Denver to Minneapolis relo - best area for stay at home moms (Blaine: houses)

[howe17]

Hello

My family is relocating from Denver to Minneapolis, we are originally from the Twin Cities, but we are having a hard time deciding on where to live.

Does anyone have a suggestion on a great area that would be best for a stay at home mom? We are looking for an area with many young families for which my wife can find play groups and others much like us, early 30's with a one year old?

If you are familiar with Denver, we are trying to find a place similar to highlands ranch where we currently reside.

Thanks for the help

[golfgal]

I don't know anything about Denver but there are a lot of great places in Mn with young families that would meet your needs. The one thing that Mn has over every other state is the Early Childhood Family Education program, ECFE. It is a GREAT way to meet other families with kids the same age. If yo sign up for day time classes you will meet many other SAHM's. I have made great long lasting friends through ECFE.

The big thing is, where are you going to be working? That will help narrow down community suggestions.

[howe17]

I am working in downtown Minneapolis. My commute in Denver was about an hour, and we lived 25 miles away from my office. We are hoping to cut that commute time down. We have been looking all across the twin cities from Chaska, Blaine, Lino Lakes, Woodbuy, Lakeville, and Shakopee...while there are tons of homes, our search area is too large and we are having a hard time narrowing it down. Thanks for the help

[poof123]

Having lived in Mpls all my life (with child who is now five), I would recommend the n'hood of Linden Hills (if you can afford it). It is very charming with lots of young families and stuff going on. The schools are the best in the city and the location is central with Lake Harriet being the most charming lake in the metro.

[kim825]

try Lakeville across from the new HS. There are TONS of young families/growing families and the DR Horton neighborhood is great. We do neighborhood playgroup, picnic, card clubs, bunco, coffee club, etc. etc. plus the elementary school (lakeview isd194) is top notch. Came in top 10 for math in state last year and I would guess most of the moms are stay at home in that school. many of my neighbors work in downtown and say the commute isn't bad. my husband is in bloomington for work and commute is about 25min.

[kim825]

oh forgot to mention. we moved from shakopee to lakeville about 2yrs ago. specifically because the schools in shakopee are awful. And there just isn't a real community feel over there. We hated it. Lakeville and Shakopee are night and day. Even though Lakeville is bigger it's so much more of a small town feel. You really have to be sure on Shakopee before buying there. We wished we would have researched it more and hadn't moved there for the short time we were stuck there.

[Ben Around]

Lots of young families and stay at home moms in the Highland and Mac-Groveland neighborhoods. These areas are much more centrally located than the aforementioned burbs, but if you are more into the suburb/exurb lifestyle, may not be what you want.

[DannyBanany]

Highlands Ranch is very similar to Shakopee or southwest suburbs. I especially like the area along Highway 169. There are actually a couple hills so it might be easier for you to cope with coming from the mountain views of Highlands Ranch.

[tgrahek]

St. Anthony Village is a great place to live and raise kids. It has the smallest school district in the state and has gotten national recognition. I am a stay at home mom and have plenty of company here. My husband works downtown and takes the bus. He loves the time to read and unwind before getting home. His commute is 25 minutes. It is a great location being blocks from NE Minneapolis, next to Roseville (and Rosedale Mall), and close to 35W. The schools are all walking distance as is shopping and several restaurants. I walk my littlest to preschool and then walk to the grocery store twice a week. The schools all have a waiting list for open enrollment which says a lot. The houses here are older, most built in the 60's and it is not cheap but well worth it. It is a small town feel but you can see the downtown skyline on the horizon.
St. Anthony -- City of St. Anthony
St. Anthony-New Brighton School District