Transfer to Ft. Snelling - possible commute to U of M (Minneapolis: mortgage, environment)

[bellabella2]

Hi everyone!

My husband just got a transfer to Ft. Snelling (Army Reserve Command). He has to be there by January 28,2008. I will follow him in May. We have never visited Minneapolis and we are unsure of where even to begin looking for housing.
Things are a litte complicated because I am also a prospective U of M doctoral student (due to the transfer to Snelling..).

We love where we are now because we only use one car and we use it minimally. My husband works two blocks from our home and I study one block on the opposite direction. Moving to Minneapolis and working in so different areas will make it impossible to keep this lifestyle. We have considered both of us living in the U of M area, and the other commutes to Ft.Snelling.
Or we could both live near his job at Snelling and I make the commute up to UofM.

We currently own a house in Marquette, MI. We will place it on the Market in February but realistically it won't sell until around April-May. Therefore we are also considering the possibility of a lease purshase situation.
We will only be there for 4 years. I would perhaps be there one extra year. Resale is very important.


We also have an exceptionally gifted child, and schools with gifted programs are a must have. Our child is a three year old (just turned three) with a 7 yr old reading and comprehension abilities. We need a progressive school that
allows early entrance or provides differentiated instruction. We are also interested on dual immersion programs (English/Spanish) in the elementary school level.
Ok that is all I have for now.

thanks,
Dary

[Minnehahapolitan]

Fort Snelling is on a southerly stop of the Hiawatha Light Rail line. It runs from downtown to the airport and Mall of America along Hiawatha Avenue, so living along it would be convenient to Fort Snelling (has it's own stop as it is isolated by freeways). The U is in a convenient area of the city. If you want to maintain a lifestyle that only uses one car, you are generally confined to the city. The West Bank would be most convenient as it too has its own stop and is across the Ped bridge from the main campus. It is a good, safe and vibrant place. You can also easily take a bus to the U, may people do. If you want to be the one sans car, there would be more areas that would be convenient. Loring Park, Uptown, Edina, Northeast, Saint Paul should have regular buslines to the main campus. Emerson School in Loring Park has Spanish Immersion, but I don't know how good it is.

[bellabella2]

Thank you
I just checked demographic data for Loring Park and we feel we will be out of place in that community. We are a mixed family with income level well beyond that of Loring Park. The crime stats are also high. The Spanish Immersion program seems good.

I will check the other neighborhoods later.

Thank You.

[Minnehahapolitan]

You can almost always open enroll in Minn. schools. There are plenty of different areas that fit the parameters you gave.
Are you looking for a wealthier area, a less urban area?

[bellabella2]

I would like to live in mixed income development areas. I certainly don't believe in segregating myself to a wealthy environment. I am not truly sure we could even afford it right now. As it is we have a house in Washington state on the market for few months now and we would have to place it again as a rental because of the market situation. We also have to drop the house here in Marquette, MI, this coming year because of this new move.

Our military BAH I fear will be low for the area in Minneapolis. My husband mentioned is in the $1,600 - 1700 range. We want to try to keep our housing expenses within BAH or just a little over. Right now our housing expenses doubles our current BAH.

What I truly want is a combination of income level, a safe area, good school programs for my child. We also like to have some green areas for sanity! Right now although I live within the city I enjoy plenty of trees around my house.

I truly hate having to use a car at times. We have two cars because of past transportation needs,but we choose to walk as much as possible. We love our life here. But we are a military family and must move once again.

[Minnehahapolitan]

I will suggest Linden Hills because, while you will prob. need two cars, it is still within a 5 - 10 minute drive of Fort Snelling. It is an older, charactered area. (Also more tony than most areas, but I feel within the price range) It isn't as mixed in income, but the schools are stellar and the area is safer than most suburbs. Every house in Mpls. is within 6 blocks of a city park, you get plenty of nature in this city. Uptown is a busy, vibrant area of the city. It is gentrified, but has alot more diversity than Linden Hills. It is on the Hennepin bus, so you would be back at one car (can get to the Main Campus pretty easily from there). The schools are more spotty, but again you have open enrollment and there are alot of good schools in the area.
The Nokomis area is a poorer Linden Hills, it is a strong, walkable, middle class area. I don't know the schools in that area as well, but if you do your homework you will find something. The area is literally a stop away from Fort Snelling on the train. There is airport noise outside, but most all homes have been retrofitted to cope with the airplanes. That is about the only drawback to the area.

[sfw1979]

check out www.cinchouse.com

Good luck on your move!

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by bellabella2

I would like to live in mixed income development areas. I certainly don't believe in segregating myself to a wealthy environment. I am not truly sure we could even afford it right now. As it is we have a house in Washington state on the market for few months now and we would have to place it again as a rental because of the market situation. We also have to drop the house here in Marquette, MI, this coming year because of this new move.

Our military BAH I fear will be low for the area in Minneapolis. My husband mentioned is in the $1,600 - 1700 range. We want to try to keep our housing expenses within BAH or just a little over. Right now our housing expenses doubles our current BAH.

What I truly want is a combination of income level, a safe area, good school programs for my child. We also like to have some green areas for sanity! Right now although I live within the city I enjoy plenty of trees around my house.

I truly hate having to use a car at times. We have two cars because of past transportation needs,but we choose to walk as much as possible. We love our life here. But we are a military family and must move once again.

Honestly, a mortgage payment in the $2000 range is not going to get you into a 'wealthy' area in the twin cities. You will find that a mortgage of that amount will put you in a very middle class area--nicer homes but nothing fancy. If you are looking to rent for that price you will probably be able to find a nicer 3 bedroom townhome/apartment in that range or maybe a small house.

With the layout of the Twin Cities your only real option for using only one car is to live around the U area and your DH driving to work. That is going to put you into student housing or an area that is heavily student populated. Fort Snelling just isn't within walking distance to anything.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Mea culpa, I for some reason assumed you were renting. A $1700 rental will get you a nice place in a nice area. A mortgage is different. I don't think they have to live in that close of porximity to The U to have one car. It may take a while, but a place on a good busline will reliably get someone to classes. Fort Snelling is surrounded by freeway, but is pedestrian accessible from the train, so most city neihgobrhood on the Hiawatha area work for that. The husband could live anywhere between downtown, The West Bank, Longfellow, Hi-Lake, and Nokomis and be to work in 40 minutes tops.

[bellabella2]

Actually the 1600-1700 BAH range is what we are willing to spend on renting. Hopefully when we sell one of the houses we will be in a better position to buy again. We were hoping to problably do an option to buy to avoid moving twice. I have looked into Linden Hills community site and seems to be a good area for us. I think buying there may be a possibility in 2008. I like the charm (pictures) of some of the homes currently on sale there. It will be great if we could rent there first.

We currently live on one income as I am doing a non-paid internship. I will work part time if accepted in the doctoral program at U of M but my income will not be near my husband's income since I have been trained to work in schools ( school counseling and school administration). I can't count on that for a mortgage qualification. It is not our way. If I don't get into the doctoral program then the situation will be different...I hope to find out early January.


Thank you for your time. The information was very informative.
I will definetely check Linden Hills for now. It fits our needs.