Moving to MN; Need advice on 'burbs (Minneapolis, Plymouth: house, neighborhoods)

[Mommy2Emy]

Hi Everyone,

My husband just accepted a position in Minneapolis and we will be moving
before the end of the year. We have started our house search and
have narrowed it down to a few homes in the following suburbs-Maple Grove, Plymouth, Chanhassen and Eden Prairie.

I'm sure these areas have a lot in common, but I'd like to get some feedback on the general vibe of each town. We're pretty low key and down to earth and definitely want to avoid areas considered 'snobby' where people are hard to get to know.

Pretty much just looking for a nice area where hopefully I can meet other stay at home moms and walk with my little one to the park. Many thanks!

[golfgal]

Well, you are pretty much 3 for 4 on the "snobby" factor . Is your DH's job IN Minneapolis, like downtown or is it in one of the suburbs and it lists a Minneapolis address-this is VERY common so you will want to double check that before you buy a house.

On your list, to avoid the snobby factor, Maple Grove is the place to go. It also has a younger population base so finding families with younger children will be easier.

I would also sign up for ECFE-Early Childhood Family Education-run through the park and rec department in which ever town you end up. It is a GREAT way to get to know parents, especially stay at home moms, with kids the same age. They have day and evening classes but obviously you will want to do the day classes since you want to meet other moms that are home.

[BarbaraMN]

I think all four of those suburbs are somewhat interchangeable and I don't think of any of them as snobby. I'd go with whichever gives your husband the best commute and where you find a home you really like.

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree with Barbara. There's nothing that unique about any of those locations, so go with the best commute and nicest house.

[Wingfoot]

I believe Maple Grove is less "yuppy' which a snob factor at least.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Mommy2Emy

Hi Everyone,

My husband just accepted a position in Minneapolis and we will be moving
before the end of the year. We have started our house search and
have narrowed it down to a few homes in the following suburbs-Maple Grove, Plymouth, Chanhassen and Eden Prairie.

I'm sure these areas have a lot in common, but I'd like to get some feedback on the general vibe of each town. We're pretty low key and down to earth and definitely want to avoid areas considered 'snobby' where people are hard to get to know.

Pretty much just looking for a nice area where hopefully I can meet other stay at home moms and walk with my little one to the park. Many thanks!

Just one more thought, and I know that this is going to cause some controversy, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway: while I don't think any of the suburbs you mention are among the ones known for being "snobby," they are possibly places where it is difficult to get to know people. The Twin Cities have a reputation for being a little chilly, as in it can be tough to break in socially. I personally think it's a lot easier in the actual core cities (or in some specific suburban neighborhoods) than, in general, in the TC suburbs. The suburbs, including the ones you list, are often extremely family-oriented, and while that means that there are going to be other families around, it also means that many of your neighbors are going to be really busy with their own lives.

My theory, and take this for what it's worth, is that for many of these suburbs people don't move there because of a specific community-based appeal, they move there because it's close to work or because they like the house. That makes perfect sense if you already live in the area, have family from the area, and have an already established network. It makes it tougher if you move to a place and want to connect with your neighbors and feel a shared civic pride or sense of place or real sense of neighborhood. Now I haven't lived in the specific suburb you mention; maybe there are really friendly neighborhoods where new arrivals are welcomed with open arms and integrated into the community. It just seems that the strongest complaints on this board about Minnesotans being unfriendly to "outsiders" come from those living in the suburbs. (Some city neighborhoods are like that, too, of course, but I think there often is a difference.) That doesn't mean residents are snobby or unfriendly, just that they're busy doing their own thing. Still, I assume it will be easier to break in if you have young kids.

With luck someone with kids who has experience (and as someone not from around here) with your specific target areas will step in with some advice here, but do be warned that while the Twin Cities in general aren't really known for being snobby, as in an elite-sort of "I'm better than you" sense, the area does have a reputation for having people that are tough to get to know socially.

That all said, I still think that there probably isn't any difference along those lines between the suburbs you list, although yes, I guess if I had to choose which one was least "snobby" I'd put Maple Grove on the top of the list (as being non-snobby) with maybe Eden Prairie at the bottom of the list. But again, some of those places (Chanhassen, for one) are really far out if you husband is working somewhere like downtown Minneapolis, so definitely factor in commuting time when looking at the big picture (traffic isn't so bad compared to some places, but can be pretty unpleasant when it snows).

[Wellstone]

I'd say Blaine fits your description as well, probably less expensive than some of the choices you listed and not a bad commute either. There's a park and ride on 95th and 35W that has bus routes running right into downtown. Lots of families with young children that sound like a good match.

If you are sticking to the 4 on your list, Maple Grove is probably the best fit, although I'd say the traffic coming in on 94 is a little worse than it is from the north metro. It can get bad anywhere though.

[Kebinminn]

I love Maple Grove and it's high on my to move to list. Maple Grove has a lot of families, gobs of family activities and has many nice parks. There's older and new neighborhoods so either is available to you. It feels like a true community and they try hard to foster that feeling. Since the area is so kid dense I think you'll be able to meet SAHMs without much problem, also consider MOMS Club when you move here. There's the shopping area which has every retail chain under the sun. My husband and I call it the Mess of Maple Grove and it is a mess but it also has everything in one spot so you can hit everywhere on one trip. I think they're in Anoka Hennepin schools, may be wrong there, and the reputation varies a lot. I'm sure the snobby factor varies a lot but my general feeling is very family centered.

Plymouth is nice and there's also several neighborhoods there. It feels disjointed to me though and I don't get the cohesive feel that I get in Maple Grove. I like southern Plymouth better but haven't spent enough time there to get a big feel for it. Plymouth is in several school districts, the ones with the best reputation are Hopkins, Minnetonka and Wayzata. The snobby rep would be Wayzata the snobbiest and Hopkins the least.

[Mommy2Emy]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Just one more thought, and I know that this is going to cause some controversy, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway: while I don't think any of the suburbs you mention are among the ones known for being "snobby," they are possibly places where it is difficult to get to know people. The Twin Cities have a reputation for being a little chilly, as in it can be tough to break in socially. I personally think it's a lot easier in the actual core cities (or in some specific suburban neighborhoods) than, in general, in the TC suburbs. The suburbs, including the ones you list, are often extremely family-oriented, and while that means that there are going to be other families around, it also means that many of your neighbors are going to be really busy with their own lives.

My theory, and take this for what it's worth, is that for many of these suburbs people don't move there because of a specific community-based appeal, they move there because it's close to work or because they like the house. That makes perfect sense if you already live in the area, have family from the area, and have an already established network. It makes it tougher if you move to a place and want to connect with your neighbors and feel a shared civic pride or sense of place or real sense of neighborhood. Now I haven't lived in the specific suburb you mention; maybe there are really friendly neighborhoods where new arrivals are welcomed with open arms and integrated into the community. It just seems that the strongest complaints on this board about Minnesotans being unfriendly to "outsiders" come from those living in the suburbs. (Some city neighborhoods are like that, too, of course, but I think there often is a difference.) That doesn't mean residents are snobby or unfriendly, just that they're busy doing their own thing. Still, I assume it will be easier to break in if you have young kids.

With luck someone with kids who has experience (and as someone not from around here) with your specific target areas will step in with some advice here, but do be warned that while the Twin Cities in general aren't really known for being snobby, as in an elite-sort of "I'm better than you" sense, the area does have a reputation for having people that are tough to get to know socially.

That all said, I still think that there probably isn't any difference along those lines between the suburbs you list, although yes, I guess if I had to choose which one was least "snobby" I'd put Maple Grove on the top of the list (as being non-snobby) with maybe Eden Prairie at the bottom of the list. But again, some of those places (Chanhassen, for one) are really far out if you husband is working somewhere like downtown Minneapolis, so definitely factor in commuting time when looking at the big picture (traffic isn't so bad compared to some places, but can be pretty unpleasant when it snows).

Yes, thank you for mentioning that, I have read a lot about what you describe, and to be honest, it had me a bit concerned, especially since we are a Latino family and the suburb we are moving from is somewhat diverse (we are coming from the Chicago area). Just to give you an idea, our neighborhood has nice balance of different nationalities, folks are either professional or self employed, and public schools are very good.
We've always felt comfortable living here so I guess thats what I'm looking for in a community.

Would Maple Grove or Chanhassen fit the bill in these aspects? It probably would have been a good idea for me to mention all this before! , please bear with me!

My husband said it only took him 20 minutes to get to Chanhassen (he works for Gen Mills). I will be out there this week to continue house hunting. Thank you all for your comments and help!

[uptown_urbanist]

I'll leave the more useful specific comments to someone who knows Chanhassen and Maple Grove better than I do, but my impression is that while both are going to be filled with professional or self-employed people, there's going to be very little diversity. I'm sure things have changed a bit since the last census, but both are around 94% white (and almost entirely born-in-the-USA, and probably heavily born-in-MN white people). To me, the Minneapolis suburbs feel overwhelmingly and blindingly homogenous in terms of race and ethnicity. I doubt that you'll encounter much, if any, actual racism, though.