What are 2nd and 3rd ring suburbs/stereotypes? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: apartment complex, new house)

[MSMCGirl]

Hello...what are 2nd and 3rd ring suburbs of Minneapolis? And what are the "reputations" of these areas? I just moved to the area and noticed there are different stereotypes for different neighborhoods...ie Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Chaska. I moved from L.A. and know all the L.A. suburb stereotypes but am still trying to figure out Minneapolis stereotypes...(just for fun/curiosity).

Thanks!

[T.S.]

Originally Posted by MSMCGirl

Hello...what are 2nd and 3rd ring suburbs of Minneapolis? And what are the "reputations" of these areas? I just moved to the area and noticed there are different stereotypes for different neighborhoods...ie Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Chaska. I moved from L.A. and know all the L.A. suburb stereotypes but am still trying to figure out Minneapolis stereotypes...(just for fun/curiosity).

Thanks!

These are the main stereotypes/reputations that I know of.

Western Suburbs (Minnetonka, Plymouth, Wayzata, Eden Prarie, Chanhassen, Anywhere around Lake Minnetonka) = Affluent/"Rich"

Edina = Also has the affluent/"Rich" reputation.

St. Louis Park = Jewish.

Northern Suburbs (especially Coon Rapids and Anoka) = White Trashy, you will hear the radio station morning shows joke about them sometimes.

Brooklyn Park/Brooklyn Center = More black. Brookdale Mall is as Chris Rock would put it "the mall that white people used to go to".

[TheLastMove]

How would you classify these?

[T.S.]

Originally Posted by TheLastMove

How would you classify these?

I don't think most Southern and Eastern suburbs have much for stereotypes beyond just being average middle class suburbs, atleast that I know of.

I guess Maplewood is known for having a lot of Asians/Hmongs because it is close to St. Paul where the biggest population of them lives, but other than that I can't think of much. Maybe somebody else knows of some that I don't.

[angelaf]

I've heard St. Louis Park referred to as St. Jewish Park... lots of Russian Jews there I guess.

[politikally]

The southern burbs are pretty similar to the Western Burbs. They're just as affluent. The only reason the "West" gets the reputation is Lake Minnetonka and it's multi-million dollar homes. And the horse ranches in Maple Grove.

Bloomington is gaining the reputation of becoming the "third" twin city. Though it makes no sense I've even heard a few people refer to the area as the "Tri-Cities" because Bloomington is fast becoming a HUGE city, big buildings and all.

As for the the Eastern burbs, most of my buddies call them the "Weekday" burbs. Basically Displaced wisconsinites who like to go back as much as possible, especially on the weekends I'm from Wisconsin but that's the reputation they have (that I've seen). Though it's pretty ritzy over there.

I've also heard that about Edina... being the old money part of town. The only other southern burb i've heard much about is Richfield... which as the saying goes "If you drop your keys on the ground in Richfield, you'll have to kick them to the car" ... if you catch my drift.

[Marla Nesbett]

Hmmm- not having lived there for the past 21 years this is quite interesting!

[roxors]

South St. Paul used to be known as "Cowtown" because of the stockyards and the odor that would come from them. I used to live in Inver Grove Heights. Not too much was said about the southeastern suburbs, pretty quiet, good schools, middle to upper middle class, the farther south and east you would go.

[thatoneguy]

yeah i know the cities quite well. the western suburbs are indeed the "rich" ones. maple grove and rogers are the new and upcoming rich ones - a lot of really expensive new homes going up there. same with eden prarie. plymouth, minnetonka, st louis park, and edina are also affluent although they are more old (but in a good way).
the southern suburbs are good as long as you head out further away from minneapolis. richfield, for example (which is just south of minneapolis) is pretty rough and bloomington is also getting that way. burnsville is okay but is a little rough. however, eagan, apple valley, and lakeville are all quite nice.
the easter suburbs are pretty nice, more middle class. woodbury is probably the most wealthy of them all, and is similar to maple grove and eden prarie.
the northern suburbs, however - stay away. they're pretty rough, bad schools, probably quite a bit of drugs, that kind of thing.
so there you go. my personal favorite suburb: maple grove. oh, btw, shakopee is cool too. it has valleyfair and a lot of nice, new houses.

[HKB]

Coon Rapids ("Coontucky") does have a white trash reputation... deservedly or not. Mostly thanks to an ignorant local radio DJ that likes to make fun of it.

Edina/Wayzata = Old money.

Bloomington used to be "New Money", but I think the reputation doesn't apply anymore. The "New Money" moved west into Eden Prairie/Chanhassen ten years ago or more. Bloomington is starting to get pretty run down... especially the eastern side of town.

Orono = Wealthy

St. Louis Park = Jewish

Brooklyn Park/Brooklyn Center ("Crooklyn Park") = High crime, lots of run-down large 1960's apartment complexes.

It's funny, but I can't think of a single east-side suburb that has a stereotype except for Maplewood ("MapleHood").