The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Northeast.

Oh, what's that you say? Nevermind, I guess I have no favorite suburb.

White Bear Lake. Does that count as a suburb? A few nice places to get a drink right in "downtown" WBL such as Washington Square. A lot of stuff to do around town and a lot of locally owned businesses. But the whole "White Bear" pride gets to me after awhile when in a span of 5 minutes you've seen 50 people with a stone White Bear in their garden landscaping or a White Bear sticker on their car.

If I were to vote for worst I'd say Maple Grove or Woodbury. Suburbia at it's worst, and both of those suburbs are becoming even more suburban as we speak. Runner up for worst: Burnsville. I hate that fucking place.

Not Maplewood, Pat? ;)

I enjoyed growing up in Richfield, being so close to Lake Harriet and Nokomis, and with enough diversity to stay sane. And we were one of the few (only?) suburbs to have kept the 612 area code!

I also didn't mind the Hopkins, Minnetonka, and St. Louis Park area. Old enough to have trees and some old houses, but new enough to have good schools.

West St. Paul is another area that I just started spending some time in. Robert St is nice because it has everything. Tiny Mexican restaurants and small shops all the way to the once old school Target, Cubs, and Menards. Too bad they are ruining it with a new Walmart and Home Depot, and updated Super Targets and Menards

Whoa, Saint Paul is a suburb?

Clarification - the eruv in SLP would be for shabbos. It would not, as far as I know, be of any benefit to me the rest of the week. Nonetheless, it is pretty rad.

Whats so great about Northeast??

As a Bloomington son, I'll put in a good word for it.
The Minnesota River runs along the whole of the Bloomington's southern border, providing miles and miles of hiking and mountain biking and time wasting in the wooded area along its banks. Various offshoot watersheds and the Normandale/Hyland/Bush lakes area provide for every outdoor activity except waterskiing and mountain climbing. I grew up wandering around and in Nine Mile Creek.
There are several nice city parks -- Dred Scott, Moir Park (now strangely called Central Park), Penn Lake, Valley View, etc. -- dotted throughout the city. And the parks department does a good job in the summer of putting on programs for kids and seniors and anyone else that is easily entertained.
Nightlife? Not so much beyond the MOA. Charlie's and Zeke's and David Fong's probably won't win a spot in anyone's heart. There are a handful of completely hidden good places to eat (you get big props if you know where Shantytown is) but they are admittedly cheap and rundown. And any non-MOA-related arts are likely to be on the high school or community college level (go Bears!). But there are worse places to be -- Shakopee, for example.

bloomington, for sure. spearing carp along the mn river. now that's minnesota. moir park woods (munchkin land???) or the woods behind the gardens where we used to roll many a kegger. mud mound. hyland is fantastic. bike trails. although the ski jumps and the south and west sides of bush lake are totally developed now. we used to swim on the southwest side of the lake after dark. naked. it was called The Point.

the area near 494 and 35W offers housing that truly addresses all phases of the life cycle as city developers like to say. shopping and a new waterpark on the strip. what more could you want?

You know that Jonathan Richman song "I Love the City but I Love the Country Too"?

Well in Golden Valley, we're surrounded by trees, with deer in nearby Theodore Wirth Park and a clean beach where geese sit along the water's edge at night. We're also exactly eight minutes from downtown Minneapolis (and I won't go a mile over the speed limit on Glenwood). Nice public library, too.

I gotta vote for St Louis Park. Basically, for its proximity to Minneapolis, and its old school feel. And because, of all the places I've lived in town, I've spent the most time there.

I want to like Columbia Heights, but I've never actually lived there or spent much time there, so I couldn't really say.

And, for the record, I furking hate Plymouth. Ugh.

Yes, St. Louis Park blows my mind. Situated right next to Rextown, it has recreation -- a very good water park, two good bowling alleys, a roller rink, a kickball league, and a long, scenic bike-trail circuit that starts by Lake Calhoun and ends in downtown Mpls. It has lots of discount shopping -- Opitz, Slumberland Clearance Outlet, Half Price Books. And it has all the big boxes you'd ever want: Two Targets, Costco, Micro Center, and the forlorn Knollwood Mall, where I get 80% of my clothes, sadly (Kohl's, TJ Maxx, DSW).

The housing stock is kind of '50s cookie-cutter, but for every two geniuses who think they were brilliant to buy in Northeast, there's someone doing at least as well in the SLP. Go Orioles!

StLP represent.

i'd also vouch for Golden Valley and the St. Antony area as well.

I vote for SLP as well. Gotta love the Jews with that great deli! Love the bowling alley, Monterey Park, all of it. Plus, it's close to DT Mnpls with out all the hassle of actually living there. Close runner up? I have none, SLP is the only suburb I'd live in.

I like New Brighton, (and Hwy 88 in particular), because it's like being in Mpls/St Paul thirty plus years ago!

(when I was minus the thirty plus years old)

Green Bay.

We are planning on some reunion typea stuff at the Roller Gardens... Family Style... Email us if any of you MINNESNOWTANS are interested... kelley01@visi.com