Northern Suburbs--Thoughts & Comments (Minneapolis, St. Paul: house, neighborhoods, school district)

[beth64]

Hi all,

My family will be relocating to the Twin Cities area probably within the next year. (We are presently in Kennewick, Washington.) I am from St. Paul originally, but have been away for 16 years and I know a lot has changed. For one thing, I know we can't afford a house right in the city, so we're looking at the burbs. I've always liked--and know the best--the northern areas like White Bear, Shoreview, Vadnais Heights, etc. and was wondering what kind of reputation they currently have. Also, my husband will be commuting to downtown Minneapolis, so any input on commute times, traffic problems, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[nick is rulz]

they kind of all blur together


they arent that bad on the St Paul side. North Minneapolis suburbs are full of country line dancers and Yosemite Sam mudflaps.

[Jaxx99]

I can only speak for White Bear in that they still have a very nice downtown and well-regarded school systems. People I know from there love it and speak highly of it.

Not as familiar with VH or Shoreview.

[QueenBee]

Originally Posted by nick is rulz

they kind of all blur together


they arent that bad on the St Paul side. North Minneapolis suburbs are full of country line dancers and Yosemite Sam mudflaps.

If this was meant as a joke, it isn't funny. Please do not cast stereotypes at things you obviously know nothing about.

While I am not as knowledgeable about the suburbs that the OP specifically mentioned, I do live in a northern Minneapolis suburb and really like this area. Believe it or not, there are no Yosemite Sam mudflaps on any of my vehicles (none of which are pick-up trucks), nor have I ever country line danced. Ignore ignorant comments like this. It's safe, family friendly, and most definitely NOT as this misinformed poster implied. Neighborhoods range from working class to multi-million dollar homes.

[nick is rulz]

No I wasnt kidding. Most of the northern suburbs of Minneapolis tend to attract a "yokel" sort of crowd...more specifically Coon Rapids (not shocking based on the name alone), Andover, and Elk River. Call it stereotypical if you will.

[JenLee]

I live in one of the suburbs you mentioned in your post and this is still a safe, nice area of the Cities. The local police reports are pretty boring reading 99% of the time. The school systems are still very good too.

I've commuted to south Mpls in various car pools with people from Maplewood, Vadnais Heights, Shoreview, and Roseville at different times and I believe that the longest commute was for the person from Vadnais Heights; and hers was about 30 minutes; however, we weren't traveling during rush hour traffic. I've had to get to St. Louis Park (394 and Highway 100) at 9 AM several times recently and can get there from Highway 36 and 35E in about 35 minutes.

[QueenBee]

Originally Posted by nick is rulz

No I wasnt kidding. Most of the northern suburbs of Minneapolis tend to attract a "yokel" sort of crowd...more specifically Coon Rapids (not shocking based on the name alone), Andover, and Elk River. Call it stereotypical if you will.

When was the last time you were in Coon Rapids, Andover and Elk River??? Andover and Elk River are full of VERY nice homes and nice neighborhoods full of families. Coon Rapids (where I live) has it's share of working class neighborhoods just like most other suburbs (St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Richfield, Bloomington, do I need to go on??) but also has many very high end neighborhoods as well. There is a huge new shopping development off of Hwy 10 and Main St./Round Lake Blvd. I live in Coon Rapids and none of our neighbors or many friends are "yokels", whatever that is supposed to mean. Not that there is anything wrong with people who actually work for a living or (gasp!) live within or below their means

Please stick to areas which you know something about in the future

[MotownLowdown]

I'm from White Bear Lake. It's a nice community-- schools are good. The downtown area has come a LONG way in the past decade. It's really nice there now-- it wasn't really that way when I was in high school (early 90's).
If you decide to do Vadnais Heights-- that is in the WBL school district.

Commuting to Mpls. might be a pain. 61 to 36 West would be your main route, unless you are far enough west where taking 35E to 36 would be faster.

I don't live in the area anymore-- but I'm back enough to have seen the changes. MSP has grown so much. And the traffic has gotten terrible. If you are working in Mpls., you might want to look at some of the inner ring suburbs on that side. My brother lives in Crystal and seems to enjoy it. The homes aren't terribly expensive and Robbinsdale schools are decent. Maple Grove is nice, in a suburban way. That would put you in the Osseo district. But, again, congestion is going to be an issue. If you haven't seen Maple Grove in the past 10 years, you won't recognize it.
I'd check out Roseville, too. It's central to everything in the Metro.

[Northstar17]

I live in the Circle Pines area (nestled between Blaine and Lino Lakes) and I got to say that the northern suburbs have a different sort of feel (or at least where I've seen and lived) then to that of western suburbs, they seem less crowded and urbanized and more laid back. The schools are good and a few attractions like Riverdale and Northtown Mall. Oh and as far as the reputation for the north suburbs being a "yokel" area, so definitly have some more "white trash" areas (If you'd ever been through Lexington you'd know what I'm talking about,) but you still have plenty of "white collar" neighborhoods.

[phantastica]

Umm, I was born and raised in the northern 'burbs of Mpls (near Coon Rapids), I've lived in the TC metro area for my entire life (more than a couple of decades), and still regularly frequent the Anoka/Blaine/Coon Rapids/Elk River/Monticello area to visit family and friends. And yes, it does have a reputation of being full of "yokels"/rednecks/hicks. I think that will slowly change as the newly developed neighborhoods bring new people and ideas to the area. Historically speaking, this area has been surprisingly redneck for being only 20-something miles from Minneapolis.

On that note, these yokels are not bad people, but you will find many undereducated conservatives, moreso than other areas. If your gig is making fun of white-trash people, then you'd have lots of material to observe. Fortunately many of us can see that "rednecks" are no more obnoxious than liberal eco-moms, and generally are good people beneath the political/educational divide.

I can't speak much for northern St Paul suburbs, but I find Roseville and New Brighton to be excellent areas.