Possible move to Minneapolis area (St. Paul, Eagan: to rent, amusement park, townhouse)

[peanut's mom]

My husband and I are considering a move to the Minneapolis area. We currently live in a suburb of LA and are ready for a change. Heard a lot of nice things about Minneapolis and we'd like to get more info.

If we do move, my husband would be working out of MSP airport. It would be ideal to keep the commute short for him. Maybe take light rail? What neighborhoods would you recommend? We've heard anywhere to the south or west.

At first, we'd like to rent. We're thinking townhouse with at least three bedrooms. Ideally, we would like to live within walking distance to shops and restaurants.

We have two small children (2 & 5). We'd like for them to attend a private Muslim school. Just searching on the internet, I only found one school and it's in Fridley. Not sure how far that is to the airport. If, for whatever reason, attending a private Muslim school doesn't work out then a good school district is important.

We're visiting this month. Other than the Mall of America, what would be other must-see's? We'll probably go downtown. Any Asian enclaves or a China Town? Any Middle Eastern/Arab enclaves? Kid/family-friendly places to visit?

Appreciate the help

[west336]

There are some Asian and Muslim enclaves in the area, but no Asian-Muslim enclaves that I know of. The Asian areas concentrate in the North and East sides of St. Paul, which are largely Hmong and other SE Asians (as well as Chinese, etc.). There is no official "Chinatown" or "Asiatown" here, but unofficially, it's the eastern end of University Avenue in St. Paul. The Muslim enclave here is the Cedar-Riverside area, which is home to much of the region's Somali and East African population. I don't have any idea about private Muslim schools, but if there were any, I'd suspect they'd be dominated by East Africans, but I really don't know.

The schools in the area are some of the best in the country, public or private. Your children should get a MAJOR boost in education, almost regardless of the situation (assuming you went to public schools in CA). It DOES depend on where specifically you locate, but your options should be much better than CA.

When visiting, if you have an idea of the area you may be living in, obviously spend lots of time there to get to know the area, it's offerings, and the people. For the kids, besides MOA, try the Minnesota Zoo/Como Zoo (St. Paul), the Grand Rounds Chain of Lakes (lakes Calhoun and Harriet specifically), Linden Hills (near Lake Harriet), Minnehaha Falls near the airport, Water Park of America (near MOA), or the Science Museum in St. Paul. If you get a chance to get out on your own (assuming you like ANY of these things), you can also visit the Canterbury Race Track/Card Club, Mystic Lake Casino, Valley Fair Amusement Park (kids too), or Uptown/Northeast/Downtown for bars/clubs/pubs. Other shopping areas to visit besides MOA include the Galleria and 50th & France in Edina, Uptown and Downtown Minneapolis, Grand Ave in St. Paul, and Centennial Lakes shopping/recreational area in Edina.

The Twin Cities area is fantastic for families with children, so as long as the weather is decent you should have no trouble finding some great outdoor activities for the kids while here.

Good luck!

[1stpontiac]

Fridley to MSP would be a longish and not-so-fun commute, particularly during rush/commute hours.

[peanut's mom]

1stpontiac, thanks for confirming my suspicions on the Fridley commute. Trying to avoid long commutes on a daily basis.

Thanks for the info, west336, especially for places to see for our trip.

Wasn't looking specifically for an Asian-Muslim enclave. That would be hard to come by almost anywhere. We don't really have a huge desire to live in a specifically Middle Eastern, Asian, or Muslim enclave. We just need to know where to go to shop for/eat these ethnic foods. I'm sure once we figure out which mosque to attend, we could ask around about Middle Eastern markets and restaurants. My husband is always looking for a good shawerma or falafel. Should I assume the area where there is a large Asian community would be a bit of a drive coming from a neighborhood near the airport?

Btw, what would be the neighborhoods near the airport? We would like to drive through the area on our visit.

I'm cool with putting the kids in public school. Yes, I agree that almost anywhere would be better than the majority of schools in CA. My son currently attends a nationally recognized blue ribbon Muslim private school. I want to keep the standard up.

[golfgal]

Eagan, Apple Valley and Rosemount are all easy commutes to the airport and are Blue Ribbon schools. Rosemount for sure, probably Eagan and Apple Valley as well, have good sized populations of Asian, Asian Indian families (for Minnesota anyway). No real "Asian" neighborhoods though. Eden Prairie also has a pretty sizable Asian, Asian-Indian population, not quite as easy of a drive to the airport. I would suggest staying east of 35W as much as possible to avoid a bad bottleneck for traffic.

There is a Muslum Charter school in Inver Grove Heights that has had frequent run-in's with the state education department because they are running it like a private school yet getting state funding. It was closed for a while but it may be open again, not sure, but since you want that setting, might be an option. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy - TiZA - Home

Inver Grove Heights would be a very easy commute to the airport.

[northsub]

You might look at Global Academy in Columbia Heights. I think it's not Muslim, per se, but the pictures on their website show lots of kids in head dress. I also seem to remember that they had really good academic scores (especially compared to other schools with students of similar economic backgrounds).

Columbia Heights would be a hassle to the airport, but slightly better than Fridley. I suppose from either you could take a bus to downtown Minneapolis and then take the light rail to the airport. However, there are a good number of Middle Eastern restaurants/grocers/stores along Central Ave in Columbia Heights. I've spent some time in Fridley, and it's real common to run into people who I'd guess are Muslim (based on dress and names).

[GBCommenter]

I'll echo some of what has been mentioned...Fridley would not be an ideal commute if you are going to be working at MSP. Expect at least 30-40 minutes one way without traffic or weather - and I know of what I speak since I used to live there. About 15-20 minutes by freeway to downtown and another 15-20 to MSP.

Cedar-Riverside would definitely be the closest to a Muslim enclave - as mentioned will be predominantly a Muslim Eastern African enclave. You might consider some of the neighborhoods along the Light Rail as a way to bridge between getting to Cedar-Riverside neighborhood but also relatively easy to MSP.

Also, Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis does have some Muslim and/or Middle Eastern influence. By far, the largest Middle Eastern store would be Holy Land This is somewhat close to Columbia Heights, and then Fridley, but might be worth checking out while here. Depending on where in NE, the drive wouldn't be as bad to MSP - especially if you ended up near Johnson Avenue. You could jump onto I-35W for a relatively quick commute to downtown and then continue on to MSP.

[peanut's mom]

Thanks for all the great info here. We'll drive through Eagan, Apple Valley, and Rosemount on our visit. Are there any cute village-y, small downtown-like streets in those areas?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by peanut's mom

Thanks for all the great info here. We'll drive through Eagan, Apple Valley, and Rosemount on our visit. Are there any cute village-y, small downtown-like streets in those areas?

Rosemount has a downtown, it's ok, not great. Apple Valley is creating a downtown like area but the economy put a hold on a much of that. Eagan is pretty much a suburb but it's a lovely area. All of these areas have lots of bike/walking paths, lots of trees, parks, great places to play, etc. Kids are out in the street playing games, riding bikes, and whatnot in the neighborhoods. There is a large county park in Eagan that is a great family area, swimming beach, hiking trails, cross country skiing/snowshoeing in the winter. The Minnesota Zoo is also in that area in Apple Valley and the grounds there are lovely too. The entire area is really convenient to pretty much everything and commuting, especially to the airport, is pretty easy because there are so many different route options that you can avoid traffic, bad weather, etc. They would also be close to the Muslum school in Inver Grove if your kids end up there.

[uptown_urbanist]

Where in LA do you live now, and would you like to live somewhere comparable?

For what it's worth, I think you'll find that Minneapolis's suburbs are FAR more stereotypically "suburban" than are many of the LA suburbs. Depends on where you're coming from, of course, but the LA suburbs I was most familiar with tended to be far more densely populated, diverse, and with better dining options than are most of the Twin Cities suburbs. It could easily be a big culture shock.

On the plus side, traffic is much lighter, so even if you end up somewhere like Apple Valley the drive to get somewhere more interesting won't be as unbearably long.