Sky High Cost of Living (Minneapolis, Eden Prairie: to rent, car insurance, condo)

[Brrrman4755]

My wife and I will be moving to the south western burbs of Minneapolis after we sell our condo in MI. We are looking at Hopkins, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie. All we have heard about is the high cost of living out there. We are originally from upstate NY and we lived in Chicago for a time so how does Minneapolis and the burbs rate? We will be looking to rent first then buy a home. Where is the best place to live west or SW to get away from noise and light pollution?

NY was the worst, they had their hands in our pockets for everything. High car insurance, car inspections were almost 25 bucks, and groceries forget about it. We walked out with 3 bags totalling 70 bucks many times.

Is there a Jewel food store there? How about Little Ceasars? We tried the Caribou Coffee snack bars and fell in love with them. We have heard about Caribou cofeee and are not big fans of Starbucks.

Any Dunkin Donut stores there? We will be taking a trip there soon when we get our tax refund and we need some info.

How are the license fees? Plate fees? Taxes on vehicles?

Any input would be gratly appreciated.

[golfgal]

First you want to figure out where your job will be before you decide on where you want to live. You won't want to commute all the way across the metro if you live in EP and your job is in Woodbury, for one example.

It is really hard to compare things like auto insurance rates because if your zip code is in Minneapolis, you will pay twice as much vs someone living in Chaska. Auto insurance is a lot less here then in some states but a lot more then others.

No Jewel foods. I haven't seen a Dunkin Donuts for years but there might be some around, same with Little Cesars--plenty of pizza places though. Caribou is everywhere.

License fees depend on the value of your car. I think our '06 were $180 or so. After 7 years (I think) they go down to a flat $45. Driver's license fees are about $20 every 3 years. Vehicle taxes are a paid once, at purchase then your yearly license tabs. We don't have personal property tax in MN.

You can check the airport website for flight path information for the airport--the only real noise issue unless you live near a railroad crossing. www.macnoise.com - Metropolitan Airports Commission -*Noise Programs - Interactive Maps/Reports - -

[Brrrman4755]

Thank you very much GOLFGAL, I really appreciate the response. Already sounds much better than NY and MI.

Thanx again.

[nick is rulz]

there are little ceasars all over the metro