Commute to Downtown Minneapolis (Brooklyn Park, Plymouth: foreclosures, houses, neighborhoods)

[tim444]

Regards,

I am considering a relocation to Minneapolis. The company I will be working for is located downtown in Minneapolis and I would really like to balance the commute with having a nice home and community for my family. I have two children (one 4, and the other 1.5) and we want to ensure they go to good schools. My wife is a stays at home with the kids and wants an area that has good stores and shopping close-by as well and we both like to be outdoors (ie she is a runner, I like to bike).

We live outside of Salt Lake City now and I commute about 22 miles each way. My commute time is typically 25-30 minutes now (45 minutes to 1 hour on a bad day) and I am okay with that commute time. I think anything around 40 minutes is acceptable. I believe this job will offer some flexibility and I plan on leaving the house between 7am and 7:30am.

So far my wife really likes Maple Grove. I have heard good things about Apple Valley and Lakeville as well.

Our budget on a house will be somewhere in the $350-440K range (I would like to keep it somewhere in the middle). We would like something newer that does not need a ton or work and has at least 4 bedrooms and is around 3K sq ft.

How is the commute to downtown from Maple Grove around 7am? I would probably be leaving the office around 4:30-5pm (rush hour)? What about Lakeville?

I would appreciate any comments, or other suggestions.

[DaPerpKazoo]

If you're looking for a typical suburban experience, both Maple Grove and Lakeville offer that. I would say that Maple Grove is a bit nicer, but they are comparable.

The commute from Maple Grove to downtown would be 20-25 minutes outside of rush hour and probably 35-45 in rush hour. Days with signifant fresh snow (less than a dozen or so annually) are unpredictable. If you can manage to find a place with direct access to 394 rather than 494 you can shave 10 minutes off of that time, as 394 has much less traffic than 494.

Lakeville is a much worse commute. I'm not sure what the commute is like (I've never actually been to Lakeville) but I know that the freeways in the south central metro are some of the worst. Not to mention the fact that 62 through Richfield and 35W through south Minneapolis are both undergoing major reconstruction (and will be for another 2 years).

Plymouth is very similar to Maple Grove, and in the same general area. Plymouth doesn't have its own high school, so you would get to choose between Orono, Wayzata, and Maple Grove. I'm not sure if there's a significant price difference between the two, but as far as atmosphere goes, the two are nearly identical.

You might want to consider some of the closer-in suburbs like Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, ect.

I realize you have the suburban mindset going, but I would consider some neighborhoods in Minneapolis as well. Check out Longfellow and Nokomis. They are both pretty quiet placesand they offer MUCH more walkability and access to parks and outdoor amenities than any far-flung suburb. Your commute would also be significantly shorter. I grew up in Nokomis in the 90's and there's nothing I would change about my childhood. It's a wonderful area, perfectly safe for kids, and has everything you need right there. There's a certain stage of independence that kids need at a young age that kids just can't get in car-dependant communities.

Hope it helps.

[StilltheSame]

I understand the inclination to trend to a suburb with a family, but Minneapolis offers so many great neighborhoods so close to downtown with good schools that I suggest you keep an open mind and look around before deciding to move so far out. A house hunting trip will clear up alot of questions.

[kuan]

If you live in St. Louis Park the bike commute should take 20 minutes. You don't even have to drive.

[Aylalou]

I agree with what everyone about quiet nice neighborhoods right in the cities where you will have a good commute time. I know that traffic is slow on the way to and from Maple Grove when you reach Brooklyn Park.

[StilltheSame]

I am in St. Louis Park with 2 kids and can walk to my entire weekend activities (restaurant, parks, movies, bookstore, groceries etc). My research indicates the schools are excellent and i was very impressed when touring and meeting with administration. The commute is really a pleasure about 15 minutes max downtown Minn. from door to desk.

[Slig]

I take a different point of view on house age. From my experience there are alot of older homes that have a great foundation and less major problems than alot of the newer homes that were built. One example is my house in the city was built in 1900 and thus far has only required some very minor enhancements and repairs. Meanwhile, my buddy's house in the suburbs was built in the 1980's and he's spending nearly 30k on it this summer to get the exterior and roof redone. My house had both of those freshly done right before it went on the market so I won't have to worry about them for 10+ years.

Beyond the home age argument, I prefer city living because I like having alot of things to do and places to see within a very short distance of me, amongst other things like diversity, access to public transportation, etc.

However, I ran an MLS search for single family houses with at least 2750 sq ft, 4 bedrooms and in the 350-440k range and there isn't a whole lot available in Minneapolis. I found 1 home in University, 2 in Nokomis, 2 in SW, 1 in Bryn Mawr and 1 in Camden (Victory). Other suburbs where I found the most homes with those specs were:

Woodbury - 48
Maple Grove - 31
Plymouth - 28
Apple Valley - 23
Eagan - 21
Savage - 19
Blaine - 17
Prior Lake - 14
Brooklyn Park - 13
Chaska - 13

I also found a handful of properties in Lino Lakes, Champlin, Inver Grove Heights, Chanhassen and Edina and a few properties in Fridley, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Cottage Grove, Mendota Heights, Eden Prairie, White Bear Lake and Minnetonka.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

The Maple Grove area has a concentration of stores and restaurants that is superior to Plymouth in my view. Maple Grove also ties into the Elm Creek Park area with 20+ miles of trails. I also think you can snowmobile in the park. We were biking there yesterday and it was fantastic day. And from there, you can tie into a lot more trails (Coon Rapids Dam etc). If biking and hiking are important, chose a home off of the trail system. There is a lot of trails in Plymouth as well. As far as I know, the setting isn't as natural as the Elm Creek trail system.

But if you spend that extra $30K it takes to get in a newer area of Plymouth (some off of the west side of Highway 55 as an example), you cut your time down driving to MPLS by 10+ minutes and you will most certainly get your $20K back the day you sell (and then some).

Over all, Maple Grove has more late model homes to chose from because it is a newer community. The era of home building from 1960-1980 is not particular appealing to my eye. I like 1900-1940's (character) or 2000 or newer. With the newer than 2000 look, you get an open floor plan with tall ceilings and the upgrades that most people want. In that price point, you might be in a neighborhood full of tan vinyl siding. Do your best to dodge one of those neighborhoods.

All the best!

[tim444]

Wow, thanks for all the great responses! If most Minnesotans are like you folks, I think Minnesosta will be a great place to live.

I can definitely appreciate some of the advice regarding buying an older house and living closer to the city. That is something that we are willing to consider, and prior to living in the metro Salt Lake City area, we lived in the metro Washington DC area (I lived there for 7 years). So I can appreciate the advice on living closer to the city. There is definitely pros and cons.

We have looked at St Louis Park, Golden City, Eden Prarie, and Plymouth. But based on many of the houses we are seeing in the mid 300's (to give us 50-60K for reno), they are going to need a lot of work. We would want an updated kitchen (stainless steel, granite, etc), updated bathrooms, walk in closet in the Master, etc. We are not afraid of doing some work ourselves, but I will most likely be working very long days for the first 6-9 months and I do not want my wife getting stuck with trying to manage two kids and lots of construction. But, we will definitely heed the advice given. There are a number of foreclosures in Minnestota and we could consider looking for a deal and fixing it up.

I will be living in MN without my wife and kids until we can sell our house here in Utah (which could take awhile, but it will be priced to sell). So I will have time to test the commute times and really scour the various neighborhoods and work with a realtor.

It looks like I will have another offer as well back in the metro DC area so it could be a tough decision as we have many close friends back in DC and the pay is better.

I appreciate the advice and will let you guys know what happens.

[tim444]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

The Maple Grove area has a concentration of stores and restaurants that is superior to Plymouth in my view. Maple Grove also ties into the Elm Creek Park area with 20+ miles of trails. I also think you can snowmobile in the park. We were biking there yesterday and it was fantastic day. And from there, you can tie into a lot more trails (Coon Rapids Dam etc). If biking and hiking are important, chose a home off of the trail system. There is a lot of trails in Plymouth as well. As far as I know, the setting isn't as natural as the Elm Creek trail system.

But if you spend that extra $30K it takes to get in a newer area of Plymouth (some off of the west side of Highway 55 as an example), you cut your time down driving to MPLS by 10+ minutes and you will most certainly get your $20K back the day you sell (and then some).

Over all, Maple Grove has more late model homes to chose from because it is a newer community. The era of home building from 1960-1980 is not particular appealing to my eye. I like 1900-1940's (character) or 2000 or newer. With the newer than 2000 look, you get an open floor plan with tall ceilings and the upgrades that most people want. In that price point, you might be in a neighborhood full of tan vinyl siding. Do your best to dodge one of those neighborhoods.

All the best!

I have to say we have similar taste. My wife love solder homes (1900-1940's) that have character, and then we both try to stay away from houses in the 60's-80's.

One problem we have seen is that some of the older house have kids bedrooms that are not on the same level. We want to have one more kid, so we are pretty set on having all the bedrooms on the same level of the house.

And yes you are right. Many newer houses offer the impression of cookie cutter vinyl siding.

Just based on research and some word of mouth, my wife seems to be leaning towards Maple Grove...