Where are the crazy kids in Eden Prairie? (Minneapolis, Eagan: house, neighborhood)

[denzlite]

So we moved to EP a couple years ago from the city and our kids are now 2 and 4. I'm so crazy bored here but that's what happens when you can't afford the city and move the burbs so your wife can have her new job with a 10 minute commute and your kids can go to a good school.


But I'm not sure we should stay here. 90% of the high school kids I've met in EP are beautiful, healthy, over-acheiving and (for the most part) affluent. I have not seen one punk rock or emo kid here. I think my kids may be into sports - but what happens if they turn into the friends like I had in high school who smoked Reds and played Kiss in their basements? What happens if they turn not into motivated beautiful teenagers who accel and achieve - but instead morph into angst ridden malcontents like I was? All the high school kids I've talked to here have been way too amazing. Maybe it's just a generational thing?


Driving through the parking lot of the high school here and my jaw just drops at all the Infinitys and Jeep Wranglers. Most of the kids have nicer cars than I do. Any time I go past a house and see a sensible non-luxury car - I see a teenager come out and get in and I'm like - oh all the Hondas and Subarus are for their kids.



Good god everyone I've met here is really nice - but I can't help but think we need to get out of here.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by denzlite

So we moved to EP a couple years ago from the city and our kids are now 2 and 4. I'm so crazy bored here but that's what happens when you can't afford the city and move the burbs so your wife can have her new job with a 10 minute commute and your kids can go to a good school.


But I'm not sure we should stay here. 90% of the high school kids I've met in EP are beautiful, healthy, over-acheiving and (for the most part) affluent. I have not seen one punk rock or emo kid here. I think my kids may be into sports - but what happens if they turn into the friends like I had in high school who smoked Reds and played Kiss in their basements? What happens if they turn not into motivated beautiful teenagers who accel and achieve - but instead morph into angst ridden malcontents like I was? All the high school kids I've talked to here have been way too amazing. Maybe it's just a generational thing?
...

[Citykid3785]

MN is a pretty strait laced place, and EP is essentially Edina overflow. It is an affluent suburb with lots of money. When I went to school at Eagan, it was a running joke to count the number of Mustangs in the parking lot. But to your point, where there is boredom there are usually rebels as well. As safe as Eagan is, my parents still occasionally get stuff stolen out of their yard by what I'm assuming are bored teenagers in the neighborhood looking for some excitement. But no doubt they are the minority in these areas.

[TxTnVtMn]

Originally Posted by denzlite

So we moved to EP a couple years ago from the city and our kids are now 2 and 4. I'm so crazy bored here but that's what happens when you can't afford the city and move the burbs so your wife can have her new job with a 10 minute commute and your kids can go to a good school.

But I'm not sure we should stay here. 90% of the high school kids I've met in EP are beautiful, healthy, over-acheiving and (for the most part) affluent. I have not seen one punk rock or emo kid here. I think my kids may be into sports - but what happens if they turn into the friends like I had in high school who smoked Reds and played Kiss in their basements? What happens if they turn not into motivated beautiful teenagers who accel and achieve - but instead morph into angst ridden malcontents like I was? All the high school kids I've talked to here have been way too amazing. Maybe it's just a generational thing?

Driving through the parking lot of the high school here and my jaw just drops at all the Infinitys and Jeep Wranglers. Most of the kids have nicer cars than I do. Any time I go past a house and see a sensible non-luxury car - I see a teenager come out and get in and I'm like - oh all the Hondas and Subarus are for their kids.

Good god everyone I've met here is really nice - but I can't help but think we need to get out of here.

The world is big enough for both the Eden Prairies and the Nordeasts.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

My advice to the OP - start running and don’t look back!

But seriously - what you’re describing is precisely why we live in Minneapolis and not in EP or similar suburb (Eagan, Apple Valley, Maple Grove, Woodbury, Prior Lake, Lakeville, Rosemount....etc.) I grew up in the monotonous Twin Cities suburbs and have made it a point to not put my kids through the same experience. I say who needs a Jeep when you have a Metro Transit Go card and the Uber App.

And schools schmools. We have those here in the city too, and there are good ones if you take the time to look.

[ellysbelly]

If you could afford to do so, I'd definitely high tail it to Minneapolis or St Paul, to provide your kids with a more diverse and urban environment in which to grow up in (assuming that your wife is on board, of course!)-- as it stands, the lure of cheaper housing and larger yards has sucked me in-- to have a comparable house and lot in the Cities would likely cost 2-3X more and while I could be happy in less space, having 3 kids, 3 dogs and a home office dictate a certain size of home which is financially challenging to achieve in those highly desireable areas.

That said, those "outcasts" DO still exist even in the most idyllic of suburbs, but perhaps not quite as prevalent (and, arguably, less authentically so)-- there's definitely a strong element of social norming that happens in all areas, but not all kids are Stepford Wives (and Husbands) in training even way out here in suburbia.

[Glenfield]

Yeah, it would be a real shame if your kids grew up to be decent, upstanding citizens.

[Thedosius]

"I'll go to heaven for the climate,
hell for the conversation,
and Eden Prairie for the bland conformity"

- Mark Twain, amended

[Justabitoff]

Well, as a family therapist who works in Minnetonka... I have some stories... I won't share them, but those "perfect" lives are mostly fiction. Teenagers go through the same angst-ridden rebellion anywhere they are. It's a developmental stage and it will occur wherever your child lives. Sometimes it's just more obvious.

If a place doesn't match your values, it doesn't match your values. But if you're upset because you THINK you should be upset, then I would explore that.

[cheddar]

"I say who needs a Jeep when you have a Metro Transit Go card "


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