moving to Minneapolis!

[boogiemomz]

I'm a born and bred southern girl, apart from 1 year spent in the midwest a few years ago. We just found out today that DH's job will be in Minneapolis (fellowship match), so we'll move this summer. I'm excited and ready to start planning! Hit me with your favorite neighborhoods, restaurants, winter gear, cold weather survival tips, and general "I love the Twin Cities!!" stories. :)

[Kindra178]

Congrats on the move! I have never met anyone who doesn't love living in the Twin Cities, weather notwithstanding. People are really outdoorsy in all kinds of weather. There are great restaurants that are reasonably priced. Housing is also relatively reasonably priced. The population is apparently one of the most educated in the country in terms of degrees. My SIL and BIL lived there for a couple of years and they didn't want to come back to Chicago. They would move back there in a second.

For cold weather, invest in warm boots (La Canadienne, Keen, Kamik, Sorel, etc) , warm coats (Patagonia and Lands End are my favs), extra hats and gloves (love cheapy Old Navy performance fleece) and you will be fine.

[snowbunnies300]

You will be amazed at how much we can pack into a summer!!! There is something to do every.single.weekend. that is family orientated. Lot of walking paths, parks, rec programs. Walking around lakes, biking, running these are activities that are done year round up here. Not to mention winter activities (St. Paul Winter Carnival). The shopping is great for pretty much anything you are looking for. Many different resturants, music venues, farmers markets. Most people are very surprised at the ammenities that we have in the Twin Cities.

Winters have been mild lately. But if you are not use to snow I would recommend chosing a home where you have ample off street parking. Many cities have snow emergencies wherein after a large snowfall you can only park on one side of the street until plowed then then the other. Many people wake up in the morning to find their vehicle(s) have been towed and now you are out $300 + to get it out of the impound. The news announces these snow emergencies but every time the tow trucks are out and the city is making a lot of money on people who forgot to move their vehicles or played chicken hoping they would be gone for work before the plow came by.

On the subject of vehicles ~ well we love them here. We do have public transportation but not to the level of other cities. Traffic has gotten worse over the years but knowing side roads helps.

When renting after college and before marriage I lived in Hopkins, Minnetonka, Maple Grove, New Brighton and Eagan. So I covered West, Northwest, Northeast and South Twin Cities burbs. I can't say that one was better or worse than the other. New Brighton was probably the least affluent. Minnetonak (pronounced Minn-E-tong-ka), Mable Grove and Eagan are all well to do areas. I live across the boarder in WI now so I do not know which school districts are better than others.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Favorite place I've ever lived!

[boogiemomz]

Yay! Thanks for the replies and great advice. Anyone else got love for Minneapolis?

[mom_hanna]

I was born and raised in the Twin Cities. Love Minneapolis! Are you going to be in the city or are you looking at the suburbs? If in the city, my favorite areas are NE Mpls, the Lakes/Uptown (Calhoun, Isles, Harriet) and Nokomis/Minnehaha area. You can also live in St. Paul and commute to Minneapolis. Depending on where you live, and where work is, you can live in St. Paul and have a 10 minute commute to Minneapolis. For example, live in Lauderdale, which is a St. Paul suburb, and get to the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota w/in 5-10 minutes drive. Also, the Como area of St. Paul is very close to Minneapolis as well. I lived in the Crocus Hill area of St. Paul and commuted to downtown Minneapolis for work for many years. I have lived in NE Minneapolis and Uptown as well.

Winters. Well, I hate the Minnesota winters. But if you like snow and cold, you will love them! There are always people out doing stuff. Lots of x-country skiing, hockey and more hockey, as well as skating on the lakes. You definitely want a garage if you can swing it. Cleaning snow and ice off your car gets old really fast. And dealing with snow emergencies and snow plows is a pain.

Summers. They are hot and humid. Air conditioning would be a big help if you are not used to humid. Wait, you are from the south, so maybe not a problem? Older houses usually don't have A/C.

There are TONS of great restaurants, great home grown music scene, great theatre, both small and large (Guthrie Theatre). Great museums (Children's Museum, Science Museum, both in St. Paul, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Museum are both established, well regarded museums in Minneapolis. There are tons of galleries and artists studios as well. Two orchestras, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra are both world class orchestras.

Minneapolis Public Schools and St. Paul Public Schools are pretty good, but there is a plethora of private schools as well.

Let me know if you have specific questions and I will try to answer.

Jennifer

[mom2binsd]

A number of our friends have moved their because of State Farm, and they love living in Woodbury, they all rave about the schools etc and they came from very good public schools here in the midwest.

I too have heard great things about the area and how family friendly it is!

The winters for you will be brutal, but that's what LLBean and Lands End are for!

[WitMom]

We live here and love it. We moved away briefly and missed it so much, we had to come back. If you end up living on the western side of the cities, check out the Three Rivers Park District. Tons of recreational programming and resources and things to do. There are also lots of street fairs and festivals in the summer/early fall, and yes, even some in the winter. Lots of cross country skiing and ice skating options in the winters and if you aren't too familiar with hockey, prepare yourself for a cult-like following.

We live in the SW burbs currently, and have lived in the NE burbs, too. They each have a different vibe....one location is not necessarily better than the other imho.

[Reina]

I'm a born and raised New Yorker.
I started freelance product designing for a very well known corporation based out of the Twin Cities Area. So we've travelled to St. Paul/Minneapolis 4 times this year for my meetings.
During the summer, the weather was gorgeous, sunny and just lovely. Haven't gone back in the winter yet. But I am warned by my colleagues that I should be ready for some serious snow and windchill.
There are some pretty nice restaurants around downtown St. Paul close to The Saint Paul Hotel. People are incredibly friendly and helpful. At first I was paranoid, not being used to "general street nice", but now I'm actually enjoying it :)
The streets are very clean, sidewalks are wide, city traffic is actually bearable.
Can't wait to go back in January.

[michlyn]

I do! I have lived here for 18 years! I have lived downtown, nw suburbs and currently live in the sw burbs. My hometown was even named best place to live by money magazine not that long ago. There are many things and places I love about the twin cities. I prefer the Minneapolis side of the twin cities but there are some things I love about St. Paul - rice park, the St. Paul hotel.

[roobee]

I've lived in the Twin Cities my whole life. I grew up on the NE side of town and now live a little more west. I've been spending a fair amount of time near the West End in St. Louis Park, and really like that area - especially Golden Valley where both my kids go to school (one in the Hopkins District and one in the Robbinsdale District). If you are looking for places on the west side you'll need to be careful to not live in Robbinsdale District 281 as this district covers some otherwise nice suburbs (Plymouth and Golden Valley in particular).

I live for the summers here - even though they're short :) Some of my favorite things to do: going to the MN Zoo, checking out different parks http://www.threeriversparks.org/parks/elm-creek-park.aspx, swimming at the great outdoor pools at Lifetime Fitness. Can't say that I'm much for winter activities but it's easy to find indoor activities like playtime at a community center or participating in your local ECFE.

Glad to hear you're excited for the move - Minneapolis is a great place to live!

[Nu_mama]

I live in St. Paul and both DH and I prefer it to mpls, even though we both have to commute there for work. Our kids attend an arts-focused public school. We spend a lot of time outdoors, enjoy many great restaurants, and are familiar with many areas around the twin cities. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

[boogiemomz]

Awesome, thank you so much everyone! I'm really excited... definitely NOT prepared for that kind of winter, but I guess you just deal, right? Excuse to get some fun cold weather gear from LE and LL Bean! Also, just realized there is an ikea!!! :cheerleader1:

[american_mama]

I lived in Minneapolis 10 years ago when DD1 was born and really loved it. We made friends so easily with other new parents, many of whom we just struck up conversations with in parks and restaurants. The three lakes surrounding the city are lovely and present great opportunities for swimming, boating, walking, rollerblading, biking and many more.

Some tips:

1. Garage parking will save you scraping snow off your car and is well worth it.

2. 10 years ago, parking was exceptionally hard at the U of Minn where DH worked, exacerbated by the limited space due to the campus being on the banks of the river. I think some of the hospitals are also near the river and have limited parking. We lived in south Minneapolis and there was an express bus to the U which worked well until 6-7 pm, then DH had to take less direct route home. So, depending on where you live, what hours your DH is working, what the parking is like at his workplace, you might find public trasnportation to exist and in fact be preferable.

3. There is a cute area of little shops on the west side of the city called Linden Hills which includes a great children's book store with animals running around the store, great for kids. It's Wild Rumpus Books. St. Paul also has a children's bookstore on the cute shops of Grand Avenue, Red Balloon. Also some good baby boutiques on Grand Avenue when I lived there.

4. We found the airport connections to be really good, if you need to visit your friends and family in the south. The airport is not far from the city and Northwest used to have its hub there. Not sure where that stands sicne I guess Delta bought Northwest.

5. The Malt Shoppe in Minneapolis restauant has great burgers and milkshakes, BT McElrath in st. Paul has great gourmet chocolate, Izzy's Ice Cream in St. Paul has good ice cream with an "izzy" on top (small scoop of extra flavor), Crema Cafe in Minneapolis has unique gourmet ice cream flavors, It's Greek to Me is a nice sit-down Greek restaurant that I miss a lot (not Greek-Italian like most), A Baker's Wife is a good, no-nonsense bakery with huge portions and low prices. The Midtown Market in Minneapolis is in a huge former Sears store or headquarters, and the ground floor was transformed into a food emporium featuring lots of small ethnic vendors. Excellent food.

6. Fun things in the state... we went to Mall of America's amusement park when DD1 was about 4 and had a blast. I'd always sneered at it when we lived there and it took returning as tourists for us to finally go. The outdoor Scultpure Garden in Minneapolis is great in any season and offers the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry scultupre. We used to have a snowglobe of it! We went on a day trip to Duluth, MN and really liked the different feel, the immense presence of the great lakes, the bridge. The Mississippi River starts in a state park in far north Minnesota, and I always thought that would have been interesting to see. There is also a wolf center in north Minnesota (http://www.wolf.org/wolves/) that I alwasy wanted to go to.

7. If you are there during the winter Olympics (Feb. 2014), we found the local coverage to be exciting because the state sends a lot of athletes, and the local coverage covers anyone from the entire state competing. We were there during the Salt Lake Games, so home turf, and that may have influenced things, but I really enjoyed the hometown spirit feel.

8. If you have preschoolers, great children's programs, classes, parenting groups that the ECFE program. Great way to meet people.

Twin Cities are great. Enjoy your time there!

[DrSally]

I think you will really like it. Is your DH going to be working in Mpls? Ere are lots of burbs to choose from, but the city is also really nice to live in. Depends on what you are looking for.

[Momit]

Love the Twin Cities! We have family in that area and considered moving there when I finished grad school and had opportunities at 3M and General Mills.

Nothing concrete to add since I don't know the area well, but we always enjoy spending time there.

Good luck with your move.

[boogiemomz]

Thank you thank you thank you! What great information... I'm so excited! Though I'm making the mistake of trying to find rental properties right now, when I know we won't be able to secure anything until closer to the move date. We'd like to find a house to rent as opposed to an apartment, if possible. So excited about all the kiddo activities especially. I will be referring back to this thread often in the coming months!