Downside of the Lakeville, Prior Lake, Burnsville Area? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: cul-de-sac, apartments)

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I am working towards moving to the Twin Cities next year. I brought the wife up to neighborhood shop this past weekend. We searched across the entire south suburbs and ex-burbs from Woodbury to Chaska and as far south as Elko-New Market. The criteria were good public schools, big name stores with in 15 min, wooded lots, activities for adults and kids, and employment opportunities with less than a 20 minute commute. Before our trip we researched housing prices, unemployment rates, job postings, school ratings, and school district boundaries.

After visiting the area, her top choices are Lakeville, Burnsville (West of I35), and Prior Lake. What are the downside of those areas that are not apparent at first glance? Are there any developing issues that may cause those areas to be undesirable? (i.e. water quality issues, new hazardous waste dumps being planned or previous ones being sodded over and used for new construction, recent movement of gangs or drug cartels into an area, poorly constructed new homes...)

[Pisces69]

I've lived in Lakeville. You can get a lot of space for your money. And public schools are good, they say. Those are the pros.

Downside of Burnsville/Lakeville is it has your typical winding, directionless curvilinear roads through endless sprawling subdivisions built on top of what was once farmland. I find this layout extremely stressful (and this layout makes it nearly impossible to walk or bike anywhere of importance). Just running errands and getting groceries involves so much stressful driving, that I couldn't stand it there. I still get lost driving around there.

I live in Roseville now which is on the grid system. I'm 8 blocks to one grocery store and 8 blocks to another. I can walk or drive to the store and it's a short enough trip where I don't mind doing it every day. I'm also adjacent to Minneapolis and St Paul. Personally, I much much prefer these qualities to the Lakeville / Burnsville / Apple Valley / Eagan area. Check out Get Your Walk Score - Find Walkable Apartments and Rentals for more details.

As far as crime, there's stash houses and methamphetamine production just about everywhere; however, I haven't heard of any gangs in Lakeville.

The south suburbs I prefer are parts of st louis park, edina, and mendota heights.

[golfgal]

If you like the areas there really aren't any downsides. If the area in Burnsville you are looking at is in the Burnsville district, I would avoid that area personally. The Lakeville schools and Prior Lake schools in the Prior Lake District are better. Downside to Lakeville is that activity fees are very high there because of budget cuts--depends on if that makes a difference for you or not.

There is a large transit station in Lakeville if you are commuting into Minneapolis or St. Paul so that is nice if you don't want to drive. As for the rest of your concerns, not an issue.

[eluko]

There's parts of the west side of Burnsville I wouldn't recommend. The area around Co Rd 5 between Hwy 13 and Burnsville Pkwy is a little run down compared to the rest of the "south of the river" suburbs.
And yeah the street layout is indeed atrocious. There's very few east-west connections in Burnsville and the "curvy for no reason" roads make it a hassle to navigate. County Rd 42 becomes a parking lot at certain times of the day - even with its 6 lanes.

[QuietBlue]

If you have a choice, I'd favor the other two school districts over Burnsville, as they are better overall. Otherwise, though, I'd say those suburbs are good fits based on what you're looking for.

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by Pisces69

I've lived in Lakeville. You can get a lot of space for your money. And public schools are good, they say. Those are the pros.

Downside of Burnsville/Lakeville is it has your typical winding, directionless curvilinear roads through endless sprawling subdivisions built on top of what was once farmland. I find this layout extremely stressful (and this layout makes it nearly impossible to walk or bike anywhere of importance). Just running errands and getting groceries involves so much stressful driving, that I couldn't stand it there. I still get lost driving around there.

Interesting point about the curvy roads. I think one reason they were implemented in newer suburbs is to calm traffic. I've never really heard anyone take issue with it though. But I can imagine how that would be a hassle.

[Pisces69]

Originally Posted by Globe199

Interesting point about the curvy roads. I think one reason they were implemented in newer suburbs is to calm traffic. I've never really heard anyone take issue with it though. But I can imagine how that would be a hassle.

If you are interested, I found this link that has additional information: National Geographic | New Suburb?: Sprawl vs. "Smart Growth"

Sprawl:

* Subdivision street networks and retail and office parking lots often connect only with a wide, pedestrian-unfriendly collector road. A result: quiet subdivisions, gridlocked main roads.

* Residents need a car for even the simplest errand.

* Streets designed for easy driving—wide lanes, vast cul-de-sacs, few and wide intersections, few trees or buildings that block lines of sight—may encourage speeding, endanger pedestrians, and discourage walking and bicycling.

* Subdivision streets often twirl back on themselves or dead-end, confounding even the best sense of direction.

[Globe199]

* Residents need a car for even the simplest errand.

This is one of the biggest reasons we bought a house where we did. I was tired of having to get in the car for every little thing.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Globe199

* Residents need a car for even the simplest errand.

This is one of the biggest reasons we bought a house where we did. I was tired of having to get in the car for every little thing.

Yes, it's nice being able to walk to the coffee shop, pick up a couple things at the grocery store, walk to the bank, walk to the dr's office, walk to the kids' school, etc.---oops, we live in the suburbs--how on earth are we able to do all that with our windy roads??

[Globe199]

I wasn't talking about Rosemount because I haven't lived there. All I know is, I used to live in a newer, suburb-like area of St Paul. Almost nothing was in biking/walking distance. It reminded me of when I lived in Shorewood and worked in Eden Prairie -- cut off from everything.