Possibility of new to the area? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: insurance, house, transfer) - Minneapolis - St. Paul - Minnesota (MN) -Twin Cities - City-Data Forum

brandanr · 07-05-2012, 12:46 PM

Hey My name is Derek, I am 27 years old and my husband is 28 . My husband has just recently been offered a promotion with the insurance company he works for and I can manage a transfer with the financial consulting business I work for (Our choices are Here or Oklahoma City). We both graduated from University at Buffalo in New York and have been living in a suburb called Orchard Park for about 3 years. I grew up in Maize, Kansas, A very nice suburb of Wichita. I would like to find an area similar to Maize, which has good schools, because we are looking to adopt here pretty soon. We also are looking for an area that has lots of parks because the dog. My husband is really reluctant for the move because he has always had a busy area, because he grew up in a suburb of New York City in Westchester. So ideally we would like something close enough to the city to not take a very long drive.
If you could recommend a nice area that would be great. Our price range is $780,000-840,000, if you could tell us what that would be getting house wise in the area as well it would be great because I keep telling him thats going to get a lot of house in OKC he doesnt believe me because of the new yorker in him. Also do you think a gay couple will face extreme problems in this suburb we do have to take saftey into consideration. THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!

1stpontiac · 07-05-2012, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandanr

Hey My name is Derek, I am 27 years old and my husband is 28 . My husband has just recently been offered a promotion with the insurance company he works for and I can manage a transfer with the financial consulting business I work for (Our choices are Here or Oklahoma City). We both graduated from University at Buffalo in New York and have been living in a suburb called Orchard Park for about 3 years. I grew up in Maize, Kansas, A very nice suburb of Wichita. I would like to find an area similar to Maize, which has good schools, because we are looking to adopt here pretty soon. We also are looking for an area that has lots of parks because the dog. My husband is really reluctant for the move because he has always had a busy area, because he grew up in a suburb of New York City in Westchester. So ideally we would like something close enough to the city to not take a very long drive.
If you could recommend a nice area that would be great. Our price range is $780,000-840,000, if you could tell us what that would be getting house wise in the area as well it would be great because I keep telling him thats going to get a lot of house in OKC he doesnt believe me because of the new yorker in him. Also do you think a gay couple will face extreme problems in this suburb we do have to take saftey into consideration. THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!

I think you posted this in the wrong forum, unless you are also looking at Minneapolis St. Paul, in addition to Oklahoma City.

brandanr · 07-05-2012, 12:55 PM

We are choosing between Minneapolis-St. Paul Area or Oklahoma City area. We are trying to decide, which would give us more of what we are looking for!

golfgal · 07-05-2012, 01:04 PM

Your price range is going to get you a very nice house in pretty much every area of the metro. There are several areas of Minneapolis proper that have relatively large gay populations, however, they aren't necessarily in the best school areas either. You always have the option of open enrolling children in MN-meaning they can attend any school in the state as long as the accepting school approves that-huge bonus for you. Given your income level, private schools will also be a great option for you.

On the whole, MN is very accepting and you should run into very few issues being a married gay couple.

I would suggest, however, that you start your looking in Edina, MN. It is probably similar to what you are used to, EXCELLENT public schools, close to "stuff".

pzrOrange · 07-05-2012, 01:23 PM

For $840K you can get anything anywhere and then some more... wow, I wish I had this type of a problem.

Being as young as you are, I would recommend getting a HUGE house with all the bells and whistles for $600K and save the rest.

There is a very fancy and expensive neighborhood behind Walker Art Museum if you prefer living close to downtown Mpls. Otherwise, if you dont mind some commute, I would recommend Edina.

brandanr · 07-05-2012, 02:17 PM

another quick question we have been looking at homes in the Minnetonka area lately. They are truly lovely homes. How would the commute be for Bryan who has to drive into the downtown metro area daily? I also hear that their schools are Amazing, Is this true?

golfgal · 07-05-2012, 02:31 PM

Minnetonka schools are very good and the commute into downtown would be pretty "easy" as far as commutes go and nothing compared to commuting into NYC. It's about a 20 minute commute give or take depending on where you land in Minnetonka. If hours are somewhat flexible you can avoid rush hour by working a 7-3 or 9-6 day.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the exception of a handful of districts, every district in the metro area is very good to excellent. I pull out my mythical scale to illustrate this using a scale of 1-100 with 100 being the very top, Minnetonka might rate a 98, Edina a 99, etc. The suburban schools that aren't quite up to par with the rest of the schools probably rank an 80 on that scale, but that 80 is still probably better than most districts you find in most areas of the country.

This gives people a lot of flexibility for selecting places to live relative to work or selecting extra activities in which their children participate. It's a very nice option to have.

pzrOrange · 07-05-2012, 02:48 PM

you cannot possibly go wrong with either Edina or Minnetonka. if not for schools (not sure if you guys are adopting or making other arrangements), then definitely for rich and affluent neighbors

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brandanr · 07-05-2012, 03:06 PM

You guys have been an amazing help so far. few more questions though?
proximity to shopping for clothes? food? restaurants?
proximity to baptist church and/or Jewish temple?
how do the winters compare to buffalo winter?
summer? what are good lakes to camp/vacation? good place to buy a boat?

golfgal · 07-05-2012, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandanr

You guys have been an amazing help so far. few more questions though?
proximity to shopping for clothes? food? restaurants?
proximity to baptist church and/or Jewish temple?
how do the winters compare to buffalo winter?
summer? what are good lakes to camp/vacation? good place to buy a boat?

You aren't more than about 10 minutes from shopping anywhere in the metro

There are Baptist Churches around the metro so you will have access. I don't know specifically about the areas discussed though. St. Louis Park isn't far from Minnetonka and has a high Jewish population. There are also options elsewhere in the metro

Winters are probably a bit colder but less snow than Buffalo

Summer-it's been in the 110 range with heat index this week--not a good week to ask

. There are over 15,000 lakes so it's hard to suggest just one

.

There are several state parks for camping type vacations so not a problem exploring many of them.