Any difference in these neighborhoods? (St. Paul, Blaine: for sale, homeowners association, crime rates)

[Cailalily1]

My family is moving to MN this summer. My niece is in the same grade with my daughter and we would like them to be in the same school, which is White Bear Lake Central Middle School. The feeder towns for this (I think) are northern part of White Bear, Lino Lakes, Hugo and North Oaks. Could anyone give me a feel for these towns? They seem pretty similar. We are looking for a bit of land but want to be near parks we can hike through. Seems like Lino Lakes and Hugo might be best options?

Thanks for the help

[golfgal]

Lino Lakes and Hugo are more rural. Hugo is still cleaning up from a major tornado. North Oaks is a pretty affluent area, very expensive. Will you be working some place? Lino Lakes and Hugo are also farther away from the cities, which could be an issue. White Bear Lake is more convenient to the cities.

[StPaulEastSider]

^
What golfgal said...

Here is an attendance zone map for this school: http://www.whitebear.k12.mn.us/images/Central.gif

I would only add this - North Oaks is a gated community, one of the few in the Twin Cities. I've only known North Oaks to feed into Chippewa Middle School and Moundsview High School, which is why I pulled up the WBL attendance zone map...

The drive from White Bear Township into St. Paul is very doable, on the otherside of White Bear Lake, it becomes quite a hike to get to into the cities.... but I am personally never in favor of long commutes, or living in rural areas, for that matter.... so I'm not one to ask.

Not all of Hugo was hit by the tornado... a lot of new construction went up there in the past decade. You are going to find more established neighborhoods in White Bear Township.

[Gibby3000]

North Oaks isn't a gated community but it is "private" in that the roads are owned and maintained by the homeowners association. Since the roads are not public technically taking a drive through with no particular destination in mind is trespassing. North Oaks is really a pretty unique community compared to the others you mention. Though there are lots of very pricey homes in N.O. there are also quite a few relatively modest homes - many selling for under $500K - one recently sold for $250K. What is also unique about the area is that most lots are over an acre yet the location is only 12 miles from downtown St. Paul. If you like larger lots and peaceful, natural, rural like surroundings along with a sense of community it's a great place to live. It's also appealing to some very wealthy people with multi-million dollar houses but not everyone who lives there falls into that category. The western parts of N.O. are in Moundsview and eastern parts in White Bear Lake school district.

[StPaulEastSider]

Originally Posted by Gibby3000

North Oaks isn't a gated community but it is "private" in that the roads are owned and maintained by the homeowners association.

I always thought the gates were there, only never closed... there is a "guard house" at each entrance to North Oaks - NO? Again, no one seems to actually ever occupy the guard house. We lived in Shoreview for several years and my kids had play dates with friends in North Oaks, I've never seen a person in the guard house.

But yeah, I guess "gated community" is a bit of a overstatement.

Aside note: I have been comparing the Twin Cities to Atlanta, and the crime rates here, in the worst crime neighborhoods, are often 2-3x lower than any neighborhood in Atlanta. I don't think there is much need for gated communities in the Twin Cities.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

I always thought the gates were there, only never closed... there is a "guard house" at each entrance to North Oaks - NO? Again, no one seems to actually ever occupy the guard house. We lived in Shoreview for several years and my kids had play dates with friends in North Oaks, I've never seen a person in the guard house.

But yeah, I guess "gated community" is a bit of a overstatement.

Aside note: I have been comparing the Twin Cities to Atlanta, and the crime rates here, in the worst crime neighborhoods, are often 2-3x lower than any neighborhood in Atlanta. I don't think there is much need for gated communities in the Twin Cities.

There are gates, but they are no longer manned. There are private access signs up. It was interesting to learn the reason is becuase the streets are not owned by the city, but by the homeowners. Apparently this creates a situation where the Metropolitan Commission has no juristiction.

North Oaks, Minnesota - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Cailalily1

My family is moving to MN this summer. My niece is in the same grade with my daughter and we would like them to be in the same school, which is White Bear Lake Central Middle School. The feeder towns for this (I think) are northern part of White Bear, Lino Lakes, Hugo and North Oaks. Could anyone give me a feel for these towns? They seem pretty similar. We are looking for a bit of land but want to be near parks we can hike through. Seems like Lino Lakes and Hugo might be best options?

Thanks for the help

If I was you, I'd call the school district to see if they plan on redistricting. This is very common to balance the schools when you chose a rural community. It usually seems to happens about once in 5-7 years. We live in Andover (VERY rural town) but go to Anoka schools. The students a block away from us (in Andover) go to Andover, we go to Anoka, and 4 blocks North they live in Andover and go to St. Francis. there was a time when poople who lived in our neighborhood went to Blaine.

You are probably save but I would invest in a phone call to your proposed school district.

If I looking for a home in that area that you described and had $500Kish to spend on a home, I'd chose North Oaks in a heartbeat. The area / neighborhood has a fantastic feel. If that fits your criteria, definitely take a look.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

Aside note: I have been comparing the Twin Cities to Atlanta, and the crime rates here, in the worst crime neighborhoods, are often 2-3x lower than any neighborhood in Atlanta. I don't think there is much need for gated communities in the Twin Cities.

I'm not sure that gates do all that much for security, anyway, at least if there isn't a guard. Although I think gates sometimes look pretty cool.

[Cailalily1]

Wow....great info! Thanks especially to MN-Born-n-Raised and StPaulEastSider for the map and the advice on the phone call to the school.

My husband is a rehabilitation counseling specialist (for people with disabilities, not addiction) and I am a special education teacher and educational researcher. My husband has a job in north St.Paul and I am looking for one close to White Bear.

We have found homes in our price range in all areas but are those crazy remodeling types so will probably look for something we can fix up, as we did with our last house. Thats why North Oaks may be off our list. Hard to find a fixer-upper there! But the area sounds like it may be worth just getting a done house (there is one for sale around 400K that is really nice). Our first choice is a house in Lino Lakes right by 35 going for 250K. Seems like a good deal, near Otter Lake (lakes are so cool to us, being from Ohio), has many features we like inside the house and has over an acre.

Thanks again for all your help...it seems like it would be difficult to make a bad decision here anyway!

[Gibby3000]

One more attempt to dispel the myths about North Oaks - there are no gates and there is no guard house. There is a house by the entrance but it isn't a guard house and there are no gates. The people who are making these statements must not live in North Oaks.

Anyway, good luck with your search - the northeast metro area is a nice place to live in my opinion. White Bear Lake is nice - Stillwater is nearby - there are lots of Ramsey county open spaces and trails.