North Oaks for young family? (houses, landscaping, neighborhood)

[mplsdad]

Hi,

We are out and about looking at houses in different spots in the metro, and our realtor brought us to a fixer-upper in North Oaks. Anybody have any insight on living in North Oaks with a young family? Wikipedia tells me that the avg age is 53 years old, which is considerably higher than the other cities I have looked at. Just wondering if there aren't many young families living in that city anymore and if it is worth looking into more. We like all of the trees, hills, nature within the city, but not sure if there will be much in the way of young families or if this is becoming an ageing community.

Thanks!

[golfgal]

I would say it's not the best place for a young family. You probably won't have many young kids in the area. It's more of a "retiree" type place.

[mplsdad]

Good to know, thanks.

[Kayekaye]

I guess the area grew up with me, but I found a lot of families and it was a nice place for families. But within the school district you will find a lot of nice families that are only 5 minutes away. Neighbors aren't that close to begin with in North Oaks because many of the lot are so isolated you don't just run into people outside a lot. The nearby parks are full of young families. I wouldn't be afraid of it at all. A fixer upper sounds like a good idea if you can afford it. You will certainly get your money out of it and live in a beautiful safe place.

[davephan]

North Oaks used to be a gated community decades ago. North Oaks does have an over population of deer. You might have problems with gardens, landscaping, and trees damaged by the deers.

Dave

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm not very familiar with North Oaks so no useful info there, but FWIW -- while it's wonderful to have other young kids on your block for your child to play with (and other parents to talk to during the day, if you are a stay-at-home parent), you may not find it to be a make-or-break issue when it comes to buying the house. Our block has TONS of kids, but I've noticed that once they start to hit elementary age I don't see them nearly as often; they become busier with school, with sports, with camps and other activities during the summer, have more friends who live outside of the immediate neighborhood, and just generally aren't as limited by their neighborhood geography. And someone made a good point about with the lots being so large and so private it's not as likely that they're just going to look out the window, see the neighbor kids outside playing, and pop out the front door, anyway. North Oaks is near other areas that do have lots of kids, so if you're looking for other young families you probably won't have to go too far.

[Kayekaye]

It still has a gate house and if you are driving around in there you will be stopped and asked who you are going to see. I had many doings there with foreign exchange students and was stopped a couple times even though my car was just a few years old and I wasn't speeding. They have a tight watch on things there.

[ocsid]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

It still has a gate house and if you are driving around in there you will be stopped and asked who you are going to see. I had many doings there with foreign exchange students and was stopped a couple times even though my car was just a few years old and I wasn't speeding. They have a tight watch on things there.

Correct. While it's not completely gated, like say, Bearpath, North Oaks, while a city, is considered a private community, meaning that all the roads are private roads, and if you're driving through there w/o permission, you're trespassing.

[HiFi]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

but I've noticed that once they start to hit elementary age I don't see them nearly as often; they become busier with school, with sports, with camps and other activities during the summer, have more friends who live outside of the immediate neighborhood, and just generally aren't as limited by their neighborhood geography

I believe that is when they discover video games and the internet, wont see them out playing after that.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by HiFi

I believe that is when they discover video games and the internet, wont see them out playing after that.

There are kids playing outside all the time in our neighborhood. When our kids were younger, they never lacked for kids to play with in the neighborhood. They were always playing kickball, various tag games, riding bikes, playing basketball, etc. Some kids down the street have "full-court" basketball set up in their driveways-across the street from each other. It's fun to watch them too.