Comparing Austin area neighborhoods w/ Twin Cities area neighborhoods? (Round Rock: transplants, how much)

[MayaLucy]

Has anyone lived in both places?

We might be moving back to the Mpls/St. Paul. We were young when we lived there; no kids, so I feel like we are newbies now looking at it from the point of view of having a family.

We currently live in a SW neighborhood in Oak Hill area. This is a great part of town for us. Good schools but not overly pretentious, driving distance from lots of parks, anything fun about Austin, and just in general a pretty area (green, trees, hills).

Previously we lived in Round Rock. Nothing wrong with Round Rock, but it was just not the best fit. Felt more suburban, far removed from the culture of Austin....far removed from the "feel" of Austin, etc.

Debating which area we would move to in Twin Cities...was focusing on the western burbs like Minnetonka, etc. But we will have family north of the metro, so I'm curious about the New Brighton/Mounds View area.

What we don't want is another Round Rock. But we don't need hip and urban either. Just don't want to feel SO FAR removed from the culture of the cities.

For some reason I have it in my head that New Brighton would be like the Round Rock of the Twin Cities area and the south/western suburbs more like where we are now.

Thoughts?

[BriansZ]

I never lived there but I have been to Minneapolis. The only similarity that I can think of is they both have I-35. Other than that, they seem pretty different.

[MayaLucy]

Ha! Yes, they do have 35 in common. I would be terribly sad to leave Austin and go back there but we may have to. Mpls/St. Paul is great in so many ways and we'd be near family but it is SO FREAKING COLD.

[Trainwreck20]

I have never personally lived in MSP, but have a ton of family up that way.

Will you be working in MSP? Where? I have family in Anoka and St. Cloud on that side of the cities, and although St. Cloud is likely further than you want to travel, Anoka is kind of a neat area. On the StP side, I have family in Woodbury, but that seems a bit more of typical suburbia to me.

[MayaLucy]

Job would be downtown Mpls.

[PrimusPilus]

I've lived in Minneapolis in the University area close to St. Anthony falls and downtown. If I were to move back to Mpls, I'd consider the western suburbs too - was never a fan of Roseville, New Brighton or other northern suburbs. The western suburbs are prettier and closer to the main attractions of Mpls. I like both Minnetonka and Plymouth.

[LakeTravisAlum]

What about Edina? I've heard pretty nice things about it. It's probably the only place I'd consider in the Minneapolis area.

[hillcountryheart]

Minnetonka is gorgeous; I have family there. I can't compare it with Oak Hill except to say that there's a lot of green space - only the MN green space is really and truly green. I have no idea what the commute would be like, though; if you or someone you know has worked at IBM or 3M, both of which sent a lot of MN transplants to Austin, you might want to join "alumni" groups on LinkedIn or similar and ask around.

[MayaLucy]

Originally Posted by hillcountryheart

Minnetonka is gorgeous; I have family there. I can't compare it with Oak Hill except to say that there's a lot of green space - only the MN green space is really and truly green. I have no idea what the commute would be like, though; if you or someone you know has worked at IBM or 3M, both of which sent a lot of MN transplants to Austin, you might want to join "alumni" groups on LinkedIn or similar and ask around.

Good to know about Minnetonka and green space. Was thinking about how much I'd miss the "space" in Austin. Twin Cities area is much more dense, generally. Now been considering Eden Prairie; further commute than I was hoping for, but supposed to be a great area for families.

[Trainwreck20]

The hike-n-bike trails along the Mississippi are awesome, you can actually commute (when it isn't snowbound!) on a bike from pretty significant distances.