Moving from Philly to MSP Area (Minneapolis, St. Paul: co-op, homes, school districts)

[mamafix]

Hi!

Our family is planning to move to MN this summer along with my daughter who will be a freshman at UMN. My Husband is from there so we have lots of family we will be closer to. We are looking at the following areas: Hastings, Eden Prairie, New Brighton, Apple Valley, and Rosemount due to high schools options for my youngest. Does anyone have anything they can say about these locations? Good/Bad. I've been to MN many times over my 18 years of marriage, and love the area, but have only lived in Philly all my life. I know it's a different way of life out there, and I'm excited for it, but because I still have one in High School, I want to be sure we end up in the right area.

Thanks for your help!
-Gina

[BryaninMSP]

There are good high schools serving each of those areas — where will you and/or your husband be commuting to? That might help provide better direction.

Hastings is a long way from the Twin Cities and the U. If you're looking at New Brighton, consider some of the other suburbs that also are covered by the Mounds View district (Shoreview, Arden Hills, North Oaks, Mounds View), as they're all pretty similar to New Brighton and have a better variety of housing options. Apple Valley, Eden Prairie and Rosemount will have newer housing options, though you'll get a lot of varying reviews on the high schools on that side of town. EP high school especially seems to elicit varied opinions based on its size. I also tend to feel like the traffic in the south metro is far worse than the north side, but then I live on the north side of the Cities so maybe I just don't know all the shortcuts south of Minneapolis.

[Citykid3785]

I can say that Hastings is a bit removed from the metro. While there is a river crossing and a quaint downtown, the city always had a sort of run down feel to me?

I live in AV, near the Rosemount border and can attest that the cities and schools are great. Rosemount has worse highway access and fewer amenities, but I can recommend both. I'm sure new Brighton is fine, however I can't speak to it.

All D196 schools are great (Eagan/AV/Rosemount), but I'm going to nitpick just to give some guidance. While eastview HS is equally rated with Rosemount HS, eastview is the newest of the bunch, and thus has a nicer feel. I've heard that Rosemount has had explosive growth and has expansion plans in the works. In my view, D196 has the best value school. By this I mean you could potentially get a better school by a hair, but you'd also pay 50-100% more for the same house.

[MamaFix5]

Thank you for replies. I think I like Hastings since it’s a little out of the way, and yet not “that” far from everything. I currently live in a Philly suburb and would need to travel 45-60min to get to our center city or airport. My husband will work from home when not flying out of MSP. And at this point my daughter will live at the U. Thanka again, I will keep searching!

[BryaninMSP]

Based on your other post about looking for raw milk, check out Northfield. It has a great co-op downtown and feels more rural, like Hastings but smaller.

[MamaFix5]

Originally Posted by BryaninMSP

Based on your other post about looking for raw milk, check out Northfield. It has a great co-op downtown and feels more rural, like Hastings but smaller.

Thanks Bryan, but it’s a bit further out from MSP than we want.

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

I can say that Hastings is a bit removed from the metro. While there is a river crossing and a quaint downtown, the city always had a sort of run down feel to me?

I live in AV, near the Rosemount border and can attest that the cities and schools are great. Rosemount has worse highway access and fewer amenities, but I can recommend both. I'm sure new Brighton is fine, however I can't speak to it.

All D196 schools are great (Eagan/AV/Rosemount), but I'm going to nitpick just to give some guidance. While eastview HS is equally rated with Rosemount HS, eastview is the newest of the bunch, and thus has a nicer feel. I've heard that Rosemount has had explosive growth and has expansion plans in the works. In my view, D196 has the best value school. By this I mean you could potentially get a better school by a hair, but you'd also pay 50-100% more for the same house.

Hastings is a bit removed from the metro which is one of many positives for the town. Unlike many/most suburbs where one town runs right into the next and everything is co-mingled including the school districts, Hastings is it's own distinct entity. Some may consider it "run down" compared to some newer suburbs, but I would say that is a misnomer. There is a little 'grit' to the city as it is an old river town, but many passers-through just don't realize how old the city and many of its structures are. The area started getting some settlement in the early 1800's and incorporated as a city in 1857. The population was 3,500 in 1870. Many of the historic downtown commercial buildings and the housing stock dates back to the 1800's.

That said, the city has been growing and expanding ever since. Hastings has lots of "new & shiny" to go along with the "old & historic" and everything in between. There is a wide array of housing stock from $100k-$1mil. I wouldn't consider it 'run down' in any fashion. As you drive into Hastings from the north, you cross the Mississippi River and the 1st building you see is the historic courthouse that was built in 1870 (see picture on Hastings' city data page). Hastings is the county seat. The Mississippi and Vermilion Rivers run right through town. You can hop on the Mississippi in Hastings and boat one mile to the gorgeous St. Criox River (A National Scenic Riverway). You can snowmobile right from your garage to the snowmobile trails. Hastings has its own Hospital, newspaper and radio station. The town is about 25 minutes from the airport and St. Paul and about 35 minutes from Minneapolis. The school district (ISD #200) is excellent.

Needless to say, I would recommend Hastings.

[MamaFix5]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

Hastings is a bit removed from the metro which is one of many positives for the town. Unlike many/most suburbs where one town runs right into the next and everything is co-mingled including the school districts, Hastings is it's own distinct entity. Some may consider it "run down" compared to some newer suburbs, but I would say that is a misnomer. There is a little 'grit' to the city as it is an old river town, but many passers-through just don't realize how old the city and many of its structures are. The area started getting some settlement in the early 1800's and incorporated as a city in 1857. The population was 3,500 in 1870. Many of the historic downtown commercial buildings and the housing stock dates back to the 1800's.

That said, the city has been growing and expanding ever since. Hastings has lots of "new & shiny" to go along with the "old & historic" and everything in between. There is a wide array of housing stock from $100k-$1mil. I wouldn't consider it 'run down' in any fashion. As you drive into Hastings from the north, you cross the Mississippi River and the 1st building you see is the historic courthouse that was built in 1870 (see picture on Hastings' city data page). Hastings is the county seat. The Mississippi and Vermilion Rivers run right through town. You can hop on the Mississippi in Hastings and boat one mile to the gorgeous St. Criox River (A National Scenic Riverway). You can snowmobile right from your garage to the snowmobile trails. Hastings has its own Hospital, newspaper and radio station. The town is about 25 minutes from the airport and St. Paul and about 35 minutes from Minneapolis. The school district (ISD #200) is excellent.

Needless to say, I would recommend Hastings.

Thanks so much for your reply, I really appreciate it.

[ellysbelly]

If you want smaller/quainter area, but still decent access to the Cities plus a good high school-- I'd recommend Victoria (Chanhassen High)-- and, possibly, Chaska or Carver (Chaska High), each of those towns has a downtown (with very different 'personalities-- Chan has big box stores, some chain restaurants, plus smaller/local stores and restaurants-- Victoria's is small/cute with all local stores/restaurants, but no grocery store-- Chaska has some cute shops and restaurants-- Carver's downtown is tiny, mostly bars with a few 'occasional' shops).

All of the above mentioned suburbs are close-ish to Excelsior, which is one of my favorite places-- on the shore of Lake Minnetonka with some great shops and restaurants. If you're okay with being a bit further out, you might want to check out Waconia, too.

There are sections of Minnetonka/Excelsior (Minnetonka school district) that feel 'tucked away' but have great schools and great proximity to MPS. Same with Plymouth (Wayzata school district)-- downtown Wayzata is fantastic, too.

You might find Eden Prairie to be crowded-- there's a decent sized mall, Costco, and a lot of retail options-- and the high school is BIG (as is Minnetonka and Wayzata, if that's a consideration). There are also some nice areas of EP that are tucked away-- while there's no truly bad area in EP, I believe that there are one or two elementary schools that aren't quite as highly ranked as the rest.

My only knowledge of Hastings is from my son playing a few hockey tournaments there-- it does seem a bit more blue collar than the southwestern and many of the southern suburbs (not necessarily a bad thing) and it does feel further removed from the metro, as others have mentioned.

Another option, depending on budget, is Edina-- despite it's hoity-toity reputation, it has a lot to offer. A great downtown, gorgeous/leafy streets, charming homes, and top caliber schools. It's also SUPER convenient to Minneapolis and the airport.

[mamafix]

Originally Posted by ellysbelly

If you want smaller/quainter area, but still decent access to the Cities plus a good high school-- I'd recommend Victoria (Chanhassen High)-- and, possibly, Chaska or Carver (Chaska High), each of those towns has a downtown (with very different 'personalities-- Chan has big box stores, some chain restaurants, plus smaller/local stores and restaurants-- Victoria's is small/cute with all local stores/restaurants, but no grocery store-- Chaska has some cute shops and restaurants-- Carver's downtown is tiny, mostly bars with a few 'occasional' shops).

All of the above mentioned suburbs are close-ish to Excelsior, which is one of my favorite places-- on the shore of Lake Minnetonka with some great shops and restaurants. If you're okay with being a bit further out, you might want to check out Waconia, too.

There are sections of Minnetonka/Excelsior (Minnetonka school district) that feel 'tucked away' but have great schools and great proximity to MPS. Same with Plymouth (Wayzata school district)-- downtown Wayzata is fantastic, too.

You might find Eden Prairie to be crowded-- there's a decent sized mall, Costco, and a lot of retail options-- and the high school is BIG (as is Minnetonka and Wayzata, if that's a consideration). There are also some nice areas of EP that are tucked away-- while there's no truly bad area in EP, I believe that there are one or two elementary schools that aren't quite as highly ranked as the rest.

My only knowledge of Hastings is from my son playing a few hockey tournaments there-- it does seem a bit more blue collar than the southwestern and many of the southern suburbs (not necessarily a bad thing) and it does feel further removed from the metro, as others have mentioned.

Another option, depending on budget, is Edina-- despite it's hoity-toity reputation, it has a lot to offer. A great downtown, gorgeous/leafy streets, charming homes, and top caliber schools. It's also SUPER convenient to Minneapolis and the airport.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Minnetonka was one of the areas we had concerned, but I'm not sure why it had fallen off our list. I'll have to revisit. Thanks again!