Another Relocating Questions (Plymouth, Minnetonka, Golden Valley: for sale, houses, neighborhood)

[MarkS01]

Hi, My family and I are moving to the area to work in Minnetonka/Golden Valley. We have two children under 7 and want to look for an area offering the following: 1) good schools, 2) Good activities for kids (parks, rec programs, bike trails) 3) 20-25 minutes to the office, 4) close to basic amenities 5) not too crowded (moving from smaller town). We'd like to spend about $325,000-$350,000 for a 4 bedroom home with about 2800 sq. feet. Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks!

[doublesuited77]

you can probably find that in both Plymouth and Golden Valley. Minnetonka would probably fall a bit out of your price range. The western part of plymouth is in the Wayzata school district, which is one of the top 10 in the state. Most of the rest of the area is in the Robbinsdale district which is decent, but lots of other people on the board feel it is much worse than neighborhooding districts.

There is a good deal of new construction in the north part of Plymouth that would probably meet your needs.

[rodhaenke]

Think about being in the Hopkins school district which has long had a very good reputation.

[moving123456]

Part of Golden Valley is in the Hopkins school district.

[doublesuited77]

Originally Posted by moving123456

Part of Golden Valley is in the Hopkins school district.

That is in the southern part of Golden Valley. He would have trouble finding a good 4BR, 2800 sf house for 350K in that area. Those would be mostly in the 550-650K range.

[excelsiorgal]

I think you can find something in or near that price range in Minnetonka, which I think would be perfect for what you're looking for. Mtka has a great school district, lots of trails and recreational opportunities, and you can often find houses with larger, wooded lots (.5 acres and up).

A quick check on edinarealty.com shows 20 houses for sale in Mtka with that criteria -- a couple I checked even had in-ground pools. You can even find a handful of places in Wayzata. I think with the housing slump as it is, areas that you'd think might be out of your range might not be. And if you search in a little higher range (say, $365k) you'll find more -- and people may be more willing to bargain down in this climate, esp. if the houses have been on the market for awhile.

Plymouth, it's true, may be more affordable and they do have good schools. But I do think that Mtka has done a better job of preserving trees and green space. It has some older housing as well, which is my personal preference. If you want new construction, then the other poster's comments re. north Plymouth are spot on.