Commute time from St. Paul to southern suburbs (Apple Valley, Lakeville: houses, to live in)

[niemand133]

I am looking at taking a job in northern St. Paul, right around 694/35E area and moving in with my girl friend who is looking at houses in the Apple Valley/Lakeville area. Curious on how long of commute it would be? Google says its 25-30 miles but cant trust their times.

[chilaili]

I'd be highly suspicious of that timeframe if you're using 35E to get from A to B. The traffic into St Paul is horrendous and the bottleneck in downtown where 35E and I-94 meet is unbelievably bad both in the mornings and evenings. I used to live in a highrise that overlooked that intersection and was amazed that anyone would willingly endure that on a daily basis. If you went all the way around 694 it might not be as long but you are going the long way round.

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by niemand133

I am looking at taking a job in northern St. Paul, right around 694/35E area and moving in with my girl friend who is looking at houses in the Apple Valley/Lakeville area. Curious on how long of commute it would be? Google says its 25-30 miles but cant trust their times.

Not a commute I would want to make. It might be 25-30 miles, but I'm sure it will take longer than 25-30 minutes. Add in some accidents and snow storms and it could be a lot worse.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by chilaili

I'd be highly suspicious of that timeframe if you're using 35E to get from A to B. The traffic into St Paul is horrendous and the bottleneck in downtown where 35E and I-94 meet is unbelievably bad both in the mornings and evenings. I used to live in a highrise that overlooked that intersection and was amazed that anyone would willingly endure that on a daily basis. If you went all the way around 694 it might not be as long but you are going the long way round.

I would agree with you on taking 494 to 694 to avoid 35E. Any way you cut it, that commute will be towards brutal.

[golfgal]

I agree, not a fun commute--unless you are going at off times then it isn't horrible but at least 30 minutes from Lakeville and depending on where in Apple Valley, 20-30 minutes-without traffic.

Why not look on that side of the cities-Mahtomedi, Stillwater, Mounds View area are all great on that side of the cities and would be a 5-15 minute commute.

[gatorinmn]

I agree with golfgal and the others. I lived in AV for a year and now live in Rosemount, and I commute into downtown STP every day, typically between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning when there's not a lot of traffic. Even at that hour, it's still 25 minutes. To get to where you're going, it would be at least 35-40 minutes, and probably more like 50 minutes to an hour with traffic. And that's assuming you're not talking about the far southern part of Lakeville . . . .