Far northern "suburbs" (Minneapolis, St. Paul: fit in, apartments, rentals)

[back2mn]

We are looking at a relocation to MN, more specifically the far northern suburbs: Ham Lake, Andover, East Bethel Area. I grew up in the Rosemount /Apple Valley area, but really have no idea what the north side is like.
What school districts would you recommend for that part of town. I am a product of 196, and therefore have pretty high standards. Is there anything even close? We could go as far as Elk River, Blaine, Forest Lake, maybe even Ossso. Are any of those any good? I have very bright kids and so am mostly concerned with academic opportunities vs. sports/activites.
Also, what types of rentals are available up there. From looking online it looks like we may have to go to Blaine to get an apartment, but is there rentals available further north?
On the one hand I feel like I am moving "home" to MN, but on the other hand I feel like the different parts of the metro area are so different from eachother it is like moving to a whole new place.

[golfgal]

The Mounds View School district on that end of the cities is very good (includes Mounds View and Irondale High Schools). St. Michael/Albertville also has good schools.

Where are you working? How close to Minneapolis/St. Paul do you want to be?

[mn55110]

I concur with Golfgal:

Mounds View and Irondale (New Brighton)both only ten miles from downtown Minneapolis are excellent high schools in ISD #621. St. Michael - Albertville School Dist. #885 has all new schools great academics and athletics along with a growing district only 30 miles from downtown Minneapolis and 35 minutes from St. Cloud.

Osseo School District #279 is the fifth largest district in the state behind: Anoka-Hennepin District #11; Minneapolis Public Schools; St. Paul Public Schools and Rosemont Apple Valley Eagan #196 which you are very aware of. With the Osseo District stay on the west side of the district either Osseo High which is 12 miles from Downtown Minneapolis or Maple Grove High which is 16 miles from downtown Minneapolis. Students get great education in the western half of the district.

Anoka-Hennepin District #11 encompasses most or all of Anoka , Andover , Blaine , Champlin , Coon Rapids , Ramsey , Ham Lake , with parts of the following cities: Dayton , Fridley , Brooklyn Park , Brooklyn Center , and a small part of East Bethel. Most of East Bethel is in the St. Francis School District #15.

Elk River School District #728 is geographically huge stretching over 20-miles from Rogers to Zimmerman with parts of 5-counties within its attendance boundries: Sherburne County , Wright County , Hennepin County , Anoka County , and Isanti County . The best schools in Elk River are west of the Mississippi River in the communities of Rogers , Otsego and Hassan.

I strongly recommend that anyone should check each individual schools' test results on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (the MCA-II tests) on the Minnesota Department of Education website as there are great variations within the same school district. The Dept. of ED also posts the percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunches, percentage of students who's primary language is not english, and percentage of students receiving special education and related services.

Best of Luck moving back to the Twin Cities!

[1stpontiac]

back2mn, I'm in the process of moving to that general area (more like Anoka, northern Coon Rapids), myself. For rentals, if you are interesting in a house/townhome/etc make a habit of cruising craigslist and be ready to move quickly. It can be a bit frustrating, as many people don't return phone calls or emails, but I think we just scored a really nice place for a reasonable price (fingers crossed until the rental app goes through). Places come up and get snapped up quickly.

There is a large new development called The Lakes in Blaine. Its almost too new and shiny for my taste, but its got lots of sidewalks and trails and lakes and such, so I suspect it could be a pretty fun and social place to live. Check the North Bay at the Lakes for some rental townhomes:

North Bay at The Lakes

[1stpontiac]

Oh yeah, most apartments I found were listed on apartments.com, rent.com, etc. A few homes and townhomes for rent were listed on zillow.com and trulia.com, but the anoka county subsection of the MSP craigslist definitely had the most of what I was really interested in.

[GBCommenter]

My experience is from living previously in the Fridley area, having family that lived in the Blaine or East Bethel area, but having friends who previously lived in the Apple Valley area - so at the very least I've driven those areas. This is also what I'll speak to...unfortunately for this discussion I am a single guy with little experience on school district so my thoughts on schools are limited and not of much value. That said, my experience says the north suburbs have a somewhat more blue collar feel about them, not bad but more likely to be a construction worker or mechanic next door versus a cubicle worker. Both are honest work and as likely to be good neighbors but may have different interests. North suburbs may be more interested in a rural lifestyle and working on the car as opposed to living in a brand-new, shiny housing development.

Blaine along Central Avenue/Hwy. 65 will have your Super Target, Best Buy, and Chili's (among other shopping) near 109th Street. Along Central Avenue will also have your newer housing developments, both with its good and bad. Far north Coon Rapids will have Northdale Shopping area, not terribly far away and with all the shopping and suburban dining you'd expect for the area. Forest Lake seems to have more of a small town feel, but with a shopping area (interesting mix depending on if in traditional downtown or I-35 "new shopping" area - FL is very nearly exurb area versus suburb area and probably somewhat comparable to Rosemount from my experience).

Other than the slightly more rural or blue collar feel, pleasant area...(and, again, the blue collar feel has both good and bad depending on your preference. Ultimately, I'd rather live next to a mechanic or restaurant worker that tips back a beverage in a lawn chair but is sincere rather than someone with too much money and has to be completely materialistic and phony to show me how oh-so-important and sophisticated they are...)

[1stpontiac]

GBC, I've had the exact same feeling about that area having a blue-color feel, just in my limited time up there. I've got blue-collar background, so I'm looking forward to it.

[back2mn]

Thanks so much for your feedback. It is confusing to go through all of the information, but hopefully we can make a decent choice, and as long as we are in a rental for a while we aren't committed anywhere, so we can do more research.
Thanks for the tips about rentals. We aren't sure yet what exactly our budget will be, but we will definitely keep some of those suggestions in mind.
As far as the north side being blue collar, I am okay with that. We are movng from KS, not exactly a real booming metropolis, but we are actually a bit more white collar, yuppie, so we will see how we fit in. My husband and I are going to be visiting the area soon, so that will be a good time to get a feel for the area.
Thanks again for your help!

[GBCommenter]

Back2MN,

I'd suggest Blaine from your comments if you're looking to the north suburbs. With some of the newer developments (again seemingly in the area of 109th and Central (also known as Hwy. 65), that might be right up your alley. Ultimately, I think if you're friendly, civil, and outgoing you'll be fine.