What's the personality of some of the suburbs?? (Bloomington, Eden Prairie: homes, movie theaters)

[Isaysos]

Well, I just hope we can stay a mobile metro with the ever threatning energy situation we are facing .

[nick is rulz]

Originally Posted by SlyFrog

Personality has always appeared to be a false construct, for those who want to eat crappy FDA inspection hazard food from hole in the wall shops that deserve to stay holes in the wall.

what does this even mean??

I wouldnt classify someone being critical of some exurbs as being "major anti-suburb".

I myself think most of them do lack a lot of personality. Theres no centralized setup like most towns have....good luck finding a downtown Burnsville or Eagan, for example. Its just spread out and sprawled across large areas of land...patchy in spots, populated in others, most homes were built less than 20 years ago. No flow or organizational pattern to any of it other than where there is a fast food restaurant, there tends to be a strip mall, and another half mile down the road, the same setup with a different restaurant and strip mall. A lot of neighborhoods that connect to one major artery road that flows into it all, and if that road is backed up with traffic...forget about it. I just fail to see the appeal of any of it, really.

The inner ring ones, however, are pretty decent. I think part of that has to do with some of them following the grid system of Minneapolis city streets, so it really doesnt feel like you've left the city and everything is laid out well. Beyond all that, theres old cool houses in the inner ring burbs and character. They dont look and feel so synthetic and sterile.

[Isaysos]

My point exactly. Thank you Nick!

[Jaxx99]

To expand on the stereotypes, here is my analysis of the stereotypical male head-of-houseold in each region (realizing that many actually have female heads-of-household)

NW Suburbs: 40 yrs old with 2 kids and a decent job. Grew up in a small town and wants to be "kind of out" - you know, not really urban but not country either. Needs a spot for his boat and 4-wheeler.

W Suburbs: 65, has done well, and needs to be close to the country club. Disappointed that republicans only carried 55% of the vote in the area last year. either drives a jaguar or a 30-year-old station wagon (because new cars are a ripoff)

SW Suburbs: 40, family, pretty wife, 2 lexus, health club membership, kids play every sport known to man, and he is in debt up to his eyeballs.

South burbs: 50, been in his house for several years, makes enough to be happy. drives a dodge. kids are going to college soon. didn't move to the west burbs because the neighborhood was too snooty.

Woodbury: 35, wife and baby at home. Got 4,000 sq feet on a .5 acre lot and loves life because of it. Drives a honda accord, but got leather so it would feel like the lexus. plans to get a lake cabin in a few years.

[AVguy]

Originally Posted by Isaysos

My point exactly. Thank you Nick!

Here's what I don't get. How are you helping the original poster? For review, below is the original poster's message:

I love this forum and appreciate all the help and discussions we get going. Here's my latest question/discussion idea.

We want a suburb with a good commute (30 to 45 minutes in rush hour) to Eden Prairie, Bloominton or downtown.

Family centered with restuarants, movie theaters, shopping close by. Bike trails and parks too.

Not a hip trendy area but not frumpy either. Professional folks would the neighbors not a blue collar area.

2500 sq ft (or more), not over $400,000, an updated house, not a fixer-upper.

I'm finding a lot of great choices but don't really know the personalities of the areas.

Tell me about your town or a town that fits this and why.

Let's see. The original poster asked for more information about suburbs that are "family centered," with "professional folks," not located in a "blue collar area," "not a hip trendy area," nor out-dated and run-down ("frumpy"). Your responses do not even attempt to address these concerns. It does not appear to me that he is looking for an explanation of why the suburbs are not up to par.

I know that we get a little side-tracked at times, but there are plenty of other threads to trumpet your views. (I am a believer that a strong, healthy central business district leads to more prosperity for the larger region. But I do not think that there is a critical mass of people wishing to live a city life 15 miles from the core downtowns.) It would be nice to have a discussion about suburbs without the pro-city people putting down the suburbs. Likewise, it would be nice to have a discussion about the cities without the pro-suburb people bashing the city.

[AVguy]

With that aside, I think that the suburbs really do have different personalities. Maybe it is subtle to those unfamiliar with the suburbs (in such a way, for example, that city dwellers can feel the difference between the Nokomis and Longfellow neighborhoods). Much of these differences have to do with the employers located in the suburbs and the proximity to these areas. My guess is that there are more professions living in the west metro than anywhere else. You will find professionals in White Bear, Eagan, etc., but the real concentation seems to be west of Minneapolis. Most of the newer suburbs are family-centered, probably due to the demographics. Edina is a nice area (ok, a very nice area), but it has an older population, so it does not cater to kids as much as Apple Valley. Highly rated school districts play a part as parents will gravitate toward schools with good reputations. Not many of the outer suburbs have a blue-collar feel just because of how the manufacturing industry has progressed. There is not much new manufacturing, so you will not find manufacturing activities in the newer suburbs. Commute times will vary drastically depending on whether or not you would be commuting to Minneapolis or to Eden Prairie. We live in a large metro, and congestion is natural with a metro of this size, so unless you work off hours or long hours, you will experience some congestion regardless of where you live.

[Isaysos]

To the origional poster. I would suggest south Minneapolis or the West side of St. Paul. It has all of those things and is as close to downtown as you can get without actually being downtown, and you can get places without driving everywhere. You will also find neighborhoods with a personality to fit almost anyones taste.

[nosredna5]

You might consider living somewhere you can commute using Mpls's light rail system or buses with ease. . . a 35-40 minute commute is an awful lot of gas and $ (not to mention time).

[austere]

There are many nice suburbs in Minnesota. I prefer to live in a suburb that is near one of the many sprawling parks. I've lived in Burnsville, Ham Lake, Mound (lake minnetonka town), Minnetonka, and now Maple Grove. I've also lived in Chicago, and I agree -- more charm there. The suburbs are mainly built off interstate on land which was woods and farm land. However, many suburbs are doing there best to handle too much development. Schools in the Twin Cities suburbs are excellent, plenty of community activites, and lots of good churches.

There are also beautiful rural, charming towns just outside the ring of suburbs. Some of these are Ornoro, Lorreto, Mound, Oak Grove, Forest Lake, Delano, Dayton, and one of my favorites...Corcoran.

I agree (and laughed) with the poster who did the funny steryotypes of the different male head of households for the different areas and think he was spot on!



You should perhaps decide on a region (Northwest, Northern ((anoka county)), Southeast, etc...).

[Slig]

northern suburbs to Eden Prairie? That would be sweet commute....not.