SOS! Need last minute advice! (Minneapolis, Bloomington: sale, to rent, house)

[Kebinminn]

Another thought is southern Bloomington.

[ChibiLesley]

I am delighted by the flood of helpful information! Thank you all so much!

Yes, the job is in NE Bloomington, on James Ave S. (the places is called The Nerdery)

As far as this being temporary accommodation: our thinking is actually that we want something that will be comfortable enough to live in for a year or more, because we don't want to have to go through the enormous stress and upheaval of another move right away. I want the transition to be as smooth as possible for all of us, but especially for my 2.5-year-old who is extremely attached to this house and it breaks my heart to know that he's going to ask to "go home" and it will take a while for him to get used to the fact that the new place is now home. And once he does get used to it, to turn around and move again...just seems awful. Does that make sense? :-)

[BertSletten]

I have lived in Minneapolis downtown and south, Richfield, and now live “south of the river" (Minnesota river) in Apple Valley.

Minneapolis/St Paul has lots of great neighborhoods - some people think one should live in StPaul (nice old-fashioned neighborhoods) and work/party in Minneapolis (more jobs and more happenings).
There are almost none I can think of that would not be fine, especially if you are short term renting - you can always move if the neighborhood is not exactly what you want

But generally and specifically:
My church (St John's) is in Linden Hills, and I have sister/brother in-law, that lives there also. Great area, but they know it and will ask for more rent.
The whole are around the lakes (Calhoun, Harriet, Minnehaha Creek) is great - water, trees waling /biking paths, etc.
Western half of Bloomington is newer, therefore some think better.
South of the river one has to cross on Cedar Bridge, which is not big deal. I park-and-ride bus commute every day to downtown Minneapolis and enjoy my ride.
SouthWest part of Minneapolis is quite nice (SouthWest is west of 35W and south of 50th street.
Edina is wonderful area, which used to be richer, but still has a lot of money, great community spirit, great programs for kids, etc.
Newer money lives in Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Apple Valley, Lakeville, etc.The big question is - more urban or more suburban?[/FONT][/color]
I would advise calling a real estate agent, even if you are not buying now, and ask them where, close to work, would be great.[/FONT][/color]
There are also rental advisory web sites.
If you pay a not-cheap rent, the area will be great.
Not to worry.

[ChibiLesley]

Regarding Eagan: we've heard that the commute would be bad because the bridges can be a huge bottleneck. Can anybody tell me if this has been their experience?

[audadvnc]

The Mendota Bridge is currently undergoing repairs, and is down to 1 lane each way - at least it was 45 minutes ago when I last crossed it. I don't know what their repair schedule is.

[ChibiLesley]

We would not need the Mendota Bridge...but I imagine that sort of thing happens to all the bridges occasionally. :-/

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by ChibiLesley

I am delighted by the flood of helpful information! Thank you all so much!

Yes, the job is in NE Bloomington, on James Ave S. (the places is called The Nerdery)

As far as this being temporary accommodation: our thinking is actually that we want something that will be comfortable enough to live in for a year or more, because we don't want to have to go through the enormous stress and upheaval of another move right away. I want the transition to be as smooth as possible for all of us, but especially for my 2.5-year-old who is extremely attached to this house and it breaks my heart to know that he's going to ask to "go home" and it will take a while for him to get used to the fact that the new place is now home. And once he does get used to it, to turn around and move again...just seems awful. Does that make sense? :-)

Ok, looked it up on a map--this is more southwest Bloomington. For this commute I would consider places south of the river and over by Eagan. You are south of 494 which saves a lot of driving hassle. If you moved to Eagan you could take 13 to Old Shakopee and have a pretty easy commute or even 494 to American Drive and South on Nicollet or Lyndale or whichever. Coming from Lakeville, Apple Valley, Rosemount, taking Cliff to 13 and over or even ups 35W because you would be getting off 35 before the real major bottle necks start. I think you will find that this location is a really good place to commute to as long as you can avoid the 494/35 interchange.

I would say that for younger families, Apple Valley, Rosemount and Eagan are going to be your best bets for easy commuting places to this location.

[GBCommenter]

I just did a slightly stalker thing and looked up the Nerdery's website and address. You will be just off I-35W and the 94th Street exit.

Given this knowledge, I can agree with Golfgal's general logic on Eagan, though I personally may not go as far as Apple Valley or Rosemount. They're not bad suburbs but stretches what I personally would suggest for driving time, at least when I can see other options available. From Eagan, you can go over the river on either Hwy. 77 or I-35W and then proceed down Old Shakopee Rd. (I believe the general route GG suggested). Even though it's over the river, it should still be a generally manageable drive because you stay pretty far south.

With this work location I would still also suggest West Bloomington or West Richfield. And, by "west" I'm generally saying west of I-35W (same side as Nerdery). You should be able to hit the aspects of a neighborhood you seem to be looking for, though the further west you go (in Bloomington at least, not as much in Richfield), the more you get older families so you may want to stay actually pretty close to the Nerdery or more towards Richfield. Also, west of the freeway you also get away from of that airplane noise I was mentioning earlier.

[Thegonagle]

Edina, Richfield, or Bloomington would be the most convenient, with Edina and Bloomington west of Xerxes being the "nicer" areas.

There's nothing wrong with Richfield or east Bloomington either--they're just more blue-collar than Edina and west Bloomington, with generally older, smaller homes on smaller lots. In fact, in Bloomington, similar sized/aged/conditioned properties and houses actually sell for similar amounts on either side of the city--there are just more larger homes and properties on the west side. (The exceptions would be on/near Bush Lake, and in the western river bluffs, as those are truly expensive neighborhoods.)

Edited to add:

Avoid crossing the MN river if you want a short commute. And yes, all bridges are inspected frequently, from every 6 months to every two years (depending on design, age, and condition), and all receive regular maintenance, and sometimes major overhauls which close the bridge for an entire season.

They've stepped up the inspection frequency on a lot of bridges in response to the 35W tragedy on the Mississippi. Inspections are done during daylight hours for obvious reasons, and usually necessitate closing the right lane for their "snooper" trucks, which hang a bucket over the edge so inspectors can see the underside. Other maintenance, like pavement repair and painting, causes alternating lane closures, and generally lasts a few weeks at a time.

Then there's winter rush hours. These are the days that EVERYONE who needs to cross a river wishes they didn't.

On the other hand, if you live anywhere in Bloomington, the traffic on freeways will be virtually irrelevant because you won't need them at all. It's very easy to get around almost everywhere within Bloomington on city streets.

[ChibiLesley]

hi again, everyone! Thanks again for all your excellent advice! I've done some house hunting and the most perfect place I've found so far is in the Kenny neighborhood. Before I sign the lease, can anybody tell me more about Kenny? I have a 2 and a half year old son. Will he be happy there? Are there lots of young families and parks/playgrounds within easy access? Opinions needed ASAP!