What are 2nd and 3rd ring suburbs/stereotypes? (Coon Rapids, Lakeville: theatres, good schools)

[Robert P Stewart]

I like Lakeville (surprise, surprise). I guess you'd call us a 3rd/4th ring suburbs, but there's many reasons we were voted 4th nicest place to raise a family in the country.

We're fairly middle to middle-upper class. Good schools, good public works, decent restaurants, theatres, etc.

The people around here are some of the friendlist anywhere - I mean, they put up with me - and that says a lot!

Robert

[mudmuffin]

I live in the east metro and I've never heard the term "MapleHood".

Aside from some of the obvious stereotypes stated before there is one thing that you may not notice.... There are a good number of extremely wealthy people in both the east and west metro that don't feel the need to flaunt their wealth like they do in L.A.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Coon Rapids and Anoka are where I grew up and there is definitely some truth to the people being white trashy, although moreso in Anoka and places like Elk River/St. Francis/Cambridge than Coon Rapids.

I'm not sure I agree with the comment by ThatOneGuy though. Drug problem in the Northern burbs? The only place I've heard of rampant drug use up here is Isanti. Sure there are meth labs here and there but not to the point where I would tell everyone to stay away. Pretty harsh man. I wouldn't call the schools up here bad, although I wouldn't call them great. They are historically overcrowded and it has been the poorest school district in the state of Minnesota, I'm not sure if that stands today though.

Back to stereotypes though...

Edina = cake-eaters

that's pretty much all you need to know.

[chilaili]

Highland on the St Paul side is predominantly Jewish too and has a nice small-town feel to it, but is also fairly upmarket. You forget you're part of the city there. The Grand Avenue area is known mostly for its student population, thanks to the various universities located nearby, and funky shopping areas. Summit Avenue is a very old and affluent neighbourhood.

Downtown St Paul was notoriously dead after 5pm and at the weekends - most people who lived there commuted out of the city or worked in the government and office buildings in downtown and then went home to the suburbs.

Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Wayzata are definitely the "in" places if you have bags of money.

[mudmuffin]

"Highland on the St Paul side is predominantly Jewish too and has a nice small-town feel to it, but is also fairly upmarket. You forget you're part of the city there. The Grand Avenue area is known mostly for its student population, thanks to the various universities located nearby, and funky shopping areas. Summit Avenue is a very old and affluent neighbourhood."

As a resident of St. Paul I have to say this...

All of St. Paul has more of a neighborhood feel to it than Mpls. does. It's basically a blue collar city.

Don't know where you got the idea that Highland Park is mostly Jewish, it's not. There is a synagogue (? sp) there but there is also one on Summit. As for Grand Ave being mostly students, again you're mistaken. People of all ages live on Grand Ave. Rental housing is only a portion of the housing on Grand and as most of the homes go for over $300,000, not many students can afford to buy or rent one. As for Summit being an old an affluent neighborhood...Yes there are victorian mansions there but most of the weathy people in St. Paul don't live on Summit. Btw, some of the homes in the blocks near Summit cost just as much as those on Summit.

As far as St. Paul being dead after 5, there is some truth to that. Part of the problem is that one former mayor thought it would be nice to tear down a lot of the older buildings to promote business. There used to be 3 nightclubs downtown but they are all closed now. There is a lot of housing in downtown, I think more than there is in Mpls. The area around the Ordway, LandMark Center, Civic Center (Excel) and St. Paul Hotel has quite a lot of activity around it in the evenings.

[chilaili]

Well, I guess the 10 years I lived in St Paul (5 in Highland!) don't count for anything, which is a shame because I absolutely loved living in Highland.

[Robert P Stewart]

You know, there are so many people in the area that you're both right. I know a ton of jews in that area. I know a bunch of gentiles there too.

Yes, there are a ton of students in the area. I own some rental properties near there and my renters are students.

There is so much great stuff down there that different people come away with different impressions based on what they choose to see. Both of you are correct. I'm having lunch on Grand at Sagi-Ya's today. I find it interesting that fish becomes more expensive when you DON'T cook it,

Strange

Ya sure, ya betcha,

Robert

[mudmuffin]

Highland park has a population of about 23,000 so to say that it is predominantly jewish is not correct but considering that the temple at Fairview and Edgcumbe is orthodox, lots of families live within walking distance of it. The area next to Highland (Mac-Groveland) also has about 20,000 people in it. I've lived in the area for about 18 years.

Robert P. Stewart, I'm noticing a trend in landlords who no longer want to rent to students because of a couple things. First they don't want the damage or the noise in their buildingsand complaints from neighbors and second they don't want to rent to someone who can't be held legally responsible for damages or unpaid rent.

[mudmuffin]

Btw, they have good food there. I've never had the sushi though.

[chilaili]

Wikipedia's description of Highland Park: "Highland Park became the city's primary Jewish neighborhood after most of the Jewish population moved from the Summit-University neighborhood in the mid-1900s, and it is home to most of the city's synagogues." (Plus a yeshiva.) If that's not correct, you guys might want to update it. . And don't flame me - I'm just saying.

Re food: are Punch and the Highland Grill still there? Now those places did good food!