Considering to relocate from California to Minnesota, Please give me some feedback! (Minneapolis: sale, to rent)

[SoCaliButterfly]

Originally Posted by Slig

Speaking Spanish will come in really handy. There is alot of demand for Spanish speaking people and probably more than 95% of Non-Hispanics in Minnesota cannot speak anything beyond basic HS level Spanish. I definitely think being bilingual could help you in the marketing field as more and more companies are looking to cater to the Hispanic population. I'd look in the Twin Cities as that is where the best employment opportunities can be found in your fields. Good luck!

I am very happy to hear this because it means that I will have an advantage over my competitors when it come to locking a job position at a company.

My husband and I are thinking the Twin Cities would probably be our best bet in terms of finding a job. Now I am wondering if I can begin my job search from here. I guess we will see what happens.

Thanks

[uptown_urbanist]

"Pretty low" meaning that most people living or working in Minneapolis are highly unlikely to be the victim of serious crime. I certainly wouldn't make fear of crime a reason to not move to Minneapolis. Certain neighborhoods have higher crime than others, of course, but that's true anywhere.

To the OP: yes, Minnesotans are big coffee drinkers. In some neighborhoods it feels like there is a coffee place every other block or so.

[Latchkey Kid]

My initial response was to the poster who seemed to present "low crime" as a reason to move Minneapolis. I'm not saying it's a reason not to move to Minneapolis, just wanted to point out that it's a misconception to assume that Minneapolis has less crime than LA or Anaheim.

[Katie100]

The Mpls suburbs you might want to look at for their schools, services and proximity to downtown are Plymouth, Edina, Bloomington, Burnsville, Minnetonka, Maple Grove. Stay away from North Minneapolis. Other cities have nice areas but can be seedy too - Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, New Hope, Richfield.

The nicer areas are south and west of the city. A house that would cost $250k in Burnsville would be $350 - $400 in the fancier west suburbs around Lake Minnetonka.

Hope this helps.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Katie100

The Mpls suburbs you might want to look at for their schools, services and proximity to downtown are Plymouth, Edina, Bloomington, Burnsville, Minnetonka, Maple Grove. Stay away from North Minneapolis. Other cities have nice areas but can be seedy too - Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, New Hope, Richfield.

The nicer areas are south and west of the city. A house that would cost $250k in Burnsville would be $350 - $400 in the fancier west suburbs around Lake Minnetonka.

Hope this helps.

Bringing up schools seems a little irrelevant as the OP doesn't have any kids. Also it makes very little sense to generalize suburbs as nice or seedy as there are nice neighborhoods and less nice neighborhoods in every one of those places. We went to Lake Minnetonka and were driving around Excelsior a block or two from the lake and I swear if I showed you pictures of these neighborhoods and then pictures of my South Minneapolis neighborhood you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The houses had the same architectural style and everything and had the same relative level of maintenance and yard upkeep as my neighborhood. If you look back to a Brooklyn Park post Camden posted pictures of the areas around the golf course there and the houses look like something you'd typically find in alot of neighborhoods in Eden Prairie, Maple Grove or Plymouth. How is Burnsville any better than Richfield, Crystal or New Hope? They seem very comparable to me, besides that the average house age in Burnsville is probably a little newer. It's also alot further away from the city than the other three, so less convenient.

[Katie100]

The original poster said she was planning on having children. Just my opinion, Slig.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Katie100

The original poster said she was planning on having children. Just my opinion, Slig.

And you really think that somebody who has lived her entire life in big cities who specifically said she didn't want to be in an isolated place but rather in a city that offers options of things to do would fit the mold of Burnsville, Minnetonka, Maple Grove and Plymouth? I guess it all depends what the OP meant by that. I got the impression she was looking for a more urban setting, but it appears that she wasn't entirely specific on a preference between urban or suburban. Also, you are inclined to an opinion but I can't help but suspect that your opinions of those suburbs are based more on generalizations and stereotypes than actual personal experience. Going back to SoCal I would compare Katie's statement to be like saying that all of Long Beach and Van Nuys are crap while all of Burbank and Irvine are great. That should help you picture how preposterous the statement is.

[uptown_urbanist]

Let's wait to hear what the OP thinks before we start throwing suggestions about where specifically (as in suburb or neighborhood) to consider as a place to live. I may have missed a post, but I didn't see enough details to be able to tell them one way or the other whether or not they would enjoy Plymouth, Minnetonka, or any other suburb. I also didn't see enough to know if they'd like living in the city, or, if so, what neighborhood would be a good fit. They'll also be in a better position if they know locations of jobs first, too, as while the commute is almost inevitably going to be better than what you'd find in southern CA (or at least traffic will be better), they still presumably don't want to both end up with jobs in the SW suburbs and live somewhere far out to the NE.

To the OP: if and when you do have kids, you can rest assured (yes, I know not everyone agrees with this, but many of on here do) that you can live pretty much anywhere in the Twin Cities, including the core cities, and have access to high quality public schools. It's very different from southern California in that there isn't the pressure to move to the "right" school district, or else pony up the money for a private school. If you do end up living in the city, say in a middle class neighborhood where people could afford to move to the suburbs or pay private school tuition if they wanted to, you'll find that many of your neighbors will go with the public schools. (very different from when I worked in Pasadena, where almost all of my coworkers sent their kids to private schools, or else moved to another district when their kids hit school age)

[Katie100]

Originally Posted by Slig

And you really think that somebody who has lived her entire life in big cities who specifically said she didn't want to be in an isolated place but rather in a city that offers options of things to do would fit the mold of Burnsville, Minnetonka, Maple Grove and Plymouth? I guess it all depends what the OP meant by that. I got the impression she was looking for a more urban setting, but it appears that she wasn't entirely specific on a preference between urban or suburban. Also, you are inclined to an opinion but I can't help but suspect that your opinions of those suburbs are based more on generalizations and stereotypes than actual personal experience. Going back to SoCal I would compare Katie's statement to be like saying that all of Long Beach and Van Nuys are crap while all of Burbank and Irvine are great. That should help you picture how preposterous the statement is.

Those are all suburbs that offer both high and low density areas and are still only about 30 minutes from downtown. I work in offices all around the cities so my opinion (and it is only that) is based on a good deal of personal experience. I was just trying to help the lady out and I get jumped on. What's up with that?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Katie100

Those are all suburbs that offer both high and low density areas and are still only about 30 minutes from downtown. I work in offices all around the cities so my opinion (and it is only that) is based on a good deal of personal experience. I was just trying to help the lady out and I get jumped on. What's up with that?

Just an FYI, there are some people on this board that consider themselves more sophisticated then others because they live in Minneapolis. They also mistakenly assume that one is isolated in the suburbs because apparently there is NOTHING to do in the suburbs like go out to eat or go to a bar. Just ignore them and continue to post your helpful suggestions.