Minnesota has 5 of 100 Best Places To Live (Minneapolis, St. Cloud: townhouse, college) - (MN) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

Annebr · 07-13-2010, 08:14 AM

Lots of apartment buildings in Eden Prairie.

uptown_urbanist · 07-13-2010, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mathguy

I saw the one place, with it's typical home price >400k and just shrugged. Basically, most people can't afford to live in these communities and it's not terribly shocking that higher income areas are going to have low(er) crime and given the incomes will likely be educated and put a value on education and so on and so forth. Do these places have any apartments or lower cost housing or is it all mostly suburban with higher home prices?

Two of the other high-ranking places (east coast I think) had average home prices of 800k-1million. Really, that's just super but frankly shouldn't cost of living factor into the rankings?

Actually, I'd say that's one of the benefits that these suburbs have over some others in both the metro area and in other cities; places like Eden Prairie appeal to people looking for upscale modern suburbia, but they do have some apartment buildings and some more affordable options for people who don't want to or can't buy the single family homes.

As far as the rest of the country, I used to live in an area where the median home price was $930k; what that didn't show was that there were also many very nice and much more affordable rentals. I agree that cost of living is a big issue, but high average home price doesn't necessarily mean out of reach for all but the wealthy.

All that said, I generally do agree with you, and think that these lists are pretty skewed towards favoring wealthier suburbs. There are some actual free-standing cities on there, but most of them seem to be part of bigger metro areas, where some of the benefits for these "cities" comes from the inevitable economic segregation that comes along with that.

I also think that lists like this leave out so many variables that it's essentially useless for anyone seeking to use it as a resource for actually considering relocating. Skimming the national list I see some places I like, some I don't; I would be miserable living in Eden Prairie, even if it is a safe place with good schools. Top quality of life indicators for me, personally, don't appear on this list -- sense of history, walkability, number of independent businesses, presence of a real downtown, etc. As a result, I'd absolutely hate living in some places (Eden Prairie, Woodbury, Eagan), while would love some of the others (Alexandria, VA), and could be happy in still others (mostly the free-standing towns or older inner-ring suburbs, and not the modern suburbs).

srsmn · 07-13-2010, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

Kinda funny how you say this after your last post which talked about how this is all very, very subjective.

I know, exactly--- that's why I said "I still don't understand..." and "it seems pretty generic *to me*". What about that makes you think I was trying to express it objectively?

northstar22 · 07-13-2010, 10:31 AM

Even the apartments in Eden Prairie are expensive. A studio goes for around $850 per month. I could get a house in Northfield for less than that, and be in a real town and not just generic suburbia.

Cruz Azul Guy · 07-13-2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

Even the apartments in Eden Prairie are expensive. A studio goes for around $850 per month. I could get a house in Northfield for less than that, and be in a real town and not just generic suburbia.

Does that really surprise you? If you wanted to you could get a house in International Falls and make house payments in the $350-400 range....but why would you want to? The place is in the middle of nowhere and it reaks like B.O. 24/7. In most circumstances there are good reasons housing prices are the way they are. Northfield is cheaper because it's 45 miles from DT Minneapolis. Meanwhile, Eden Prairie is only about 18 miles away, and it's pretty close to Lake Minnetonka in a popular and desirable part of town.

rcsteiner · 07-13-2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srsmn

I grew up with many "sons-of" and "sons-of-the-sons-of" the Jewish exodus off of the Northside that would probably disagree with you

Maybe, and I didn't mean to imply that I didn't think some level of flight from the city happened, but I think such people are a fraction of the folks living in the suburbs in general.

srsmn · 07-13-2010, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Maybe, and I didn't mean to imply that I didn't think some level of flight from the city happened, but I think such people are a fraction of the folks living in the suburbs in general.

There might be something to be said for that....certainly, the "white flight" was not *as* big of a phenomenon here as in Chicago or Detroit, and the "rural flight" was definately a bigger phenomenon here than either of those two places....

Minnesota Spring · 07-13-2010, 03:21 PM

I think its kind of funny how on the CNN money link, there are alot of comments about Minnesota being too cold etc. from people around the country, as if Minnesota is the only place in the world that experiences Winter. Granted the temp does get cold here for a few months, with the mosture in the air out east it feels the same to me.
I say, let them keep thinking its too cold up here, it will keep us from being over run by sprawl like the sun belt.

Kid Cann · 07-13-2010, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minnesota Spring

I think its kind of funny how on the CNN money link, there are alot of comments about Minnesota being too cold etc. from people around the country, as if Minnesota is the only place in the world that experiences Winter. Granted the temp does get cold here for a few months, with the mosture in the air out east it feels the same to me.
I say, let them keep thinking its too cold up here, it will keep us from being over run by sprawl like the sun belt.

I know, it blows my mind. It's sad and actually embarassing for others...

Minnesota gets cold, yes. But it just gets a little colder in the winter months than other places... But summers are actually warmer than some places.

Ex. In California last summer, a pool guy came to clean the pool at the house we were staying at and he actually asked us "Does Minnesota even get summers?" and "Is it even possible to have inground pools in Minnesota?"

Ironically, the 2 week temps while I was in SoCal were 10 degrees COOLER than Minnneapolis...

Just a world full of idiots.

Minnesota Spring · 07-13-2010, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

I know, it blows my mind. It's sad and actually embarassing for others...

Minnesota gets cold, yes. But it just gets a little colder in the winter months than other places... But summers are actually warmer than some places.

Ex. In California last summer, a pool guy came to clean the pool at the house we were staying at and he actually asked us "Does Minnesota even get summers?" and "Is it even possible to have inground pools in Minnesota?"

Ironically, the 2 week temps while I was in SoCal were 10 degrees COOLER than Minnneapolis...

Just a world full of idiots.

To put it all into prospective, the 45th parallel is the halfway mark between the north pole and the equator. The 45th parallel runs along Broadway Street in Minneapolis, so the southern 1/3 of the state (anything south of Minneapolis, the part where I live) is actually closer to the equator than the north pole. So obviously we can't be the only place in the world that has Winter weather.