Possible relocation Minneapolis area ...help

[TiggerStac]

what information can you give me about minneapolis area?? schools, towns, looking for in between rural and suburbs?? thanks

 

[golfgal]

First, you will LOVE our "traffic" here-which compared to Boston is like traveling on a country road . Do you know where his office is located. The REALLY nice thing about the Twin Cities, unlike a lot of areas of the country, is that it is easier to list the bad school districts then the good. Usually when you see posts like this here people can rattle off 3 or 4 districts to get into, here there are 3 or 4 to avoid, the rest are all excellent. Figure out where his office is and we can go from there.

 

[TiggerStac]

.

 

[Explodo]

What the above poster said...with this addition,

Minneapolis is a very nice city, much more user friendly than Boston. Good schools. Excellent Arts...Wonderful places to eat.

Depending on where he's going to work, I'll let you know an opinion of what cities would be a nice fit. Which leads to another question....Do you like Urban or Suburban or Rural living?

 

[golfgal]

I sent you a PM with some detailed information.

 

[TiggerStac]

What the above poster said...with this addition,

Minneapolis is a very nice city, much more user friendly than Boston. Good schools. Excellent Arts...Wonderful places to eat.

Depending on where he's going to work, I'll let you know an opinion of what cities would be a nice fit. Which leads to another question....Do you like Urban or Suburban or Rural living?

No urban.. I grew up suburbs, we moved out to rural. Probably more rural (but not too rural, if that makes sense), still close enough to the suburbs. Thankfully the one medical specialist I would need a lot we have one that comes out this way 2 days a week from boston. So I would need to be within an hour to a childrens hospital or the like. My youngest has a rare disease that he is followed by pediatric allergist from childrens in Boston and dermatologist for and we will have to continue these (and find new ones).

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I would jump at it, because I love it there, especially St Paul. But...I love Boston, too.

So basically, I am no help, especially since I live in Texas.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide!

 

[golfgal]

No urban.. I grew up suburbs, we moved out to rural. Probably more rural (but not too rural, if that makes sense), still close enough to the suburbs. Thankfully the one medical specialist I would need a lot we have one that comes out this way 2 days a week from boston. So I would need to be within an hour to a childrens hospital or the like. My youngest has a rare disease that he is followed by pediatric allergist from childrens in Boston and dermatologist for and we will have to continue these (and find new ones).

I'm trying to get a little more info from my husband. Location would be up to us as he would travel. Right now his furthest location is up by burlington Vt, so about 4 hours away, the rest range from 30 minutes to about 1hr 45 minute.

Ok, the information I sent in a PM is PERFECT given this information. The town I suggested is somewhat rural, yes suburban. Keep in mind we have the Mayo Clinic here, about an hour south of the Twin Cities. The special ed programs here are fantastic too. We also have 2 very good children's hospitals, one in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul, but with a rare disease I would utilize the Mayo system before the children's hospitals.

 

[Explodo]

Given your Needs, I would look in Wayzata area. Nice city in the minneapolis Exurbs. Close to Lake minnetonka...good schools...close to a ton of medical Facilities. We use the Park Nicolette medical system. Very good doc, lots of contact with the mayo clinic (My Internal Med doc is a mayo guy...as is my neurosurgeon...yeah, I've got a lot of medical issues also).

We love the area around that city...it's only about 20 minutes from downtown minneapolis...about 25 minutes from the Mall of America...about 5 minutes from Ridgedale MAll (Get used to the term "The Dales" most of the malls around here have the word "Dale" in them)

Tons of good eateries ta boot.

Also very business friendly as it's close to all the major highways.

Just My Opinion.

 

[Explodo]

Plymouth is excellent...as is Eden Prarie.

 

[TiggerStac]

Given your Needs, I would look in Wayzata area. Nice city in the minneapolis Exurbs. Close to Lake minnetonka...good schools...close to a ton of medical Facilities. We use the Park Nicolette medical system. Very good doc, lots of contact with the mayo clinic (My Internal Med doc is a mayo guy...as is my neurosurgeon...yeah, I've got a lot of medical issues also).

We love the area around that city...it's only about 20 minutes from downtown minneapolis...about 25 minutes from the Mall of America...about 5 minutes from Ridgedale MAll (Get used to the term "The Dales" most of the malls around here have the word "Dale" in them)

Tons of good eateries ta boot.

Also very business friendly as it's close to all the major highways.

Just My Opinion.

ok this made me smile....we were just talking about the mall of america this weekend and my cousin GF was saying how it would take her a whole day to get thru it and lets just say she has more of a shopping problem then I do.

Hmmm, they'd be visiting us a lot. I put $$ it my hubby uses mall of america as a selling point once he realizes where it is.


now onto the important question, how long of a flight/drive to WDW?? We normally fly, but have driven 3 times in last 6.5 years (we go about 2-3 times/year)

 

[golfgal]

ok this made me smile....we were just talking about the mall of america this weekend and my cousin GF was saying how it would take her a whole day to get thru it and lets just say she has more of a shopping problem then I do.

Hmmm, they'd be visiting us a lot. I put $$ it my hubby uses mall of america as a selling point once he realizes where it is.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking at what everyone has recommended! This is very scary situation to me, possibly packing up and moving. We were going to move to FL after I graduated college. We had place to live, I actually was offered a job at the boardwalk, but I said to myself...I just got a $100k education with $25k in school loans to pay back, I really need to try and find something in my field.

now onto the important question, how long of a flight/drive to WDW?? We normally fly, but have driven 3 times in last 6.5 years (we go about 2-3 times/year)

It's about 2.5 hours, flight and there are lots of direct flights to Orlando. We can usually fly pretty much everywhere in the US for $150 or less by buying tickets at the right time.

Oh, and from the metro area, the farthest reaches of the state are all under 4.5 hours on rural, easy, no traffic roads for the most part so travel for your DH will be simple.

 

[TwinsinCA]

Plymouth is excellent...as is Eden Prarie.

This thread is making me homesick.

Eden Prairie was just voted #1 in one of those "best cities to live in" lists. Wayzata is great. So is Minnetonka (lived there for several years as a child). If you are looking for more rural, the Chanhassen/Chaska/Victoria area is worth considering. I lived in Victoria for a while. It very much has a small town feel but is close enough to Minneapolis for the fun stuff.

 

[TiggerStac]

thank you everyone! I'm looking into all the suggestions.

Hey, it's a shorter flight (and it looks like a lot cheaper flight) to WDW then we have. It's about 3 hours for us.

 

[TiggerStac]

what about waconia?? that' has come up in a few searches i've done. foudn some houses I would def look at if we were to go for a visit.

 

[abdmom]

The Twin Cities are a 1600 mile drive to WDW.

One thing you should be prepared for is the weather difference. I've lived in rural suburban Massachusetts and rural suburban Minnesota. Minnesota does not have as much snow as Mass, but it is a heck of a lot colder. You will notice that even small houses have 3 or more garages. There's a reason for that. Minnesota schools rarely, if ever, close for weather-related issues.

What is your field? I just moved from MN last year because it was next to impossible to find a decent job in my field (science/education admin).

Be careful of stucco or any type of house, really. There have been big problems with moldy houses. Even though my house had had a thorough check for mold 6 years earlier, local buyers were very wary of my stucco house. A brick house around the corner from me had had to be torn down because of mold.

If your kids are into sports, you may want to check into hockey leagues. It's probably the biggest sport for young boys.

For schools, the one thing you will want to look at is class sizes. They vary widely at the high school level. The types of programs offered in high school as well as elementary schools vary too. Language mmersion programs are big right now. MN has open enrolment, so even if you live in one school district, you have the option to send your child to a different school district.

 

[Explodo]

It's way out there...and the roads going to and from that area are traffic plagued. Nice city no doubt...But IMO there are better offerings closer in

 

[abdmom]

what about waconia?? that' has come up in a few searches i've done. foudn some houses I would def look at if we were to go for a visit.

IMO, Waconia is too far out. It would be an hour to Minneapolis. Look at Victoria/Chaska/Chanhassen/Shorewood. Most native Minnesotans think that anything more than 20 minutes is too far from downtown.

 

[golfgal]

what about waconia?? that' has come up in a few searches i've done. foudn some houses I would def look at if we were to go for a visit.

I love the Waconia area. Given your DH's job and the travel, it wouldn't be too far out there at all. It is only about 15-20 minutes to Eden Prairie. The schools are pretty good, not as good as some in the metro mainly because of the size but they are still good. The town is on a nice sized lake too. The older areas of town tend to have larger houses on smaller lots but the newer areas are pretty much like any suburban area. We considered Waconia when we moved here but it was too far of a commute for DH every day through some bad traffic.

 

[TiggerStac]

The Twin Cities are a 1600 mile drive to WDW.

One thing you should be prepared for is the weather difference. I've lived in rural suburban Massachusetts and rural suburban Minnesota. Minnesota does not have as much snow as Mass, but it is a heck of a lot colder. You will notice that even small houses have 3 or more garages. There's a reason for that. Minnesota schools rarely, if ever, close for weather-related issues.

What is your field? I just moved from MN last year because it was next to impossible to find a decent job in my field (science/education admin).

Be careful of stucco or any type of house, really. There have been big problems with moldy houses. Even though my house had had a thorough check for mold 6 years earlier, local buyers were very wary of my stucco house. A brick house around the corner from me had had to be torn down because of mold.

If your kids are into sports, you may want to check into hockey leagues. It's probably the biggest sport for young boys.

For schools, the one thing you will want to look at is class sizes. They vary widely at the high school level. The types of programs offered in high school as well as elementary schools vary too. Language mmersion programs are big right now. MN has open enrolment, so even if you live in one school district, you have the option to send your child to a different school district.

I'm a SAHM. I just quit my job last month to stay home w/my boys and I'm loving it! I worked in long term care for the last 7 years (before that I was SAHM for about 2 years) but I've always been in health care.

I love the Waconia area. Given your DH's job and the travel, it wouldn't be too far out there at all. It is only about 15-20 minutes to Eden Prairie. The schools are pretty good, not as good as some in the metro mainly because of the size but they are still good. The town is on a nice sized lake too. The older areas of town tend to have larger houses on smaller lots but the newer areas are pretty much like any suburban area. We considered Waconia when we moved here but it was too far of a commute for DH every day through some bad traffic.

I was just looking at eden prairie. it came up when I did 20 within way... can't remember the rest of the town, sorry. I have one house saved. I told hubby be prepared I am getting nothing done in the house today. All he should expect when he gets home is feed kids and dishes done He's cooking dinner as we are grilling tonight and I don't cook on the grill.