Best Twin Cities suburb? (Plymouth, Edina: best city, townhouse, places to live)

[northstar22]

St. Cloud IS a western suburb. It's part of the CSA.

Yes, I'm half kidding, but St. Cloud is technically part of the Twin Cities.

My favorite TC suburbs:

St. Paul Park
Stillwater
White Bear Lake
Excelsior
Dayton
Independence
Delano
South St. Paul
West St. Paul
North St. Paul

[MN55]

^I like that list a lot, with the exception of Dayton, Independence, and Delano with which I am very unfamiliar. I do think Stillwater and White Bear Lake are head and shoulders above all other suburbs though.

[laxster]

Agreed. Population is a terrible way to compile this list, and it leaves all the good suburbs in the NE out.

Stillwater and White Bear Lake top my list. North Oaks is also up there -- and beats the pants off Minnetonka. Shoreview, Arden Hills and Vadnais Heights are also all very nice.

It seems like Eden Prairie gets rated highly, but I can't figure out why. It is a jumbled mess of roads with way too many people, bland architecture everywhere, no charm, etc. It seems too artificial to me. And if I were to send my kids to a school, I'd rather send them to the comparably-rated but smaller Mounds View Schools than the mega Eden Prairie HS.

Let's not even mention the 494 parking lot.

I'm glad to live in a more chill, laid-back, and beautiful area.

And to the ignorant poster about suburubs: I lived in the city for several years and moved back to the burbs. I don't believe it is healthy for people to live in constructed little boxes with very few grass and trees, overcrowding, and pollution. Cities like Minneapolis are hazardous to people's mental and physical health. I live in the burbs, live a mile from work, have trees and grass, and my stress levels have dropped immensely due to that shift in lifestyle. No longer do I have to sit in city traffic waiting to even get to the freeway so I can escape to Brainerd!

[MN55]

I like North Oaks too even though it is not my style. People in the West metro always brag up Wayzata and Edina but North Oaks and Dellwood are the true secluded elite areas in the cities. Mahtomedi, Stillwater and Mounds View schools stack up with any district in the country. Downtown White Bear and Stillwater are more vibrant than any other suburban area in the metro. I like St Paul now but I'm definitely considering moving up to the Northeast burbs once my kids get through school.

[Kid Cann]

Are towns like Forest Lake, Delano, Monticello, Big Lake, St. Michael suburbs?

[northstar22]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

Are towns like Forest Lake, Delano, Monticello, Big Lake, St. Michael suburbs?

They're exurbs, but still more suburban than rural.

[beccaaa]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

Are towns like Forest Lake, Delano, Monticello, Big Lake, St. Michael suburbs?

Forest Lake and Big lake and Monticello, Delano are defiantly not suburbs. Not even close forest lake is like a 30 min drive from my house. I dont even really consider Ramsey a suburb and i live like 10 min away from Ramsey.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

Are towns like Forest Lake, Delano, Monticello, Big Lake, St. Michael suburbs?

It depends on your definition of "suburb".

Going down I-35 from Duluth, the Twin Cities sprawl starts slightly north of North Branch with a golf course community, so I would consider that the northern limit of the Minneapolis - St. Paul metro area on I-35. The area from North Branch and further down is much more built-up than the area to the north, and this urbanization continues right to Minneapolis and St. Paul, so I would say that Forest Lake is indeed a suburb.

Not as familiar with the other cities.

[BillWallace]

Maybe this poll should be more like "where do you live" since most people would be inclined to choose their own city or a nearby one anyway.

[UrbanQuest]

Here's my list

Excelsior
White Bear Lake
Stillwater
Edina
Buffalo
Mound
Northfield
Hudson, WI