hopkins (Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Edina: transplants, low crime, neighborhoods)

[jwnaya]

Can anyone tell me more about Hopkins? School system, neighborhoods, downtown, rec department, sense of community, diversity, crime. Any details would be welcome. Thanks

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by jwnaya

Can anyone tell me more about Hopkins? School system, neighborhoods, downtown, rec department, sense of community, diversity, crime. Any details would be welcome. Thanks

The Hopkins school district serves a large chunk of Minnetonka as well as small parts of Edina, Golden Valley, et., and it has a fairly good reputation.

Hopkins School District #270

I grew up in Minnetonka maybe 2-3 miles west of Hopkins (just off Williston Road), and I loved that area. Fairly low crime. I can't speak for Hopkins itself, though, since I really don't know.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by jwnaya

Can anyone tell me more about Hopkins? School system, neighborhoods, downtown, rec department, sense of community, diversity, crime. Any details would be welcome. Thanks

I went through Hopkins district as well, and can vouch for its high quality. However, it has taken a massive hit with budget cuts in recent years, but so has just about every public school system in the metro.

Hopkins itself is a nice community. It was a stand-alone town for many years-- actually, the story goes that it was called "Minneapolis West" or something generic until the rail-line came out. The man who built the station was named Hopkins and put his name on the station, so people just naturally started saying "we're going to Hopkins." That station still exists, near Blake Road and Excelsior Blvd. It's a coffee shop now, and popular with the high-schoolers.

Having been a stand-alone town for many years, you'd notice some very "un-suburban" things about Hopkins. For one thing, older housing stock. For another, Hopkins has a surprising collection of art-deco and pre-war architecture, the Masonic Temple and old elementary school being good examples. Hopkins actually reminds me more of mid-sized towns in outstate Minnesota and Iowa, or even downtown Davenport a lot more than it does of other suburbs up here, and for good reasons: all of those towns developed at the same time as Hopkins, and most other suburbs came later...

Hopkins prides itself on its downtown, but quite honestly, downtown Hopkins doesn't do much to impress me. Thankfully, it's so convenient to every other entertainment district worth going to in town that you'd never be for lack of things to do.

Hopkins is probably more "diverse" than other suburbs, but that's not saying too much. And when I say that, I mean racial/ethnic diversity. I have no real idea how many gay couples are in Hopkins, or how many transplants there are, or how politically diverse it is. My guess is not many (or not very). It is also not very socioeconomically diverse. People there are all pretty much in the same track of life.

Sense of community is probably pretty good. They do an annual "Raspberry Days Parade" that brings people together, and people do like to go out around downtown Hopkins. Crime is low-- a non-issue, really. Park and Rec system is ok-- something left to be desired when compared to neighboring suburbs, for sure, but again: Hopkins developed earlier and infill happened earlier, before parkland was a priority for most people.