Stillwater vs. Eagan/Apple Valley/Burnsville (Eden Prairie, Minnetonka: for sale, houses, neighborhood)

[grace1202]

We are considering relocating to the Twin Cities area and need to be near the airport as my husband travels frequently. I think Stillwater is around 30 minutes to the airport and the Eagan/Apple Valley/Burnsville area is around 15minutes. Can anyone compare these two areas (schools, quality of life, home prices)? I know it may be like comparing apples to oranges but would like some info on these communities. Thanks!

[golfgal]

I grew up in Stillwater and now live in Rosemount, next to Apple Valley so I think I can give a good evaluation of both areas. Stillwater is a growing town that is fairly self-sufficient, meaning you can get pretty much everything you need on a day-to-day basis, right there. It is close to larger shopping centers as well. The town is lovely, many old homes that have been restored and a real small town feel. The downtown area on weekends is a nightmare with tourist traffic but that doesn't effect the locals unless you want to go out to eat there or whatever (there are other options). Housing prices/taxes are fairly high. The schools are very good although the high school is HUGE, large classes-the school district encompasses many of the surrounding smaller towns. Overall, it is a wonderful place to live. The commute to the airport would be closer to 40 minutes but still not a bad commute if you aren't doing that every day.

The Eagan/Apple Valley/Rosemount school district is one of the best school districts in the nation. It is one of the largest districts in the state but with 5 high schools, the school sizes are more manageable. We are partial to the Rosemount schools, we recently moved here and specifically chose this town because of the high school's reputation, especially their music program.

Housing costs in Rosemount vs Apple Valley/Eagan are lower, as are taxes, but not a huge difference, maybe $20,000 or so for the same house/same type of neighborhood. Each day we discover how convenient our location is and like the town more and more with each thing we do.

The commute to the airport is 15 minutes or less so with current gas prices, that is a concern. The commute is EASY, several choices to get there so if traffic is bad one way, you have many other options.

Burnsville is in a different district and while the schools are not bad, they are probably the "worst" of the 3 choices. Burnsville will also make your commute a major headache depending on which side of 35W you live. My advice would be to be on the east side of 35W no matter where you live.

Lakeville is another area to consider, good schools, easy commute, but housing prices are higher.

If you want to Private Message me, feel free. I can answer more specific questions for you then if you like. How old are your kids and what are some of their interests, that would help you pick a town as well.

[warmweather!]

2 other great places to consider would be Edina, and Eden Prairie-which are pretty close to the airport, all you would do is drive strait East on I-694, which would take you directly to the airport.

[grace1202]

Can you recommend some developments in the 500-600K range and some reputable builders in the Eden Praire and/or Eagan/Rosemount/Apple Valley area?

Is it considered to be a buyers or sellers market in the area right now?

What is the reputation of the schools in the Eden Praire area?

Also, would you say Eden Praire is around 30 minutes to the airport during non-rush hour?

[warmweather!]

I would say that if you were in Eden Prairie, and it wasn't rush hour, you could get to the airport in less than half an hour. Minnesota has some of the very best schools out of the whole U.S., and the suburbs have most of the best school districts in the state, so I'm sure the schools are good! I'm not sure how good the Eden Prairie schools are compared to the other suburbs though. If you are looking for the VERY BEST schools, the Wayzata, and Minnetonka school districts are both known to be EXTREMELY good, but houses there are more expensive and further from the airport. But all of the Minnesota suburban schools are very good. I don't know much about specific developments or developers around here, but I'm sure you can find established homes or developments around 500-600k (houses in Eden Prairie do tend to be in that price range)! If you are moving here, Eden Prairie seems like the kind of town you are looking for, so you should definately look into it!

[warmweather!]

P.S., if you ARE looking for only the VERY Best of the Best school districts, the Wayzata and Minnetonka school districts still aren't that far from the airport, just a bit north of Eden Prairie!

[grace1202]

Originally Posted by Citydataman

P.S., if you ARE looking for only the VERY Best of the Best school districts, the Wayzata and Minnetonka school districts still aren't that far from the airport, just a bit north of Eden Prairie!

Thanks so much for the info. We're currently living in Alabama so I'm certain ANY district in MN would be better than what they have here. The city we live in was under a federal mandate to have all kids attend the same school (i.e. 9th grade in one building, 10th in another, etc.) to combat segregation which is, sadly, still a huge problem here. Now I'm griping about AL but in the last election there was an initiative to amend the state constitution to remove racist language and it was voted down!!! Unbelievable

Anyway, after some input from "golfgal" I checked into the Rosemount, Eagan & Apple Valley area. I think we're going to look into homes in the district #196 area. I've also spoken to a realtor since my last post and I've been told it's a buyers market right now as there are 30,000 homes for sale in the metro area. We were going to build but I think that we would get much more for our money by purchasing a resale or spec home. Also, trying to build a home and living 1100 miles away may become more of a nightmare than dream.