Reviews & Comments
Blaine, MN
re: One of the best cities to raise a family
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5/8/2022I've been in plain Blaine for over a decade. I was lured here by the relative low cost of housing, back during the crash of 2008-9. I have to disagree. We have Cub, Target, and Walmart as the only large grocery stores...nothing upscale like Lunds and Byerlys or Kowalski's.. not even a Hy-Vee. The "eat outs" are mostly fast food chains. We're starting to get a few more eat-in places, but nothing like other major suburbs have. The only "mall" (if you can call it that) is Northtown, the place where businesses go to die.
Minneapolis, MN
Very expensive, yet "cheap" houses -
1/8/2015I lived in Minnesota for most of my adult life. When I was in my 40s, I took a transfer to South Carolina. I was astonished by how much cheaper it was, in terms of housing, medical, food, etc. Then, I took another transfer to Texas, where it was even cheaper, in terms of housing, medical, food, and taxes (no state tax).
Minnesota's houses are small, dark, not energy efficient, and they cost A LOT compared to other areas of the country. I'm back in MN now (again, for job), and the home I have now is the most expensive home that I've ever owned, and it pales in comparison to the houses I had in the other states, and those houses cost about 30% less.
I'm sorry, but 10x10 is NOT a bedroom... it is a closet, with windows.
Minneapolis, MN
Expensive housing, but the buildings are "cheap" -
10/3/2013I lived in Minnesota most of my life. In my 40s, I made a sojourn to the South and lived in Texas for a while. When I returned to Minnesota, I was disgusted by the lack of newer, affordable, housing in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) area. In the South, they figure a home's value on the cost per square foot. I always thought that was as meaningful as pricing a car by the pound. HOWEVER... housing in the Twin Cities costs about 2 to 2.5 times more per square foot, than housing in the South. Moreover, the housing here is "old", and not of very good quality. Room sizes are ridiculously small, with $290-$350,000 homes having master bedrooms that are routinely about 12 x 14. In cheaper homes, the bedrooms are 10x10 and even 9x10. Those are closets, not bedrooms.
Think hard before moving here. If you are looking for value in housing, look elsewhere.