Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Minnmom, the school info you provided is much appreciated. I hope you are not flammed for sending your kids to private school. After all you have to do what's best for your kids. My son is only 17 months so for the near future we don't have to worry as much about public schools. Should our stay in MPLS extend longer than 4 years then I think we will have to take a lot more things into consideration.
Tpk, I really like the idea of being yo walk places (although I might change my mind once winter hits!).
Uptown does sound like the best place for that, however it looks quite large. Can you really walk around
comfortably or do you have to be in a specific section of it? Like east isles, ecco, etc.
Thank you again everyone. My husband is so impressed with all the info I've been able to gather.
My husband and I moved to Minneapolis from San Francisco, and we had the same "wish list" as you do. I agree with most of the suggestions so far - 1st pick would be Lake of the Isles/Kenwood for the gorgeous older homes and proximity to downtown/walker art museum/parks/shops and restaurants, but would also check out areas east of Lake Calhoun/Uptown and around Lake Harriet. All have access to shops, parks, trails around the lakes and a quick commute into downtown, which I think is the best combo Minneapolis has to offer. In eastern St Louis Park, you can find shops within walking distance of some n'hoods, but they're mostly national chains (think Starbucks and mediocre restaurants).
Before deciding on a location, though, consider the schools in the area. We opted for a more urban Minneapolis n'hood, thinking we could use the "open choice" option to pick any school we wanted for our two elementary-aged children. Unfortunately, the "open choice" option is not reliable. It is next to impossible to get into the best elementary schools this way. Even if you do get in, I believe you have to reapply each year, so there is no guarantee that your child will be able to attend the same school year after year. Also, while Minneapolis has some good elementary school options (Lake Harriet considered the best, Burroughs and Barton also good), the district's funding is poor and the middle/high school options are mediocre compared to some of the districts a little further west. As an example, the best high school in the MPLS district does not have enough funds to install lights on their football field. For full disclosure, we opted out of the Minneapolis school district altogether and are currently sending our kids to private schools (I'm sure I'll get beaten up for that decision in this forum!). However, we are seriously considering a move to Edina, because it seems a bit irrational to spend $40k+ per year for two kids in elementary school when one of the top public school districts in the country (per Forbes, US News & World Report, Newsweek, etc.) is 3 miles away. We also looked at property in the Minnetonka, Wayzata and Orono school districts, which also have good reputations, but there must be too much San Francisco left in us, because those areas were just too suburban for our preferences.
So, if you're sure you'll use private schools, any of the recommended n'hoods within Minneapolis city limits are great options. However, if you think you'll want access to top notch public schools, I'd recommend a look at Edina just east of HWY 100, near 50th & France. (one caveat - I'm a typical Minneapolis transplant that doesn't know a thing about that other city east of the river (St Paul), so there are probably good options over there as well.)
Good luck!
I would say that moving to Edina would be a good choice. I have to agree, why send the kids to sub-par schools when you have the option to send them to Edina (or any of the other top districts in the state). Open Enrollment is a GREAT option if you can use it but down the road, getting the kids back and forth for various school functions can really be difficult-heck, even living near their schools can be difficult so having the option of carpools with other parents is very nice. Now, if your kids aren't blond and go to Edina, they will stick out like a sore thumb .
There might be a handful of schools that don't measure up as well as their neighbors do, but keep in mind the bar is pretty high here. For example, Richfield is an inner-ring suburb with a lot of cheap housing, and has always been perceived as a working class suburb. No one has ever mentioned the Richfield school system as "preferable" because you can get better schools and housing just a few miles away - but the High School is still above the national average for performance. Also, what runewell mentioned is more of a joke than reality - Edina is a bit snobby by Minnesota standards but you're coming into an area that is very much grounded in reality and laid back.
Honestly, I can't imagine how someone would see the OP's wish list and say Edina sounds like a good fit. It doesn't seem to fit in the least. Then again, I don't care about sports (was that my old school lacking the lights? Could be... we had a generous parental funding base, but it's true that in an urban district sports amenities are lower on the priority list than they are in a high-income district). And while I don't blame the former SF parent for choosing private or for choosing to move, I do strongly take offense to Golfgal's inference that all Minneapolis Public Schools are "subpar"; that just isn't the case. Some of the state's best high schools are in Minneapolis, although true, they don't necessarily have all the non-academic bells and whistles that you'll find in places like Edina (although they do have lots of great access to arts and culture, so don't take that to mean that I'm suggesting that city schools are only about the "basics"). On the other hand, they come with their own benefits that schools such as Edina lack.
If you do still want the city (and many of us highly educated parents who do care about school do still put our trust in the city schools, although admittedly not all of them) then check out the attendance lines on the MPS website. The Uptown area is split into a couple of zones, so there is no one school that serves the entire area, so yes, I'd agree that when it comes to buying a place in the long-run you will want to pay attention to attendance zones. I think East Isles has Kenwood for its local neighborhood school, although I'm not sure about that. I've heard good things about the school, although don't currently know anyone with kids there. I know more parents seem to be giving Whittier a try (I think it is now a pre-IB school), and so far have been pleased. In Minneapolis you really need to look at it at a school-by-school basis, but there are some extremely good schools available. And while getting into the magnets isn't a sure thing, it's a much easier process than it is in some cities. (there are some changes for the 2010-2011 school year, too, that impact school boundaries, magnet options, etc., that are outlined on the website)
Uptown as a whole is very walkable; I'd suggest living within easy walking distance (whatever you consider that to be) of Hennepin and Lake, as that's the core. The library is right by there (they have a nice toddler storytime), grocery store, tons of restaurants, stores, etc. Some parts of Uptown get noisy spillover from the bars (the Wedge seems to get hit the hardest), so you might want to consider that if you get to the point of looking at specific locations or blocks.
I don't think the OP ever gave a price range she is looking in but it seemed like her preference was to be in the city. Edina is less suburban north of 50th near France Ave but besides that it seems to me that the OP would be looking for something more in the city.
Uptown is very walkable and it's also very bike friendly. Something that people haven't mentioned is that MPLS is one of the best biking cities in the country.
Frankly, Minnesota has an anti-urban bias. People in New Jersey understand why people want to live on the UWS or in Park Slope. Many people in the Minnesota suburbs can't imagine why anyone would want to live in Minneapolis. Perhaps it's because there isn't a lot of difference between the inner-ring suburbs and edges of the city proper. The vast majority of housing the Minneapolis/St. Paul is detached, single-family houses with a yard. The houses are just a little closer together than they are in the 'burbs. Row-houses are almost non-existent and low-rise apartment are concentrated in a few areas (like Uptown, Phillips, Loring Park, and the Warehouse District).
If you can afford to live in a neighborhood like Lowry Hill (not Lowry Hill East, by the way) or East Isles, I don't think you'd be disappointed. It has all the aesthetics of suburban living, a gorgeous little lake, and is walkable/bikeable to Uptown and downtown.
Frankly, Minnesota has an anti-urban bias. People in New Jersey understand why people want to live on the UWS or in Park Slope. Many people in the Minnesota suburbs can't imagine why anyone would want to live in Minneapolis.
sadly i find this to be the case in many parts of the country...which is a bit frustrating for those of us who want to leave NY, but still maintin urban living
I don't understand why everthing urban always has to be about Uptown. Honestly, I can't stand what Uptown has become....generic, fake and gentrified. I live in the oft forgotten Northeast and absolutely love it. I live right next to the commercial area of Hennepin and Central and walk everywhere. Lund's grocery store is right in the middle of it, there are lots of restaurants, bars, cute stores and all different types of housing, from new condos, to lofts, to townhomes to detached single family homes. I work downtown and am on the bus for less than 10 minutes. I think Northeast is a lot easier access to downtown. It has a ton of parkland next to the river, amazing views of the skyline and a LOT less traffic.
Hennepin and Central is great, too (and is my second favorite urban neighborhood after Uptown), but I think the reason Uptown gets all the attention is that it still does offer more amenities in easy walking distance than anywhere else in the area. Much of Uptown is as real as it ever has been; I think people sometimes get blinded by the bars and the trendy places and forget about the real parts of the neighborhood that have always been there and continue to exist, even if ignored by the trendy crowds coming in for Chino or Stella's.
And at risk of going off on a tangent, Northeast hasn't been free from gentrification; I don't know if this bugs anyone else, but one of my big pet peeves was when the new (well, relatively speaking) Lunds came in some people (and even some newspaper articles!) talked about how "finally" the neigborhood was getting a grocery store. Given that I'd been doing my grocery shopping for several years at the old grocery store that was at the same location (perfectly adequate, although not super-sized) I thought that was highly irritating, as it seemed to imply that only upscale fancy stores count when it comes to tallying up amenities. Still, I agree that NE has managed to retail much of its historic charm and to avoid some of the annoying elements that have plagued Uptown (which I generally manage to tune out), but I still prefer Uptown because for us, anyway, it still offers more things than NE. The more the merrier, though, and I think the greater variety of livable, interesting, walkable, safe, urban neighborhoods the better. (and I loved my time spent living in that neighborhood, and miss my former nightly summer night walks across the Stone Arch Bridge, and certainly do think it deserves mention as an urban neighborhood candidate)
All that said, I didn't get the sense that NE was what the OP was looking for in a neighborhood, although it might be worth a look. It is an urban, fun neighborhood with great access to downtown, and the proximity to the river is great. There are some great housing options, too. I'm not sure what the schools in that area are like.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
