Moving to Minneapolis Advice Welcomed!

Hi and welcome to Minneapolis! I've lived in several areas around the Twin Cities for the last 30 years. Based on your need to get downtown to work and to the airport, I would suggest you consider Eagan to rent/buy. I lived there for almost 20 years and my daughter (5th grade) goes to school there since my ex is still there.

Downtown is about 20-30 mins by freeway (dependent on rush hour traffic, and weather conditions of course) or 20 mins by express bus. I loved taking the bus, it's so easy. The airport is about 15 minutes from most locations in Eagan.

Eagan is very family-focused with a park within one mile of every household. The schools, especially ISD 196 Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, are excellent. There are water parks, a YMCA, and many other amenities.

http://www.cityofeagan.com/live/default.aspx

My family has been happy with Eagan Valley Dental for over 20 years.
http://www.eaganvalleydental.com/ We see Dr. Mittelsteadt. The pediatricians at Park Nicollet Clinic are good.

My daughter attended daycare at the Eagan YMCA Childcare from 3 months until Kindergarten. We were happy with them and because they are attached to the YMCA she had swimming during daycare from 6 months on. The Y also has hourly daycare free for it's members.

I think you'd be happy with Eagan or the surrounding area.

We live in a NW suburb and love it but given the need for access downtown and to the airport I would highly recomend Eden Prairie/Chanhassen area. Very family friendly city with great schools. We love Wayzata Childrens Clinic which has a few locations that would work around there. We use a daycare center that we love (The Goddard School) which has a location in that area but I know there would be a ton of options for you. When we moved here we rented for 6 months so we could get to know the area and decide where we wante dto settle down. It worked great for us. We put a lot in storage (PODS) for these 6 months and then had it moved directly to the new home. You can get such a great deal on homes right now I would say to buy if you know you are going to be here for a little while. I have seen reports where it says that it can actually be more expensive to rent in MN than to own because of the demand but not sure if that is isolated to more of the downtown area or metro area as a whole. I think you would love the Eden Prairie area though. Edina is great area as well (very trendy, great shopping) but you get a lot less house for the money.

It sounds like you should start out renting until you definitely figure out where you want to be. I currently live in Eagan and would recommend it like the first poster did. My husband and I moved to Eagan from the south Minneapolis neighborhoods of Kingfield and Linden Hills mentioned by the 2nd poster so I could tell you about differences between the places if you want to PM me.

In addition to the advantages of Eagan already listed it has easy access to the light rail line to downtown Mpls. My husband also works downtown and travels a lot for work and when he is in town he parks his car at a park and ride and takes the train downtown. It's very convenient and much cheaper than parking. When he travels he can get to the airport in 15 minutes. The downside is that Eagan definitely has airplane noise, although the amount and level varies by neighborhood. South and southwest Mpls also have airplane noise and I personally would avoid living near Lake Nokomis for that reason.

My kids see a pediatrician at Park Nicollet in Eagan mentioned by the first poster. We go to a small family dentist in Apple Valley. He doesn't have the bells and whistles of a larger clinic or a specialized pediatric dentist, but I have been very happy with our care and he's good with the kids. If you end up in the south metro we also have a dog and I can recommend a vet, a groomer, kennel, dog walkers, etc. Just let me know.

There are several moms groups in Eagan and our school district has Early Childhood Family Education classes (ECFE) that I highly recommend. We belong to the southwest area YMCA in Eagan and it is very family friendly--day care, kids programs, slide pool, childcare during your workout, etc. There is also a Lifetime Fitness in town and a large waterpark. There is an indoor playground at the Community Center, which also offers a fitness center. The City of Eagan runs an excellent preschool program as do many of our local churches. There are a variety of daycare centers and in home daycare options.

Bloomington is another suburb that would offer easy access to the airport, but IMO (perhaps biased) I think our school district (#196) has a better reputation. Bloomington has an older, east side and a newer, more affluent west side.

Another possible downside to Eagan is that housing might be tight. It has a reputation of having very low turnover. People tend to stay even after they are "empty nesters." However, we do have a lot of businesses and many of their employees move, get transferred, etc. If you are open to renting a townhouse there are a variety of townhouse complexes nearby. Eagan is actually part of 2-3 different school districts. If you plan to stay until your daughter starts school I recommend #196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan).

Good luck with the move, welcome back to MN and let me know if you have specific questions.

As another SW Minneapolis dweller, I liked Kirsten's advice, but as she said, it will depend upon whether you are a city girl or a suburb girl. Armatage and Kenny are two neighborhoods that are twenty minutes from downtown without getting on a highway, and, depending on traffic, 15 minutes from the airport. If you look at these neighborhoods I would avoid renting on Penn or Xerxes, as those are busy streets.

Eagan is a nice suburb, no doubt, but it is farther from downtown. Edina is another suburban option, particularly the Eastern part (Western might be too far from airport for you). Southdale Pediatrics is a great pediatric practice. There is a popular Spanish immersion childcare called Jardin Magico (my child doesn't go there but I have heard good things about it). New Horizons is another solid day care center.

Myself, I prefer Minneapolis, because it is more central to things. Downtown and Uptown are easy to get to, and so are the first-tier suburbs, many of which have a lot of activities available.

Are you a suburbs or a city person? That is the first question you need to answer. I'm a city person, and doubt I could be happy in the suburbs, but I know there are plenty of people who are the other way around. I can give you advice on Minneapolis, but if you're a suburbs person, you can just disregard it.

Southwest Minneapolis is a great place to live. I'm in the Uptown area, where there are four official neighborhoods (in order from cheapest to most expensive: the Wedge, CARAG, ECCO, and Lowry Hill). The last three are all great places to live with children, and it is so wonderful being able to walk to parks, lakes, library, YWCA, grocery stores, bookstores, movie theatres, restaurants, coffee shops, clothing stores, salons, etc.

Linden Hills is a bit further to the south, near Lake Harriet, and is a very popular place to live with children. Lake Harriet school (Lower and Upper Campus) is a great school, and Linden Hills has tons of charm. Kingfield neighborhood is also a nice place to raise a family, and there are more good neighborhoods than just the ones I've named.

In Uptown, there are some great day cares and nursery schools (Child Garden Montessori, Grace Neighborhood Nursery School, etc.) and Fairview Uptown Family Practice Clinic is terrific. The YWCA is a great gym, with childcare. Within walking distance we have Rainbow (cheap), Kowalski's and Lunds (not cheap, but really nice), and in driving distance we've got Whole Foods, the Wedge coop, and Trader Joe's, so there are plenty of places to grocery shop. For exercise, people use the lakes a ton. I just love being able to walk a few blocks and be at a lake with walking paths (not to mention great ice cream!).