Plymouth or Eden Prairie Better for a Young Family? (Minneapolis: for sale, houses)

[nicagrace]

Hello all!

I've been on this sub for a while trying to figure out which suburb to move to, and we finally secured a realtor and are starting to look seriously at the MLS listings! We found two houses we really like, one in Plymouth and one in Eden Prairie. Roughly the same price and size (the Plymouth one is in Wayzata boundaries, and EP is obviously in Eden Prairie).

Anybody have experience living in both of these suburbs, or know anybody who has? I know it's all pretty subjective! My husband and I will both be working from home (or if I end up working out of the house, it's easy for me to find work anywhere with my profession), so the commute into Mpls isn't much of an issue. My sister does live in the Lyn-Lake area, and we have friends in Diamond, so we would be going in to visit them every week or so.

Are the arts-culture scene better in Plymouth or Eden Prairie? It looks like they both have good parks and rec/community education programs, though I didn't see too much in terms of things like community theater/musicals, bands, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[SkyLark2019]

Plymouth is ideal for families.

Wayzata looked a bit pricey? Just my take on it. Passed through it a few times for work.

[Teak]

Originally Posted by nicagrace

Hello all!

Are the arts-culture scene better in Plymouth or Eden Prairie? It looks like they both have good parks and rec/community education programs, though I didn't see too much in terms of things like community theater/musicals, bands, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Plymouth and Eden Prairie are suburbs; thus, not magnets for the arts culture scene. Given that you consider that important, you should then research how quickly one can get to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul which are centres for art and culture. In that case, I think that both 'burbs are about equal.

In my suburb, there are community events like Art in the Park and summertime musical performances. There are so many suburbs packed in tight with each other that going back and forth to different events is pretty easy.

You might take a look at some of the northern suburbs: White Bear Lake, Vadnais Heights, Shoreview, New Brighton, Spring Lake Park, Fridley, Blaine, Hugo, and Centreville. All are within an easy driving distance of each other without one having to go through the packed central Metro, and provide a large variety of activities and housing options.

[wamer27]

Look at North Oaks if you want nicer place with larger more secluded yards. There’s no street lights anywhere, the entire city is actually private (without a gate) just mention you are looking to buy there and wanted to see it if ever stopped by sheriffs that wonder through occasionally. Unless you’re driving a $500 beater poking around, this shouldn’t happen. It’s an ideal location in reference to downtown Mpls, St Paul, and White Bear Lake. School district on the west side is Mounds View which is one of the best in the state. The east side is White Bear school district. Homes go in the $800k to $3m currently for sale.

[Camden Northsider]

I'm guessing you're not open to living in the core city, but if you're planning to drive into South/ SW Mpls every week to visit friends and family, why are you not at least looking at highly popular, closer-in suburbs adjacent to these areas (i.e. St. Louis Park, Richfield, Edina, Golden Valley, etc.)? When your sister inevitably asks you to house-/pet-/baby-sit while they're away, you may curse having to drive in that far.

I think people sometimes believe that further out suburbs will have more of a 'small town' feel, but all of the suburbs feel, well, pretty suburban. And somewhat counterintuitively, some of the closer-in suburbs might actually feel more like a small town than sprawling places like EP and Plymouth.

Have you considered Hopkins? They have a *real* downtown area that is thriving and home to the Hopkins Center for the Arts, which hosts Stages Theatre, concert series, and other events. Hopkins' school district is doing some pretty great things as well- we have friends that moved to Minnetonka (in part for Minnetonka schools) who later decided to send their kids to Hopkins schools instead.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that Plymouth and EP are both perfectly nice places, but given the priorities you've referenced in this thread, I am not following the logic of these choices (but assume you are heavily weighting the perception of prestige w/their school districts).

[57special]

They are both more alike than different. Two large suburban cities, with nice parks, reasonably safe, just about every big box store you can imagine, large Community/ Rec Centers and facilities. They both tend to be be populated by families.

I wouldn't say that either stands out in terms of culture, but they are close enough to the cities that you can drive in and see concerts, shows, exhibits.

While I am sure that there are artistic people living in both places, that is not their raison d'etre. They are typical suburban cities that you'd find outside just about big city in America. If you want artistic, or funky, or both, you'd probably want to be moving into the city.