California to Minneapolis with kids and crazy job lined up (St. Paul: to rent, lofts)

[Cali2Mini]

Hi there: have been going thru threads last month or so: u all see like a great bunch and very insightful. I was hoping you all could answer few questions re my own personal situation regarding my move to Minneapolis next year.

I am single parent 2 kids (will be 4th and 6th grade) will be working at the one of the hospitals downtown.

Looking for very safe neighborhood where kids could walk to and from great school. Would prefer both kids at same school (not one elem and other middle school)

Looking for where many options for childcare provider who can pick and drop kids from school and also provide care at home (if the weathers bad etc)

Also would like safe neigborhood where there are other kids so kids could play out together.

Where there is easy and quick access to and from the hospital incase I need to go into work early come back late and so can get home within 10 minutes. This is important as I am coming from CA and have never driven in snow etc and am kinda freaked out about it and my hours may be not the usual so snow may not be cleared off the roads.

I also have some q about living in MN.
Does it snow bad during the day. If so do kids miss school because of it on a regular basis? What happens if it snows bad with the school bus etc? do the kids wait in the cold? Does it get really blustery windy in the snow?

Do people drive small cars like Mini, Honda Fit or Yaris in MN. I have a small car and am seriously thinking of trading in for an SUV. If I got one, is 2x4 ok or should I get a 4x4?

Thanks so much for all your answers in advance!

[lurpy1]

I'll let others speak to suburbs that might fit. In Mpls, it depends on your spend ability, but the neighborhoods that fit your bill best are Linden Hills and Fulton in the SW corner of town. These schools feed into Lake Harriet, which is a K8 (actually 2 separate campuses, but grades 3-8 go to the same campus). Exceedingly safe. Parts of Linden Hills are spendy by anybody's standards. Option #2 would be the Lake Nokomis area, same school model, good neighborhood, safe, houses are not as expensive and parts of the area are battered by airport noise.

Neither neighborhood can be reached in a GUARANTEED 10 minute time frame from downtown. In zero traffic...perhaps. Those which can always be reached in 10 minutes are usually less family oriented neighborhoods like Dinkytown (students) and Uptown (hipsters), perhaps a little less safe, or maybe not the school model you're hoping for.

Yes, it can snow bad during the day, but school closures are relatively uncommon. Last year Mpls schools had 3 closures and that's not normal. Normal is 0 or 1, perhaps 2.

[uptown_urbanist]

Closer to downtown, Seward neighborhood could work -- Seward School is there, and a a K-8 public Montessori school with an excellent reputation. It's a magnet, meaning that I don't believe you automatically get in even if you live in the area, but if interested you could call the school and ask about spots available for 4th and 6th grade -- there's always going to be some turnover due to people moving, etc. (I know someone who switched into a Minneapolis Montessori later in elementary school and made the transfer smoothly, so no need to worry if your children have always attended a more "traditional" school in the past). A lot of the kids from Seward go onto South High School, which is also known for its strong academic programs.

I would avoid SW Minneapolis because of the distance from downtown, although it is very safe. If you did decide that you wanted SW Minneapolis, somewhere like Kenny/Armatage neighborhoods could work well -- VERY safe, and while the neighborhood school option is not K-8, the elementary school (Kenny) is adjacent to the middle school (Anthony) in one big campus (also included is the Kenny park). Much cheaper than Linden Hills, too, but no less safe.

[golfgal]

Unless you live right in downtown near the hospital, you aren't going to find a neighborhood that will get you to and from the hospital in 10 minutes (assuming downtown Minneapolis since that is what your title says). It is at least 5 minutes through the lights, etc. in downtown to get to any of the major arteries to get in and out of downtown.

There are not a lot of public K-8 schools so a 4th grader and a 6th grader in the same school is going to be a tough find. I know of several schools where the elementary and middle school buildings are on the same campus so they could be next to each other.

I would suggest looking for a live in nanny in your situation. I would not suggest getting a nanny from a foreign country because they tend to be very young and there are a lot of restrictions on when they can work, how many hours, etc. It sounds like you need someone with more flexibility.

Last, you don't mention budget. That will ultimately be your deciding factor where you can live or what options you have.

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by Cali2Mini

Hi there: have been going thru threads last month or so: u all see like a great bunch and very insightful. I was hoping you all could answer few questions re my own personal situation regarding my move to Minneapolis next year.

I am single parent 2 kids (will be 4th and 6th grade) will be working at the one of the hospitals downtown.

Looking for very safe neighborhood where kids could walk to and from great school. Would prefer both kids at same school (not one elem and other middle school)

Looking for where many options for childcare provider who can pick and drop kids from school and also provide care at home (if the weathers bad etc)

Also would like safe neigborhood where there are other kids so kids could play out together.

Where there is easy and quick access to and from the hospital incase I need to go into work early come back late and so can get home within 10 minutes. This is important as I am coming from CA and have never driven in snow etc and am kinda freaked out about it and my hours may be not the usual so snow may not be cleared off the roads.

I also have some q about living in MN.
Does it snow bad during the day. If so do kids miss school because of it on a regular basis? What happens if it snows bad with the school bus etc? do the kids wait in the cold? Does it get really blustery windy in the snow?

Do people drive small cars like Mini, Honda Fit or Yaris in MN. I have a small car and am seriously thinking of trading in for an SUV. If I got one, is 2x4 ok or should I get a 4x4?

Thanks so much for all your answers in advance!

Defintely can and does snow during the day, but schools don't close very often. It has to be dangerously cold or blizzard like for school to close. Sure the kids wait in the snow and cold for the bus. Won't phase them. Snow is fun.

The small front wheel drive cars are better than a 4x2 suv. There are lots of them here. I prefer 4x4 or awd, but at least half the vehicles up here are not.

[TimtheGuy]

Downtown MPLS or St. Paul?

[Cali2Mini]

Thanks for all the responses:

should have clarified: looking to rent only: upto $1800 per month or so

Minneapolis: what do you all think of the buildings like lofts etc in the warehouse district: are they close to good school and are they in safe area?

I was also thinking about Longfellow, Powderhorn and SLP? are those places worth looking into?

How long does the commute take from say Plymouth, Edina at its best, worst and when it snows?

[Kebinminn]

Will you be working traditional business hours, shift work or be on call? If you're a nurse and go in at 3:00 you can cover a lot more ground than you would needing to get there during rush hour.

You're going to have a hard time now keeping them in the same school for too long but you may be able to manage for a year or two. Many move up at 5th grade to middle school. I'm not sure which schools do though.

Robbinsdale is a near suburb that could have a quick commute and Robbinsdale Middle School is right off highway 100. The downside is when high school starts you'll no longer be walking. I think you'll run into that a lot.

People seem to like SLP schools and it would be a decent commute. I'm personally fond of Hopkins schools and while there's an elementary close to downtown the junior high and high schools are in Minnetonka. One plus to that is they are next to each other.

Edina may be a good option, Plymouth not so much. Edina has top notch schools, they're known to be some of the best in the state. I've never commuted from there to downtown so I can't give you a good estimate. In a bad snow it's slow from everywhere. Even if you're fairly close, it all depends on plowing.

Schools don't close much because of snow. I believe Mpls did for a couple days last year because buses couldn't get through but for the most part places stay open.

As far as the car goes I prefer driving a small car in the winter, it does fine. The only thing I hate is the snow piles get big and you can't see over them.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Cali2Mini

Thanks for all the responses:

should have clarified: looking to rent only: upto $1800 per month or so

Minneapolis: what do you all think of the buildings like lofts etc in the warehouse district: are they close to good school and are they in safe area?

I was also thinking about Longfellow, Powderhorn and SLP? are those places worth looking into?

How long does the commute take from say Plymouth, Edina at its best, worst and when it snows?

Edina would be a long commute, and many areas aren't going to be very walkable as far as getting to school.

Parts of Plymouth could get you into downtown fast if not at rush-hour, but Plymouth is pretty big and you'll want to be careful about location, at least assuming that you do want your kids in one school and to be able to walk to/from school. I would not call it pedestrian-friendly, and there are some busy streets/highways that (while having stoplights and even painted crosswalks) I -- an adult -- would never risk crossing, let alone let my kids cross.

Parts of SLP would not be a terrible commute, and the schools are good, many areas are safe and walkable for both adults and kids, and there are reasonable rents to be found. If you want a suburban option I would go for that above Edina or Plymouth. Golden Valley, too, might be another suburban option.

Longfellow could be an excellent option. I know several families who live over there, and seem to really like it. It's close to downtown and family-friendly. I'm not sure about schools, but you'd be really close to Seward (which I still think would be an excellent option if you want elementary and middle school in one building); they may not be able to walk (although it's not THAT far), but also remember that around here we do have school-provided free bus transportation. (that was never an option anywhere we lived in California!)

[golfgal]

Edina into Downtown Minneapolis is going to be 20 minutes, max, including getting into your parking spot at the hospital. People forget that the speed limits along the freeways are double that of city streets and there aren't any stoplights, etc.

If you want easy commutes to Minneapolis from the suburbs, Eagan, Edina, Mahtomedi would be places to look. They have excellent schools, neighborhoods where your kids could walk to school, easily. Most of the elementary and middle schools in the Eagan schools are on the same campus and while the kids would not be in the "same" school, they would be right next door. All of these have easy freeway access into Minneapolis and while nothing is in the area is going to give you a 10 minute commute unless you live right next to the hospital, all of these would give you an easy commute.