British family, would we like St Paul and MN? (Minneapolis: real estate, mortgage) - Minneapolis - St. Paul - Minnesota -Twin Cities - City-Data Forum

AddyLaddy · 04-30-2011, 11:09 PM

Hi, my main office is in St Paul, but I chickened out of living there as the weather scared me. So we currently live in Seattle, but it's very expensive to live out there. Oh, and I've lived there for 7 months and my neighbours have never even said "Hello" to me!

I'm mostly worried about humid summers and mosquitoes in MN. Are they as bad as people say?

We'd love to live in a small, safe community with good schools. Is that possible within 15-20 miles of St Paul?

Real estate looks very cheap in comparison to Seattle, there I need to pay over $200 sqft for an SFH on a lot of maybe 0.10 acres and that is 20 miles out from DT Seattle!

Is Woodbury a nice area? Or do I need to look at other areas like Apple Valley ?

golfgal · 05-01-2011, 06:10 AM

Woodbury is nice, not my favorite place to live but that is just a personal thing. If I lived on that side of the cities I would look at Mahtomedi or Stillwater though. You will easily be able to find a reasonably priced home within 15-20 miles of St. Paul-heck, you can find one within 10 miles. Apple Valley is a nice area and an easy commute into St. Paul as well. Eagan and Rosemount would also be options.

uptown_urbanist · 05-01-2011, 07:29 AM

What kind of place do you like? I personally would be absolutely miserable living in either Woodbury or Apple Valley, but plenty of people love it -- whether or not you will like it, or whether or not a different location would be a better fit, will depend on your own personal preferences and opinions on what makes a place nice. Those are both safe enough, but neither is small. If you're looking for the stereotypical modern American suburb with mostly modern houses near St. Paul, though, Woodbury would certainly fit the bill. (it Golfgal and I rarely agree on what is a "nice" area of the Twin Cities, but in this case I agree with her about Stillwater, at least if you're looking for more of a real community feel. It's a pretty small town on the river, but still within commuting distance of St. Paul, and has both subdivisions with new houses as well as beautiful older historic homes, plus all points in-between. I'm not very familiar with Mahtomedi, but I do know that it's a smaller community by White Bear Lake, with a long history and more of a small-town feel. Nearby White Bear Lake also has a cute downtown core and a blend of houses (both older as well as new on modern subdivisions).

If you could give a few more details about what you're looking we might be able to give you some more targeted suggestions. Type of neighborhood, especially: are you looking for a subdivision, an older, established neighborhood, what kind/size of house do you prefer, do you care if you have sidewalks, do you want to be able to walk to things (and if so, what do you want within walking distance?), etc.

AddyLaddy · 05-01-2011, 10:18 AM

Hi guys, and thanks for your answers.
We are a family with 4 kids aged from 15 down to 4, so good schools will be top of our list. In England, we used to live in a village of 3000 people and value the close knit community values. Now we're living in a small modern city of maybe 30,000, but we are in walking distance of the schools, library and parks which is great.
I ride the bus daily into DT Seattle which takes 1hr each way, but that is OK. I doubt I would want to drive more than 20 miles each way if I had to drive myself.

For a house we'd like something above 3000 sqft with 5 beds and maybe 0.5 acres. Probably modern, but by that I mean 1990s and later. In Seattle I'd look to buy at 550K to 650K but I'm amazed at what I could buy out here and potentially be mortgage free.

sterlingds · 05-01-2011, 12:37 PM

For areas to live. Arden Hills, there are nice areas of Roseville and Woodbury, Rosemont as well, there are some nice areas of St. Anthony as well. If you can stretch your distance to St. Paul a little, Blaine, Coon Rapids, and the north part of Brooklyn Park are very nice. - that is where I live, so I am a little biased.

The mosquitos really are not that bad. If you want to get technical, it varies by the year, as it all depends on the spring. I would, however, never use it as a reason not to move to the Upper Midwest. The weather is another story. It snows a lot. I grew up in Wisconsin, and moved here several years ago after getting married, and therefore am used to the snow. It can be a little intimidating for a while, but for the most part the Cities' road crews are good at taking care of us drivers.
The other three seasons make winter worth it. From about mid-April to late October you will have so many nice days, you will forget about the snow you had in winter.

The Cities have so much to offer to negate the negatives. Many of the suburbs have good schools. Typically, it is the schools of Minneapolis and St. Paul that are inefficient. There are also some excellent private schools as well.
There is a lot of recreation. Only Portland has more bike trails than the Cities. You are from Britain, so I will go out on a limb and assume a stereo-type that your family enjoys soccer and possibly cricket. We have large recreational leagues for youth and adult, we also have a semi-pro team, several bars in the Minneapolis and St. Paul that show English football live (Go Chelsea!). There is also a cricket league in Minneapolis.
We have great restaurants from Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Italian, American (all price levels from cheap to $$$$) We have many lakes for fishing, swimming, or sun bathing. There is a great theatre district as well.
I could go on...

cinnamon_toast · 05-01-2011, 01:56 PM

Stillwater is very nice, there are actually quite a few European transfers that work for 3M that live over there. Lots of new neighborhoods with that close-knit feel. (For better or worse!) You will find it very easy to meet other families in the newer developments. I found it VERY difficult to meet people when I lived in the city of Minneapolis, and I know many other individuals who felt the same way.

moving123456 · 05-01-2011, 02:21 PM

FYI: When people say "the cities" in this thread they are talking about the entire Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Somebody not familiar with the MN use of that term might be confused by it.

Gibby3000 · 05-07-2011, 08:36 AM

If you are at all considering the Seattle type price range you mentioned you might consider North Oaks - 12 miles north of St. Paul. It is a small private city of about 4000 residents. It's private because all of the land, including the roads, are owned by the residents vs. the state, county, etc. It has a reputation as an upscale, exclusive community - and there are some wealthy people and big homes - but there are also more middle of the road types - both people and homes. The big plus in my opinion is that homes are on large (1.5+ acre) lots and it's very close to St. Paul. There are also very wooded areas, lots of nature, etc. if you like that kind of thing. There are also many community organizations and activities that make it easy for someone new to get to know people.

It's a very safe area and Moundsview schools are some of the best. There are houses in the 300's but not with five bedrooms. To get a home that large in N.O. you'd probably be looking at a minimum of 500 I think. If you could find something lower it might need quite a bit of updating.

west336 · 05-07-2011, 08:57 AM

One way to avoid mosquitoes is to avoid wet, marshy, wooded areas as much as possible....or anywhere where there is standing water (some lakes aren't that bad). I live in a high-rise and I almost NEVER get bit, and when I do it's when I'm somewhere like I mentioned above. So if you live in a more urban area or up above the ground the mosquitoes are not a big problem. The further I get from the city core the worse the mosquitoes seem to get.

sparksals · 05-23-2011, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AddyLaddy

Hi, my main office is in St Paul, but I chickened out of living there as the weather scared me. So we currently live in Seattle, but it's very expensive to live out there. Oh, and I've lived there for 7 months and my neighbours have never even said "Hello" to me!

I'm mostly worried about humid summers and mosquitoes in MN. Are they as bad as people say?

We'd love to live in a small, safe community with good schools. Is that possible within 15-20 miles of St Paul?

Real estate looks very cheap in comparison to Seattle, there I need to pay over $200 sqft for an SFH on a lot of maybe 0.10 acres and that is 20 miles out from DT Seattle!

Is Woodbury a nice area? Or do I need to look at other areas like Apple Valley ?

Moving to the TC's you may experience the same per the bolded, I'm afraid.

If you are ok with suburban living, then you probably would do well to live in AV or Rosemount. They are part of School District 196, top rated.

The summer is not that humid and I also hate Mozzies and they aren't that bad. Bug spray has come a long way, it isn't sticky and smelly anymore. I'm surprised you are worried more about the summer here than the winter. The winter is nasty and it will be a far departure from anything you have ever experienced in England. Seattle, with the rain is closer to the weather you are accustomed to at home. The humidity here in the summer is the least of your worries. Acclimating to winter coming from where you do will be your biggest hurdle. You can and will adjust, but it will take a few years and you may realize the climate is not for you.

Rosemount is very family friendly. Very much so. You can get a decent upper level home in your price range, your kids could go to top notch schools and your commute to SP is around what you specified. When my husband has to go to court in ST. Paul, he is amazed how quick Hwy 52 can be, compared to driving to Minneapolis or Bloomington from here.

What Rosemount / AV have over Woodbury is school district. Otherwise, they are comparable.