Where is a good place to live and raise your family in Fargo? (West Fargo: apartments)

[efssampaio]

I would appreciate recommendations for neighborhood in Fargo, to live and raise family.

I have 3 daughters (14, 8 and a newborn). So, public High School and Elementary need to be well considered.
I would also appreciate recommendation for schools.

Kind Regards,

Emerson

[FargoBison]

Clara Barton neighborhood would be a pretty good choice. Tree lined streets, nice older homes, very safe place, and close to good schools as well(Clara Barton elementary and South High).

Here is a map of Fargo's neighborhoods. I would also take a look at Hawthorne and Lincoln.

http://www.cityoffargo.com/Residenti...rNeighborhood/

[whoopsie goldburg]

you shouldn't have any problems anywhere near fargo, moorhead, WF, dilworth, horace, they are all great. settle on the south side of fargo, your kids will go to south high and they can write themselves the ticket to hollywood

[dutchinnd]

I would concur w/ the endorsements of the Clara Barton/Hawthone neighborhood and also w/ Lincoln. There are many very nice large, newer homes in the Centennial elementary neighborhood, but it is a very large (800+ kids) elementary. Bennett and Kennedy are quite new schools, so there isn't necessarily an established reputation for those. On the north side Longfellow has the reputation of being a very good school.
There will be a big shift in the coming years--the Fargo Public Schools are building a 3rd high school--Judge Davies High School in far SW Fargo. Centennial, Bennett, and Kennedy will feed into Discovery Middle School which will feed Davies. Honestly, that does encompass many affluent areas of town. How all the attendance demographics are going to shake out through the coming years is unknown. Though many times, it's the staff that can make all the difference. How many and which teachers from South High will opt to transfer to Davies is also an unknown.
Also there are many areas w/in the Fargo city limits which are part of the West Fargo school district. According to newspaper reports, there are morale/administrative issues within that district currently. That may or may not impact what happens in the classroom so that may or may not be an issue for you.
Even though commutes are relatively short in comparison w/ major metropolitan areas, you may really want to look at where your job is and choose a neighborhood accordingly. Even though I've lived here 20 years now, in winter I much prefer my 5 minute commute rather than living in what could be a perfectly lovely neighborhood that is 25 minutes from my work (on a good day--not counting winter or our other season of the year--construction season).

[acfreema]

dutch is right, the school situation is undergoing some changes, potentially drastic changes. it wasn't mentioned, but west fargo is looking to build another new school (i think it may have been approved, but i can't remember).

on the topic of specific schools, i would recommend looking into the moorhead system, i know several people who went there (my mom included) that felt the school was quite solid. i have friends that are teachers at carl ben eielson elementary, and they are fairly positive about it. if you can afford it, shanley or oak grove would be prime choices; independent of the religious convictions, their curriculums are in-depth and sound.

if your budget doesn't restrict you too much, regardless of what other people may tell you, try to avoid homes sectioned between 13ave s and main ave and 25st to around 17st (they start getting much better as you get closer to 8st), stay away from anything very close to lindenwood park (consistent flooding), and most of the homes between main ave and 19ave n and west of i29. a large portion of those places are not well maintained and you will do well to avoid them unless a realtor specifcally recommends one. avoid apartments around 12ave s and 23st, 32ave s east of the interstate, community homes on 6ave s, and buildings 3420, 3520, and 3700 42st s; there are higher concentrations of drugs and disturbances (and the ones on 42st aren't well-maintained). i don't know anything about places in moorhead or north of main ave, so i won't offer suggestions.

[FargoBison]

Living near Lindenwood Park is fine, as long as you aren't next to the river, but even that shouldn't be a problem as a number of those homes are being bought out by the city. The are along the river between the water plant and St. Johns church is very problematic due to how the river curves out and when the water gets to 97 or 09 levels the curve puts a lot of pressure on the sandbag or clay levees.

My parents house is a block from Lindenwood and the river would probably need to get to 41.5-42 feet before having to worry about flooding if a levee broke.

As for between main and 13th, just look east of 10th street, there are a number of very nice old homes in that part of town.

[pinkykt05]

The only places in my opinion that I would avoid would be about 3 blocks either way of main avenue, since they built a new shelter around there... my FIL lives in that area and says that cops are always around looking for someone...

[efssampaio]

Thank you all for the replies.

Kind Regards,

Emerson

[Prophet815]

here are your options:

West Fargo: If you want your daughters to be drunken sluts

South Fargo: If you want your children to be pretencious tools

Downtown: If you want to be stabbed

Moorhead: Neutral

North Fargo: If you want your children to have a decent character and live in a safe neighborhood. I would probably recommend stay close to Ben Franklen or over by Longfellow. AVOID THE RIDGE (which I believe is by Madison). If you live in the ridge they will probably grow up to be drug addicts.


Yep, my vote is definatly for Longfellow Elementary (followed by Ben Franklin (6-8) and North High (9-12)) the Horace Mann/Roosevelt route wouldn't be to bad either, but the most successful people I know went to Longfellow.