Walkable, kid friendly areas with good schools (Minneapolis, St. Paul: homes, neighborhoods)

[whereshouldImove12]

I am relocating to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area from Milwaukee. My wife and I have a 2 year old. We are looking for a community that is walkable (coffee, groceries, bakery, etc) with good schools. In Milwaukee that means a suburb because of the schools. We can already tell there are nice walkable areas in St. Paul and Minneapolis with a well maintained older housing stock, but are there any suburbs like this? Or are the schools good?

I will be communiting from St. Paul.

If anyone is familiar with Milwaukee, we currently live in the northshore area (Shorewood) and we would like to replicate that.

Thanks

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm not as familiar with the St. Paul neighborhoods (there are certainly plenty of neighborhoods that fit your list in Minneapolis), but the good thing about local schools is that there are also many very, very good public schools in city neighborhoods (including some that are some of the best in the state), so no need to move to a suburb for schools alone.

The Mac-Groveland area has a reputation for being very family-friendly and walkable. Not sure about schools there, but given the high percentage of families in the neighborhood affiliated with the local universities (and therefore demonstrably committed to the value of a good education!) I would guess that the odds are good that the local schools ARE good. When looking at scores (especially at the high schools) in the urban districts make sure you know what's going on with the school as a whole -- this is true with any school, but I think it's especially true in the city schools that average test scores are, for practical purposes, almost entirely irrelevant, as there are often multiple tracks or programs existing within the school.

There are also many excellent magnet schools in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, although of course with no guarantee that you'll get a spot.

[MplsTodd]

I've been to Shorewood, I think I ate dinner in their downtown area a few years ago with some of my Milwaukee friends. In addition to Mac-Groveland, or Highland Park, I'd also suggest the St Anthony Park neighborhood which is southwest of the UofM-St Paul campus along Como and has lots of interesting older homes and a nice business district. I'm not too acquainted with St Paul public schools though. You could also consider SW Minneapolis (Kingfield, Linden Hills) an area which has very solid schools (or in the case of Washburn HS, a substantially improving school), or suburbs like White Bear Lake or Stillwater.

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by whereshouldImove12

We can already tell there are nice walkable areas in St. Paul and Minneapolis with a well maintained older housing stock, but are there any suburbs like this? Or are the schools good?

Yes, Stillwater, Hopkins, Edina, White Bear Lake are nice, walkable and good schools

[whereshouldImove12]

Thanks for the responses. It looks like we might prefer St Paul or Minneapolis neighborhoods, nice to know they have good schools. We are looking to spend around 300 to 350k for a modest to above average home (more than one bath and 3 or more bedrooms). Any neighborhoods we are priced out of?

[Piglet99645]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I'm not as familiar with the St. Paul neighborhoods (there are certainly plenty of neighborhoods that fit your list in Minneapolis),

I'd love to read this list if you have time to share your thoughts. Thanks.

[west336]

Linden Hills, Kenwood or even Fulton neighborhoods of Minneapolis quickly come to mind -- older turn-of-the-century homes right next to Lakes Harriet or Calhoun. But as with Milwaukee (which I believe is 2nd in the Midwest in terms of median home values), $350K can only get you so far. You may have to sacrifice size or distance to amenities if you want to live in the n'hoods I provided, so just be flexible. Check www.zillow.com too to get an idea of prices in areas, once you have them pinned down.