Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Minnesota > Minneapolis - St. Paul
 [Register]
Minneapolis - St. Paul Twin Cities
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-17-2011, 07:04 PM
 
5 posts, read 9,693 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hi everyone,

Hoping to get some advice from you. My wife and I are seriously considering purchasing a home in Apple Valley (near the zoo: CR38 and galaxie). She works in Golden Valley and I work in Maplewood: 694/94 intersection.

Does anyone have a similar scenario that could tell us some projected commute times? Anything you know about the area would be nice as well. Is there a downtown/business district for AV?

Thank you for your help!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-17-2011, 11:17 PM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,274,676 times
Reputation: 5303
Apple Valley is a modern suburb and like most it was built with complete dependancy on the motored vehicle in mind. As a result you aren't going to find any kind of classic downtown or civic gathering spaces there (unless you consider the zoo as meeting that need). There are some shopping areas with parking lots and strip malls with chain stores and a big box store or six, if that's what you were wondering about. If I'm not mistaken, alot of this is located around Cty Rd 42 and Hwy 77. Anyway, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me to find a place so far from the two work locations. If you really want to be in a suburb you could live in Golden Valley or somewhere in the middle, such as Roseville. Those would seem like more practical choices to me. I really don't see the appeal of living in suburbs like Apple Valley, but maybe that's just me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 06:47 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,066,170 times
Reputation: 10691
The 38/Galaxy area is lovely--especially in the fall when all those trees turn--the sumac along that road to is amazing. Commuting up Cedar to Golden Valley is a breeze from that area and barring any major weather or accidents should take under 30 minutes. Heading up to Maplewood would be longer, but not too bad if you can go at a slightly off time-say before 7 AM or after 8 AM--depending on where in Maplewood you would need to go Ceder to 35E through St. Paul is not a bad route if you have to go over by Maplewood Mall. You could also go Cedar to 35E to 494 if you need to be more on the Woodbury side of Maplewood. Heading up to the Maplewood Mall area would be probably 30-35 minutes since once you get through St. Paul, you are going against traffic, the Woodbury side route would be probably 20-25-again, going against traffic once you hit 494.

Apple Valley is a much better choice than Golden Valley, less crowded, no traffic, beautiful area with mature trees, lots of green space, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 08:06 AM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,274,676 times
Reputation: 5303
Actually if the OP is looking in the NE corner of the 38/Galaxie that census tract (60805) has a population density of 5706.9 people per sq. mile, which is alot more crowded than anything you'll find in Golden Valley.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 08:29 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,066,170 times
Reputation: 10691
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slig View Post
Actually if the OP is looking in the NE corner of the 38/Galaxie that census tract (60805) has a population density of 5706.9 people per sq. mile, which is alot more crowded than anything you'll find in Golden Valley.
Whatever--go see the area--it is not at all crowded Besides--that corner-exatly-is a townhome development.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 08:33 AM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,274,676 times
Reputation: 5303
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
Whatever--go see the area--it is not at all crowded
Actually we have been down there alot. We are members of the Minnesota zoo and I was just driving around there the other day because I had to buy equipment at Soccer USA in Burnsville.

If I had to live on of the Valleys, I'd go Golden...please don't hate me for that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 08:34 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,066,170 times
Reputation: 10691
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slig View Post
Actually we have been down there alot this year, thank you. We are members of the Minnesota zoo this year and I was just driving around there the other day because I had to buy equipment at Soccer USA.

If I had to live on of the Valleys, I'd go Golden...please don't hate me for that.
Then you know you are just blowing smoke because of your false assumption that urban living is better than suburban living
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 08:35 AM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,274,676 times
Reputation: 5303
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
Then you know you are just blowing smoke because of your false assumption that urban living is better than suburban living
How is that? Are we not comparing two suburbs right now?

Oh wait, are you insulting me for spending time in the suburbs since I'm a proponent of urban living....wait, but weren't you just telling me to go see the area? I'm confused, what exactly is it that you want me to do, or do I just lose no matter what?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
1,934 posts, read 5,795,529 times
Reputation: 1772
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
Apple Valley is a much better choice than Golden Valley, less crowded, no traffic, beautiful area with mature trees, lots of green space, etc.
Actually, Golden Valley has a ton of parks/green space in and around it, a number of lakes, and many wooded developments with as large/larger lots than what you'll find in Apple Valley. It's hardly 'crowded' or 'urban' in feel(actually, crossing over into GV on Golden Valley Road from Minneapolis feels a little bit like when you cross into Grosse Pointe, MI from Detroit) and getting there traffic/commute-wise is a lot easier as well. Golden Valley is considered a much more 'prestigious' suburb than Apple Valley and includes a number of developments with $1M+ homes; despite this, it doesn't come off as a snobbish area (but neither does Apple Valley) and there are parts of GV that are much more humbly middle class (and more city-like on a grid system than the fancier culdesac-ed/gated/wooded developments). I'd doubt someone looking in Apple Valley could afford too many areas in Golden Valley, possibly the areas right around or directly south of North Memorial (which are perfectly nice areas as well, just more middle class and similar to city neighborhoods on the outskirts of Mpls), so I don't think there's much of a "contest" here as the areas (Golden and Apple Valley) are so different. I take the Robbinsdale exit (which is another area that might be one for you to consider) which immediately follows the Golden Valley exit on Hwy 100- we like to guess which cars, usually expensive luxury sedans, are going to exit at Golden Valley.

Apple Valley to your work locations seems like unnecessarily long commutes. Have you considered Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, St. Louis Park, Roseville, etc. (I don't know much about suburbs on the St. Paul side, so can't comment on those)?

Last edited by Camden Northsider; 07-18-2011 at 11:31 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2011, 11:52 AM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,274,676 times
Reputation: 5303
Thanks Camden, I don't get why Golfgal is trying to make me feel weird for liking Golden Valley more than Apple Valley. My mom grew up in Golden Valley so we were in that area any time we made a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's. They lived in a very well kept and sizable home built in the 1950's. The back yard hugged up against a wooded area and it was within walking distance of the school my mom went to when she was little. It is a very quiet and pleasant area that I'm sure it is comparable with any corner of Apple Valley. The density and noise that Golfgal is referring to in no way describes the part of Golden Valley that I'm familiar with.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Minnesota > Minneapolis - St. Paul
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top