White Bear vs Woodbury (St. Paul, Maplewood: how much, townhomes, neighborhood)

[MN55]

We (family of 6 with kids ranging from 15 to 3) are going to be moving to one of these two communities from Hibbing later this year. Could you guys give me a run down of the differences in culture, and the pros and cons, of these two communities? How would you consider the youth hockey programs in these two towns? I know White Bear has one of the biggest in the country, but what about Woodbury? And how is the commute to downtown St. Paul?

Thanks

[golfgal]

The commute to downtown will be about the same from both towns. White Bear Lake has a longer standing hockey tradition but Woodbury has made a few state tournament appearances in the past couple seasons. Mahtomedi might be a good option as well. The schools there are better then White Bear Lake and Woodbury, their high school hockey program is very good as are most of their sports.

[Clifford63]

White Bear Lake is much older than Woodbury and about 1/2 the size in the 25K ballpark. Initially it evolved as a seperate entity from St. Paul but eventually ended up becomming a suburb. It has a main street/downtown area and many of the people have roots in the area having family in the area for many years. Probably fair to say it is more true middle class with older less expensive homes in general than Woodbury. I lived there for about 6 months last year and really ended up liking it there. You will not find a ton of shopping in terms of having target, best buy, strip malls galore, but they have the basics covered pretty good. Closest place for stuff they lack is Maplewood and some people probably go to woodbury or stillwater too.

Woodbury really grew a lot in the 90s and early 00s. It has over 50K people now and it has a layout that closely matches the classic modern burb. Tons of retail in strip malls, most everything is going to be big box or chain stores and the city is segmented into large developments of similar type homes. YOu will hear of Dancing Waters, Stonemill Farms, Waterstone, etc. Many of the homes are part of association with rules and covenants as well as monthly fees. There are a fair number of townhomes in certian parts of Woodbury as well. I believe you would pay a lot more money for similar home in Woodbury than White Bear Lake.

Mahtomedi is around 8K and roughly right in the middle between Woodbury and White Bear Lake in location. It is also older like White Bear Lake with a smallish shopping area. It has a low profile in terms of many people have either not heard of it or maybe they have but don't know exactly where it is. Housing is mixed with some older homes that are quite affordable and some newer homes that are very nice but expensive. Like White Bear Lake, many of the people have roots and have been in the area a long time. Mahtomedi has more wooded areas than both WBL and Woodbury and some homes are sitting on larger lots from 1/2 acre to over 3 acres.

WBL is in Ramsey County, and the other two are in Washington County. Generally, taxes are a little lower in Washington county but probably not enough to play a big role in your decision.

WBL has the best location if you like to get out of the metro to do some fishing or snowmobiling, hunting etc. I think the city has a lot of people that enjoy this stuff more than Woodbury. Mahtomedi is probably 50/50 on this due to mixture of housing. Lot of people own boats and sleds and such, but less than WBL and more the woodbury.

The stereo types you might hear would be. White Bear Lake is a bunch of rednecks and Woodbury is a bunch of snobs. You might hear that Mahtomedi is full of rich people too. Most stereo types have some tie to reality, but I would not take these too seriously.


WBL and Woodbury are both AA hockey, Mahtomedi is in Class A. All three schools have good programs and the biggest issue for many kids is competition. A lot of kids just are not good enough to make the teams. There is plenty of other programs to play hockey though. Metro Ice time is very in demmand, so you may end up with practice schedules that are at tough times like 5:00 a.m. or late evening. I would expect to see Woodbury continue be in the list of ranked teams often. They city has matured enough where youth hockey has developed and they large student population to draw from. All three would be good places to raise a hockey family. Kids in my neighborhood play hockey almost every day all year. They have little nets and rollerblades in the summer and flood out a pond in the winter. Pretty fun to see how much the kids enjoy playing the game.

I will leave it to you to decide what attributes are pros and cons. Commute to St. Paul from all of these locations is pretty decent. 20-30 minutes should get you there most days. We just moved to Mahtomedi last year and looked at Woodbury and some stuff close to WBL. What made our decision was the lot, and the fact that the area seemed like a mix of country and city with a real quiet low profile.

[Globe199]

I've never heard anyone refer to Woodbury residents as "snobs." Soccer moms, yes. Thousands of them. Snobs, no.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Globe199

I've never heard anyone refer to Woodbury residents as "snobs." Soccer moms, yes. Thousands of them. Snobs, no.

I said you might hear that, and you probably should not take it too serious. I have heard it plenty, but apparently you have not. Not a big deal if you keep in perspective.