Maplewood, midway area crime rate, schools and commute time (Minneapolis: for sale, rentals)

[Silver12]

Hi
We are planning to move to Minneapolis either in the maplewood or midway area as that is where the job is located
Can someone please tell me reg the crime rate in these areas and what kind of areas are these to live in? If we do not live there, are there any affluent communities to live b/w these two areas?
Also reg schools, any good schools for gifted kids either public or private.
If one as to commute to downtown for the schools, how much time does it generally take?
What suburbs of st Paul/ Minneapolis are seedier and should be avoided?
Thanks!

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Silver12

Hi
We are planning to move to Minneapolis either in the maplewood or midway area as that is where the job is located
Can someone please tell me reg the crime rate in these areas and what kind of areas are these to live in? If we do not live there, are there any affluent communities to live b/w these two areas?
Also reg schools, any good schools for gifted kids either public or private.
If one as to commute to downtown for the schools, how much time does it generally take?
What suburbs of st Paul/ Minneapolis are seedier and should be avoided?
Thanks!

Probably best to start by setting price range on what you are wanting to spend for housing. THere are a lot of areas nearby Maplewood/Midway that would be great with decent commute times.

Hill Murray is probably your closest private school and it has a good rep.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Silver12

Hi
We are planning to move to Minneapolis either in the maplewood or midway area as that is where the job is located
Can someone please tell me reg the crime rate in these areas and what kind of areas are these to live in? If we do not live there, are there any affluent communities to live b/w these two areas?
Also reg schools, any good schools for gifted kids either public or private.
If one as to commute to downtown for the schools, how much time does it generally take?
What suburbs of st Paul/ Minneapolis are seedier and should be avoided?
Thanks!

Well, depending on where in Maplewood, Maplewood would qualify as one of the seedier St. Paul Suburbs (the side closer to St. Paul is seedier vs the side closer to Woodbury). The best public schools in the St. Paul Suburbs as well as being easy commutes would be either Mounds View or Mahtomedi with a slight edge to Mahtomedi for commute (a few minutes, maybe) and being one of the more affluent areas in the state. I would also consider Eagan, also one of the better districts in the state and fairly affluent as a whole but many areas where housing will run in the several million dollar range too, as the commute to the midway area is simple and virtually traffic free barring the construction on Snelling Ave, etc. for the lightrail-which is almost done. (35E to Ayd Mill Rd to Snelling). All of these districts will have great programs for Gifted kids at all levels. There really aren't any schools in the downtown areas proper in St. Paul.

[west336]

The Midway -- as in, University and Snelling? That area is one of the worst in St. Paul (which isn't saying a ton, but it's bad enough to consider other options). Don't get me wrong, if you work there you shoud be fine, but definitely put on your "street smarts" cap when doing so, because the area is known for crime. That being said, it's no Englewood in Chicago or South Bronx, so don't expect that either. Maple"weird" is just that -- weird -- not so much seedy or "ghetto". It's fairly diverse in some parts and even borderline poor and gritty in places near St. Paul's East Side, but I'm pretty sure you can live in that suburb and not run into many problems if you look hard enough. Other suburbs that have their fair share of (frequent) crime could include Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, Fridley, Columbia Hts, Richfield, parts of Eastern Bloomington, Robinsale/New Hope/Crystal, and small areas of Eagan and Burnsville. With the exception of Brooklyn Center (which, IMO, is a dump for Twin Cities suburbs), all of them are habitable and I'd personally CONSIDER any of them based on crime alone (i.e. it isn't THAT bad). The Brooklyns definitely make the news most around here, as they seem to be the places that regularly see homicides, gangs, and moderate drug trafficing. In the past 3-4 days there have been 4 homicides in BP, and I know that number is in addition to at least 1-2 more for the year thus far for the Brooklyns. Clearly, this is an anomaly for that area, but FAR from "rare" altogether.

There are just too many "nice" areas to list that aren't in the seediest parts of town (and even those are debatably "seedy")! If you could be more specific to your most important needs and spend thresholds you could probably get better advice.

Welcome!

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by west336

The Midway -- as in, University and Snelling? That area is one of the worst in St. Paul (which isn't saying a ton, but it's bad enough to consider other options). Don't get me wrong, if you work there you shoud be fine, but definitely put on your "street smarts" cap when doing so, because the area is known for crime. That being said, it's no Englewood in Chicago or South Bronx, so don't expect that either. Maple"weird" is just that -- weird -- not so much seedy or "ghetto". It's fairly diverse in some parts and even borderline poor and gritty in places near St. Paul's East Side, but I'm pretty sure you can live in that suburb and not run into many problems if you look hard enough. Other suburbs that have their fair share of (frequent) crime could include Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, Fridley, Columbia Hts, Richfield, parts of Eastern Bloomington, Robinsale/New Hope/Crystal, and small areas of Eagan and Burnsville. With the exception of Brooklyn Center (which, IMO, is a dump for Twin Cities suburbs), all of them are habitable and I'd personally CONSIDER any of them based on crime alone (i.e. it isn't THAT bad). The Brooklyns definitely make the news most around here, as they seem to be the places that regularly see homicides, gangs, and moderate drug trafficing. In the past 3-4 days there have been 4 homicides in BP, and I know that number is in addition to at least 1-2 more for the year thus far for the Brooklyns. Clearly, this is an anomaly for that area, but FAR from "rare" altogether.

There are just too many "nice" areas to list that aren't in the seediest parts of town (and even those are debatably "seedy")! If you could be more specific to your most important needs and spend thresholds you could probably get better advice.

Welcome!

Midway is a large area & not all of it's bad. The Newell Park area (N or University/W of Snelling) is awesome, the area right around Hamline University (E of Snelling) isn't bad at all & generally the Midway area is a hot commodity right now because of the light rail construction. A year ago there were several houses for sale at/or under $50k in the area, today almost none because investers have swooped in to buy them up & turn them into student rentals with the light rail being installed.

[Silver12]

Thanks for the information. Can someone also tell me which are the top private schools in the twin cities?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Silver12

Thanks for the information. Can someone also tell me which are the top private schools in the twin cities?

Keep in mind that the "top" private schools are not going to give you a better education than the top public schools in the Twin Cities and often you have better access to more rigerous courses at the public schools because of the size of the schools.

Having said that, the top private schools are St. Paul Academy, Cretin-Derham Hall, Hill-Murray and St. Thomas/Visitation (boys/girls). There are two boarding schools in MN that are probably the best overall schools in MN, St. John's Prep School on the St. John's Campus outside of St. Cloud and Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, both of these schools are not in the metro, but just thought I would share that information.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Silver12

Thanks for the information. Can someone also tell me which are the top private schools in the twin cities?

The Twin Cities are different from many metropolitan areas in that the public school systems are almost uniformly of very high quality, and the fact that the state of Minnesota has an "open enrollment" program means you aren't necessarily limited to the public school your home is zoned for.

I'm sure you have your own reasons for choosing a private school, but I tend to see them as a waste of money. As I said, tho, your choices are your own.

I can understand people in the metro I live now considering a private school, but public schools are different down here in a fair number of respects.

[rzzz]

Breck and Blake are also good private schools. Private schools are a different beast in MN than they are in other states. They are not Phillips Andover or Exeter. Often they are for behaviorally challenged kids, or they are a hockey or other sports powerhouse. They do not have better academics than the top public schools. Usually the best academics are found in wealthy suburban public schools, like Wayzata, Edina or Chaska.

[Silver12]

@west336: coming from a small town we just feel totally lost. I appreciate all the input as I have jotted it down and will visit the areas. Our only concern is good schooling, low crime rate and commute time limited to 30 min max one way. If I work in maplewood and my husband in maple grove any in between areas which would be feasible? Thanks