Job & Development trends (Minneapolis, Bloomington: rent, townhome, job market)

[EaganRenter]

We rent in Eagan, MN. We are planning to buy a Townhome or a Single Family home. We have decided to look in Eagan, Rosemount, Eden Prairie, Bloomington or St. Louis Park area.

I contract in the software industry. The employment opportunities are concentrated heavily in the North-Western portions of the Metro plus the I-494 corridor (Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Plymouth..). Except a few major employers in Eagan & Airport area, I don't think there are plenty of employers in the south.

Rosemount seems to be a good fit - with a great school district and quiet life style. The YMCA SouthWest is pretty good for family/kid activities. Dakota County library system is not that bad too. One big drawback - long commute to work. It seems to be so far away from everything else. Commuting to areas that abound with job opportunities would become little long.

Do my assessments sound valid? Which part of the Metro do you think have plenty of software programming opportunities?

I appreciate all comments and suggestions. Thanks.

[golfgal]

The commute to the airport area is about 20 minutes with normal workday traffic along Cedar Ave. I have gone from Rosemount to Eden Prairie--169/Bren Ave office complex area if that helps, leaving Rosemount at 8:00 am, took me 30 minutes one day and an hour the other day--still don't know why the traffic was so bad the one day. With such easy access to Cedar Ave and not having to go through all the lights in Apple Valley on Cedar, Rosemount is actually a pretty easy commute, way easier then Lakeville.

[EaganRenter]

golfgal: Thanks for your reply. Yeah traveling 494 I have often wondered why the traffic is so good on some days. What do you think about the trends in the job opportunities in the Metro area?

[golfgal]

Last statistic I heard was that the unemployment rate in the metro area was around 2.6% or somewhere around there. If you want a job, you will find a job is basically what that means. I really can't answer you specifically because I am not familiar with the software industry other then the fact that it costs about $50 for each computer game my kids want .

Some other information about Rosemount--they are breaking ground this spring, I think, on a new library and they have some pretty major redevelopment plans in the works for downtown and the UMore Park area on the east side of Rosemount. They just got a donation from the oil refinery of land to build a sports complex on the north side of town just this past week. They also just completed some major additions to many of the Rosemount schools and these are all good signs of a financially healthy community.

We have lived in or spent a lot of time in pretty much every area of the state and Rosemount is rapidly becoming my favorite place to live.

[midwest456]

Where you would look for IT work would depend on the languages and technologies you specialize. You can see what specific companies are looking for on craigslist, dice.com etc. as well as their own jobs page on the company sites (what technologies the companies use on their own websites might also be a clue in some but not all cases). If you can join some users groups around the cities or do other networking then you will have a lot of people to ask about this as well as where trends are going.

[Frozen Cane]

I'm not in IT, but when it comes to the job market, it really depends on the field you're in. I just left MN for FL last month because I couldn't find a job that paid enough to cover basic living costs in the Twin Cities and I looked for two years.

I did find something after 9 months and it worked for a while, but rents went up and even though I had been with the same company for a year on the same job, I couldn't move up depsite many applications and interviews. I'm in the financial services industry, which is over supplied with experienced workers in MN due to the presence of several company HQs.

The latest unemployment figures for MN are 3.6% (Nov. 2005), up from 3.3% in the previous quarter. The total number of people employed in the state has not risen much since 2005 and a few months have seen net job losses. Large scale payoffs, such as at Northwest, Ford, and Piper Jaffray haven't helped.

But again, it all depends on your industry. A large number of IT programming and support jobs in Minneapolis are currently filled by a certain group of people (just check out City Center at 5:00 to see what I mean) and this has made it harder to break into that field.

However, you are correct that the northwest suburbs (I lived in Plymouth for 17 months) and the Eden Prarie/Bloomington/Eagan areas are hotbeds for technology companies. Those will be your best bet.

[midwest456]

<But again, it all depends on your industry. A large number of IT programming and support jobs in Minneapolis are currently filled by a certain group of people (just check out City Center at 5:00 to see what I mean) and this has made it harder to break into that field.>

Are you talking about H1B visa workers?

[EaganRenter]

Thanks for your replies.

golfgal: Yeah, Rosemount appears promising. The more I research the more I feel better about Eagan :-) and am not looking at Rosemount anymore - personal choice.

Midwest456: That is a good idea about joining the user groups. As far as languages and technologies go, looks like the IT contracting market is robust. Haven't heard anything negative yet.

Frozen Cane: Boston Scientific is laying of some folks now :-( Thanks for validating my thoughts on the areas. Plymouth is a big area, and thye travel times, from the western portions of the city to other parts of Metro, can get longer. That is one point against Plymouth.

[Bhaalspawn]

Originally Posted by Frozen Cane

But again, it all depends on your industry. A large number of IT programming and support jobs in Minneapolis are currently filled by a certain group of people (just check out City Center at 5:00 to see what I mean) and this has made it harder to break into that field.

Are you saying that the jobs are being filled by H-1B and L-1 visa-holders? Why not just come out and say that if that's what you mean? That's my guess, but "a certain group of people" could refer to a wide variety of groups of people.

If it's true that federal government policies are working to the detriment of otherwise middle class Americans (perhaps now unemployed, underemployed, and/or vomitting at the thought of having thrown four years of college and tuition money down the drain), then Americans deserve to know that.

[midwest456]

Yep. Now they are finding Indian workers too "Expensive" and this St Paul company is ditching several hundred Americans to hire Filipino developers:

http://www.startribune.com/154/story/1039519.html (broken link)