Thanks for all the responses so far. Here is more info about us.
We are in our early 40's. My husband is a research scientist and will work downtown but he travels 2 to 3 weeks per month.
We enjoy, eating out, movies, museums and spending time riding bikes, and playing at parks. We like to go to the symphony, opera and theater. We are democrats. My husband is originally from Nigeria, but grew up in London and me Colorado. We have lived in London for 3 years and then Dallas for 5 years in a suburb North of Dallas.
We live on a cul-de-sac and the kids spend a lot of time playing outside with other kids. We a have community park and pool walking distance to us. Our house is 7 years old, 4bdr, 3 bath.
Our first grader is a good student, our kinder is advanced and does mostly 2nd grade work. They have attended a Montessori school for the last 4 years but now are attending the public neighborhood school.
Our first grader takes piano, tennis, swim and acting classes and plays basketball.. Our kinder takes guitar, golf, swim, karate and acting classes and plays basketball and t-ball.
We like to travel as a family.
I am a nurse by degree, with a minor in English but after 17 years, I am now doing freelance writing form home and I love it! I love to read and I am in 2 book clubs, I volunteer at the kid’s school and in the community. I like to exercise by doing yoga and walking. I enjoy cooking, painting pottery, and my new interest quilting. I attend Bible Study Fellowship which is a non-denominational weekly Bible Study.
We attend non-denominational church that we are active in and would also like to find a new church home.
We may rent an apartment or house until our house sells here so we can get a feel for the area too. And then look for houses to move into in the summer. But if we do that I would like to keep the same school for the kids.
We would like find a friendly neighborhood, with parks, great schools, and not too far from the kid’s activities if possible.
I hope this helps.
I look forward to your replies.
Thanks so much!
K.
sounds like you would fit in really well with the linden hills neighborhood as well as plymouth.
I live in plymouth, love it. Definitely move to the wayzata schools district. Not robbinsdale
K., from your hobbies and interests in sounds as if closer to the cities would work best for you. However I don't know how many new homes you will find in that area. Also, be careful of school districts. Some are fantastic, others are really, really bad. With children as bright as yours are, I would definitely say that your first priority is their education. We live in the Southern Suburbs - Eagan, and love it. Apple Valley is the next suburb south and it is also great. Both Towns are in ISD 196 which is know to be a good district. I am writing primarily to tell you about a school that my daughter attends - it may sway how you choose your home! She is 5 and working at 3rd grade level. AFter endless searching we have found the perfect school. It is in Burnsville and is called Cyprus Classical Montessori. (You can search on the Web for it.) The elementary school is K through 3 rd and they are going to open an additional grade each year up to 6th. It is truly amazing. The children learn Spanish, German, Latin and Mandarin; they do advanced music and drama (in the afternoons music teachers come to the school and teach the children piano, voice and guitar). This year they are studying Ancient Rome, Medieval times and Europe. (Last year it was ancient Egypt and Greece and Australia. My daughter is thriving in the stimulating and rigourous environment. The director streams the children so that they each work at their own pace and each have their own learning plan. If you would like more information, please call me at ###-###-#### or email me at ____@____.com. B..
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I would look first at some of the suburbs already mentioned on the west side of the cities--Plymouth, Wayzata, Minnetonka, Eden Prarie, Edina, etc. I think they will offer you more of what you are looking for.
I vote for Plymouth, too. :) But be sure to talk to your realtor about what school distric you are in! There are THREE different districts in Plymouth: Osseo, Robbinsdale and Wayzata. Of the three, I would NOT go to Osseo!
:) J.
I would look into the Minnetonka/Hopkins/Plymouth area.The north/west suburbs basically. I read your first post and after getting a feel for your family I think this area of town sounds best to suit your needs and is a skip away from downtown.
I think you could live in many suburbs of the Twin Cities and find things that will keep you in the same activities and interests. Check carefully the community offerings for kids and families before you pick one - I think some are a little better than others.
My first thought of a specific suburb for you is Eagan or Apple Valley. Or on the west side, Plymouth or Wayzata - good schools and plenty of activities.
Dear K.,
Come live in PLYMOUTH, MN! There are great schools here, lots of fun things to do with the kids & it was named Money Magazines #1 place to live in 2009! No, I don't work for the city, I stay home with my 2 yr old & have another baby due in a few weeks! I moved here from southern CA in 2001 & although I'm not a huge fan of the cold temps during winter, I love it here & would never want to move back to CA!
If your husband is up to it, he'd be able to take the bus on the days he has to go to work downtown or possibly find someone to carpool with. We attend Plymouth Covenant Church (non-denominational too) & you could easily get connected with the women's studies or small group studies. After "church-shopping" for quite some time, we settled there in 2002, it just felt like home & family.
Best of luck to you & your family & God bless~
S. =0)
I'm still voting for southwest Minneapolis. It has everything you are looking for -- movies, parks, lakes, museums, theatre, restaurants -- either right there, or close by in downtown Minneapolis.
The problem is that some of the nicest neighborhoods in southwest are pricey. I think you should fly out here this fall and do some driving around, and make some school visits in the areas you are interested in. And I'll add Armatage Montessori (a magnet school) to your list of schools to check out, since your children used to go to Montessori. Armatage is a very good school.
Edina and Eden Prairie aren't too far away, but Minnetonka is quite a drive out 394, and I think would lengthen your husband's commute by too much. If you are interested in suburbs, I think you should check out St. Louis Park, too. It's very close to Uptown Minneapolis and thus not too far from downtown, and it has nice schools and parks. And it doesn't feel snooty, like some of the suburbs here do.
Hi K.-
Great info.
Most of the suburbian school districts are phenomenal in MN. So not too worry there if you're in public schools already. Inner city schools I"m not sure about myself. That I suppose would depend on the area.
Our culture in the arts is very diverse. Our light rail is available from the south metro-- also running a line from the Nw corridor soon.
I've lived all over the metro-- I'm now inside the 694 loop in Moundsview school district. We don't travel for work yet I do commute PT to the south metro where the airport is.
The Mall is also on the S. side.
A good central location I used to live is Edina area- my last home. Close to arts, back ways off freeway to commute to Downtown, great schools, is spendy for homes. S. Mpls has the lakes.
I attended a great non- denom. church -- Wooddale. Leith Anderson was the pastor there- heads up national dept. now too. It's in Eden Prairie-- 20 miles from downtown- commute is longer for your hubby.
It might be a good idea to rent-- lots of open market for that here with market for homes still depressed. Great time to buy when you get a feel.
Welcome and enjoy the adventure.
B. J
About me: 49 yo perfusionist, wellness coach PT, wife and mom to 8 yo twin girls.
