L.A. to Minneapolis, LOTS of Questions (Eagan, Eden Prairie: apartment, rental)

[Corneeeeelius]

My girlfriend and I, both in our mid-twenties, are moving to Minneapolis next Spring. School for her, work for me. We've done a lot of research on the Twin Cities, but still have quite a few questions. I stumbled upon these forums from a search result, and the threads that I've read so far seem to be filled with helpful posters.. so I figured it was a good place to try to find answers.

1. We're looking into renting a house or a large apartment somewhere in the suburbs. From what I've read, it seems like Eden Prairie is a terrific place to live, and that Edina and Minnetonka are also great. Are there any great places to live that don't get the same sort of press?

2. Forgive the ignorance of this question, but - we pay $1400 at the moment for a smallish 1-bed 1-bath. We've found full 3-or-4-bed houses for $1400 a month or cheaper. While the optimist in me is excited about this, the skeptic in me is wondering if there's something I'm missing. Are there certain things we should be wary of when it comes to finding a place in Minneapolis? Or is it really possible for us to find a terrific house for the same price as our crappy L.A. apartment?

3. Commute isn't a huge issue for us (we're used to the worst), but I was curious. I've heard that for most of the suburbs, heavy traffic will yield a 30-minute trip to downtown. Is that as bad it's going to get? Or are those exaggerations?

4. I grew up in Vermont (and was actually born in MN) - where I grew up, a snowstorm would render highways unusable or dangerous for days at a time. But the people I've talked to in Minneapolis have told me that it's not much of an issue. Does "not much of an issue" really mean working from home during a storm, or does it mean that plows are out at all hours during the winter?

5. We're aware of the terrific culinary scene in Minneapolis, but one of our concerns is that moving from L.A. will deprive us of good ethnic food. Are there really good, authentic Mexican/Indian/Thai/etc restaurants in Minneapolis? And if so, are they few and far between?

6. What are the larger gyms in the area? Are gyms frequent in the suburbs, or would we have to drive a bit?

7. What are the best/worst cell phone providers to have in Minneapolis? Are there any that are especially bad in the Twin Cities area?

I think that's all I've got.. thanks in advance, so much, for the help. We're both looking forward to getting out of L.A., and living somewhere that actually has weather (me more than her, she's lived in L.A. her whole life.. the first winter should be interesting).

[golfgal]

Rental prices are less expensive here then in LA so yes, you should be able to find a nice apartment/townhome for under $1400. The places you mentioned to live are nice but will tend to be older communities,by older I mean the population that lives there. If you want a younger, more 'hip' crowd, I would suggest St. Louis Park. That seems to be the 'in' place to live for the under 35 crowd these days. If you are looking for a more family centered area, there are many, many choices.

Where specifically is your girlfriend going to school and are you going to work? That will make a big difference where you want to live.

You will NEVER see an LA type commute here, even in the worst weather. My Dad lived out near LA and had a minimum of a 90 minute commute and he was 20 miles from his job. Here if you are 20 miles out of say Downtown Minneapolis, you will probably have a 30-35 minute commute at worst.

We are expecting a foot of snow this weekend, by Monday the roads will be fine. MN is well prepared to handle the worst snowfall. Some of your city streets might not get plowed right away in the worst storms but they do an excellent job on the highways and major roads.

Ethnic restaurants, yes, there are not as many as you will find in LA but then again, the Twin Cities metro area is much smaller. Finding what you want won't be an issue.

Lifetime Fitness is huge in the Twin Cities. They are all over the place. You won't have a problem finding something close to wherever you are.

Cell phones, most people I know have Verizon. They seem to have the largest coverage area and the most towers in the twin cities. I have never had a coverage outage in the twin cities with Verizon. Sometimes in the way rural areas you will have dead spots but that would happen with all of them. Verizon just announced that they are going to start covering all phones, even if you got your phone from AT&T for example.

[lukeache]

1) There are many other good places besides Minnetonka, Edina and Eden Prairie. Eagan(where I live) is an excellent suburb, you should also consider Apple Valley, Rosemount or Lakeville. Also, there are other upscale suburbs on the West Side by Lake Minnetonka like Excelsior, Wayzata or Mound. These are my favorites!

2) You can find a nice place for $1400 but honestly, the reason why it is so much cheaper here is because it gets very cold here and no way Minneapolis-St Paul will offer what LA offers. You pay $1400 for a small apt because you are close to the ocean, you have nice weather in LA and you are close to so many things like Venice, Santa Monica, Marina del Rey(I envy you!)

3. 30 minutes to longer depending on where you are. Edina would be a good choice if you are worried about traffic because it is very close to Minneapolis.
If you choose Eagan, Apple Valley or Rosemount, you will travel a little longer but it is not a terrible commute(about 30 minutes with traffic) Traffic in and out of Eden Prairie sucks

4. Snow plows are really good here as long as you are close to the city. I have never heard of major roads or highways being closed or anything like that I feel like Minnesota does a great a job at plowing roads(in the metro area). It does not mean that driving in the snow will be easy, sometimes it can be hellish! Especially when the snow first starts to come down. I hate driving when it is snowing

5. There are quite a few ethnic restaurants here but if you are expecting LA variety. NO WAY! But for the size of the cities, it is very diverse! We have Ethiopian, Somalian, Kurdish, Thai, Peruvian, Middle Eastern, Indian etc. I don't think that will be a problem!

6. Gyms, I like Lifetime Fitness, they are all over the city and the suburbs. The YMCA is also good, many locations. You might also look into LA Fitness, they are popping up everywhere. I like Lifetime Fitness best

7. I guess, same as most of the country. Verizon, Sprint, Qwest, Cingular, T-Mobile, Nextel etc. I have Qwest, I like T-Mobile. Dislike Sprint immensely. Verizon is OK. It all depends on what you want out of service

I don't understand why anybody would want to move from LA to Minneapolis but I am looking for the exact opposite. I am seriously considering a move to a warmer place. Anyways, I honestly think you will miss California. Especially when it is 15 F like today and you could be at the beach Good luck!!

[kuan]

Verizon is the only company that has coverage on the North Shore.

We have light rail here. If I had my druthers I'd live close to light rail and the bike trails.

There is good Indian food here, good, but maybe not authentic according to the region. Good South Indian vegetarian at two places, generic North Indian buffets abound, coupla desi style cafeterias.

Thai is very mid-America Thai. No smell of the sea that hits you when the dishes come to your table, and nobody uses fresh coconut milk.

There are Taqueria style places all over the Twincities, none as good as Poquito Mas. (I'm fro LA too) There is very good Aztec food like Tlacoyos and Huaraches. This is by far my fave.

[Minnehahapolitan]

1. It depends on what sort of suburb you want. Saint Louis Park and Hopkins offer a more urban vibe, as soes alot of Edina and Richfield. Eden Prairie is a stereotypical suburb. Mtka. is very suburban, but I like it more than Eden Prairie becuse you have more natural and wooded lots. The inner suburbs have more apartment buildings.
2. I think $1400 would be the low end of a single house rent. If you are looking in Eden Prairie the quality of houses varies quite a bit.
3. Commuting is commutinmg. Most of the suburbs mentioned here have relatively quick commutes. They can vary somewhat, but a half-hour sounds about average.
4. There are plows out during snowfalls. We will be fine by Sunday. Ice is the bigger problem.
5. Ethnic restaurants are pretty good, IMO. Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue between Franklin and Lake) has tons of variety. There is at least a sampling of most everything here.
6. I'm not a gym guy.
7. T-Mobile is OK, I have heard that AT&T and Verizon are better.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

HAHA! You want to be one of those people that are stuck in a traffic jam while on the way to the gym to ride a stationary bike , don't you!!! I love that... You people crack me up..

[music7lover]

I would like to add that at times the commute can be TERRIBLE. Don't think that everything is a little 30 minute commute and traffic won't be a problem. Of course it depends on where you live in the Twin Cities, however many a time, traffic only moves at 5 mph on the main freeways during rush hour. Often it has taken me an hour to travel 12 miles if there is snow or an accident. Of course it is not as bad as LA, however the traffic here can also be very aggravating and time wasting.

There are plenty of ethnic restaurants here now too. Again, of course not as many as LA, however we do have good ethnic food of all types. There is a little of many, many cultures here. I think the main culture that is lacking is Japanese.

[Corneeeeelius]

@everyone
Thank you so much for the help and the quick answers. I have to check out St. Louis Park and Hopkins.. we're still not sure if we want a boring, quiet suburban home, or if we want to live in a hipper, younger area. And it's good to know that there's a lot of ethnic food around, and that our AT&T and Verizon service will still work.

@lukeache
I can understand the appeal of L.A., but honestly - I think the grass is just always greener on the other side. I may take the ocean and the constantly sunny weather for granted, but you have to understand how things like pollution, freeway traffic, and the lack of seasons are less than optimal. After a year of living in L.A., I guarantee you'll get depressed at the fact that nothing green around you (which there isn't much of anyways) could survive without a sprinkler system. I may miss California once I'm in Minneapolis.. all I know now is that I miss clean air and changing weather and nature.

@Icy River Vagabond
Wow, that was unnecessary. Way to stereotype. What I want is to be able to stay in shape during the winter when it's too cold to run outside. I guess there are attention-desperate trolls on every forum, huh?

[music7lover]

Originally Posted by Corneeeeelius

I can understand the appeal of L.A., but honestly - I think the grass is just always greener on the other side. I may take the ocean and the constantly sunny weather for granted, but you have to understand how things like pollution, freeway traffic, and the lack of seasons are less than optimal. After a year of living in L.A., I guarantee you'll get depressed at the fact that nothing green around you (which there isn't much of anyways) could survive without a sprinkler system. I may miss California once I'm in Minneapolis.. all I know now is that I miss clean air and changing weather and nature.

I can relate to what you are saying here. Last summer we had a very long, hot and dry spell. Everything was drying up and I was miserable. It made me realize that I could never live in a desert area. When it finally did rain here and a very heavy rain at that, I was in HEAVEN. I went biking in it and everything was so green. I was very happy when the thunderstorms came. Minneapolis got tons of rain in late summer this past year. It was lush beyond belief in August and September.

[kuan]

Originally Posted by Corneeeeelius

@Icy River Vagabond
Wow, that was unnecessary. Way to stereotype. What I want is to be able to stay in shape during the winter when it's too cold to run outside. I guess there are attention-desperate trolls on every forum, huh?

It's never too cold to run outside. Vagabond and me we did the Twincities Marathon earlier this year. He's hardcore. Forgive him today though, he's not being Minnesota nice.