from Lone Star state to North Star state (Minneapolis, Maple Grove: camp, living in)

[grace1202]

Originally Posted by LonghornPaul

Hi all

I will be relocating (just me) to the Minny area at the end of the year. I'd like to land in the NW suburbs. What areas are best, (I kind of have my eye on Maple Grove).

A good resource we've found helpful is the magazine "Mpls St.Paul". Look into a subscription at mspmag.com. The July 2006 issue was called "Best of the Burbs" and had a lot of helpful info. We're wanting to relocate to the SE area but it will probably be 1 1/2 years. I called the city offices we were interested in and they sent a lot of helpful info including the magazine I just mentioned. Ask if they have copies available if you contact the cities you're interested in.

[warmweather!]

I really do reccomend Maple Grove for anyone. Maple Grove is a GREAT town with currently 60,000 people, and I think it's the fastest growing suburb in the metro. Maple Grove has at least 65 restaurants (seriously), almost every store known to the U.S., tons of parks, public paved trails winding all over the town, 4 large beautiful sparkling lakes(Rice Lake, Fish Lake, Weaver Lake, and Eagle Lake-as well as many smaller ponds and lakes), a hospital is under construction in Maple Gorve right now, a great community center, a good mass transit system, easy access to anywhere in the metro, lots of very nice neighborhoods, very low crime a.k.a.-very "secure", friendly people, and a lot more. For housing there are more houses and townhomes( they just deceided to start building more houses, apartments, and condos because they thought they were building too many townhomes), but there are still some apartment complexes. Maple Grove's traffic is just the same as any other suburb of it's size. There are 3 different interstates going through Maple Grove (I-94, I-494, and I-694). I'm sure that you can find an 1br apartment for that price in Maple Grove but I don't know the specifics about different places. I know a ton about Maple Grove because I used to live there, and I still go there every week. Here's a traffic tip for the whole metro- On Friday afternoons and evenings, the traffic is HORRIBLE going north, because everyone is going to their cabins for the weekend.If there's any other things you want to know about maple Grove feel free to ask. P.S. If you want to meet single ladies, in Maple Grove I would try hanging around the Shoppes At Arbor Lakes.

[LonghornPaul]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Hook Em Horns and I guess Go Go Gophers

[MSMCGirl]

Paul...I'm assuming you're single since you want a place with single girls....so why are you so set on the suburbs? I relocated to Minneapolis a year ago from L.A. and bought a townhouse in the northern suburbs (Coon Rapids)...only because it's always been a dream to BUY a home...something unreachable in L.A.!! But now, as a single person, I wish I were closer to the city!! And everyone that knows me and knows I'm single asks me why the heck I bought a place in the suburbs! Don't get me wrong...the suburbs are great...but more for families or people with kids...NOT for singles. Not a lot of singles in the suburbs... If I could move again right now, I'd land in St. Anthony or St. Louis Park...much more single friendly!

On a positive note...the traffic to my area (Coon Rapids/Blaine) is not bad at all from downtown...and there are a number of different routes to take. Although Maple Grove is a nice area, my coworkers in Maple Grove can't say the same about easy traffic home. And like Maple Grove, Coon Rapids and Blaine has tons of growth and new construction going on...and is a little more affordable than Maple Grove.

Just my thoughts...

[LonghornPaul]

I guess as I will be working in northern Brooklyn Park, and totally unaccustomed to the weather, I was trying to land somewhere with a fairly short commute. How would the drive from St Louis Park to BP be?
Definitely not looking to buy right away, as I am trying to sell my house here n Tejas.
Thanks for the advice and I'll definitely check it out.

P

[nerfer]

I just have to respond since a few years ago I moved to Texas after growing up in MN. What a shock that was! Moved down in July from the far northern part of the state in a car without A/C. A few MN/TX comparisons:
1. Southern hospitality is over-rated. Some people are really nice (it's hard to get mad at someone with a soft drawl), but some people are mean, much like most anywhere.
2. Texas girls really dress themselves up, it was nice for a single guy, plus the long summers give plenty of time for light clothing.
3. I never had cabin fever until I moved to Texas. From May to September you move from A/C apartment to A/C car to A/C office or A/C store, and back again. I grew up snowshoeing, snowmobiling, skiing (downhill, or "snow-skiing" as you call it, but also cross-country), fishing, ice-fishing, biking. There wasn't a season in MN I couldn't be outside enjoying myself. Just because it's below zero doesn't mean you can't be outside if properly dressed.
4. In rural MN a soft-drink is "pop", until I was probably 14 I thought "soda" meant only cream-soda. In Texas a soft-drink is a "coke". When you want a Dr. Pepper, you ask for a coke and expect them to ask what kind. They'll understand "soda" but not "pop".
5. Rural MN has a lot fewer people than rural TX, at least east Texas. I lived outside of Dallas and that was too crowded for me, so if you're used to the city, you may find suburban-to-rural MN too empty for you.
6. The Red River goes west to east on the Texas border, but south to north on the Minnesota border.
7. Lone Stars hockey team was stolen from the North Stars. Some people you run into may still resent this. OTOH, we've forgotten about the Civil War, it's just a chapter in a high school history class.
8. We don't consider ourselves "Yankees". Yankees might be people in New England. Southerners are anybody south of central Iowa.
9. MN road ditches are cleaner 90% of the time, but we don't have bluebonnets carpeting them. We also don't drive on the shoulder to let people pass. There's no reflectors in the roads because snowplows would hit them.
10. Winter road conditions are more hazardous in TX because precipitation ends up being icy and people aren't used to bad conditions. In MN snow is either slushy or hard, but not often icy. Still, remember that getting going is the easy part, slowing and turning is the hard part. Just because you can get up to 50 doesn't mean you should be going 50!!!!

[nerfer]

Originally Posted by LonghornPaul

I guess as I will be working in northern Brooklyn Park, and totally unaccustomed to the weather, I was trying to land somewhere with a fairly short commute. How would the drive from St Louis Park to BP be?
Definitely not looking to buy right away, as I am trying to sell my house here n Tejas.
Thanks for the advice and I'll definitely check it out.

P

One other thing I didn't notice - you're from east of Dallas. When I was in Texas, I lived in Greenville. House prices there were a LOT cheaper than MN, or east coast, or Chicago...

[LonghornPaul]

Thanks for the comparisons. I have added a few based on my observations in Texas. Being single at this point in my life, I think I could live almost anywhere (except based on the thread about Baudette, maybe not there).

1. There was no real civil war, just the War against Northern Agression.
2. Everything is bigger in Texas, but may be reduced in size when exposed to cold.
3. Texas girls are, generally speaking, very attractive, however extemely superficial, materialistic, and shallow. Other than that, they rock.
4. Austin is another planet.
5. I do live east of Dallas, and I acknowledge that housing prices, generally, are lower here than almost anywhere in the country. Another reason I am looking into an apartment for the short term.
6.Two beers: Shiner and Lonestar
7. The North Stars are a carpetbagger team that no native Texan takes seriously. Only the nouveau riche and assorted yuppiedom from out of state even follows hockey.
8. There are two seasons here: Football season, and football practice. Doesn't really matter if it is high school, college, pro, or Pop Warner.
9. Women seem taller in Minnesota, based on my observations I made last week while on a househunting trip. Thats a good thing.
10. If no one brings up Kinky Friedman or George W. when I move up there in October, I won't mention Jesse "The Body".

All in good fun.......I am looking forward to the move!

Hook Em Horns

[warmweather!]

If meeting singles is your main priority, then you you should go to the city. It is true, the suburbs are more for families. And if you worked in the suburbs, and lived in the city, you wouldnt have to deal with much rush hour, but the city is a bit more expensive-and not so safe.

[LonghornPaul]

just a "would be nice". Think I'll pass on living in Minny proper. It's down to Plymouth, Maple Grove, or Coon Rapids now....and the clock is ticking...6 weeks to go.