job in Minnetonka/Plymouth area (Minneapolis, St. Paul: real estate, houses, good schools)

[cu79]

I'll be moving to Minneapolis in the next few months for work. The job will be in the Plymouth/Minnetonka area -- I believe it's a Minnetonka address, but technically seems a little closer to Plymouth. So I was wondering if you all could help with some general real estate suggestions.

My wife and are young (late 20s), have a 17 month old and another one on the way. We currently live in a 3 BR house, about 0.4 acres in a subdivision. We like this setup -- in other words, would be primarily interested in the subdivision suburb life (although we're open to anything that's nice and affordable). Would like to upgrade to 4 BR and would be looking for houses in the $230k - $280k range probably. I'd like to keep my commute to/from work at about 35 minutes or less ... but again, I suppose this is something that may be flexible with the right situation. Once we move, my wife intends on staying home with the kiddies, so things like parks, playgrounds, community centers, even children's museums, etc would be nice for us.

I've been doing some searching online and these appear to be the most viable options in terms of proximity to the job and affordability:
West/northwest suburbs: Rockford, Albertville, St. Michael, Rogers, Otsego
North suburbs: Blaine, Coon Rapids (may be a little more difficult with my price range?)
Southern suburbs: Savage, Shakopee, Chanhassen, Burnsville

So what are the general thoughts on these areas? School systems good/bad? All I have to go on for commute time right now is Google maps and I don't know how accurate it is. Which places would or wouldn't be within about a half hour drive to the Minnetonka/Plymouth area? Any other areas (suburb or not) that you would suggest I look into?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[yellowsnow]

If you move too far out, you will have a fierce commute. 94 is pretty bad and forget it on Friday night when every boat and camper in the cities has to go north! Starting at about 2pm!

Plymouth is pretty pricey and full of clonehomes. You might be able to find some possibilities if you stick with older homes/areas. Plymouth and Maple grove are upscale but if you look in the older areas there are more reasonable homes with a lot more character. If you want a 35min commute, start there.

No museums I know of in that whole area but there are parks and playgrounds.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

All the good museums are in Minneapolis and St. Paul. There are parks scattered all over the Twin Cities so you shouldn't have any problems there. Commuting from Blaine/Coon Rapids to Minnetonka will run you 50 minutes to an hour during rush hour. I don't recommend that commute. You should check out the towns just west of Minnetonka and Plymouth. I bet you should find a nice home in those areas and the commute should be manageable. Otherwise for a really easy commute, check out the suburbs on the other side of Plymouth. You looked at any homes in New Hope, Golden Valley, Robinsdale or Crystal? You should be able to find a home for 280k there.

[cu79]

Thanks for the replies. I have not really looked at any areas inside I-494 yet -- I figured it might be better bang for the buck a bit further outside the city. Will definitely look into those areas though too.

Which town(s) west of Plymouth would you recommend? From what I've seen the only affordable options (for me) which have properties available are places like Delano and Rockford. Any guess what kind of drive that would be for me? It says online that these would be about 20-30 min drives. Obviously, these time estimates don't take into account "real life" situations, but those look like non-interstate trips so traffic may not be too bad in this case (hopefully)?

And you guys think a drive to some of those towns along I-94 would be a rough commute? -- St. Michael, Albertville, Rogers, Otsego?

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by cu79

Thanks for the replies. I have not really looked at any areas inside I-494 yet -- I figured it might be better bang for the buck a bit further outside the city. Will definitely look into those areas though too.

Which town(s) west of Plymouth would you recommend? From what I've seen the only affordable options (for me) which have properties available are places like Delano and Rockford. Any guess what kind of drive that would be for me? It says online that these would be about 20-30 min drives. Obviously, these time estimates don't take into account "real life" situations, but those look like non-interstate trips so traffic may not be too bad in this case (hopefully)?

And you guys think a drive to some of those towns along I-94 would be a rough commute? -- St. Michael, Albertville, Rogers, Otsego?

I KNOW those areas are a rough commute! Promise! Especially on Friday and any long weekend. But if you're OK with that, there are nice homes in these areas. I live across the river from Monticello so I drive those routes almost every day. If you get out of Hennepin county, you will pay less in property taxes too. There are tradeoffs. But remember, we can have snowstorms for almost 1/2 the year here and that does bad things to the commute too. It's not impossible, I have done it for years.

If you are inside of 494, your commute can be on surface streets. Those are usually not as congested as the freeways. You will find more areas of reasonably priced housing there too. But it's a much more city type location than Otsego. Lots are smaller and the houses are closer together.

There are some really nice areas west of MPLS. I looked at several homes around Lake Minnetonka. Great place but driving east in the morning and west at night means you are always driving into the sun. I can't do that but it may not bother you at all. I like the area around Medicine Lake too.

I hope you get to come out and take a look.

[cu79]

Well I believe you -- like I said I have nothing to go on besides what a map tells me right now. Can you get from Plymouth to areas like Rogers, Hanover, St. Michael without getting into interstate traffic though? It looks like this would be relatively easy ... but maybe traffic is bad on these "back" roads too?

We'll be heading up there sometime probably late this summer to look at places. I'm really anal though, so I like to plan as much as possible beforehand.

[golfgal]

I woudn't count on getting to Minnetonka from Rogers in under an hour during rush hour. Unfortunatly you aren't going to find anything like what you want in your price range in the Twin Cities. Most houses in the mid $200's are going to be split levels or similar. If you move far enough out that you can find the house you want you will spend so much in gas money you will probably be better off paying more for a house closer in.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Honestly, The 94 Corridor is the worst commute between Chicago and the Coast and a could not in good conscience tell anyone to live there and commute to Plymouth. Back roads don't go that far out so that commute time would be any quicker. It may be cheaper, but added gas, time lost in a car and your sanity tell me that you should look closer to the cities. There are still some houses (I got curious and looked online) that are in that price range. I would look at Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka. Hopkins and Saint Louis Park if older homes work for you. All have good schools and parks. All have a decent commute time. You may be able to pull off Bnsvl. If you get on 35 at Hwy 13 near the river there is less traffic.
The best of luck
-----Minnehahapolitan

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by cu79

Well I believe you -- like I said I have nothing to go on besides what a map tells me right now. Can you get from Plymouth to areas like Rogers, Hanover, St. Michael without getting into interstate traffic though? It looks like this would be relatively easy ... but maybe traffic is bad on these "back" roads too?

We'll be heading up there sometime probably late this summer to look at places. I'm really anal though, so I like to plan as much as possible beforehand.

It's not easy to get from Plymouth to Rogers without getting on 94. I'm sure it must be possible but we've never found a decent alternate route.

[cu79]

You all have been very helpful, so thanks again. I'm looking into everyone's suggestions, but had a couple more areas that I was curious about.

Anyone know what kind of commute it would be for the following areas:
St. Bonifacius
Shakopee
Maple Plain
Delano
Rockford

If any of them are not awful commutes, thoughts on them in general?