Moving from Boston, MA to Minnesota (Minneapolis, St. Paul: cul-de-sac, apartment, low crime)

[AMPL]

We live in the Boston area MA – but are considering moving away possibly to the Minneapolis area.
We have two children just starting school. Boston Area has good schools, low crime level (general) and clean air but besides that Boston does not have what we are looking for. Besides good schools, low crime (general) and clean air we are also looking for a more friendly but caring people (less passive-aggressive) but first of all we are looking for a life - where we can live close to our job without living in the city or pay a fortune for our home, and be close to recreational activities
We would really appreciate if someone could give us an insight in how it is to live in MN through the listed questions. The questions are meant as “in general”.
1. How is the mentality/attitude of people – are people friendly and open but without being non-caring?
2. Do people speak up when they are unfairly treated or do they just take it ? – Example: How would people react if repaving 10 miles of freeway would take 6 month would they inundate the politicians in complains or would they just let it go with grumbling?
3. Is the metropolitan area around Minneapolis/St. Paul sprawled - are companies spread over a wide area (are there many business centers around – where are they?) or is it like MA where Boston is the hub – and all bigger companies are in or close to downtown?
4. How is traffic congestion? – Is there only major congestion around downtown of Minneapolis/St. Paul or does the congestion also extend further out towards the suburbs?
5. Is it likely to work as a professional (structural engineer and oncology nurse) and live close to work in a nice place (low crime, great schools) with a 20-30 min commute but without house prices being through the roof (above $400,000 for a 3 bed, 2 bath)? -Which towns would be possibilities?
6. Are there any towns known for having bike trails and hiking nearby? What about canoeing?
7. How is housing in general laid out in the suburbs – are houses build in communities/neighborhoods or is it like most of MA where houses are situated on land accessed directly from the main road with trees towards the neighbors?
8. Is parking typical provided for employees at your company or do most companies refer their employees to public or private parking lots? Is parking free for patients at hospitals?
Thank you in advance!

[uptown_urbanist]

1. Not sure what you mean by this; I think people are friendly, and some care and some don't. People often complain about MN being tough to break into socially if you're not from the area, but that depends on a lot of factors. You'll hear complaints about passive-aggressiveness, though. Many Minnesotans don't like to argue and are uncomfortable with conflict.

2. Some speak up, others don't. Some grumble a lot, others don't. I don't think it's possible to make a broad generalization on this. Some neighorhoods or city/suburbs probably are more active than others. I'm most familiar with the Minneapolis neighborhoods, and people in the city (not all, but a lot) are in general pretty outspoken and involved in politics and local community, including at the very local level.

3. It's fairly sprawled, but many (but certainly not all) companise are located downtown.

4. Some parts of the suburbs can get bad, especially with road construction, but it's a lot better than the Boston area.

5. Definitely. Your possibilities are too broad to even begin to list; what type of place to you want (besides what you listed); do you want a modern suburb? Older suburb? City neighborhood? You can find a broad range of neighborhoods that fit that description in both the cities and in the suburbs. Relatively affordable housing is definitely one of the great things about the Twin Cities!

6. Again, almost everywhere. Another good thing about the Twin Cities! You can find this in both city and suburb, too. Minneapolis is an extremely bike-friendly city, and the entire area is dotted with lakes. My personal favorite canoing lake is Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis.

7. There's a big range. There are suburbs with cul de sacs and few trees, as well as older suburbs with straight streets and trees, and all things in between.

8. Parking is generally free in the suburbs; in fact I can't imagine any suburban company asking their employees to pay to park, but could be wrong. Downtown it varies. My mother-in-law's company downtown offers subsidized bus passes, but I don't know if they help out with parking. My husband's downtown company didn't do anything. There are a lot of private lots downtown, as well as buses, a light rail line, and a new commuter rail line. As far as patient parking, I've been to Twin Cities ERs twice in the last year (Children's and Southdale Fairview) and we had to pay for parking both times.

[Gibby3000]

1. I think people are pretty decent here. I've heard it can be difficult to break through if you're not from here because so many people are. I think that depends on how outgoing you are and in my experience if you live in a neighborhood and you have kids you get to know people through your kids even if you're not very outgoing.
2. Hard to say - I'm sure there are some of each.
3. It's getting to be pretty sprawling - there are some business hubs outside of Minneapolis or St. Paul - Eden Prairie for one. Medtronic, St. Jude, 3M and lots of others are outside of the downtown metro.
4. Traffic is congested on most major highways at rush hour most every where - the city traffic is not crazy like Boston though.
5. Provided you can both find a job in the same part of town you could have a 20-30 minute commute. I would think you could get a nice home for under 400K in a lot of places. I haven't been in the market for years though so not an expert on this.
6. This is a fantastic area for trails - also lots of lakes and such for canoeing. I was looking to move to KC and was shocked at the lack of parks and trail system and not shocked at the lack of lakes.
7. Not sure I understand what you're getting at here - suburbs are communities/neighborhoods in my opinion. Depending on what you choose you can be practically on top of your neighbors or you can have a larger lot with trees and privacy.
8. I think most places outside of downtown have free parking available for employees. Hospitals are an exception and many charge for parking - parking is usually at a premium because facilities have expanded into former parking spaces and they've had to build ramps and presumably have to pay for them. I work just north of downtown Mpls and our company pays for our parking in an adjacent ramp.

I think it's a nice area but I've lived here most of my life but for a short stint in Houston, TX and a bit of time spent in KC before I decided I didn't care to live there.

[golfgal]

Traffic-compared to Boston-NO Traffic at all-Boston has crazy, awful traffic. The only time you will see traffic like that is if a major snowstorm hits at rush hour.

Schools-my sister-in-law taught in Boston (Dedham-not sure if I spelled that right) and said that the schools in Boston were no were near as good as what we have in MN so that will be nice for your kids.

Road construction-it's a part of life around here and for the most part it isn't something that sets people off. You will find very active, vocal political groups, you will find grumblers and you will find people that just sit back and take it-and everything in between. I think you will find that what gets most people riled up is anything to do with education-start messing with our schools and people will get upset.

Employment-there are job centers to a point but you will find a lot of major corporations in the suburbs-easy access for employees and free parking. Most employers in the suburbs have their own parking lots.

For your chosen professions-you will be able to find what you are looking for quite easily. You, as an RN, can also expect a nice pay increase-or at least the cost of living here is such that it will seem like a pay increase. There are several major hospitals with large cancer units all over the metro area. As far as structural engineering, market is tight for that but not out of the question.

The nice thing about the Twin Cities is the abundant choices of places to live. Often when you move to a metro area you will have 4 or 5 choices of the "best" places to live. Here is it just the opposite, there might be 4 or 5 places you don't want to live and the rest are all very good.

There are many towns around the metro area with good hiking/biking trails. Canoeing is available at any number of lakes and rivers around the state-keep in mind this is the land of 10,000 lakes. I think the statistic is that everyone in MN lives within 2 miles of a body of water.

[gatorinmn]

AMPL, I used to live in Boston. I'll send you a PM addressing some of your questions.

[BarbaraMN]

Since many of us our familiar with Boston, you might want to let us know what areas you like there and we'll try to give you comparable neighborhoods/communities here. I have family in Boston and considered moving there--but after serious house shopping and thinking we decided that Boston would be a step down in our quality of life as compared to Minneapolis. We've been here for 10 years and have found that it was a great place to live before children and a wonderful place for families.

1. People are people anywhere you go. I think people are generally friendly here.
2. A lot of people are politically active and a lot are not. Another poster's response about people getting fired up about changes in education are very accurate.
3. There are some large businesses that are not downtown, for example, Best Buy, General Mills, 3M
4. Traffic here is quite a bit better than Boston. That was one of the main reasons we chose not to live in the Boston area--we like spending time together too much to have such long and unpredictable commutes.
5. You'll have no trouble finding a home in the Twin Cities. There are very few undesirable areas and a great variety of desirable ones that will offer short commutes.
6. I think Minneapolis has the best trails and canoeing--but I'm biased. The Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles area can't be beat, IMO.
7. The lay-out of suburbs varies. Many of the more outlying suburbs have big developments with entrances and lots of cul-de-sacs and others do not. Lot sizes vary greatly from suburb to suburb.
8. I had to pay for parking when I worked downtown. I don't know of any suburban businesses that charge employees for parking. Abbott Northwestern, Fairview Southdale and Children's Hospital Minneapolis all charge for patient parking. At Abbott and Children's there is street parking available as well.

[AMPL]

Thank you all for the replies, they are very helpful and MN sounds great!

In regards to what kind of neighborhood we are looking for: We would like as many bike trails as possible close to the neighborhood and a neighborhood with side walks and quiet streets. It does not matter whether the neighborhood is new or old (though 1 acre of land would be nice), as long as the town has good schools and is not too close to the city, but within driving distance (30 min. or so) , also somewhat convenient grocery shopping (within 2-3 miles). We also love nature, so out where there are more trees and open fields and space would be great.

We have not been able to find what we are looking for here around Boston, so it is hard to give any examples of which neighborhoods we like. Now we live in an apartment in Franklin, MA, and we like the “woodsy” feel, but it is too far to our jobs which are in Newton and in Cambridge. And anything closer is too expensive.

[StilltheSame]

Jumping in.
From the perspective of a recent relo:
1. How is the mentality/attitude of people – are people friendly and open but without being non-caring?

People are friendly, and some are caring but they are withdrawn and guarded socially. If you tend to make friends quickly - you will have associates here in short order - I cant speak to the likelihood of "friends."

2. Do people speak up when they are unfairly treated or do they just take it ?

I think people here are passive aggressive - many east coasters are just aggressive :-) and leave out the passive. If its a nonconfirontational circumstance they will speak out - or speak out to others -just not to you! Socially and politically - I am impressed by the level of involvement and activism here. It is very inspiring.

3. Is the metropolitan area around Minneapolis/St. Paul sprawled - are companies spread over a wide area (are there many business centers around – where are they?) or is it like MA where Boston is the hub – and all bigger companies are in or close to downtown?

Its not very sprawled compared to what Im used to. There are companies all over the Metro so I would locate employment and then consider housing and schools.

4. How is traffic congestion? – Is there only major congestion around downtown of Minneapolis/St. Paul or does the congestion also extend further out towards the suburbs?

It can get slow - but its not congested - at all. After a while you may lose perspective and complain about it though.

5. Is it likely to work as a professional (structural engineer and oncology nurse) and live close to work in a nice place (low crime, great schools) with a 20-30 min commute but without house prices being through the roof (above $400,000 for a 3 bed, 2 bath)? -Which towns would be possibilities?

yes. yes. yes! there are numerous great towns/cities. See response to number 3.

6. Are there any towns known for having bike trails and hiking nearby? What about canoeing?

Too many choices to begin to expand upon. The cities are a biking, hiking etc paradise.

7. How is housing in general laid out in the suburbs – are houses build in communities/neighborhoods or is it like most of MA where houses are situated on land accessed directly from the main road with trees towards the neighbors?

Depends where you likve.

8. Is parking typical provided for employees at your company or do most companies refer their employees to public or private parking lots? Is parking free for patients at hospitals?

Public parking - but reasonable and lots of choices without having to do hand to hand combat.

We are really pleased with our choice of the cities - good luck to you.

[MN55]

Originally Posted by AMPL

Thank you all for the replies, they are very helpful and MN sounds great!

In regards to what kind of neighborhood we are looking for: We would like as many bike trails as possible close to the neighborhood and a neighborhood with side walks and quiet streets. It does not matter whether the neighborhood is new or old (though 1 acre of land would be nice), as long as the town has good schools and is not too close to the city, but within driving distance (30 min. or so) , also somewhat convenient grocery shopping (within 2-3 miles). We also love nature, so out where there are more trees and open fields and space would be great.

We have not been able to find what we are looking for here around Boston, so it is hard to give any examples of which neighborhoods we like. Now we live in an apartment in Franklin, MA, and we like the “woodsy” feel, but it is too far to our jobs which are in Newton and in Cambridge. And anything closer is too expensive.

I would look at the Stillwater area.

[mplsguy]

1. How is the mentality/attitude of people – are people friendly and open but without being non-caring?

You being from the east cost, I would be more worried about your attitude. Talk about calling the kettle black.

2. Do people speak up when they are unfairly treated or do they just take it ? – Example: How would people react if repaving 10 miles of freeway would take 6 month would they inundate the politicians in complains or would they just let it go with grumbling?

Nope, NATIVE minnesota residents dont speak up about many issues in fear of offending someone or creating conflict.

3. Is the metropolitan area around Minneapolis/St. Paul sprawled - are companies spread over a wide area (are there many business centers around – where are they?) or is it like MA where Boston is the hub – and all bigger companies are in or close to downtown?

New suburban developments are communities, old suburban developments and Minneapolis are like MA.

4. How is traffic congestion? – Is there only major congestion around downtown of Minneapolis/St. Paul or does the congestion also extend further out towards the suburbs?

You moving here will make it worse. Again, calling the kettle black? Traffic is so bad many bike to work. Congestion is really bad. We are also bad drivers that slam on our brakes in the freeway and dont know how to merge. Prepare to be frustrated.

5. Is it likely to work as a professional (structural engineer and oncology nurse) and live close to work in a nice place (low crime, great schools) with a 20-30 min commute but without house prices being through the roof (above $400,000 for a 3 bed, 2 bath)? -Which towns would be possibilities?

$400k gets you a lot here. Try Edina, Golden Valley, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, etc.

6. Are there any towns known for having bike trails and hiking nearby? What about canoeing?

Minneapolis has the most. The burbs have many as well. You can canoe in Minneapolis and the burbs. Canoeing is quite popular.

7. How is housing in general laid out in the suburbs – are houses build in communities/neighborhoods or is it like most of MA where houses are situated on land accessed directly from the main road with trees towards the neighbors?

8. Is parking typical provided for employees at your company or do most companies refer their employees to public or private parking lots? Is parking free for patients at hospitals?
Thank you in advance!

I know of no employer in the burbs that charges for parking. Some employers downtown pay for parking, most dont.

PS: If you move here it is the law to get MN plates within 30 days. Many out of town residents either dont know that rule or decide not to follow it.