What area(s) do you reccomend? (Minneapolis, Rochester: houses, neighborhood, construction)

[yourpalincal]

My family and I have been looking to move to Minneapolis in the next few weeks. We are looking for a kid friendly city with families and nice people (we have 2 kids 11 and 6). Also within a half hour of the city. Which of the following area or areas do you reccomend? We are looking in: (I labeled our favorities.)
-Plymouth(3)
-Eden Prairie(4)
-Wayzata (2)
-Minnetonka (1)
-Chanhassen(5)
-Bloomington (6)

Also, do they have any "bully problems" in any of the cities I mentioned?

Thanks

David

[Ben Around]

If you want to be within a half hour of the city, why not do even better and move INTO the city. Lots of great kid-friendly areas in Mpls and St Paul. We're in St Paul and neither of our kids experienced any bully problems.

[Clifford63]

Those are all pretty good locations in terms of being realsonbaly close with the exception of Chanhassen. All have good schools with Wayzata and Minnetonka being slightly better in the rankings. All of them are safe, with east bloomington have a bit more of a gritty urban feel than the rest. Eden Prairie can be a bit of traffic snarl. They have some major construction on 62 right now and one of the main route out of there depends on that. I think it will be two more years before it is finished, but I can't recall for sure.

Bully problems are not likely to happen in one of the areas vs another. Kids are mean, and it can happen anywhere. I moved a lot as a kid and it was an adventure every time. You can prepare kids to deal with being the new kid to a certian degree. They will be challenged in one way or another (as they would be most anywhere). Should be managable though.

West metro has a lot of nice areas. I would highly recommend that over most of the North Metro and all of the south of the river burbs from a transportation hassle factor. East Metro has some good options as well, but if you are going to work in Minneapolis, west is perhaps easier.

You might want to look at Edina too. A little closer but still very nice with very good schools.

[Thegonagle]

My dad has lived in west Bloomington for around 25 years (and east Bloomington before that), and my step-brother and his family have lived in Eden Prairie for over 15. I have worked, gone to school in, and dated girls from Eden Prairie, and have lived in east Bloomington. A lot of people like Eden Prairie, but I prefer Bloomington by miles.

West Bloomington (west of 35W, for the most part) tends to be similar to Eden Prairie, but the majority of Bloomington is a lot more convenient to live in than the majority of Eden Prairie. I base my convenience judgement on traffic patterns, driving time to downtown Minneapolis, proximity to a large variety of stores and eateries, including the Southdale (mall) area in Edina, the Mall of America, the 494 and Lyndale corridors in Bloomington, and the Eden Prairie Center (mall) area. There's also better access to transit, and it's easier to ride a bike to get places in Bloomington (which matters if you enjoy riding a bike as much as I do).

Bloomington seems to be pretty a pretty healthy city with a good mix of business and homeowners contributing to their tax base, and just so I didn't missspeak, I googled for any impending financial collapse of the city or anything like that, and found that Bloomington has three AAA bond ratings from major agencies, something Minneapolis itself lost many years ago.

Bloomington, 4th-most populous city in the state (EDIT: this used to be true; Rochester is now #4, Bloomington is #5 according to the most recent census, but the numbers are within a few hundred), is a great town in my mind, however I don't know anything specific about their schools. I don't have kids, so I don't study school issues too closely, however there is some consensus that all school districts are going to have some issues and their own unique challenges, but for the most part, any of the metro school districts are pretty good overall. I've certainly never heard anything bad about Bloomington schools, except that Kennedy High (east) has the poor kids, and Jefferson High (west) has the rich kids (and the better hockey team--because hockey equipment is expensive and more parents at that school can afford the gear). I don't know if or how this "problem" affects academics of any given child at either school.

As for the other cities on your short list, I've been to all of them, but haven't spent a ton of time in any of them, so I'll withhold comment except to say none of them seem like they'd be as convenient to live in as Bloomington.

[DaPerpKazoo]

You are aware that you're likely to end up in a relatively standard suburban neighborhood in all of those places? I personally find cul-du-sacs, massive parking lots, commutes via interstates, bix-box stores, lack of sidewalks, and similar houses to be major detractors from the quality of life in an area. Not all people feel that way. Some of these areas are going to be more that way than others. Just making sure you're aware.

I would really recommend somewhere in southwest or southeast Minneapolis to raise a family. Not southwest or southest metro- southwest or southeast Minneapolis. My family lived in Minneapolis' HPDL neighborhood until I was 13, and it was the best childhood I could have asked for. Safe, family friendly areas. Two parks within four blocks of our house. Kid-friendly corner stores. All my friends lived close by, and by fourth grade my firends and I were biking between eachothers houses and to parks and ice cream shops, ect. I think that there is a significant ammount of exploration and independence that kids need to go through around that age. Today most of my friends grew up in places like Plymouth, and none of them ever had that classic american childhood experience that I had being able to bike everywhere at that age. I know I would be a completely different person if I hadn't. When I'm 60 years old, I'll look back at those days as some of the best of my life. You just don't get that in cookie-cutter suburbs.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by DaPerpKazoo

You are aware that you're likely to end up in a relatively standard suburban neighborhood in all of those places? I personally find cul-du-sacs, massive parking lots, commutes via interstates, bix-box stores, lack of sidewalks, and similar houses to be major detractors from the quality of life in an area. Not all people feel that way. Some of these areas are going to be more that way than others. Just making sure you're aware.

I would really recommend somewhere in southwest or southeast Minneapolis to raise a family. Not southwest or southest metro- southwest or southeast Minneapolis. My family lived in Minneapolis' HPDL neighborhood until I was 13, and it was the best childhood I could have asked for. Safe, family friendly areas. Two parks within four blocks of our house. Kid-friendly corner stores. All my friends lived close by, and by fourth grade my firends and I were biking between eachothers houses and to parks and ice cream shops, ect. I think that there is a significant ammount of exploration and independence that kids need to go through around that age. Today most of my friends grew up in places like Plymouth, and none of them ever had that classic american childhood experience that I had being able to bike everywhere at that age. I know I would be a completely different person if I hadn't. When I'm 60 years old, I'll look back at those days as some of the best of my life. You just don't get that in cookie-cutter suburbs.

I had the same experience in my childhood. That's why I wanted to raise my kids in a city neighborhood.