mnspeak

Mendota Heights is a very nice city with great schools. The neighborhoods are less cookie cutter than other suburbs. Large wooded lots, 10 min drive to MSP and very close to downtown St. Paul, Xcel Center, bike/walking paths, parks, restaurants, farmers market, etc.

AluminumFoil

And can be expensive. I prefer the east side of the cities due to cost of living and traffic. North/West of the airport traffic is horrendous.

prex8390

Maple grove is a little bit more of a drive but great area. Don't let people talk you into msp traffic being bad, it's a lot better than places like Chicago or New York in terms of that.

ExAF

Nothing to add to what has been said above. All good info. Been in Lakeville for 15 years and raised 2 boys there. Was a realtor while furloughed. Feel free to pm me if you have more questions.

Mesabi

I lived in the Como neighborhood in Saint Paul for a few years back when Mesaba still existed. Best place I've ever lived and often dream of moving back. Walking distance to both the beautiful Como Park and the state fair grounds. The park is wonderful with a nice big lake, a free zoo, and an amusement park for kids, among other things. The fair grounds have all kinds of interesting events going on year round in addition to the enormous state fair each fall. And if, like me, you love beautiful old craftsman houses, there are some really nice ones in this area. And they are often noticeably more affordable than places like Grand Ave. or the popular neighborhoods in Minneapolis. It's about 20 minutes to the airport and not much longer to any major destination in either city.

But, honestly, there's a lot of really nice places in and around the Twin Cities. The whole metro area is still one of my favorite places in the U.S. When I think about where I want to live.

1900luxuryliner

As others have said, almost all the outer-ring suburbs are great. The inner to middle ring suburbs can be a little spotty. Brooklyn Park, Columbia Heights, Richfield, Bloomington, and Burnsville are ones that come to mind that can have spotty areas. But, even those areas aren't too bad. If those areas were in Chicago, they would be considered the "good" areas.

The most dangerous, crime-ridden areas that come to mind are North Minneapolis, the Cedar-Riverside area, or Philips neighborhood. Beyond that, it's tough to go wrong.

North of the cities (Blaine, Coon Rapids, Andover, Ham Lake, Forest Lake) are a little more blue collar, but have good home prices. The commute to the airport is not too great, during rush hour. Not LA or NYC bad, but still bad enough to be a pain.

Southwest of the cities (Eden Prairie, Chaska, Chanhassen, Waconia, and Prior Lake) are really nice areas. Eden Prairie was recently ranked #1 area to live in the entire US (according to Forbes, I believe). But, I think home prices are a little inflated. The drive to the airport on 494 can be hit or miss, during rush-hour. But, it's only really backed up for a few miles, usually.

I don't care for Savage (almost all starter homes), or Shakopee (Lots of those with a questionable immigration status).

The most exclusive area of the cities are the communities surrounding Lake Minnetonka. But, you're going to pay for location. Lots on the lake can go for a million, plus. And, the drive on hwy 62 or hwy 494 to the airport is not too great. North Oaks is also pretty exclusive, northeast of the cities.

If I were to venture to guess, the highest percentage of pilots live in Eagan. Nice area, and easy commute to the airport. However, if you are only commuting 2 days per week (start and end of a trip, and a lot during non-rush hour), I don't think that should be a significant factor in your decision making.

NuGuy

Having lived in MSP, specifically Burnsville & Lakeville for a number of years, here is my take:

If you are single or don't have kids, the MSP suburbs are very meh, and you will find yourself driving into St. Paul or Minneapolis frequently to do anything.

Don't get me wrong, if you have a family, they're great....that's what they are geared for...but for a single person or hip DINK couple, not so much.

The inner ring suburbs like Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Inver Grove Heights are very 60s-70s -ish, but have some character. The outer ring suburbs (Apple Valley, Eagan) grew up during housing booms, and can be VERY cookie cutter. The areas that bloomed during the last housing boom (Woodbury, Lakeville, Farmington) are even more so.

Anything out west is a colossal PITA to get to the airport. The 494 traffic is insane. If you aren't out of there by 3pm, you are stuck for hours.

In any event, drive around and see what you like. There is a fairly significant variation in places depending on where you are in "The Cities".

If I was a younger dude living in MSP, I'd seriously consider the lake area of Minnie, Edina, or downtown St. Paul or the hip parts of that town, like Grand Ave. If you have kids, are expecting kids, or going to have kids in the near future, then yea, the 'burbs are what you want. Lakeville is pretty nice, and has good access to the interstate. If you want to be WAY out of town, Farmington is good too. I lived in Lakeville just south of the I-35 split, can could be in the parking lot (or NATCO) in 20 minutes, weather permitting. The drive from Burnsville was about 5 minutes shorter. In either case, there were a couple ways to get there if traffic was an issue (rarely, but the 77 bridge gets hung up sometimes for some reason).

Nu

Mesabi

Whoops, in my post a few above when I mentioned Grand Ave. I actually meant Summit, which is full of HUGE wonderful old craftsman homes.

CAPTAINPCL

http://i.imgur.com/VVmvVDb.gif

CloudPilot57

I grew up in Apple Valley aka ALPA valley. Tons of pilots. Recently moved out east to River Falls, Wi and a bunch of pilots out here too. Depending on what you want, going east will get you more land for cheap while still having easy access to 94 or going south through Prescott up to 494 to the airport. Lots of great outdoor activities and water sports available here as well. Schools are very good too. I guess it depends on if you want more "country" land living or suburb or city living. Can't go wrong either way.