Twin Cities Suburbs are Very Similiar

[mr roboto]

The only suburbs that will have downtowns are ones that were small towns outside of the big cities before the suburbs grew out to them. Stillwater, Chaska, Excelsior etc. Same thing here in Chicago. Towns like Naperville and Arlington Heights and Highland Park have downtowns because they weren't built out as 'suburbs' but we're towns that existed outside of Chicago then the sprawl grew out to them.

There's also an interesting classification of 'edge city' which is a suburban employment and retail center. In the TC places like Eden Prairie are considered edge cities. So is Maple Grove. And Plymouth.

Edge City Devinition - Edge city - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of Edge Cities - List of edge cities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In MSP/STP
Bloomington
Eagan
Eden Prairie
Maple Grove
Minnetonka
Plymouth
Roseville
Uptown Minneapolis

[pete6032]

Originally Posted by wushuliu

Not trying to be a wise*** but isn't that why they're called suburbs? I don't know of anywhere where a suburb has a real 'downtown'.

Downtown may not be the exact term, but basically an area in the suburban city that is a street or series of streets with mixed used development and pedestrian oriented rather than auto oriented. Generally there are more one-off mom & pop owned stores in these areas than big chains, with each store occupying a pedestrian-friendly square footage that allows one to walk to each store. Higher density suburbs that have better mass transit are able to get mixed use business districts with even some larger high rise office buildings.

St. Louis Park tried to build this with Excelsior & Grand, Hopkins is trying to build one along Main Street, Golden Valley tried (and IMO failed) to build one near Winnetka and Golden Valley Road.

A lot of metros outside of MSP have suburbs with downtowns. A good example of a suburban downtown would be downtown Oak Park, IL.

[mr roboto]

^^^ Again, most of those existed before the town was a 'suburb'.

[Mplsite]

Originally Posted by rzzz

I can think of a lot of suburbs I would not recommend: Little Canada, Robbinsdale, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, West St. Paul, North St. Paul, Cottage Grove, Maplewood, Fridley, Anoka, Richfield, Burnsville and half of Bloomington. Within Minneapolis / St. Paul there are a lot of dumpy parts: Payne Phalen, Midtown, most of downtown St. Paul, Jordan, Victory, Camden,Philips, Ventura Village, Marcy Holmes and most of North Minneapolis.

I can think of a lot of suburbs I wouldn't recommend either: all of them. Seriously, life is too short to center it around bland chain restaurants and big box stores. As for dumpy parts of the cities: Downtown St Paul? I haven't found a corner that's remotely sketchy. And mentioning Marcy-Holmes is just baffling; yes, all those stately homes on tree lined streets where people ride bikes everywhere: who wouldn't rather live in a "safe" suburb full of deadly streets where you're much more likely to die in a high speed car crash?

[rzzz]

The problem with Marcy Holmes is that half of it is a student ghetto with all the problems that come along with that kind of neighborhood. It also has had an uptick in crime over the past few years. Maybe "dumpy" isn't the right word for downtown St. Paul. It's got good bones, but is still very dead, despite its boosters claims to the contrary.

I'm not that into suburbs, but also don't consider them that bad. Many of them have very nice parks and outdoor recreation areas, and since it's Minnesota, lakes. Also, if you have junior high or above aged children, the suburbs have the best schools. However, the suburbs I previously listed do not have those things.

[Rhody2Mn]

Originally Posted by rzzz

Many of them have very nice parks and outdoor recreation areas, and since it's Minnesota, lakes. Also, if you have junior high or above aged children, the suburbs have the best schools. However, the suburbs I previously listed do not have those things.

^^This. Suburbs may not be for everyone, but neither are the urban cores. It is true that many of the Twin Cities suburbs share similarities, but differences can be found if they are explored in more detail. And contrary to what many urbanites think, biking/walking and recreational opportunities are every bit as prevalent in the suburbs as the central cities.

[Old Prospector]

Originally Posted by Rhody2Mn

^^This. Suburbs may not be for everyone, but neither are the urban cores. It is true that many of the Twin Cities suburbs share similarities, but differences can be found if they are explored in more detail. And contrary to what many urbanites think, biking/walking and recreational opportunities are every bit as prevalent in the suburbs as the central cities.

Yes, but you usually have to drive to get to the recreational activities in the burbs. I'm saying this as an Eden Prairie resident.

[rzzz]

Originally Posted by Old Prospector

Yes, but you usually have to drive to get to the recreational activities in the burbs. I'm saying this as an Eden Prairie resident.

That is true. I used to live on the Roseville/Shoreview border and I admit I would drive 1 mile to Bennett Park in Roseville to go running. I just felt uncomfortable running over there. One nice thing about being in Minneapolis proper is that the park system was designed so that everyone is within walking distance of a park.

[mr roboto]

Wait, with all the bike paths in many Burbs why would you have to drive somewhere to run or bike? This is one of the unique features of the Burbs in the Twin Cities that there is a network of trails that people can use. I see way more pedestrians and bikers in the TC Burbs than many other metro areas Ive spent time in.

See this map. (From 2007)

http://www.metrocouncil.org/Transpor...eways-Map.aspx

[uptown_urbanist]

I think biking in the Twin Cities suburbs is probably pretty good; I know plenty of people who commute into/out/around the suburbs for work, as well as for recreational purposes, and the bike paths are connected and have wide range. Overall, though, the pedestrian experience in many of the Twin Cities suburbs is mediocre to outright dangerous, probably because the majority of suburbs had their boom in a time when sidewalks and pedestrian design were very low on the priority list. Depends on what you're talking about when it comes to walking, though; there are definitely some nice walking trails in the 'burbs.