Moving to Minneapolis and Have Lots of Questions

anytime you move to an area you don't know it is not wise to buy you should rent in order to get an idea of what you are getting into. It's not a waste of money it is a wise financial choice. I gew up just north of Minn. not extremely familiar with where you are going to..

Fence the yard if you have to.

Hi, Minnesota is a bit different than Denver as far as weather is concerned. I go Denver often so I am aware LOL. I live in the South Suburb of St. Paul/Minneapolis called, Inver Grove Heights. My best friend lives in Denver, 2 Aunts/Uncles in Loveland, and 1 Aunt in Akron - way out there in CO. LOL

We are a land of extremes. We commonly see 20 degree differences in a day. NO KIDDING. Winters are hard. They generally last longer than most other states. The bitter stuff comes in Jan and Feb with lows well into the double digit negatives. Summers HUMID, and HOT but thankfully only for about 2 weeks of the entire summer.
Savage is the nicest of the suburbs your looking at. I have 6 friends that live there. I like it as far as living conditions, low crime, good schools, high property value. Its not as populated yet, as some of the other suburbs. Your looking at a fair commute time to Lake Calhoun. Especially if you take the main artery 169 to 100N, to That will be congested as well as I-35W. If he works regular biz hours. NOT rush hour its roughly 20-25 minutes. Rush 45 or more minutes. They both are always packed. The twin cities are not known for their wonderful road systems.
The homes your looking at must be newer to not have fences. I would change your search criteria. Require your online search or your Realtor to find only house with fences. Lots of people here, like the more open yards, for more community togetherness garbage LOL. Savage is one of the newest, growing communities, where property tax is very high. Might be that most could not afford to put them in at the time of building or purchase. Believe me in my sub, everyone has fences. Most people front yards here are fenced as well. If you have a dog and cant get a fence, then you kennel or tie it. If you like a home without a fence, then figure the amount it would take to fence it. Here generally you get a larger yard square footage, per home, than you do in Denver. So your looking at a lot of money for fencing. 5 grand in most cases. It may also depend where your looking at homes. Sometimes gated communities, and developments, have rules against fencing to allow a more natural setting. As well as there may be bans on dog breeds and sizes. Ponds... depending how much fall on your property, will depend how much your liable for. If you own the beach or landing that borders your property you pay for its up keep and maintenance. As for liability that will be up to your homestead contracts. If in city limits, those are generally run and cleaned by the city. If your worried about drowings, that I am not sure what the rules are, great question to ask your Realtor again.
Bugs, nothing bad, except Mosquitos and if you have a stagnant pond on your property, whoa doggies, you will have a mess of them. We have only one species of venomous snake, and they are usually found on the bluffs and hills. Those are Timber Rattle snakes. Spiders are minimal and nothing terrible. Water flooding? If your on a flood plain, next to a river, lake, drainage pond. or ANY body of laying water. That's a possibility anywhere. Do we have flooding? YES yearly since we get mega snow each year, and one of the highest average rainfalls of the united states (save the northwestern states) in the summer. You need to be more worried about water in you basement, so really watch your landscaping, and basement placements, if your getting a finished basement, then be sure it does suffer yearly water damage. Winter is the hardest, be sure your prepared for shoveling and if you need plowing done, then you need to contract with them sometimes a year in advance. Minnesota is awesome if you love extremes. If you like lots of culture and society, its there but you have to dig, and fight to get into it. Once there its awesome. You will find the best of that stuff in Minneapolis... not really happening in Savage. Its a sleepy, boring bedroom suburb. Minnesota is a naturalists paradise. Any more questions feel free to PM me I will love to help.

Traffic will be bad for your husband; our rush hours get pretty bad, and if it snows or something, it's much worse.

Why are you looking at far-out suburbs? You might want to consider a suburb that is much closer (St. Louis Park, for example), or even consider southwest Minneapolis. I live in a lovely neighborhood two blocks from Lake Calhoun; if you lived here, your husband's commute would be about 5-7 minutes.

I have lived in Savage for the last 25 years and we like it a lot but I wanted to warn you that we encompass three school districts besides Prior Lake - Savage. My children attend Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Schools (ISD191) which we are very pleased with and other homes are in the Shakopee school district. Be sure and check with your Realtor about which district the house you like is in. My new neighbors found out right before closing that we weren't in 719 and had to get open enrollment worked out for their children (they'd lived here previously & wanted to stay in 719). Also I have a fenced yard as do many of my neighbors. PM me if I can answer any questions & welcome to the neighborhood!

I live south of St. Paul in Eagan, not too far from the suburbs you are considering. That is a fairly long commute for your husband by Twin City standards. Could be difficult when the weather is bad. I might consider suburbs closer to Minneapolis if it were me. My husband works in Minneapolis and he takes the light rail, although that doesn't really offer service to the lake Calhoun area. Lakeville encompasses more than one school district. They grew rapidly and built an additional high school, but I think with budget cuts and the growth slowing they've had to close some schools.

I have a fenced yard for my dog, but I would say more people here use the Invisible Fencing. People seem to like allowing their kids to run from yard to yard. Regarding trampolines, it depends on your homeowner's insurance company. Some require them to be fenced. My neighborhood is full of yards that have play equipment and no fences and I've never heard of a problem. I don't know how they handle that. I'm not aware of flooding in those areas, although there is sometimes spring flooding in MN from rivers. If you plan to live near a river I would be sure to look into that.

I think the Twin Cities are a great place to raise a family, but the weather will probably be an adjustment. Not to scare you, but I've heard it can be hard to get to know people at first. I've heard we have kind of a reserve about us and most people are from here so they have established friends and family. That said, I know people who moved here from AZ who have more friends than I do and I've lived here most of my life.

I need to run now, but feel free to send me a private message. With respect to the commute, I would ask people in the neighborhoods you are considering where they work and how long the commute is. The traffic can be pretty heavy in the Lake Calhoun area of Minneapolis and there isn't a real quick easy way there from the southern suburbs, IMO. You might think about more western suburbs like Edina, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, or even Plymouth (fairly far north and west) although you housing prices will be MUCH higher in those areas. Good luck and let me know if you have additional questions!

We moved to MN form out of state all be it another cold climate and here's a few insights:

1) you will never be as cold as you are here. CO has NOTHING on MN re: cold weather. My best friend from Co was out last week and she couldn't handle it.... and it was pretty warm here (20-40)!!

2) The no fence thing is actually REALLY cool.. the kids play like we did growing up... running from yard to yard and playing in packs. It's one of my favorite things about MN.

3) Just put an invisible fence in for your dog. Dog watch of MN is who we used.. he's really good.

4) Not sure how old your kids are but you MUST get out and about and make yourself known the second you hit the area.... it's REALLY hard to meet people out here and almost impossible in the winter b/c everyone is inside due to the often -10 degree weather!

5) the kids play outside at recess unless it is below 10 (w/wind chill) so you will need to send them to school as though they are dressed to go skiing or snowmobiling - no lie. right down to the neck warmer.

6) lake Calhoun is an AMAZING area - I highly recommend getting a much smaller house than living in the towns you mentioned. As others have mentioned, the roads out here are in constant repair status due to the extreme weather flux and that makes commuting a total mess. If your husband works a 'normal 9-5/5:30 job he will not be home until 6:30 or if there is bad weather/accident (which there is plenty of both out here) 7:00PM.

7) one person mentioned renting... it may be a bit hard at first, but I would HIGHLY recommend you do that. We wish we had. we live in a nice area, but w/ hindsight we would have lived in a completely different area. I know that when you move w/ a job you have closing costs, etc. covered... check to see how long that is good for - I believe it is for 12 months. Put most of your stuff in storage and rent... the short term pain will be well worth the long term gain.

8) VERY important - if you're not moving here "for good" -- if there is even a slight chance that you may move again for your husbands job you should only buy in the more established areas (even if it's a much smaller house) such as Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park (you'll get your fenced yard there), etc. B/c the value of the houses do not hold out here. ESP. if you're building in an 'up and coming area". All of these cheap national builders (i.e. Pultie, etc). have come in and slaughtered the values in the communities that are in building modes and `you will loose your shirt b/c there is so much new inventory. NO LIE _ houses out here sit on the market for easily a year. I've lived in 5 major cities and have NEVER seen anything like it. BUY ONLY IN AN ESTABLISHED AREA (i.e.a town with not a lot of land for new neighborhoods). We put a tremendous amount down on our home and will walk away w/ pennies on the dollar b/c there is so much new inventory out here. don't do it to yourself.

9) there is a thing called MN nice.... not sure how that came to play b/c people are friendly on the surface, but it is beyond hard to actually meet people to be good friends with out here. anyone who is a transplant will tell you this. the people out here don't move far from home and it's very parochial. You will need to make a tremendous effort to break in..... but once you do it's worth it.

Good luck and feel free to PM me ..... check with others who are not from here to really get a good feel re: what you're in for!!

First, let me say welcome to Minnesota. To answer your 1st question, it is very common for people to Not have fences around the entire twin cities area really. I have grown up here and also lived in California and I thought it odd that everyone there HAD a fence. i think it is because people tend to like to comingle with neighbors and children sort of share across all yards for playing. That being said, having a fence is not frowned upon. We have a dog and actually have invisible fencing which we love but I know some people dont realy believe in that. As for keeping other children out, that is a little more difficult. For the ponds, it really depends on the property. If you live in a community that has a monthly fee then any pond would probably be covered by those dues. If not, you are more than likely liable for that. With the exception that many cities will automatically spray for bugs on all wetland areas. Which will help with misquitos in the summer tremendously. For flooding I would do research in the particular area first. For school districts, we are actually moving to Lakeville this summer and I know thier schools are rated fairly high, although most in Minnesota are fairly highly rated. We are pretty lucky. For Lakeville there are several different elementary schools to attend depending on what area you live in tehre are also a few middle schools. There is a North and a South high school. All are based upon where you live in the city. A good resource to look at school ratings is the site www.greatschools.org. It will tell you about all different schools ratings, test scores and reviews.

As for traffic, there is an HOV lane most of the way from Lakeville to get to that area for the main highway and you can pay for that on a per use basis if you want to use it and not be car pooling, but there will be traffic on the secondary roads he will need to take.

Hope this helps

Everyone seems to have the same consensus, the commute to work will be long if you live in the south suburbs and your husband works near Lake Calhoun. If he doesn't mind driving in traffic then you would probably be very happy in the area you are looking.

I don't know much about the Prior Lake/Savage district 719, but I do know a little about Lakeville district 194. The district has good ratings, the students do well on standardized tests and the schools look nice (they are mostly new). But with that being said, they have had major budget cuts in recent years, more so than other districts. Their funding is at a bare bones level compared to other districts in the area. This is mainly due to the fact that the city grew so fast that they had to build a lot of schools in a short amount of time so there was no wiggle room or cushion in their budget when schools around the state were faced with funding shortcomings (thank you Pawlenty - not!), this also means that property taxes are a little higher than some surrounding communities. They have cut a lot of electives, imposed high participation fees for sports and activities (at the MS & HS levels); reduced busing to the state minimum of 2 or more miles (if you live closer you can pay $175/student with a family max of $525 per school year for busing); and closed an elementary school (which means the other schools are more crowded or people have left and open enrolled elsewhere).I don't see things suddenly righting themselves any time soon, I think there are several more years of belt tightening ahead at the schools and I don't see where additional cuts can be made in Lakeville without effecting the classroom.

My neighborhood (south side of Apple Valley) has a mix of fences (privacy & chain link) as well as yards with no fences. We have a privacy fence ourselves (which I LOVE) and we have a very close neighborhood (the gate is often open as the neighbor kids run through the yards). Keep in mind that there are a lot of newer communities that do not allow fences at all, or will only allow maintenance free non-privacy fences (keeps the neighborhood looking consistent and open I guess), so depending on where you look will vary not only how common it is but also if it's even allowed and to what extent.

The rules/laws for having a pond (or any water, such as a pool) on your property vary by city, so that is something you would probably ask your realtor for and then verify the info with the city (realtors aren't always the best source of info for a variety of reasons (not enough knowledge, make assumptions, bad info from someone else, want to make the sale, etc...)

The idea of renting in the short term is a good one; it would give you a chance to get to know the area and to see where you spend the majority of your time before committing to owning a house in an area you don't know. I have a friend that lives in Farmington but spends a lot of time in the north suburbs because of work, shopping & doctors; she would love to move to be closer to that area but they are upside down on their house and are stuck in Farmington, not that I'm complaining since it means she is closer to me :).

Good luck on your search and move!

Welcome to MN! I think that any of the areas that you are thinking of moving to would be nice and would have decent schools. That said, for most of the areas, you would be looking at about an hour commute each way - it could be much worse if there is snow/sleet or rain. I'm not sure if at least two hours or more in the car is a concern for your husband or if you are looking into those areas for other specific reasons, but there are lots of nice areas with school that are just as good that would be a much better commute - Edina, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley even parts of Minnetonka or Plymouth might be closer.

Hi K., Welcome to Minneapolis! I hope you enjoy your time here. I grew up in rural MN and moved to Mpls/St. Paul after college 28 years ago. I've visited many other places, but love it here! The Lakes area is beautiful, and the suburban areas are also nice places to raise a family.

I live in Minneapolis, close to Lake Calhoun actually, but lived in the suburb of Eagan for almost 20 years prior. Eagan is similar to Lakeville, etc. My ex still lives in the Eagan house. I have a 9 year-old daughter who shares time between me in Mpls and her dad in Eagan.

We don't have a fenced yard in Eagan, and none of our neighbors did, either. When we moved in, in fact, our new neighbors warned us, fairly seriously, that we would be shunned if we built a fence. The neighborhood borders on a wooded park and a fence would block the view.

We don't always keep our kid in our yard and other kids out. Sometimes, all the kids in the neighborhood play in a "pack" that roams between back yards and I love that about the neighborhood. All the parents are involved and watchful and the kids have a chance to have a bit of freedom. There are times, of course, that you tell your kid(s) to stay within view. If they are too young to listen, you go out and play with them. This is an opportunity to chat with the neighbors, too.

My ex now has a German Shepherd dog. He has the dog on a tether, if he's not right there, otherwise, he's trained the dog to only run in their own yard, when she's let out for short breaks or he's on the deck and watching.

Your realtor should be able to answer your questions about the pond. If it's purely a drainage pond, there is no maintenance that comes with that.

You seem very concerned about liability. I'm sure you will have regular liability insurance, and that is for accidents that happen to people on your property. We've lived there for 18 years, have a playset, and haven't had an accident.

Water drainage and possible flooding are something to look at closely. We ended up spending a bit of money putting in in-ground drainage tile, better gutters on the house, and replacing flooring in our basement. The house does not now have any water problems. A home inspection should find those issues, but I'd look closely at basement walls and flooring for any signs of water, or recent new coverings...

The main bug complaint here is the mosquitos in the summer, but they aren't too much of a problem in residential areas. If you decide to go camping, you'll experience MN mosquitos! Most other bugs are kept under control by our cold winters (yay!)

I don't know what type of commute your husband is used to, but from Lakeville to Mpls will be about a 40 minute drive during non-rush hour traffic, up to 60 minutes if rush hour, or snow/rain. The area around Lake Calhoun is extremely popular in the summer, so that could tie up traffic, too. There is a "diamond lane" on 35W now that I would pay the fee for if I was regularly commuting. That would save some time and frustration.

OR, I would take the bus from Lakeville, bring my bike (the buses have bike racks) and bike from the closest spot on the 35W route to Lake Calhoun. (But then, I enjoy being a non-traditional commuter, and the bike trails in Mpls are awesome!) OR, transfer buses from 35W to his office. (http://metrotransit.org/)

I don't know much specifically about those school districts. All the south suburban school districts are good, generally, with relatively new school buildings and fewer budget or political problems that the city schools. Sadly, all schools are having some budget pressure. We've been extremely pleased with the schools in Eagan.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
S.

Added: I like Cindy L's suggestion of considering Edina, St. Louis Park, or Eden Prairie. All have excellent schools, more likelihood of fenced yards, and an easier commute to the Lakes area (whether by car, bus, or bike).

Welcome MN is a great place to live especially with kids. The suburbs you're considering are quite far out and are not an easy commute to Lake Calhoun by any means. You can buy more house out there if thats a concern but there are drawbacks to living that far out.

Areas close to his work would be South Minneapolis (great neighborhoods with shops/restuarants/activities all within walking distance), St Louis Park (smaller homes but very close in and a city that focuses a lot on children), Edina (Close in, expensive but best schools in the state), West Bloomington & Eden Prairie (both great western suburbs where you could get more home but have a bit of a shorter commute for your husband). If you tell us more about what you're looking for in a community we could probably recommend the best cities. But out of the 3 you've listed above Savage would definitely be the closest. Good luck!

My family has lived in Savage for the past 8 years and we like it a lot. We actually live in the Shakopee school district though, which is great too and we've loved our elementary school. I don't know a lot about Lakeville but I do know that it's considered a wonderful place to live as well and I think their schools are good too.
None of our neighbors have fences either, besides the one home that has a pool (then of course it's the law to have a fence.) Like someone else said, the no fence thing is great cause the neighborhood kids all can run around to each other's yards in a group and they have a blast. If you have a dog invisible fencing is the thing to do around here.
Your hubby's commute will be a bit of a long one, and if there are weather issues or accidents be prepared for a really long one. My husband commutes to Mounds View which is 45 mins on a good day (no weather or accidents.) If there are issues, it can take him a good 2 hours...no lie!
I think you will love it in MN. Good luck with your home search!