Moving to St. Paul? Where to rent? (Minneapolis, Roseville: low income, transplants)

[Itotia]

Hi all,

I am considering a job in St. Paul. I will he moving from the Sout-east region. Big change, i know. I watched the movie "New in Town"
The job is in Downtown. I need a good middle and high schools for my child. I am not impressed with the public school ratings in St. Paul. The private ones are out of question. Charter?
I read this forum, and a lot of threads say that St. Paul is not nice and schools are bad. Ok... Where to live then? Here are my criteria.
1. I want to be close to downtown and use public transportation.
2. Low crime, decent schools. I am a single parent, so need to make sure my kid is safe.
3. Somewhat walkable, with stores and restaurants nearby.

Does this place exist? I know, urban and good schools are mutually exclusive. But I abolutely hate suburbs.
Any thoughts? Thank you!

P.S. One more thing... I also read this area is not very welcoming to transplants? Do I even have a chance to succeed or advance if I do not belong? I just do my job and am a not a "bubbly type."

[steel03]

First of all, don't expect that you would be moving to a place like the heavily fictionalized New Ulm in New in Town. MSP is a very big city with a ton of cultural and corporate activity.

Second of all, St. Paul is BEAUTIFUL! I'm not sure where you heard that it's not nice, but nooo! It's an absolutely gorgeous city. There are some poor areas like in any city, but Cathedral Hill is maybe my favorite place in the whole metro.

If the school district is a deal-breaker, I recommend Roseville. It's a great little inner-ring suburb that's safe and centrally-located and has good schools. Roseville borders both St. Paul to the south and Minneapolis to the west. I have a friend who works at the capitol building in St. Paul and lives in Roseville.

It's not a core urban center. You will need your car for many if not most errands, as you would in most suburbs. You won't have easy access to rail transit (good access to bus lines though). But you will be in a very convenient location with lots of amenities.

Don't worry about being a transplant, that reputation so blown out of proportion. You'll be fine!

[uptown_urbanist]

Urban and good schools are definitely NOT exclusive. I'm not as familiar with the St. Paul schools, but I'd take a closer look at them before writing them off. High schools like Central have a really good reputation. You can't look solely at the overall numbers for the district, or even for a specific school. Given that there are incredibly nice St. Paul neighborhoods (not sure where on here people are saying St. Paul isn't nice? Parts of it are sketchy, and parts are boring, but there are also lvery beautiful, amily-friendly neighborhoods with good schools) that would offer you some walkability and public transit, might as well check those out, first. Highland Park, for one.

Roseville is more suburban in feel, but I agree that it would be a good, convenient suburban option to consider. Same thing with other nearby suburbs like Falcon Heights.

[cheddar]

Some of the public middle and high schools that colleagues and neighbors are happy with are middle schools Murray and Highland Park. True they do not get high scores on the Greatschools site, but the good students from those schools do very well in the advanced classes at Central and Highland Park Senior High, which are schools that are thought of as being good choices for strong students.

Charters like Twin Cities Academy (middle and high school) and Nova Classical Academy (K-12) have many fans. Twin Cities Academy High School recently was awarded the number one spot in some rating. However, because it is a small school lacking in many extracurriculars, it might not be for everyone. There are certainly other good public schools.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by Itotia

Hi all,

I am considering a job in St. Paul. I will he moving from the Sout-east region. Big change, i know. I watched the movie "New in Town"
The job is in Downtown. I need a good middle and high schools for my child. I am not impressed with the public school ratings in St. Paul. The private ones are out of question. Charter?
I read this forum, and a lot of threads say that St. Paul is not nice and schools are bad. Ok... Where to live then? Here are my criteria.
1. I want to be close to downtown and use public transportation.
2. Low crime, decent schools. I am a single parent, so need to make sure my kid is safe.
3. Somewhat walkable, with stores and restaurants nearby.

Does this place exist? I know, urban and good schools are mutually exclusive. But I abolutely hate suburbs.
Any thoughts? Thank you!

P.S. One more thing... I also read this area is not very welcoming to transplants? Do I even have a chance to succeed or advance if I do not belong? I just do my job and am a not a "bubbly type."

- St Paul is VERY nice. Certain parts are run down, but Grand Ave was named the best street in the United States a couple years back, Cathedral Hill area is amazing, Summit Ave is fantastic, Como Park is nice, all along the river is beautiful, plenty of parks, etc.

- What age is your kid? I have 3 girls in St Paul Public Schools & they haven't joined street gangs yet . Horace Mann, Groveland Park, Randolph Heights, St Anthony Park, Chelsea Heights, any of these elementary schools would be just fine. Capital Hill Gifted & JJ Hill Montessori are both great options as well, but require an application & a wait list. These are all located West of Downtown in the Highland Park (Horace Mann), Mac-Groveland (Groveland Park & Randolph Heights), St Anthony Park (St Anthony Park Elem), Como Park (Chelsea Heights) & Summit-University (Capital Hill & JJ Hill) neighborhoods. Middle School is a little more dodgy as the kids from the low scoring grade schools flow into the same Middle Schools as the kids from the high scoring grade schools, but still nothing to worry about in terms of safety or education. The kids who want to learn generally take IB or AP classes & are essentially segregated from the non performing kids. For High School St Paul Central is a VERY good school & usually ranks in the top-10 schools in the state. A couple weeks ago they announced the top 4 science students in the country who were all heading to Washington DC for some science-off & one of them was from Central. Central's science team has been the the Sweet-16 Nationally in the 'science bowl' a few times recently as well. Bottom line is many of the smart kids on this side of the city find their way to Central & have created sort of an academic dream team there. Como Park High School also seems to have some quality students/familys as well. Charter schools are a great idea as well. Nova Classical Academy is a great option but it's tough to get in. I have a daughter at Twin Cities Academy which is easier, but still not easy to get into. They were recently ranked #1 in the state by Newsweek, #42 nationally & #17 nationally for low income/minority students.

- We just launched a public train this summer that we call the Green Line. That would take you right into DT St Paul is a few minutes, but just about anywhere West of DT you can jump on the freeway & be DT in 5-10 minutes. I'd look at Hamline-Midway, Cathedral Hill, Summit-University & Como Park first. They're all affordable, close to DT/public transit, are walkable & have decent schools. Just a tad further, a bit less walkable & more expensive are Mac-Groveland, Highland Park, St Anthony Park & Merriam Park.

[Itotia]

Thank you for the suggestions.
My kid is 12. All those charter schools have waiting lists. We will be moving in the middle of the year. If there are no openings at that time we will have to go to a neighborhood school. Central High is an option for the future, but as of right now we need a good middle school.
Another question... If school does not provide transportation, is riding bus an option? how safe is it? I can probably drop him off in the morning but have to be at work in the pm.

[cheddar]

Saint Paul Public schools provide transportation for middle and high schoolers if you live a mile or more away and you live in the attendance area.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by Itotia

Thank you for the suggestions.
My kid is 12. All those charter schools have waiting lists. We will be moving in the middle of the year. If there are no openings at that time we will have to go to a neighborhood school. Central High is an option for the future, but as of right now we need a good middle school.
Another question... If school does not provide transportation, is riding bus an option? how safe is it? I can probably drop him off in the morning but have to be at work in the pm.

1st off, check with Twin Cities Academy. I presume we're talking about 7th grade & I believe TCA may have openings in that grade? Also, kids transfer out mid-year from time to time. Contact them right now & see if you can reserve a spot or get on the list so that when you move in, you're ready to go. Another nice advantage for a single parent is this school has small class sizes so they really spend time with your kid & monitor that they're getting all their homework in, etc. They do require a participation contract from you though that requires you to be actively involved in the school. i.e. chaperoning field trips, helping at the book fair, designing flyers, lunchroom aide, selling popcorn at the basketball game, whatever you can do. They lowered it this year to only 20 hours total so it's not overwhelming, but be aware it is part of the deal if you want your kid to attend. Maybe the best part of TCA for you though, is that since you don't know where you'll be living exactly, TCA accepts kids from all over the city & has busing. That way you can focus on finding a comfortable place to live without the worry of which school zone it falls in. http://twincitiesacademy.org/

If TCA doesn't work out, Ramsey, Murray or Highland Park are where you're likely going to land. All decent schools with a majority of normal, middle class kids attending & doing very well. There's also an element that will never graduate from High School. Birds of a feather flock together though, which group will your kid gravitate to? If you're confident in your answer, you're in good shape. As long as your kid is attending the local Middle School there will be busing available both morning & afternoon, so long as you live further than 6 blocks (I think?) from school. Also, most schools, local parks & libraries have after school activities. Band, sports, tutoring, etc. that you might want to get your kid into to make friends & occupy their time until you get home. City of St. Paul, MN - Official Website - Parks and Recreation Home | Saint Paul Public Library

[Itotia]

Thanks, very encouraging.
TCA might not be a good option. I will be working 40 hours a week and to volunteer at school during the day, I will have to ask my employer to give me time off... Absolutely impossible, especially at a new job.
Transportation eligibility is 1 mile, correct
http://transportation.spps.org
So going back to my question... For instance, I live 1/2 mile from school and cannot pick up my child. How safe is it to ride city bus? Would you as a parent let your kid get on a bus? Especially if they are new in town and do not know anyone?

[uptown_urbanist]

City buses are safe. In Minneapolis, high school students don't even have school bus transportation -- they all take the bus. Assuming you're not living in a terrible neighborhood and they're not waiting for the bus outside late at night, there should be no problems. I'd let my high school kid ride the bus; in fact, I'd expect my kid to be able to safely navigate the bus system by the time he's in high school. It's an important life skill and gives them independence.