west or east : maple grove or north oaks?? (Minneapolis, Golden Valley: homeowners association, home)

[hilaire]

We just moved to Minnesota from New york. Due to my husband's job up north we are currently living in Anoka.
We are young, no kids and are craving a little more city feel.
We can't live in Minneapolis as it would be too far a commute. We would like to be near the city but also would like to live in a nice neighborhood . My husband is working in Anoka?...any suggestions????

[uptown_urbanist]

How far up north? Are Maple Grove and North Oaks your top choices? North Oaks seems about as far from a city feel as you could get (it's a ritzy, highly private suburb). Maple Grove is pretty suburban feeling, too, but there's some new urbanist developments out there (or at least one - the Grove). Depending on what exactly you're looking for, and where up north your husband works, you might be able to find a more city, or at least large small town, experience living closer to his job. If you stay in Anoka at least there's the soon-to-open Northstar commuter line; that will make it easier to get downtown when you want a city fix. Are you open to other suburbs besides Anoka and Maple Grove, or are you trying to decide between only those two options?

[Slig]

First you say your husband is working "up north" and then you say he's working in Anoka. When I think of working up north I picture working in Bemidgi or Brainerd or something. Anoka isn't up north, it's just a northern suburb of Minneapolis. If you want city life, living in Minneapolis would not make for a terrible commute for your husband (given that he works in Anoka), especially if you're in an area where he can avoid the Lowry tunnel (by taking I94 westbound). He'd be going the opposite way of traffic so despite the distance he wouldn't have to worry about any serious traffic problems. If you're looking for an urban feel there are nice neighborhoods in the city too, Bryn Mawr would be a good place to start the search. If you're set on being close to the city but not in it you should check out areas like Golden Valley/Robinsdale.

[Clifford63]

Both Maple Grove and North Oaks are pretty nice in terms of suburbs, and both are closer to the city than Anoka.

North Oaks is more exclusive in design with larger lots and more of a wooded feel. North Oaks is somewhat unique in that the entire city is run by a homeowners association. They city owns no land and they don't partcipate in the MAC. There some decent info on this in Wikipedia that I checked out some time ago. It would have a pretty good route to Anoka with easy access to Highway 10.

Maple Grove is fairly young and has a lot of new developments and a lot more stores and Shopping.

[uptown_urbanist]

Oops, somehow skipped right over the line that he was working in Anoka - thought he was working "up north" and you were living in Anoka to avoid a bigger commute out of the city. I agre with Slig, then; the commute from a more urban neighborhood wouldn't be bad.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

Both Maple Grove and North Oaks are pretty nice in terms of suburbs, and both are closer to the city than Anoka.

North Oaks is more exclusive in design with larger lots and more of a wooded feel. North Oaks is somewhat unique in that the entire city is run by a homeowners association. They city owns no land and they don't partcipate in the MAC. There some decent info on this in Wikipedia that I checked out some time ago. It would have a pretty good route to Anoka with easy access to Highway 10.

Maple Grove is fairly young and has a lot of new developments and a lot more stores and Shopping.

I wouldnt say that Anoka is any less closer to the Cities than North Oaks or Maple Grove... Anoka is a mere 12 minute drive from Downtown MPLS...

[Slig]

Originally Posted by knke0204

I wouldnt say that Anoka is any less closer to the Cities than North Oaks or Maple Grove... Anoka is a mere 12 minute drive from Downtown MPLS...

I don't know about that. I lived near Anoka and under favorable conditions it probably takes at least twice that amount of time.

[hilaire]

I will check out that piece of info on Wikipedia :-) Looking to buy a home with an urban feel in between Anoka and Minneapolis...so we don't have to constantly run to the city ! In New York we didn't really drive that much , and having more than a 20 -30 minute drive to work would be way too much ! But we still have time to research all of this so that we don't make a wrong move and end up fighting about how New York had it all. I am sure we can get exactly what we are looking for in Minneapolis too...It would be just a matter of doing some research and looking into :-) Thanks you'll have been of great help.