Moving with 2 kids from MD to Minneapolis area (Brooklyn Park, Plymouth: houses, neighborhood)

[kj1976]

Hi everyone...this is my first time posting on here so here goes...

My husband has just accepted a position in the Minneapolis area, Brooklyn Park to be exact. He will be driving to and from the office each day, & I will be working from home.

We currently live in MD and both commute about 45-50 minutes to our jobs. The traffic is nuts in this area and we are hoping to get away from hour-long commutes.

We have two boys who will be going into 5th and 7th grade. They are not too happy about the move but we have been showing them everything the Minneapolis area has to offer and I think they are coming around (maybe, hopefully). Prior to living in MD, we lived in Omaha for 3 years and loved it there, my husband's current job moved us here to MD where we've been for abut 3.5 years.

Everything I know about Minneapolis I've found online, but from my research, I'm most attracted to Chanhassen and Lakeville. We live in a fairly rural, small-town community right now. Of course we want great schools for the boys, but also schools with a smaller population (for example the size of Wayzata schools is way too big) that will hopefully be welcoming to the new kids. I don't want my husband to have a terrible commute, however, which worries me a bit from both of these areas.

Both boys play baseball so it's important to have a great baseball program as well. We are looking forward to things like walking trails, community parks and beaches, and public access to take our boat out on the lake. We want a sense of community, and love things like main street festivals and fairs.

We’d like to keep our budget around $450, definitely want to be in a neighborhood where the boys can ride bikes and play with other kids. No fixer-uppers, been there done that. From what I’ve seen I think we can find these things in Chanhassen and Lakeville, but will the commute be terrible from these spots, and are there some other towns similar to these that I’m missing?

Thank you & look forward to the replies!!

[mr roboto]

Honestly Lakeville commute to Brooklyn Park would be brutal. Chan wouldn't be much better. IMO look at Maple Grove or Shoreview (Mounds View schools). Commuting through a quadrant (the TCs are kinda set up as 4 quadrants - NW, SW, S/SE and NE).

[pvoyd]

The commute from Chanhassen to Brooklyn Park will be bad, and from Lakeville it will be worse.

While these two are nice suburbs, they are not special in any way and not that different from Western/Northwestern/Northern suburbs much closer to Brooklyn Park. Maple Grove, Plymouth, Coon Rapids, Anoka, Osseo, Champlin, Shoreview might be better choices. If you want rural, there appears to be plenty of greenfield west of Maple Grove and north of Lake Minnetonka.

[Jane12345]

We just moved from the Bay Area to the TC, and had a similar set of requirements. We wanted to avoid long commutes (been there done that!), we wanted a smaller town and smaller school system (Wayzata and Eden Prairie are overwhelming) and we wanted a family-friendly neighborhood with a strong sense of community and lots of outdoor rec opportunities.

We found everything we wanted in Chanhassen. It literally checks all our boxes. That said, I wouldn't sign up for the commute to Brooklyn Park from here. I think you can find what you want in a more convenient location. Keep asking questions, the good folks here will help you narrow it down.

Congrats on the job and good luck with the move.

[TxTnVtMn]

Orono school district would be my recommendation. (towns of Orono, Long Lake, Maple Plain, southern half of Medina).

Orono is, in my estimation, the strongest small school system in the close-in MSP suburbs. The high school averages 250 students per grade (compare with 800 or more per class at Wayzata HS).

20-25 minutes to Brooklyn Park from Orono.

[mr roboto]

Originally Posted by TxTnVtMn

Orono school district would be my recommendation. (towns of Orono, Long Lake, Maple Plain, southern half of Medina).

Orono is, in my estimation, the strongest small school system in the close-in MSP suburbs. The high school averages 250 students per grade (compare with 800 or more per class at Wayzata HS).

20-25 minutes to Brooklyn Park from Orono.

This is actually a great suggestion. Plus it's a bit more rural that way.

[kj1976]

Thank you SO much for the feedback...it is really helpful.

I will definitely check out the Orono school district...I actually liked a couple of houses in Medina that were in the Delano school district...any thoughts? We have looked at Shoreview as well, and it is on the list.

As far as Chanhassen, what kind of drive are we talking time-wise in typical rush hour? I think I am mostly enamored with all that the high school has to offer as far as clubs, athletics, academics...is Chanhassen HS unique in that respect, or do they just have a better website that shows it all?

[TxTnVtMn]

Delano is in a different category than Orono and Chanhassen. The latter two are characterized by typical upper-middle class suburban expectations. The main difference with Orono is its size is smaller. Orono serves some very wealthy constituents.

Delano will, I think, feel like a rural school system with less top-end affluence, more of a "here comes everybody" quality that comes with small towns. A colleague of mine open enrolled her children in Delano schools. She says the leadership of the Delano system is impressive. Being more of a small town and rural community, the schools have a traditional bent (emphasizing the pledge of allegiance, having Santa appearances at Christmas-time, not totally shunning talk of prayer and God in the schools).

Hope this helps.

[ellysbelly]

Originally Posted by kj1976

Thank you SO much for the feedback...it is really helpful.

I will definitely check out the Orono school district...I actually liked a couple of houses in Medina that were in the Delano school district...any thoughts? We have looked at Shoreview as well, and it is on the list.

As far as Chanhassen, what kind of drive are we talking time-wise in typical rush hour? I think I am mostly enamored with all that the high school has to offer as far as clubs, athletics, academics...is Chanhassen HS unique in that respect, or do they just have a better website that shows it all?

Chan is a great high school (I, too, live in Chan), but I wouldn't take on that commute when there are likely another half dozen high schools that are closer and will still fill the bill (and likely offer many, if not all, of the same offerings). Without traffic, it's a 30 minute commute from Chan to Brooklyn Park-- with traffic, and you're back to what you had in MD (possibly worse, with weather).

Orona, Wayzata, Maple Grove-- or one of the northern 'burbs-- will likely be your best bets up that way. Best of luck!

[mr roboto]

Chan to Brooklyn Park is 25 miles, 30 minutes with NO traffic. But the north/south freeways are a mess in the morning/evening. The southwest metro (Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Chan) is the worst rush hour traffic in the metro. I would at least want to be north of 394 or Minneapolis if I worked in Brooklyn Park.

I'd guess 1 hour in rush hour without snow. 2 hours of it's really snowy.