Considering a move to Ham Lake (Minneapolis, Coon Rapids: renting, day care, how much)

[Don1976]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are thinking about moving to Ham Lake. We currently live in Maple Grove with our six month old daughter. We're looking at Ham Lake because we want a big, wooded lot with some privacy (we couldn't afford such a lot in Maple Grove). We have a few questions about Ham Lake and would really appreciate any thoughts/information.

1) School district - Is Anoka-Hennepin a good school district? We've heard good things about McKinley elementary, but mixed reviews about Blaine HS.

2) Raising kids - We like the big, secluded lots in Ham Lake, but we still want to make sure that our daughter has friends in the neighborhood to play with. Is Ham Lake a good place to raise kids? Are there enough other kids around so that our daughter can make friends in our neighborhood (without having to drive several miles, etc)?

3) Day care - Are there many home day-care providers in Ham Lake?

4) Commute to Minneapolis - My wife and I both work in downtown Minneapolis. We plan to bus into Mpls from the 95th Ave park and ride. Do you know how long this commute takes? Is there generally enough room on the bus or do people have to stand?

5) Septic and well systems - Was it hard to adjust to the well water and septic tanks? Do these require much maintenance? Is the well water safe to drink (for adults and infants/children)?

Thanks very much for your help! We appreciate it!

- Don

[golfgal]

I can't answer all of your questions but the Anoka-Hennepin schools have been in financial troubles for years. They are not one of the better districts in the area but there are worse districts too. Ham Lake is a pretty area.

I am not a fan of well water but with the various water conditioning systems available you can minimize the "well" smell and taste. You do need to be careful about the amount of iron in the water and your plumbing fixtures but a water softener and iron out salt help a lot. I would get a bottled water system if I had well water-just can't stand the taste of it.

[Kebinminn]

Anoke Hennepin is the biggest district in the state I believe. They have some better schools than others, not sure about specifically Ham Lake. I think it's hard to judge as a district as awhole since it does cover such a large area.

There are a lot of kids in the area, I would be surprised if it were a problem. Since there's kids there will be day care providers.

Well water is safe. I imagine it could be a problem if you have a lot of chemicals leech into your well but well water as a whole is fine. My parents have it, I don't mind it at all. They did have to replace something on theirs but it was old, I don't know how much maintence they generally need.

[Don1976]

Golfgal and Kebinminn - thank you both for your replies!

[Norsky1]

From Ham Lake to the 95th P&R you are looking at about 10-15 minutes with traffic (maybe less depending on where you are residing) and the bus ride from 95th to downtown is around 25 minutes during rush hour. I can't tell you if the buses are crowded, but it looks like they run a lot more up there now they put in a parking ramp to suit more vehicles.

I have well water and wouldn't want the city chemical, or I mean water. Get a water softener that takes care of clear iron and it will be fine. I have a friend that lives in Ham Lake and he has good water from his well too.

[Libby01]

Daycare location-
Perhaps you already deal with this issue, but you might want to carefully consider your daughter's daycare location. When our kids were in daycare and both husband and I worked downtown Mpls, we opted to have our children close to our work, rather than close to home. The rush at the end of the day to get to the daycare before it's closed, when dealing with mass transit or traffic is pretty darn stressful. Plus, when kids are really young, they often are sent home for fever or other sickness symptoms and you have to pick them up in the middle of the day. This can be really tricky when dealing with limited times for mass transit to some of the outer areas.
Just something to consider as you move further out, while still working downtown.

[Don1976]

Norsky1 - Thanks for the info on the bus line and the water!

Libby01 - You make a good point about daycare location. Appreciate your thoughts!

[bgaga]

Originally Posted by Don1976

Norsky1 - Thanks for the info on the bus line and the water!

Libby01 - You make a good point about daycare location. Appreciate your thoughts!

I personally have lived in Ham Lake for the past 10 years and we love it!

School district - depending where you live your children will either be in Anoka-Hennipen or be in the Forest Lake school district (north eastern part of ham lake)
McKinley elementary is a great little school but there is a lot of crowding. If you live on the west side of highway 65 your children will attend either Andover Elementary or Rum River.

Blaine High school is an OK school, Andover is better.

Most of the lots here are quite large! at least 1/2 and acre.
Southern Ham Lake is more expensive than northern, The houses are older in the northern section but you do get large tree and bigger lots.
200k for northern HL and 300-500k for southern HL newer homes.

Ham Lake has about 4 parks for kids to play, along with baseball complexes and a skate park.
Coon Lake Beach in east bethel (north of HL) has a great public beach. There is also public fishing and boat launch on Ham Lake for fishing and swimming!
We have a burger king, dairy queen and 2 subways.
There is also a local small market with all the essentials but very expensive.

As far as daycare goes there are a lot of daycare facility's in and around ham lake.

Well water is pretty gross, its okay for bathing and running through the sprinkler and cooking with but not for drinking. You have to get used to the smell as well.
I recomened buying a water cooler like at offices and buying a 5 gallon jug (100 dollars for the cooler and about 2 dollars for a 5 gallon jug every week.)
Otherwise a good filter on the tap would be OK.

Hope I have helped!
Good luck on your house hunt!

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Hi Don,

I live in Andover which is closely related to Ham Lake. I’m on 2 acres that backs up to a park.

1) School district – It’s a mixed bag. Blaine has the whole spectrum of students in all income classifications. Your parenting skills and their involvement will have EVERYTHING to do with how well they do. If you toss them in school and assume the teachers will be the motivators, they will turn out average. I’m not impressed with average nor should you be. The district took a big hit in revenue this past year. The district has a lot of areas that have their unfair share of “higher maintenance” kids (foreign languages, learning disabilities etc). Those resources do drain all of the schools in the district.

2) Raising kids – The key is to make sure you are not locked into a development that has busy roads that you need to cross to get to the next neighborhood. In average, there is a smaller number of Kid’s on big lots. It’s a trade-off.

3) Day care – Assume you have plenty of choices.

4) Commute to Minneapolis – Not sure.

5) Septic and well systems – Your children will take Fluoride for dental reasons. Ham Lake wells are around 100 feet. Wells that are 50 feet can have more issues with smells. Sulfur is usually the biggest complaint. You are $200 away from a DIY Reverse Osmosis system. Expect to have green grass as water is free (other than the cost of electricity. Pump your septic every two years and have them closely look at the baffles. Most companies don’t bother and they break down letting sludge into the system. If those baffles are ruined, the system has had some damage. I’d predict a lot of systems have problems. The issue is the concrete baffles break down. A new Septic system is $10K-$15K and your yard would be torn up.

[NewHomesGuy]

Ham Lake and Andover are wonderful places to live, especially if you’re looking for that country feel but still conveniently close to the city.
There is a commuter rail station in Coon Rapids about 5 -10 minutes SW of Ham Lake near the Riverdale shopping centers. It’s actually the Northstar Commuter Rail Line. Very convenient ride to down town Minneapolis, takes about 20 minutes. I beleive the fare is $4.00 on the weekdays and $3.00 on weekends. There is also a plan to have another station open at Foley Blvd. Just north of 610 which is where the current bus station is.