Live in the country, easy commute to MSP airport? Suggestions please. (Minneapolis: for sale, to rent)

[GRBWI]

As the title implies, I have a new job at the airport and would like to solicit thoughts on an area to rent/buy.

I'll be driving to the airport 4-5 days per week initially during normal work days/hours. I have 3 young children, so schools are important. We are looking for a rural area and plan to buy something with a couple acres eventually.

Suggestions? Thank you.

[Rhody2Mn]

It's not rural per se, but parts of Apple Valley, Rosemount, and Eagan are quiet and quaint, and these cities are abundant with parks and trees and have one of the best school districts in the state (196). Additionally, the airport is a short ride away (parts of Eagan are literally only 5-10 minutes away and Apple Valley and Rosemount 15-20 minutes away).

That said, if you truly want rural, you could look farther south in the undeveloped parts of Farmington, Lakeville, or Credit River Township as the latter area especially offers large lots (1 acre plus). You'd be farther from the airport though (about 30 minutes depending where you land in these towns), and the schools are good but not quite on the level of District 196.

[GRBWI]

Thanks for the info. I can handle a 30 minute commute, but I wouldn't want to go much further than that. There are a lot of nice properties for sale just accross the river on the Wisconsin side, but I've heard 94 can be troublesome.

[pete6032]

What do you mean by live in the country?

[Rhody2Mn]

Originally Posted by GRBWI

Thanks for the info. I can handle a 30 minute commute, but I wouldn't want to go much further than that. There are a lot of nice properties for sale just accross the river on the Wisconsin side, but I've heard 94 can be troublesome.

I agree that 94 coming from Wisconsin can be a problem, especially if you're using it to commute to 494 to head to the airport. That was one reason I didn't recommend the east metro/Wisconsin. Anywhere north or west is out as well as Minneapolis and St. Paul proper are north of the airport and obviously won't offer any type of rural environment. Some of the more far-flung western and southwestern suburbs offer acreage and have access to great schools, but the commute to the airport would be worse.

That basically leaves the south or southeast metro. You might want to check out Hastings or Cottage Grove as there is a rural vibe in parts of those areas, and it would only be about a 25-30 minute commute to the airport. I'm not familiar enough with schools in those areas to comment on them, but I've heard they're not as good as others in the metro area.

I think in the long run, Eagan or Apple Valley are still your best bets. They don't meet all of your requirements but come the closest in having quick access to the airport and great schools, and they're still quiet and safe even though only parts have a rural feel to them.

[GRBWI]

Originally Posted by pete6032

What do you mean by live in the country?

As the title implies, I have a new job at the airport and would like to solicit thoughts on an area to rent/buy.

I'll be driving to the airport 4-5 days per week initially during normal work days/hours. I have 3 young children, so schools are important. We are looking for a rural area and plan to buy something with a couple acres eventually.

Suggestions? Thank you.

[GRBWI]

Originally Posted by Rhody2Mn

I agree that 94 coming from Wisconsin can be a problem, especially if you're using it to commute to 494 to head to the airport. That was one reason I didn't recommend the east metro/Wisconsin. Anywhere north or west is out as well as Minneapolis and St. Paul proper are north of the airport and obviously won't offer any type of rural environment. Some of the more far-flung western and southwestern suburbs offer acreage and have access to great schools, but the commute to the airport would be worse.

That basically leaves the south or southeast metro. You might want to check out Hastings or Cottage Grove as there is a rural vibe in parts of those areas, and it would only be about a 25-30 minute commute to the airport. I'm not familiar enough with schools in those areas to comment on them, but I've heard they're not as good as others in the metro area.

I think in the long run, Eagan or Apple Valley are still your best bets. They don't meet all of your requirements but come the closest in having quick access to the airport and great schools, and they're still quiet and safe even though only parts have a rural feel to them.

Thank you again for the helpful information. Other sources have pointed in that direction as well. This really narrows it down.

[golfgal]

Much of Rosemount is rural and you can find acreage, the northern part of Farmington and Lakeville are also in the 196 schools and would also have areas where you can find acreage. The very southern edge of Apple Valley is also rural. The parts of Eagan that would give you larger lots (a couple acres) are in very expensive developments, $1,000,000+, but there might be something, especially along 149/Dodd Road. All of these places would be easy commutes to the airport. You don't want to have to cross any rivers or 35W or else you create major commute headaches.

Hastings would be another place to look. Schools are pretty good, but not as good as the 196 schools.

[BillWallace]

Inver Grove Heights on the south side of 494 has quite the rural feel to it. If you want to go further out then Hastings would be a good choice.

Regarding schools, I'm of the opinion that school rankings have much more to do with the economics of the people attending than the schools/teachers. Schools surrounded by middle and upper middle class households have higher performing students because their parents are more educated, have more resources and are more involved in their children's education. It has much less to do with how "good" the schools are.

Even within the much celebrated District 196 elementary schools like Woodland and Pinewood have higher performing students than Parkview and Westview (and higher reviews on greatschools.com). You can probably look at the % of kids receiving free or reduced lunch's for a pretty good correlation. If it's important that your kid goes where other successful students are located then by all means choose based on school rankings.

I just talked to a student teacher yesterday that had 80%+ of parents attend student conferences in her Rosemount school last year and <50% in the Coon Rapids school where 60%+ of the students receive free/reduced lunch. It's not the school - it's the economics and parental involvement.

[golfgal]

It's a little of both for school quality---but yes, its mostly the students that attend that drive the quality. You also want to make sure that the schools have programs available. Compare Hastings, with 10 AP class options to Rosemount with 32 AP course options along with CIS classes, 10 different languages to choose from district-wide, the advanced offerings for music, arts, theater, etc., etc. Hastings is fine, but they just don't offer what you can get in Rosemount, Apple Valley, etc. yet the make up of the communities, economically, is pretty similar.