traffic is much worse and the commute ends up being longer.

[GoTwins542]

Originally Posted by HKB

My wife and I are looking to buy a home in the next 6 to 12 months. She works in north Maplewood, and I work in Cottage Grove, so we need to stay on the east side to have reasonably short commutes. The problem with the east side of town is that we're having a hard time finding suburbs that appeal to us. Most seem run-down (Oakdale, West/South St. Paul), near stinky refineries (Newport, St. Paul Park, Inver Grove Heights), or in weaker school districts (Cottage Grove).

We want to stay south of I-94, so we're thinking about Woodbury, Eagan, or Mendota Heights. I'm looking for opinions about these areas.

What are the pros and cons of each city (schools, property taxes, affordability, location, etc...). We'd like to find a house in a good neighborhood in the $220-250k range (is this possible, or wishful thinking?). We don't want to live more than 20 minutes from work. Any opinions or advice would be welcome. Thanks!

Me and my family (w/two little children) live in Mendota Heights and have for over 10 years. Closer to the edge of St. Paul/Mendota Heights. I love the area and would stay there forever. My husband however wants to move because he bought the house before we were married and had kids. He feels it to be more of a starter home than a home to raise a family in.

In our neighborhood, we have a mix of older couples who brought their kids up in their homes, but we also have many young couples like us, that have just started their families. We participate in national night out each year and there are many kids that attend.

With regard to the schools, the public elementary schools are known to be very good, but I'm not sure about the middle and high school. (keep in mind, I didn't research the schools that closely yet because our kids are very young.) The kids in our neighborhood all go to different schools...some send to public and some send to private - some even home school. The kids that I know that go to that high school are good kids too.

Property taxes are very very good. I believe one of the lowest in the Twin Cities...but don't quote me on that.

I feel the location is great...only two miles from downtown St. Paul. But we are on the edge, like I said, so you don't have to be that close if you don't want to.

We plan to put our house on the market soon, and possibly build a home further south. However, we are not in that price range. ($350) You should go to www.themlsonline.com, if you haven't already to see what's out there for MH. When I looked yesterday for my own purposes, there were 6 houses between $280 - $350 and 3 houses between $300-$350. I'm biased, but we've done a lot of beautiful remodeling to our home, new roof, new windows, big lot...but I also figured we would stay there forever, when my husband had a different agenda!

I hope that helps?!

[redbarrister]

Have you been in touch with what is going on in the MPLS district lately? It's crumbling and has a history of being extremely mismanaged. How about the "incident" at Burroughs? How about the Changing School Options fiasco? How about the budget shortfall from the mass exodus of students from the district?

There is not doubt that my stepson has issues of his own. We are currently having him evaluated. However, to say that the MPLS district in general and the school's lack of any help or direction to resources that would help is considered the definition of getting a good education is an extremely uneducated response.

Sorry, feel a bit strongly about this one. Nothing personal.

[DaphneinMN]

In my 40 years of living in the Twin Cities, mostly in St. Paul, I have never heard Woodbury referred to as the "Edina of the East." Frankly, I see absolutely no similarities between the two. Edina is a much older, close-in suburb, with lots of charming shops and a major shopping center. You can get a charming old house in an old neighborhood with mature trees, or a something quite new. Edina also has a reputation for being extremely wealthy, while most of Woodbury is pretty much middle class, and, as was stated above, lots of big-box stores and beige houses. It's nice, it's not Edina.

[Anneee]

Congrats on your move to Woodbury HKB. I was in a similar situation and also chose Woodbury for its schools, and I'm happy that I did!