Oak Grove vs Ramsey vs Anoka (Coon Rapids, Edina: low income, rent, how much)

[HappyDisneyMom]

Hi all!

Could anyone shed some light on these areas? Just a general explanation of each if you will. Thank you!

[golfgal]

Oak Grove is very rural, very wooded, pretty area, not much around there but not too far from "stuff" either.

[HappyDisneyMom]

Can you shed some light on the whole "open enrollment" thing? Does this mean your child can enroll in schools in neighboring towns?

[Kebinminn]

Originally Posted by HappyDisneyMom

Can you shed some light on the whole "open enrollment" thing? Does this mean your child can enroll in schools in neighboring towns?

You can apply to go to any school district in the state if they have room. A few districts have closed open enrollment because they have so many come in but most are accepting applications. You're not guaranteed a spot, it depends on how much room the have. We open enroll and were waitlisted but my son got in. If you get in you're in and don't have to reapply. I did read somewhere if you left the district you enrolled from you may need to reapply but if you don't move you're fine. If you open enroll you're responsible for transportation.

I don't know anything about Oak Grove but Ramsey is a mix between very rural and an outer suburb. It has some older homes with large lots and also some new development. It's close to the cities but feels far away. Anoka is denser and historic. It has some gorgeous old homes. The population is closer together, I don't think there's much rural in Anoka. Both are reasonably close to shopping. Anoka has a downtown area, Ramsey is more spread out and, as far as I know, has no real downtown. Anoka and Ramsey are close to each other.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by HappyDisneyMom

Can you shed some light on the whole "open enrollment" thing? Does this mean your child can enroll in schools in neighboring towns?

You might find this previous thread on City-Data to be useful:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/minne...t-schools.html

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Ramsey and Anoka students go to Anoka High School. Oak Grove students go to St. Francis High School.

I live in Andover. St. Francis has a perception problem with the quality of their schools because the district "invested" in junk bonds back in the 90's. They lost the publics trust and they cannot seem to pass a levy to save their life. You will notice MLS listings touting what school district their home is in. So their is a taboo associated with St. Francis. I don't know if that perception is warranted or not.

There are a lot of beautiful homes in Oak Grove. If you move there, get inside of of one of those elementary boundaries where they have nicer homes. There is a very strong correlation with involved parents and a certain level of wealth. IMHO, on AVERAGE the kids are disciplined when they are from a motivated family. On average, 2 parent families do better raising kids than broken families. On average, broken families find themselves displaced from the nicer neighborhoods. Some may not appreciate the profiling but it's tough to argue the trends. Yes, rich parents produce awful kids and poor kids can be the best students. But the correlations are still intact.

I would be more concerned about researching the elementary schools versus the high schools. The mind is more malleable in their younger years. For instance Lincoln Elementary in Anoka has a lot of low income families. When a lot of kids from Andover were bused in (before Rum River Elementary was built in Andover) the teachers had a lot of parental involvement. Our kids went there and we were delighted until they went to Rum River when it was completed around 10 years ago. Lincoln is different in 2012. They lost a chuck of the heavily involved parents. Those students were expected to work hard and do well. The teachers miss those Andover kids.

So if you rent or buy in Anoka, get in an elementary school by the river.

Ramsey is a different area. There are older pockets (pre 80's) yet their is plenty of newer homes as well. The newer section is very analogous to Ham Lake or Andover. There are many neighborhoods that are 3000-4000 sq foot ($300K-$400K). I know that Ramsey Elementary is a great school with involved parents (I know a few teachers). But it also draws on lower income areas. So as an average, it may not look like a great school. But if you are a great parent, your child will have impressive test scores. Teachers are not bogged down with problems in the better math and reading groups.

Re: high schools. If you strictly look at averages, Anoka High School doesn't look as good as Andover. Again, follow the money. We are strictly talking about averages. There is a large subset of Anoka High School that has fantastic students. The students that are doing better in Anoka High School happen live in the nicer parts or Anoka, Ramsey, and Andover. I would say if you are an involved parent, Anoka and Andover High School are a tie. Each churn out a large number of incredible kids. But Andover High School doesn't have as many problem students (again follow the money).

Putting it another way, I don't believe that Edina is a "better" school than Anoka if you are an involved parent. Now if the school is poorly funded or if the majority of students drag down the high performers, then that is when you get an inferior school.

[1stpontiac]

Anoka has a small town feel. I've said it feels kind of like a lakes-country town that just happens to be in the Twin Cities. There are some very nice homes right along the river, lots of well-kept average-sized ramblers and such in the area between Coon Rapids Blvd and about Adams St. or so. Once you get north of there, up to and past main, the home gets a little smaller and look like they are in just little tougher shape. As others have said, there isn't the rural feel in Anoka, that you might find in the other two. In general, the residential parts of Anoka are very quiet. I suspect that's true of all three places you mentioned.

I have friends who live out near Radium St (awesome street name) in Ramsey. Seems like a nice area...newer, larger houses and larger lots than you'll find in Anoka, but you don't have the walking-distance proximity to shops and restaurants that you have in Anoka with the Downtown and Riverdale Village.

I don't know too much about Oak Grove, other than having driven through it. I'd echo what others have said about it having more of a rural feel.

I don't have school-aged kids yet, so I don't have anything to offer on that front.

[1stpontiac]

Also, if you want Asian cuisine in the area, skip the Rice Box and go to the Ginger Cafe in Ramsey

[HappyDisneyMom]

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it more than you know!!How is the shopping in Anoka? Also how are the people in Anoka? Are they down to earth, working class? And how about the restaurants, anything worth mentioning?

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by HappyDisneyMom

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it more than you know!!How is the shopping in Anoka? Also how are the people in Anoka? Are they down to earth, working class? And how about the restaurants, anything worth mentioning?

Downtown Anoka has a fun mix of little shops and stores, including clothing, antiques, shoes (I didn't know there were still large, independent shoe stores around), Amish furniture, quilts and others. Virtually everything downtown is independent, with the subway being the only chain business I can think of.

Down the road in Riverdale Village there is basically every major chain: Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond, and so forth. As well as several chain restaurants of the sit-down and fastfood variety. So, the nice thing about Anoka is you have the best of both worlds, as far as shopping options.

As far as restaurants, Truffles and Tortes has great deserts, and good salads and lighter lunch options. Miller's Anoka cafe had pretty good small-town diner food the time we went there. I know there are some other bar and grill type places right near downtown, but I haven't been to any of them. Q-fanatic, across the river over in Champlin, has been featured on food network and is pretty good (smoked chicken with the pepper-vodka BBQ sauce would be my recommendation).

The people are generally pretty blue-collar. They are motorcycle-riders and car-show attenders moreso than runners, bikers, and museum attenders, if that makes sense. Although Anoka's community theatre does seem well-supported.

Hope that help!