Rosemount? (Minneapolis, Woodbury, Lakeville: insurance, townhomes, neighborhoods)

[Norsky1]

Is this a nice area? What is it like there?

[golfgal]

Love it here, nice "small town" feel yet every convenience is easily available. Schools are excellent. It is easy to get to pretty much everywhere in the metro with minimal traffic. Great parks, bike paths, neighborhoods with sidewalks.

[ColdRedRain]

It's going to become another victim of sprawl, so that "small town" feeling's going to die in about 10-20 years. The writing on the wall was when bus service started going to Rosemount.

[Libby01]

I've spent some time in Rosemount over the years, visiting friends, so my experience of Rosemount is that of an outsider with an occassional visit. Frankly, I found it no different than Woodbury, AppleValley, Lakeville, etc. The part I'm familar with is 80-early 90's developments. My friends bought there because they could get as much square footage in their house at the cheapest price. Thus the 2-3 car garages are dominanting the street view of the house and bigger yards, yet no windows on the sides of the houses (which I have always found to be very odd- especially when yards are bigger!). For some people, this wouldn't bother them. Most areas are very car-dependent, unless you live right next to a retail development. There are sidewalks in about 30% of the neighborhoods- but the city recognizes this is not ideal and they are trying to improve the situation for pedestrians and bikers. Rosemount is 92% white and thus has relatively little diversity (unless you are used to rural Mn and this would seem diverse! )
Two things come to mind when I think of Rosemount. 1. They have an outstanding marching band. 2. The main landmark is the Koch Refinery. It's an amazing thing to see at night- sort of an alien city!

[MN55]

Isn't Koch in Cottage Grove?

[uptown_urbanist]

I still need to visit Rosemount, as I don't know anything about it; that said, I know golfgal loves it, so I got curious and did some poking around online. For anyone interested:

The downtown master plan (has some photos, details, goals): http://ci.rosemount.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={A2A36366-DC7B-437A-B825-0A75FAA4A114}

Pending bike and pedestrian master plan information (also useful maps of which streets have sidewalks and which ones don't): http://ci.rosemount.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={EE791BF1-EB8C-4CCC-8834-A0993112F1CB}&DE=

I had forgotten about Koch: I don't know Rosemount at all, but that is one impressive and weird site to see.

One of these days I'll get around to visiting Rosemount for myself; for whatever reason I think it's one of the few suburbs in the Twin Cities where I've never spent any time.

Golfgal (or any other Rosemount regulars), I'd be curious to hear your take on the historic downtown core, as that's what interests me most. Are there any "must see" local businesses there? Cafes that have been around forever, that sort of thing? (food doesn't have to be good: looking for local ambiance and sense of community more than fine dining.)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Libby01

I've spent some time in Rosemount over the years, visiting friends, so my experience of Rosemount is that of an outsider with an occassional visit. Frankly, I found it no different than Woodbury, AppleValley, Lakeville, etc. The part I'm familar with is 80-early 90's developments. My friends bought there because they could get as much square footage in their house at the cheapest price. Thus the 2-3 car garages are dominanting the street view of the house and bigger yards, yet no windows on the sides of the houses (which I have always found to be very odd- especially when yards are bigger!). For some people, this wouldn't bother them. Most areas are very car-dependent, unless you live right next to a retail development. There are sidewalks in about 30% of the neighborhoods- but the city recognizes this is not ideal and they are trying to improve the situation for pedestrians and bikers. Rosemount is 92% white and thus has relatively little diversity (unless you are used to rural Mn and this would seem diverse! )
Two things come to mind when I think of Rosemount. 1. They have an outstanding marching band. 2. The main landmark is the Koch Refinery. It's an amazing thing to see at night- sort of an alien city!

Well, your limited experience is just that, the majority of the neighborhoods here have sidewalks or bike paths, I would say that when the new census comes out that diversity of Rosemount will be more, but then again, this IS Minnesota and the state as a whole is just not that diverse. I also think that you need to get out to rural MN more if you don't think rural MN is diverse. The town itself is only about 2 miles by 2 miles which makes most of the town very walkable and the retail centers very accessible.

The Koch Refinery is 5 miles outside of town and it is called Flint Hills Resources now.

UU-as far as the historic core, they are slowly revitalizing the downtown area. There are some unique buildings down there but the businesses that are there are mostly for "locals", insurance offices, dental offices, etc. There are a couple restaurant/bars downtown for "local" flavor. The area around downtown is cute. Keep in mind that up until about 20 years ago, Rosemount was a very small town. 145th street has some great older houses (150+ years old) and the neighborhoods around that have some smaller, older, Craftsman styles as well. The original high school building is still standing and is used as part of the middle school. The old St. Joseph's Church is currently being renovated into an art center. The actual downtown area is only about 2 blocks by 2 blocks though.

[Libby01]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Well, your limited experience is just that, the majority of the neighborhoods here have sidewalks or bike paths, I would say that when the new census comes out that diversity of Rosemount will be more, but then again, this IS Minnesota and the state as a whole is just not that diverse. I also think that you need to get out to rural MN more if you don't think rural MN is diverse. The town itself is only about 2 miles by 2 miles which makes most of the town very walkable and the retail centers very accessible.

I'm not sure why you have to be so defensive in putting down other's opinions that aren't totally in alignment with yours. Or is that the job of the moderator here????? I try to be pretty careful when I state something that is my opinion and call it out as such.

My comment on the sidewalks and bike paths is based on the city map, which clearly shows that there are large sections that have little or no sidewalks.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Libby01

I'm not sure why you have to be so defensive in putting down other's opinions that aren't totally in alignment with yours. Or is that the job of the moderator here????? I try to be pretty careful when I state something that is my opinion and call it out as such.

My comment on the sidewalks and bike paths is based on the city map, which clearly shows that there are large sections that have little or no sidewalks.

Again, just pointing out that your experience is not correct. People are looking for information, not assumptions. Looking at the map, the "large" sections of town that don't have sidewalks are mostly townhomes developments or neighborhoods with pretty much zero traffic, thus no need for sidewalks. The city got a grant to add more bike paths and sidewalks, which is good, but there are VERY few areas where you don't have a sidewalk already and those that don't only have residential traffic so why waste the money on building sidewalks?? It isn't like Minneapolis where you have busy roads where you need to worry about getting hit by a car.

http://www.ci.rosemount.mn.us/vertical/Sites/%7B9EB5E841-C29C-4154-8A28-AC41E049797A%7D/uploads/%7B6C3C7BF3-A472-44F7-B3A3-0AC45F079FBD%7D.PDF (broken link)

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Again, just pointing out that your experience is not correct. People are looking for information, not assumptions. Looking at the map, the "large" sections of town that don't have sidewalks are mostly townhomes developments or neighborhoods with pretty much zero traffic, thus no need for sidewalks. The city got a grant to add more bike paths and sidewalks, which is good, but there are VERY few areas where you don't have a sidewalk already and those that don't only have residential traffic so why waste the money on building sidewalks?? It isn't like Minneapolis where you have busy roads where you need to worry about getting hit by a car.

http://www.ci.rosemount.mn.us/vertical/Sites/%7B9EB5E841-C29C-4154-8A28-AC41E049797A%7D/uploads/%7B6C3C7BF3-A472-44F7-B3A3-0AC45F079FBD%7D.PDF (broken link)

Golfgal, please stay on topic. This topic absolutely nothing to do with Minneapolis, (which has double the distance of sidewalks as roads and is very pedestrian friendly by the way).